Wetting of Galvanised Steel by An Epoxy Adhesive: Effects of Surface Oil

The wetting properties of an uncured epoxy resin on both clean and oiled, galvanised steel have been studied. Since the polymer is very viscous at ambient temperature, and also with an aim to simulate industrial conditions, the spreading of drops of resin during a heating cycle (temperature increase at $10^{\circ}C/min$) was recorded and analysed. On clean steel, a contact angle, ${\theta}$, vs time, t, plot shows sigmoidal behaviour, whereas on the oiled substrate, spreading almost ceases in an intermediate stage. This strange behaviour is attributed to significant oil absorption by the polymer.