The adsorption of water vapor and the heat of wetting of hydrophilic hydromica and hydrophobized samples of kaolinite and Silochrom were studied. The contact angles for the wetting of the investigated materials with water were obtained. The thermodynamic characteristics of the surface of the sorbents and the interfacial region at their boundary with water were calculated from the obtained data. It was shown that the boundary water layers close to the hydrophilic surface of the hydromica are more ordered while those close to the hydrophobic surfaces of the modified samples of kaolinite, Silochrom, and the reference sample (extremely hydrophobic Teflon) are less ordered than liquid water.Surface energy is an important characteristic of solids. In contrast to liquids, however, the direct experimental measurement of the surface free energy (thermodynamic surface tension) s of solids is quite complicated. In the case of solids with a low-energy surface such as polymers, for which the thermodynamic surface tension is approximately equal to the mechanical surface tension g, investigators usually determine the wetting angle q of the solid with the liquid experimentally and then use Young's equation and various empirical approximations to determine the s (g) value of the solid [1-3].For a more objective thermodynamic characterization of the surface apart from the value of s [the excess Helmholtz free energy (isochoric-isothermal potential)] it is also necessary to know the excess surface enthalpy H = U + pV (since pV is small, H~U, where U is the surface total energy of the solid) and the excess entropy S. To calculate these thermodynamic parameters it is necessary first to determine experimentally the surface pressure of the adsorbed film of wetting liquid on the surface of the solid p and its specific heat of wetting q [4].Determination of the p and q values for the hydrophobic surfaces of the polymeric materials involves great experimental difficulties. In most papers on the surface free energy of polymers, therefore, the investigators restricted themselves to determination only of s without correction for the surface pressure. In the mean time it was shown that even for systems characterized by a contact angle greater than 90°(e.g., for the Teflon-water system) the correction to the determined value of s can reach 10% [5].In the present work measurements and calculations required for the determination of q, p, and q were made for the investigated materials. This made it possible to determine the excess thermodynamic characteristics of the surface of the materials s S , H S , and S S and also the excess interfacial thermodynamic characteristics of the investigated sorbents in relation to liquid water s SL , H SL , and S SL .
960040-5760/06/4202-0096