{"term":{"id":"06687","title":"work of adhesion","longtitle":"IUPAC Gold Book - work of adhesion","doi":"10.1351\/goldbook.W06687","code":"W06687","status":"current","synonym":"<em>synonym<\/em>: work of separation","definitions":[{"id":1,"text":"The work of adhesion per unit area, \\(w_{\\rm{A}}^{\\unicode[Times]{x3B1} \\unicode[Times]{x3B2} \\unicode[Times]{x3B4} }\\), is the work done on the system when two condensed phases $\\ce{\\upalpha\\!}$ and $\\ce{\\upbeta\\!}$, forming an interface of unit area are separated reversibly to form unit areas of each of the $\\ce{\\upalpha\\!\\updelta\\!\\mbox{-}}$ and $\\ce{\\upbeta\\!\\updelta\\!\\mbox{-}}$ interfaces. \\[w_{\\rm{A}}^{\\unicode[Times]{x3B1} \\unicode[Times]{x3B2} \\unicode[Times]{x3B4} }=\\gamma ^{\\unicode[Times]{x3B1} \\unicode[Times]{x3B4} }+\\gamma ^{\\unicode[Times]{x3B2} \\unicode[Times]{x3B4} }- \\gamma ^{\\unicode[Times]{x3B1} \\unicode[Times]{x3B2} }\\] where \\(\\gamma ^{\\unicode[Times]{x3B1} \\unicode[Times]{x3B2} }\\), \\(\\gamma ^{\\unicode[Times]{x3B1} \\unicode[Times]{x3B4} }\\) and \\(\\gamma ^{\\unicode[Times]{x3B2} \\unicode[Times]{x3B4} }\\) are the surface tensions between two bulk phases $\\ce{\\upalpha\\!}$, $\\ce{\\upbeta\\!}$; $\\ce{\\upalpha\\!}$, $\\ce{\\updelta\\!}$ and $\\ce{\\upbeta\\!}$, $\\ce{\\updelta\\!}$ respectively. The work of adhesion as defined above, and traditionally used, may be called the work of separation.","links":[{"term":"interface","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/I03082"},{"term":"surface tensions","url":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/\/terms\/view\/S06192"}],"sources":["PAC, 1972, 31, 577. 'Manual of Symbols and Terminology for Physicochemical Quantities and Units, Appendix II: Definitions, Terminology and Symbols in Colloid and Surface Chemistry' on page 597 (https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1351\/pac197231040577)"]}],"altoutputs":{"html":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/W06687\/html","xml":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/W06687\/xml","plain":"https:\/\/goldbook.iupac.org\/terms\/view\/W06687\/plain"},"citation":"Citation: 'work of adhesion' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351\/goldbook.W06687","license":"The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/) for individual terms.","collection":"If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .","disclaimer":"The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.","accessed":"2026-06-12T04:43:35+00:00"}}