Utilizing an Automated Home-Built Surface Plasmon Resonance Apparatus to Investigate How Water Interacts with a Hydrophobic Surface

By definition hydrophobic substances hate water. Water placed on a hydrophobic surface will form a drop in order to minimize its contact area. What happens when water is forced into contact with a hydrophobic surface? One theory is that an ultra-thin low- density region forms near the surface. We have employed an automated home-built Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) apparatus to investigate this boundary.