Wetting Behavior of Argon on Graphite

Abstract

A mechanically driven graphite fiber microbalance is used to investigate the wetting behavior of argon on graphite. We found evidence of complete wetting above the bulk triple point T3 and incomplete wetting below. Below T3 the thickness d of the saturated adsorbed film is found to obey the power law d ∝ (t)x, with x = -1/3, in the reduced temperature range 10-5 < t = (T3 - T)/T3 < 10-2. Above T3 the film thickness diverges as d ∝ [ln (P0/P)]x, with x = -1/3.