Influence Of oxidation on contact angle between liquid aluminum and Al2O3

Abstract

Aluminum can be easily oxidized at high temperature so that it is difficult to accurately measure the contact angle between the liquid aluminum and A1203 substrate. In the current study, the measurement of the contact angle between liquid aluminum and A1203 was performed under Ar gas purging and vacuum conditions. The effect of oxidation on the contact angle between liquid aluminum and A1203 was investigated. It was observed that aluminum samples in both Ar gas and vacuum condition were oxidized. With further increasing of the temperature, the oxide film gradually reacted with liquid A1 and became thinner. The disruption of the thin oxide film caused the mutation of contact angle. The contact angle after mutation was approximately 130° for both cases. The temperature of the turning point was lower under vacuum condition than under Ar gas purging. Under vacuum condition, the final stable contact angle was approximately 63° above 1275 °C.