There are several situations when a surface has to be optimally clean for processing or further use, for example semiconductor industry wafers and packaging materials for food and pharmaceutical products. The efficiency of cleaning formulations can be evaluated by determining how well a surface has been cleaned after it has been contaminated, for example with textiles, porcelain, windows, floor and wall tiles.
The surface free energies of clean and treated surfaces are directly correlated to the cleanliness and surface composition of the surface. The cleaning process and the effectiveness of cleaning solutions can be followed by measuring the contact angle. Therefore, contact angle measurements are a highly suitable quality control method in these fields. Attension provides a range of userfriendly instruments, the Theta and Sigma series, for surface energy determination and contact angle measurements.