Abstract

Interest in wetting has been rapidly growing over the past few decades across different applied and theoretical fields of study. On the applied front, it plays a crucial role in many technological processes, from the vapor-liquid-solid growth of nanowires, to labs-on-chip and to applications in superhydrophobicity and nanofluidics [1–6]. It is also rich in fundamental questions. The physical mechanisms responsible for the height of liquid–gas interface during adsorption are directly linked to the small-scale workings of the atomic world. In particular, changes between the so-called Wenzel and Cassie–Baxter states of drops sitting on rough surfaces, as well as the effects of contact angle hysteresis during droplet spreading still remain in debate [7,8]. At the same time, the competition between the fluid–fluid and fluid–substrate interactions and interface fluctuations often leads to the appearance of exciting interfacial phase transitions and associated critical phenomena [9–19].