High-temperature capillarity and interfacial phenomena

Abstract

The study of high-temperature capillarity (HTC) and interfacial phenomena evolved as a subset of the broad field of classical surface science. With the emergence of modern structure characterization tools and continued advances in the theoretical and experimental understanding of interfaces at the microscopic and atomistic scales came the awareness that classical surface science of low-temperature systems based on the Young–Dupre equation was perhaps a useful but incomplete framework to understand many unique aspects of HTC (e.g., role of interfacial reactions and ubiquitous oxide layers). The study of HTC thus constitutes an important and growing discipline that, in its totality, cannot probably be subsumed within the framework of classical surface science of low-temperature systems. In view of this, over the last several decades, the study of HTC has begun to acquire an identity of its own. On a practical front, much useful research on HTC has contributed to the synthesis, processing and fabrication of diverse materials, products, and devices. The scientific and technological importance of the field has led to fruitful cross-disciplinary research as well as a major international event, the high-temperature capillarity conference. It is because of the pervasive nature of the field, the diversity of viewpoints of its practitioners, and the current maturity and future promise of the field that a special COSSMS issue is being dedicated to the topic.