Contact Angle, Wettability, and Adhesion - ACS Publications

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PREFACE This symposium is in honor of the 1963 recipient of the Kendall Award, W. A . Zisman, Naval Research Laboratory. D r . Zisman has an unusual combination of talents; he is by training a physicist, is an active scientific investigator, and an efficient admin­ istrator of the Naval Research Laboratory s Chemistry Division, but most of all he is a surface chemist and a very outstanding one. Although his doctoral and postdoctoral research with the late P . W. Bridgeman was devoted to the physics of high pressure phenomena in minerals, and though his career at Harvard would have led him to a professorship in geophysics, D r . Zisman was so infatuated with the exciting developments in surface chemistry pioneered by Langmuir, Rideal, and Harkins that he abandoned geophysics in order to work in surface chemistry. D u r ­ ing the depression of the 1930 s, D r . Zisman sought vainly for oppor­ tunities f o r a career in surface chemistry as he worked in a Washington social service headquarters. In 1938 the urge to do surface chemistry became so great that he left his job and financed himself for a year of study in the laboratory of D r . Goranson at the Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory. Finally, in 1939 D r . Zisman persuaded a research d i r e c ­ tor that a research program in surface chemistry would be of value, and he was hired by the Naval Research Laboratory. D r . Zisman s earliest contribution in surface chemistry was the development of a vibrating condenser method of measuring contact po­ tential (done as a master's thesis at MIT). This method has been widely used ever since. At the Naval Research Laboratory, his prewar work on the spreading of oils on water resulted in three publications, which have become a worthwhile and lasting addition to this subject. During the war, his research led him into a thorough investigation of lubricants and lubrication. Under his guidance, many new synthetic lubricants were developed. He is regarded as one of the world's ex­ perts in lubrication, friction, and the use of surface active additives in lubricants. His studies with adsorbed oleophobic monolayers on metals led to his major interest in low energy surfaces, contact angles, and wettability. His studies in this field, aided by his group of very capable chemists and physicists, have produced an enormous body of literature which is best described by the title of this Kendall Award Symposium. This work has led a large collection of excellent data on wettability, and to a new understanding of the relationship of surface tensions in wetta­ bility, and has promoted considerable interest in low energy solids and liquids such as the silicones, the fluorocarbons, and fluorochemicals. Coupled with this research program has been a continuing effort to apply the results of his research to practical problems. The practical applications have been very successful and led to the highest standards of lubrication and the protection of weapons and vessels from the very wide range of temperatures, weather, and corrosive conditions en­ countered by the Navy. One interesting example occurred recently when an aircraft c a r r i e r nearing completion in the Brooklyn Naval Y a r d caught fire and in the process of putting out the fire all of the expensive

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ν In Contact Angle, Wettability, and Adhesion; Fowkes, F.; Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1964.

and delicate electronic equipment was damaged by smoke, oil, and sea water. D r . Zisman s group was called in, and thanks to their background of practical applications in surface chemistry, they devised a cleaning solution which displaced contamination from the electrical apparatus, leaving it in as good condition as new. This one application saved the Navy millions of dollars. The literature in surface chemistry is greatly enriched by the 9 5 publications by D r . Zisman. There are also 22 patents in his name, mainly on lubricants and protective treatments for surfaces. D r . Zisman was nominated for the Kendall Award because of his contributions in the whole field of surface chemistry. While some of us had hoped that this symposium could cover all the fields in which he had worked, it soon became obvious that five full days would be needed, whereas we were allotted only two. Consequently, we had to narrow the scope of the symposium to just one part of his work. Several surface chemists (including Professor LaMer) were disappointed that their particular field in surface chemistry was excluded from this symposium, because they wished to honor D r . Zisman by participation in the program. Seldom has a chairman had such an enthusiastic response to requests for papers for a symposium. Many of those who have not contributed have written letters expressing their appreciation of D r . Zisman.

Downloaded by MT ALLISON UNIV on May 11, 2013 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: January 1, 1964 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1964-0043.pr001

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Frederick M . Fowkes Sprague Electric Co. North Adams, Mass.

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In Contact Angle, Wettability, and Adhesion; Fowkes, F.; Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1964.