The work of adhesion per unit area,
,
is the work done on the system when two condensed phases α and β,
forming an
interface of unit area are separated reversibly to form unit areas of each of the αδ- and βδ-
interfaces.
where
,
and
are the
surface tensions between two bulk phases
α, β; α, δ and β, δ respectively.
The work of adhesion as defined above, and traditionally used, may be called the work
of separation.
Source:
PAC, 1972, 31, 577
(Manual of Symbols and Terminology for Physicochemical Quantities and Units, Appendix
II: Definitions, Terminology and Symbols in Colloid and Surface Chemistry)
on page 597
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by
A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).
XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic,
J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.
