Determination of Surface Free Energy and Contact Angle for Hydrolyzed Shellac

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine surface free energy and contact angle of hydrolyzed shellac by using sessile drop technique. It is a method for determination of contact angle by placing a drop of liquid on a substrate and the surface free energy is then calculated by using the Wus equation. The substrate in this study was the hydrolyzed shellac prepared by hydrolysis of the native shellac at various times; 0, 15, 30 and 45 min using 2.0 %w/w sodium hydroxide. Water, formamide and ethylene glycol were liquids used for the investigation of the contact angle and surface free energy. The effect of hydrolysis time tended to reduce the contact angle and increase in the total surface free energy and polar force of hydrolyzed shellac. The result could be due to the breaking of the ester bonds of shellac during the hydrolysis process causing the higher free carboxyl group giving the higher polar group indicating by higher polar force and surface free energy. Therefore, the contact angle and surface free energy detected by sessile drop technique could be of benefit for the determination of hydrolysis process.