A 3D printed modular contact angle analyser

Contact angle measurements are a powerful tool for understanding the relationships between liquids and solids. Understanding this relationship is fundamental across a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines, including materials science, biomedical engineering, coatings technology, and surface chemistry. Although acquiring contact angle measurements is a relatively straightforward technique, current commercial instrumentation is prohibitively expensive, with even the most affordable systems costing >2000 USD. Here we present an almost fully 3D-printed contact angle analyser for 100 USD which still achieves comparable accuracy and precision to commercial solutions. Furthermore, this device can measure interfacial tension between two immiscible liquids, through additional 3D-printed modules. Finally, we have developed a web-based app for analysis, enabling easy data processing across a variety of environments. We also demonstrate comparable performance of our free online analysis tool relative to the free standalone alternative, ImageJ, allowing users to select whichever software is best suited to their use case.

All files required to 3D print the contact angle analyser described in the paper “A 3D Printed Modular Contact Angle Analyser” are provided here. For detailed assembly instructions, please refer to the publication. These files include all components necessary to fabricate and assemble the complete device.

For printing the parts that make up the contact angle analyser, we recommend using a standard FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) 3D printer. Optimal print settings include a 0.4 mm nozzle, a 0.20 mm layer height, and a wall thickness of three perimeters to ensure sufficient structural integrity. An infill density of 20% with a gyroid pattern is suggested, as this provides a good balance between mechanical strength and material efficiency.