Contribution of the surface dipole moment and the contact potential-induced disjoining pressure to the stress balance at a three-phase contact

Abstract

The contact between three insulators results in a set up of contact potentials related to the adsorbed dipole moment at each surface. The produced electric field applies force (disjoining pressure) on each interface. This disjoining pressure is a long-ranged force (1/distance²) which is proportional to the difference between the dielectric permittivities of the phases on the two sides of the interface and, for small angles, to the square of the contact angle. The contact potential leads to a logarithmic perturbation of the profile of the three-phase contact zone.