Three-phase contact line and line tension of electrolyte solutions in contact with charged substrates

Abstract

The three-phase contact line formed by the intersection of a liquid-vapor interface of an electrolyte solution with a charged planar substrate is studied in terms of classical density functional theory applied to a lattice model. The influence of the substrate charge density and of the ionic strength of the solution on the intrinsic structure of the three-phase contact line and on the corresponding line tension is analyzed. We find a negative line tension for all values of the surface charge density and of the ionic strength considered. The strength of the line tension decreases upon decreasing the contact angle via varying either the temperature or the substrate charge density.