T34 A Showcase of Undergraduate Research in Hydrogeology (Posters)

Sunday, 4 November 2018
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Halls J-K

HOW ROUGHNESS AND CLEANLINESS OF ROCK MINERAL SURFACES CONTROL ITS WETTABILITY

Paper number: T34-22
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

To evaluate wettability of geologic minerals and rocks, their surfaces, at first, are subjected to a polishing routine, which involves sequential polishing from a coarse to a fine grit papers. The polishing routine introduces a degree of ‘surface roughness’, which likely affects the surface wettability measurements. Likewise, differences in surface cleaning procedures, such as usage of DI water, Acetone, Ethanol, and plasma cleaning lead to differences in degree of ‘cleanliness’ or contamination, which influences wettability measurements.

In this study, we systematically subject Quartz, Calcite, and Glass samples to different degrees of polishing, and quantify surface roughness using ‘Confocal Microscopy’. The samples are then subjected to different cleaning procedures, followed by wettability determination from contact angle measurement of air-water system at ambient conditions. Our preliminary results show that polishing from coarse to fine size, which decreases the ‘surface roughness’, transforms the wettability of quartz and calcite minerals from intermediately low wetting to strongly wetting characteristics. Furthermore, we have been able to show control of surface cleanliness through a cleansing procedure, which contributes to tens of degrees of variation in measured contact angles.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 50, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2018AM-323327

© Copyright 2018 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.