Wetting of single-wall carbon nanotube ropes and graphite

We have studied the interaction of a variety of adsorbates, ranging from inert gases to polar molecules, solvents and aromatic compounds with single-wall carbon nanotube and graphite surfaces using thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). These studies allow to investigate the wetting properties of such surfaces on the microscopic scale without complications due to microscopic surface roughness arising with some other techniques. The overwhelming majority of adsorbates studied here is found to wet graphite and nanotube surfaces completely while both are found to be wet only partially by water.