BACKGROUND: Leaf surfaces can have similar wettability, while their roughness and polarity may be very different. This may affect agrochemical bioefficacy, hence there is a need to characterise leaf surface polarity and roughness separately. This paper reviews established surface evaluation techniques and then uses a comprehensive dataset of static contact angles (12 chemical solutions on 15 different species) to compare and contrast them for their ability to characterise leaf surface polarity in isolation from roughness. RESULTS: Many techniques were severely limited when applied to leaf surfaces. A failing of the surface free energy (SFE) concept is that both physical and chemical properties affect the SFE. Additionally, whilst the leaf surface chemistry does not change, the SFE values generated are dependent on the chemical properties of the probe solution employed. CONCLUSIONS: The wetting tension-dielectric (WTD) method stands out due to its ability to isolate and quantify leaf surface roughness and polarity. A novel (WTD) roughness correction factor is proposed to improve SFE determination. The strong correlation between leaf polarity and leaf wettability for polar solutions (such as water) makes the WTD method a valuable tool for the evaluation of leaf surface-droplet behaviour and the advancement of agrochemical spray formulation technologies.
BACKGROUND: Leaf surfaces can have similar wettability, while their roughness and polarity may be very different. This may affect agrochemical bioefficacy, hence there is a need to characterise leaf surface polarity and roughness separately. This paper reviews established surface evaluation techniques and then uses a comprehensive dataset of static contact angles (12 chemical solutions on 15 different species) to compare and contrast them for their ability to characterise leaf surface polarity in isolation from roughness. RESULTS: Many techniques were severely limited when applied to leaf surfaces. A failing of the surface free energy (SFE) concept is that both physical and chemical properties affect the SFE. Additionally, whilst the leaf surface chemistry does not change, the SFE values generated are dependent on the chemical properties of the probe solution employed. CONCLUSIONS: The wetting tension-dielectric (WTD) method stands out due to its ability to isolate and quantify leaf surface roughness and polarity. A novel (WTD) roughness correction factor is proposed to improve SFE determination. The strong correlation between leaf polarity and leaf wettability for polar solutions (such as water) makes the WTD method a valuable tool for the evaluation of leaf surface-droplet behaviour and the advancement of agrochemical spray formulation technologies.