Receding Contact Angle Measurements Research Articles

Starch-Based Polysaccharide Systems with Bioactive Substances: Physicochemical and Wettability Characteristics.

Polysaccharide-based systems have very good emulsifying and stabilizing properties, and starch plays a leading role. Their modifications should add new quality features to the product to such an extent that preserves the structure-forming properties of native starch. The aim of this manuscript was to examine the physicochemical characteristics of the combinations of starch with phospholipids or lysozymes and determine the effect of starch modification (surface hydrophobization or biological additives) and preparation temperature (before and after gelatinization). Changes in electrokinetic potential (zeta), effective diameter, and size distribution as a function of time were analyzed using the dynamic light scattering and microelectrophoresis techniques. The wettability of starch-coated glass plates before and after modification was checked by the advancing and receding contact angle measurements, as well as the angle hysteresis, using the settle drop method as a complement to profilometry and FTIR. It can be generalized that starch dispersions are more stable than analogous n-alkane/starch emulsions at room and physiological temperatures. On the other hand, the contact angle hysteresis values usually decrease with temperature increase, pointing to a more homogeneous surface, and the hydrophobization effect decreases vs. the thickness of the substrate. Surface hydrophobization of starch carried out using an n-alkane film does not change its bulk properties and leads to improvement of its mechanical and functional properties. The obtained specific starch-based hybrid systems, characterized in detail by switchable wettability, give the possibility to determine the energetic state of the starch surface and understand the strength and specificity of interactions with substances of different polarities in biological processes and their applicability for multidirectional use.

Synthesis, surface activity and performance in “green” shampoo formulations of new carboxybetaine‐type surfactants

AbstractNovel zwitterionic surfactants—(N‐methylalkylamide‐derived) [3‐(alkylmethylamino)‐3‐oxopropyl] dimethylammonium acetates (abbr. CnDMPAB, n = 10, 12, 14, and 16) have been rationally designed as multifunctional surface active compounds with the intended characteristics toward their application in natural shampoo formulations. The synthetic routes included the alkylation of N‐methyl‐N‐alkylamines with methyl 3‐(dimethylamino)propionate, followed by betainization, while the purification steps enabled the isolation of high‐purity products for physicochemical analyses. Surface activity and micellization properties of novel CnDMPAB surfactants were studied by surface tension isotherms, and their wettability by advancing and receding contact angle measurements utilizing the Wilhelmy method. The aim of these studies was to exhibit the full potential of CnDMPAB series compounds as the multifunctional components of modern, salt‐free shampoo formulations with confirmed natural origin. The performance activity studies of shampoos, containing CnDMPAB surfactants, as well as model formulation (with commercial cocoamidopropyl betaine), included organoleptic and foaming characteristics, viscosity measurements, dispersibility in distilled and tap water as well as microbiological characteristics. Our studies showed great potential of novel CnDMPAB surfactants in replacing commercial cocoamidopropyl betaine, especially considering their increased viscosity, faster dispersibility as well as enhanced natural origin content.

Effect of methyl orange on wettability of sandstone formations: Implications for enhanced oil recovery

With the increasing global population, fossil fuel resources still represent a main contributor to the energy supply, despite the progress made in the field of renewable energies. Large quantities of residual oil from mature reservoirs cannot be produced through primary and secondary recovery methods. Among alternative recovery techniques, chemically enhanced oil recovery methods are attracting considerable interest to increase the hydrocarbon recovery from oil-bearing geological formations. The wettability of any particular formation can be used to predict the oil recovery factor of a reservoir based on its wetting state. However, due to the complex nature of geological porous media, special treatments are required to control the wetting characteristics for improving the oil recovery. In this work, methyl orange (MO), a hazardous pollutant widely discharged in industrial wastewater, was used as a chemical agent for the purpose of altering the wettability. Initially, quartz substrates were aged with 10−2 mol/L n-decane/stearic acid solution to mimic natural geological conditions; then, stearic acid-aged quartz substrates were treated in various concentrations of MO (10, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg/L) for 7 days at 50 °C, followed by advancing and receding contact angle measurements at various physico-thermal geological conditions (temperature 25, 50 °C, pressure 10, 15, 20 MPa, and brine salinity 0–0.3 M). Our results demonstrate that increasing the temperature, pressure, and salinity of quartz aged with stearic acid has a negative effect on the wettability (resulting in a higher hydrophobicity). However, at any constant physio-thermal condition, MO significantly alters the wettability of the organic-aged quartz substrates from oil-wet to water-wet conditions, thus improving oil recovery. The concentration of MO plays a critical role, with increasing concentrations favouring the water-wet conditions. Quartz aged with MO at a concentration of 100 mg/L shows water-wet behaviour, with the lowest advancing and receding contact angles of 31° and 29°, respectively, at 25 °C, 20 MPa, and 0.3 M salinity. The findings of this study provide new insights that can be useful for disposing MO in deep underground reservoirs rather than discharging into the hydrosphere, thus mitigating climate change. In addition, the present data can be helpful for improving the oil productivity from sandstone reservoirs.

Wettability of MXene films

HypothesisOne of the highlighted properties of Ti3C2Tx MXene compared to other 2D nanomaterials is its hydrophilicity. However, the broad range of static contact angles of Ti3C2Tx reported in the literature is misleading. To elucidate the experimental values of the static contact angles and get reproducible contact angle data, it is wiser to perform the advancing and receding contact angle measurements on smooth and compact Ti3C2Tx layers and focus on deep understanding of the physical basis behind the wettability, which is provided by contact angle hysteresis. ExperimentsMeasurements of the advancing and receding contact angle on mono-, bi, and trilayer Ti3C2Tx on two different substrates were performed. As substrates, UV-ozone treated silicon wafer and silicon wafer functionalized by (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane, were used. FindingsThe values of the advancing contact angle on Ti3C2Tx on both substrates were proved to be independent of the number of Ti3C2Tx layers, demonstrating a negligible effect of the background substrate wettability. In addition, a giant contact angle hysteresis (44–52 °) was observed on very smooth surface, most likely as a result of chemical heterogeneity arising from the diversity of surface terminal groups (F, O, and OH). The findings reported in this study provide a comprehensive understanding of the wettability of MXene.

Effects of surface heterogeneities on wetting and contact line dynamics as observed with the captive bubble technique

Understanding the effects of surface heterogeneities on wetting characteristics and contact line dynamics is significant for a number of applications. In this work, the advancing and receding contact angles on well-defined heterogeneous surfaces were measured using the captive bubble technique. Furthermore, contact line distortions were observed to clarify the origin of the changes in the contact angle. For heterogeneous surfaces with different hydrophilic area fractions but the same hydrophilic defect diameter, the defects had no restrictive effect on the retreating behavior of the contact line, resulting in a nearly constant advancing contact angle. Conversely, during receding contact angle measurements, the presence of a few hydrophilic defects caused three-phase contact line pinning. Increasing the number of hydrophilic defects led to more corrugations of the three-phase contact line, resulting in a decrease in the receding contact angle. For heterogeneous surfaces with the same hydrophilic area fraction but different hydrophilic defect diameters, the advancing contact angles were also nearly constant because in the hydrophilic region, no energy barrier prevented contact line movement. However, the greater energy barriers caused by larger hydrophilic defects led to a slight decrease in the receding contact angles. A comparison of the measured and calculated values for both the advancing and receding contact angles showed that the experimental contact angle results were consistent with the contact angles calculated using the line-fraction Cassie equation. These insights into the wetting behavior of heterogeneous surfaces under liquids are expected to lead to advanced practical applications of heterogeneous surfaces.

Reproducibility of superhydrophobic and oleophobic polymeric micro surface topographies

Micro-structured surfaces can provide useful material properties, such as repellency to water, oil, or alcohols. Multiple polymers were investigated based on micro molding replication fidelity of repellent structures using both advancing and receding contact angle measurements. Five different polymers (Loctite 3525, ST-1060, TC-854, TC-8740, and Teflon AF) were chosen based on a range of durometers, for each of which, a recommended curing process was presented. These polymers were micro-structured via a one-step replica molding to create mushroom shaped fibers with overhanging caps. Teflon AF, a low surface energy polymer, produced innovative superhydrophobic as well as oleophobic Micro Surface Topographies (MSTs). Advancing contact angles (CAs) of these microstructures were 166 ± 4.2, 151 ± 2.9, and 119 ± 2.2 when in contact with a water, ethylene, and olive oil droplet respectively. The highest reproducibility was achieved by using a curing procedure of 100 °C for 2 h. However, even in these conditions, 35% of MSTs were not fully reproduced. ST-1060 was considered a good alternative to Teflon AF since, even after five uses of the same casting mold, the advancing CAs decreased less than 2% when in contact with any liquid tested. Polymeric MSTs resistance to an external force was also examined using a gyratory shaker suggesting that softer materials, such as ST-1060, were required to survive exposure to environmental conditions.

Significance of the receding contact angle in the determination of surface free energy

<p>Surface free energy measurements of solids are a very important issue in various fields of science. Many functional, chemical and physical properties of a given material depend on its surface free energy. The basic method of the surface free energy determination are the contact angle measurements. There are several empirical methods useful to calculate the surface free energy of solids. They are based on the measurements of the contact angle of liquids with the defined surface tension. The aim of this paper is to examine the significance of the receding contact angle measurements in the determination of surface free energy of solids.</p>

Fabrication of Sticky and Slippery Aluminum Alloys Based on Anodic Alumina Nanofibers

Anodizing aluminum in a pyrophosphoric acid solution (H4P2O7) causes the formation of numerous anodic alumina nanofibers. The nanofiber-covered aluminum surface exhibits superhydrophilicity measuring less than 10° in water contact angle (WCA). In contract, as the alumina surface is modified with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM), the WCA value changes to show superhydrophobicity measuring more than 150°. In the present investigation, the fabrication of highly sticky and slippery aluminum alloys was achieved by optimizing the nanostructure of anodic alumina nanofibers formed on the surface. Commercially available 3004 aluminum alloys (composition: 1.0-1.5 wt% Mn, 0.8-1.3 wt% Mg, small amounts of Cu, Zn, Fe, and Si) were chemically polished in a 2.5 M NaOH solution at 333 K for 5 min, and then were immersed in a 4.0 M HNO3 solution at room temperature for 30 s. The polished specimens were immersed in a pyrophosphoric acid solution (74.0 wt%) at 293 K, and then were anodized at a constant voltage of 75 V for up to 60 min. After anodizing, the specimens were immersed in a 1.5 mM 3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8,-tridecafluorooctylphosphonic acid (FOPA)/ethanol solution at 313 K for 48 h. The slipping behavior of the water droplet formed on the anodized specimens was examined by advancing and receding contact angle measurements using an optical contact angle meter. As the aluminum alloys were anodized in a pyrophosphoric acid solution, numerous anodic alumina nanofibers with the insoluble intermetallic compounds were formed on the surface. The length of the nanofibers increased with the anodizing time, and many nanofiber-tangled intermetallic particles were exposed to the surface. Figure 1 shows the changes in the advancing contact angle, θ adv, and the receding contact angle, θ rec, on the SAM-modified aluminum surface with anodizing time, t a. The θ adv value increased to approximately 170° by pyrophosphoric acid anodizing, and this superhydrophobicity was maintained upon further anodizing up to 60 min. On the other hand, the θ rec value drastically changed with anodizing time. As a result, the contact angle hysteresis (θ adv - θ rec) was also changed with anodizing time. Therefore, the adhesion interaction between the water droplet and the aluminum surface can easily be controlled by pyrophosphoric acid anodizing. Figure 1

Self-cleaning superhydrophobic nanocomposite surfaces generated by laser pulse heating

Micro- and nanostructured surfaces are known to induce anti-wetting and self-cleaning properties. However, traditional formation of these structures is difficult and requires high-resolution micro- and nanofabrication methods. Here, we demonstrate a facile method for the formation of superhydrophobic self-cleaning surfaces by laser pulse heating of a carbon nanotube-polymer composite. Laser treatment exposes a carbon nanotube network which controls surface wetting properties. Advancing and receding contact angle measurements demonstrate that these surfaces are superhydrophobic. Additionally, surfaces show anti-wetting and self-cleaning properties.

Time‐dependent changes of surface properties of polyether ether ketone caused by air plasma treatment

AbstractThe effect of air plasma treatment on wetting and energy properties, surface composition and morphology of polyether ether ketone (PEEK) was investigated. The influence of the storage time on the surface properties of plasma‐treated polymer plate was also examined. The properties were determined by advancing and receding contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy supported by theoretical spectrum modelling, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and optical profilometry. Three theoretical approaches were used in the determination of the apparent surface free energy of the untreated and plasma‐treated PEEK samples from the measured contact angles of probe liquids (water, formamide, diiodomethane): the contact angle hysteresis method, the Owens and Wendt approach and the Lifsthitz − van der Waals acid–base approach. It was found that air plasma treatment of PEEK causes significant chemical and morphological changes of the polymer surface, which are reflected in the decrease of contact angles from 83.4° to 11.7° for water after 180 s plasma treatment. This is due to the formation of polar functional groups resulting in the increase of the surface hydrophilicity. After plasma treatment the apolar component of the surface free energy practically does not change, while the polar component increases significantly, especially for plates treated for 180 s, from 0 to 19.6 mJ m−2. In addition, the modified PEEK surface is not stable during storage and it acquires more hydrophobic character. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry

Wettability of Binary Solid-Supported Films of Zwitterionic/Anionic Phospholipids

The effect of different amounts of anionic phosphatidylglycerol in the zwitterionic phosphatidylcholine monolayers on their properties was quantitatively described in terms of the interactions between these two compounds as well as the changes of mixed monolayers' apparent surface free energy and its components. For all Langmuir films, surface pressure–area per molecule (π–A) isotherms were used to monitor the surface thermodynamics (i.e. the excess area and excess free enthalpy of mixing). This allowed to evaluate the kind and magnitude of interactions that have an influence on the phase behaviour and structural properties of the monolayers. Then, assuming that the molecular properties of Langmuir films are preserved upon transfer to a solid support, further characterizations were accomplished with advancing and receding contact angle measurements on the Langmuir–Blodgett films deposited at 35 mN/m on mica. These enabled the possibility to track changes in the wettability of the tightly packed or phase-separated phospholipid films and their surface free energy as a function of the monolayer composition. It is believed that these results throw a light on better understanding of the organizational structure of lipid films and their interactions with the surrounding environment. Moreover, the obtained results can be also helpful to identify the optimal lipid composition in the production of more effective therapeutic surfactants.

Innovative Applications of Surface Wettability Measurements for Plasma‐Modified Three‐Dimensional Porous Polymeric Materials: A Review

This review addresses state‐of‐the‐art of wettability measurements for plasma‐modified, three‐dimensional (3D), porous, polymeric materials. Inherent challenges associated with evaluating wettability of these complex constructs are discussed, including expanding techniques from 2D to 3D substrates and collection of both static and dynamic contact angle (CA) data. Dynamic data include advancing and receding CA measurements, as well as changes in CA as a function of time. Limitations in analysis and interpretation of wettability data are highlighted to best represent wetting characteristics of plasma‐treated porous materials, as is the importance of placing wettability data in context with simultaneous surface chemistry and roughness assessment. A list of best practices recommendations is provided.

Contact angle measurements on oxidized polymer surfaces containing water-soluble species

Advancing and receding contact angle measurements on polymer surfaces can be performed using a number of different methods. Ballistic deposition is a new method for both rapidly and accurately measuring the receding contact angle of water. In the ballistic deposition method, a pulsed stream of 0.15-μL water droplets is impinged upon a surface. The water spreads across the surface and then coalesces into a single 1.8-μL drop. High-speed video imaging shows that, on most surfaces, the water retracts from previously wetted material, thereby forming receding contact angles that agree with the receding angles measured by the Wilhelmy plate technique. The ballistic deposition method measures the receding angle within one second after the water first contacts the surface. This rapid measurement enables the investigation of polymer surface properties that are not easily probed by other wettability measurement methods. For example, meaningful contact angles of water can be obtained on the water-soluble low-molecular-weight oxidized materials (LMWOM) formed by the corona and flame treatment of polypropylene (PP) films. Use of the ballistic deposition method allows for a characterization of the wetting properties and an estimation of the surface energy components of LMWOM itself. Both corona- and flame-generated LMWOM have significant contact angle hysteresis, almost all of which is accounted for by the non-dispersive (polar) component of the surface rather than by the dispersive component. Surface heterogeneity is thus associated primarily with the oxidized functionalities added to the PP by the corona and flame treatments.

Dynamic contact angle measurements on superhydrophobic surfaces

In this paper, the dynamic advancing and receding contact angles of a series of aqueous solutions were measured on a number of hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces using a modified Wilhelmy plate technique. Superhydrophobic surfaces are hydrophobic surfaces with micron or nanometer sized surface roughness. These surfaces have very large static advancing contact angles and little static contact angle hysteresis. In this study, the dynamic advancing and dynamic receding contact angles on superhydrophobic surfaces were measured as a function of plate velocity and capillary number. The dynamic contact angles measured on a smooth hydrophobic Teflon surface were found to obey the scaling with capillary number predicted by the Cox-Voinov-Tanner law, θD3 ∝ Ca. The response of the dynamic contact angle on the superhydrophobic surfaces, however, did not follow the same scaling law. The advancing contact angle was found to remain constant at θA = 160∘, independent of capillary number. The dynamic receding contact angle measurements on superhydrophobic surfaces were found to decrease with increasing capillary number; however, the presence of slip on the superhydrophobic surface was found to result in a shift in the onset of dynamic contact angle variation to larger capillary numbers. In addition, a much weaker dependence of the dynamic contact angle on capillary number was observed for some of the superhydrophobic surfaces tested.

Contact line behavior on nanoporous alumina surfaces

The aim of this study is to describe the behavior and the thickness of a three-phase system contact line on nanoporous alumina surfaces based on wetting hysteresis measurements. The nanoporous alumina templates were fabricated by anodization of aluminum foil in an oxalic or sulfuric acid solution. The oxide film consists of a well-ordered hexagonal array of pores with uniform diameter. The morphology was controlled by varying the pore diameter, depth and spacing. The wetting behavior of the nanoporous alumina templates was investigated using advancing and receding contact angle measurements carried out by varying the volume of the water droplets used. The surfaces showed a large hysteresis, with a receding contact angle always equal to zero making them strongly adhesive despite their hydrophobicity. Comparing linear and areal models indicates that the contact line thickness is negligible compared with the size of the nanopores. Contact line pinning highlights the role of the surface shape around the pores in the marked adhesive behavior of our templates.

Interfacial energy of heavy naphthenic bitumen in aqueous medium

The impact of the interfacial properties of naphthenic bitumen is very relevant for road paving. In this work, we propose an approach for predicting the interfacial energy of bitumen in aqueous media based on contact angle hysteresis measurements. We measured the surface tension of naphthenic bitumen at high temperature with the pendant drop method. We estimated the surface energy of bitumen as the value of surface tension extrapolated to room temperature. The acid–base properties of naphthenic bitumen films were investigated by contact angle titration with buffered water. Due to the occurrence of contact angle hysteresis, we performed advancing–receding contact angle measurements on bitumen films at different values of pH with the low-rate dynamic contact angle technique. We observed that the receding angle was dependent on pH. Instead, advancing contact angle just reflected the nature of bitumen in dry conditions. We chose the average contact angle of advancing and receding contact angles as an estimate of the thermodynamically meaningful contact angle. Finally, the bitumen-water interfacial energy at room temperature was calculated using the Young equation. The low interfacial energy of bitumen at high pH confirmed the existence of native surfactants.

Fundamental Studies of Electrochemically Controlled Surface Oxidation and Hydrophobicity of Natural Enargite

The surface oxidation and hydrophobicity of natural enargite (Cu(3)AsS(4)) and the formation of oxidation species at the mineral surface have been examined by a novel experimental approach that combines electrochemical techniques and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This approach allows for in-situ, synchronized electrochemical control and examination of the oxidative surface morphology of enargite. Combined with ex-situ cryo X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy surface analysis, the surface speciation of enargite surface oxidation has been obtained, comparing the newly fractured natural enargite surface with those that have been electrochemically oxidized at pHs 4 and 10. At pH 4, surface layer formations consisting of metal-deficient sulfide and elemental sulfur were identified, associated with a limited increase in root-mean-square (rms) roughness (1.228 to 3.143 nm) and apparent heterogeneous distribution of surface products as demonstrated by AFM imaging. A mechanism of initial rapid dissolution of Cu followed by diffusion-limited surface layer deposition was identified. At pH 10, a similar mechanism was identified although the differences between the initial and diffusion-limited phases were less definitive. Surface species were identified as copper sulfate and copper hydroxide. A significant increase in surface roughness was found as rms roughness increased from 0.795 to 9.723 nm. Dynamic (receding) contact angle measurements were obtained by a droplet evaporation method. No significant difference in the contact angle on a surface oxidized at pH 10 and the freshly polished surface was found. A significant difference was found between the polished surface and that oxidized at pH 4, with an increase in contact angle of about 13° (46° to 59°) after oxidation. Competing effects of hydrophilic (copper oxides and hydroxides) and hydrophobic (elemental sulfur) species on the mineral surface under oxidizing conditions at pH 4 and the change in surface roughness at pH 10 may contribute to the observed effects of electrochemically controlled oxidation on enargite hydrophobicity.

Solution spraying of poly(methyl methacrylate) blends to fabricate microtextured, superoleophobic surfaces

We describe a simple technique to prepare superhydrophobic and superoleophobic microtextured surfaces by spray coating a blend of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and the low surface energy molecule 1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (fluorodecyl POSS, γsv≈10mN/m) using an air brush with a pressurized nitrogen stream. Scanning electron micrographs show the formation of microtextured surfaces possessing re-entrant curvature; a critical feature for obtaining liquid repellency with low surface tension liquids. The surface morphology can be tuned systematically from a corpuscular or spherical microstructure to a beads-on-string structure and finally to bundled fibers by controlling the solution concentration and molecular weight of the sprayed polymer. The oleophobicity of the resulting structures is characterized by advancing and receding contact angle measurements with liquids of a range of surface tensions.

Examination of wettability and surface energy in fluorodecyl POSS/polymer blends

Fluorodecyl Polyhedral Oligomeric SilSesquioxane (POSS) is a low surface energy material (γsv ≈ 10 mN m−1) that has been used as a coating to prepare a variety of liquid repellent surfaces. There are several drawbacks to employing pure fluorodecyl POSS as a coating, including high cost, poor adherence to the underlying substrate, and a lack of optical transparency. One potential strategy for overcoming these shortcomings while retaining liquid repellency is to prepare composite coatings by judiciously blending polymers with fluorodecyl POSS. Here varying amounts of fluorodecyl POSS are blended with commercially available poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA), poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA), and the commercial fluoroelastomer Tecnoflon BR9151. A film of each blend is spin cast onto a silicon wafer and its surface wettability is probed by measuring advancing and receding contact angles of six liquids: water, ethylene glycol, dimethyl sulfoxide, diiodomethane, rapeseed oil, and hexadecane. Surface energy analysis techniques developed by Girifalco, Good, and colleagues are used to extract the hydrogen bond donating (acidic), hydrogen bond accepting (basic), and nonpolar (dispersion) components of the solid surface energy from both advancing and receding contact angle measurements. It is emphasized that a proper assessment of the wetting behavior of a liquid on a surface requires consideration of the complementary acid–base interactions between the solid and the liquid, not just a determination of the polar contribution to the solid surface energy. Maximum liquid repellency is attained in composite PMMA or PEMA films with fluorodecyl POSS loadings of at least 20 wt %. Furthermore, cross-cut adhesion tests reveal that the optically transparent methacrylate-containing fluorodecyl POSS coatings adhere quite strongly to the underlying substrate, unlike the Tecnoflon-containing blends and the pure fluorodecyl POSS. These results will potentially facilitate the incorporation of fluorodecyl POSS into commercial coatings.

Influence of (phospho)lipases on properties of mica supported phospholipid layers

The effect of enzymes: lipase from Candida cylindracea (L Cc ), phospholipase A 2 from hog pancreas (PLA 2) and phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus (PLC) to modulate wetting properties of solid supported phospholipid bilayers was studied via advancing and receding contact angle measurements of water, formamide and diiodomethane, and calculation of the surface free energy and its components from van Oss et al. (LWAB) and contact angle hysteresis (CAH) approaches. Simultaneously, topography of the studied layers was determined by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The investigated lipid bilayers were transferred on mica plates from subphase of pure water by means of Langmuir–Blodgett and Langmuir–Schaefer techniques. The investigated phospolipid layers were: saturated DPPC (1,2-dipalmitoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine), unsaturated DOPC (1,2-dioleoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine), and their mixture DPPC/DOPC. The obtained results revealed that the lipid membrane degradation by the enzymes caused increase in its surface free energy due to the amphiphilic hydrolysis products, which may accumulate in the lipid bilayer. In result activity of the enzymes may increase and then break down the bilayer structure takes place. It is likely that after dissolution of the hydrolysis reaction products in the bulk phase, patches of bare mica surface are accessible, which contribute to the apparent surface free energy changes. Comparison of AFM images and the free energy changes of the layers gives better insight into changes of their properties. The observed gradual increase in the layer surface free energy allows controlling of the hydrolysis process to obtain the surfaces of defined properties.