Researcher invents an easy-to-use technique to measure the hydrophobicity of micro- and nanoparticle

The scientific and industrial communities who work with micro- and nanoparticles continue to labor with the challenge of effective particle dispersion. Most particles that disperse in liquids aggregate rapidly, and eventually precipitate, thereby separating from the liquid phase. While it is commonly accepted that the hydrophobicity of particles— how quickly water repels off a surface—determines their dispersion and aggregation potential, there has been no easy-to-use method to quantitatively determine the hydrophobicity of these tiny particles.