SURFACE ROUGHNESS STUDY IN RELATION WITH HYDROPHILICITY/HYDROPHOBICITY OF MATERIALS USING ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY

Hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity is often used to identify the chemical properties of a material surface, which can be characterized by adhesion force variations measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The surface roughness has a significant influence on adhesion. This study presents a systematic approach to the correlation among surface roughness, adhesion force, and hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity of materials. The surface topography was obtained on the surface of materials representing silicates, phylo-silicates, calcites, and carbon. On the basis of the topographic image analysis of AFM, the root-mean-square (RMS) roughness was calculated. The results indicate that the adhesion force decreases with increasing RMS roughness.