Rose Petal Effect

Synonyms

Petal effect

Definition

Rose petal effect is the ability of certain rough surfaces to have a high contact angle with water simultaneously with high adhesion (large contact angle hysteresis) with water.

Theoretical

Recent experimental findings and theoretical analyses made it clear that the early Wenzel [1] and Cassie and Baxter [2] models do not explain the complexity of interactions during wetting of a rough surface which can follow several different scenarios. As a result, there are several modes of wetting of a rough surface, and therefore, wetting cannot be characterized by a single number such as the contact angle (CA). Contact angle hysteresis (the difference between the advancing and receding CA) is another important parameter which characterizes wetting (Fig. 1).