Wetting phenomena of droplets and gas bubbles: Contact angle hysteresis based on varying liquid–solid and solid–gas interfacial tensions

Wetting phenomena have been widely observed in our daily lives, such as dew on lotus leaf, and applied in technical applications, e.g., ink-jet printing. In contrast to constant liquid-solid and solid-gas interfacial tensions in Young's law, we here focus on the wetting phenomena by considering varying fluid-solid interfacial tensions. We analyze the energy landscape, the map of Young's contact angle, the number and corresponding contact angle of local energy minima, and the contact angle hysteresis for a liquid droplet on a solid substrate in a gas phase. In addition, a gas bubble on a solid substrate in a liquid phase has been scrutinized from the aspect of surface energy minimization. The wetting effect has been regarded, where the liquid and gas species penetrate into the solid phase on the microscopic scale [F. Wang and B. Nestler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 126202 (2024)]. We assume the liquid-solid and the solid-gas interfacial tensions to be a function dependent on the volume fraction of the liquid and the gas species and investigate the impact of the size ratio of the droplet to the solid surface that is overlooked in existing theories on the wetting phenomena. Our finding sheds light on the microscopic origin of the contact angle hysteresis and the droplet size effect on the wetting phenomena.