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Science 7 March 1980:
Vol. 207. no. 4435, pp. 1073 - 1075
DOI: 10.1126/science.207.4435.1073
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Articles

An Interface Phase Transition: Complete to Partial Wetting

M. R. MOLDOVER 1 and JOHN W. CAHN 2

1 Thermophysics Division, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C. 20234
2 Metal Science and Standards Division, National Bureau of Standards

When two fluid phases are near a critical point, one of them will be excluded from contact with any third phase that happens to be present by a wetting film of the other critical phase. A simple and quite general strategy that may be used to induce a phase transition from complete wetting of the third phase to incomplete wetting is to add a new component to the fluid phases chosen to drive the two phases away from their critical point. This strategy is illustrated for methanol-cyclohexane mixtures.

Submitted on October 9, 1979
Revised on December 12, 1979

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)