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TMI Products PGX+ User Manual

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User's Manual
Program version 4.
0

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Summary of Contents for TMI Products PGX+

  • Page 1 User’s Manual Program version 4.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Calibration and Validation View Mode Calibration Procedure Surface Tension Validation Procedures 9.10 Surface “free” Energy (SFE) Setting up the PGX+instrument 9.11 Options Screen 5.1 Preparing a specimen 9.12 Enhance Mode 5.2 Special specimens 9.13 Baseline & Curtain settings 5.3 The Pump Dispenser 9.14 Camera Gain &...

  • Page 4: Unpacking Your Instrument

    Calibration plate PGX Instrument Accessory Kit Syringe Glass bottle Fig.1.3 PGX+ Instrument Case 2. Technical requirements This version of the PGX+software can be installed under the following operating systems:  Windows 10  Windows 8  Windows 7 (32/64-bit) ...

  • Page 5: Installing The Pgx+Software

     DO NOT connect the PGX+instrument to the USB port until requested by the program! Otherwise Windows will attempt to search for other drivers and the result is unpredictable. a) Insert the CD to start the installation and follow the displayed instructions.

  • Page 6: Calibration And Validation

    Select “Calibrate” from the Image Control Panel. c) Locate the reference mark at the edge of the instrument sole. The calibration plate has a similar mark indicating the”full sphere”. Place the PGX+instrument on top of the calibration plate with its  ...

  • Page 7: Validation Procedures

    4.2 Validation Procedures To verify a correct instrument reading it is much faster to “validate” the instrument using one of the two validation procedures described below. It is recommended to validate the instrument readings at regular intervals. Standard Calibration plates (Perspex) Select “Calibrate”...

  • Page 8: Setting Up The Pgx+Instrument

    5. Setting up the PGX+ instrument Insert the Pump Dispensing Unit into the centre of the Applicator Tube.  The dispensing tip should now appear at the top of the live video image 5.1 Preparing a specimen a) Prepare a specimen as described in Section 6.1. b) Place the PGX+ instrument on top of the specimen.

  • Page 9: The Pump Dispenser

    5.3 The Pump Dispenser The test liquid is applied from the built-in micro-pump via the pump applicator unit. It is suggested the pump system is used for a single standard test liquid (e.g. water or fountain solution).  Use different tubing for each test liquid to avoid contamination! To pump liquids of higher viscosity, or to determine the “wetting hysteresis”...

  • Page 10: Miscellaneous

    6 Miscellaneous 6.1 Sample preparation a) Determine and mark the machine direction of each sample where applicable. Be careful not to touch the areas to be tested, or contaminate them in any other way. b) Determine and mark the “top” and “back” sides of each sample based on the side relevant for the application.

  • Page 11: Instrument Storage

    6.3 Instrument storage The liquid system (dispenser, tubing and liquid container) should never be left with a liquid for a long time as this may clog the system. The procedures below are recommended when your PGX+ is to be stored for some time or shipped to another location. When using the PGX+ with liquids other than water (e.g.

  • Page 12: Test Modes

    7.1 Drop application in Static Mode a) Place the PGX+instrument on top of the test surface. b) Select the requested droplet size and press the PUMP button until the LED is lit. The droplet is now pumped out and then slowly lowered towards the test surface.

  • Page 13: Automatic Testing In Static Mode

    7.2 Automatic testing in Static Mode (Section 9.3) This test gives a single measurement of contact angle, volume and droplet base width after the droplet has reached its “equilibrium” condition. Static contact angle is applicable to solid materials into which the test liquid does not penetrate.

  • Page 14: Automatic Testing In Dynamic Mode

    Three different situations may occur, which can be described as A “pendant” droplet hanging at the dispensing tip (Fig 7.5). To transfer droplet, apply a slightly bigger droplet to overcome the adhesion between the droplet and the dispensing tip or reduce the distance between the droplet and the surface. As the droplet was not applied on the surface, the image capture is not triggered.

  • Page 15: Reports

    g) Immediately click on the Measure button to request a new measurement. As the droplet falls towards the surface a test sequence is automatically triggered.  Please note the droplet must fall within 30 seconds after you have clicked on Measure. h) The camera captures up to 80 images during the first second of contact.

  • Page 16: The Image Control Panel

    9. The PocketGoniometer program Apart from the main program screen, there are two additional screens; the Image Control Panel and the Live Image Screen. The Live Image Screen will always reside on top of the other screens, but its size is adjustable to not interfere with other windows. Double-click on the image to switch the live image between greyscale and binary (black/white) mode.
  • Page 17 This measurement requires a reversible pump flow, which is not possible to do with the micro pump built into the PGX+Measuring Head. SuperLow Mode is designed for measurement of very low static contact angles below 10 degrees related to super clean surfaces.

  • Page 18: Static Mode

    9.3 Static Mode This mode captures single readings of the static contact angle at ”equilibrium” each time the Measure button is pressed. Please note static contact angle measurements are only valid on smooth, non-porous surfaces not penetrated by the test liquid. Typical examples are water droplets on hydrophobic release papers and polymer barriers (e.g.
  • Page 19 AutoRepeat function Normally a single image is captured each time Measure is activated. Right-click with the mouse on this button to open the AutoRepeat option where a number of images can be captured at user defined intervals. Right-click the button again to restore its original function. Remote Control function This option offers selection of droplet size and different drop application modes directly from the PC keyboard without accessing the PGX+ instrument (see section 10 for details).

  • Page 20: Dynamic Mode

    9.4 Dynamic Mode This mode captures a video sequence showing the dynamic interaction between the liquid and the surface. Here the dynamic wetting (contact angle), liquid penetration (volume) and spreading is measured as a function of time. After a droplet has been pumped out at the dispensing tip, a new test is started when the Measure button is pressed.
  • Page 21 How to remove a single data point Click on a line in the Results window to highlight it and press [Delete]. How to correct a “zero result” or make a manual reading A “zero result” usually indicates the test is incorrectly set for a very dark or bright test surface. This is easily corrected by changing the camera settings in the Image Control Panel.

  • Page 22: Manual Testing In Static/Dynamic Mode

    9.5 Manual testing in Static / Dynamic Mode In some special situations, it might be necessary to make a manual determination of the droplet. One example is when the captured droplet image is too bright and therefore does not have a solid contour resulting in a Fig.
  • Page 23 9.5.2 Adjust the position of an incorrect Base line When the automatic base line is set incorrectly, pick up the base line handle (BL) in Figure 9.9 with the mouse and slide it to the correct position. This will activate the button Save data with its light indicator. Right-click on the button to assign a new mode.

  • Page 24: Advancing Mode

    9.6 Advancing Mode This mode captures a video sequence showing the dynamic interaction between a liquid and a surface as the liquid spreads over the dry surface (“wets”) and then retracts from the wet surface (“de-wets”). This interaction, described as “wetting hysteresis”, is characterised by the highest (“advancing”) and lowest (“receding”) contact angles.
  • Page 25 9.6.2 Automatic measurement without using a reversible pump When a reversible pump is not available a liquid droplet can be applied manually from a syringe with the tubing inserted directly into the drop applicator. Alternatively, a pendant droplet of suitable size can be pumped out and the droplet is slowly pushed towards the surface after the test has been initiated.

  • Page 26: Superlow Contact Angles

    9.7 SuperLow contact angles Fig 9.13a. Horizontal view of low contact angle Fig 9.13b. Greyscale view A camera view horizontal to the test surface will still view the base of the droplet at an angle of 3-6 degrees. Light reflected from the back of the droplet, then makes the top of the droplet ”invisible”...
  • Page 27 9.7.2 Automatic measurement of SuperLow Contact Angles Once the applied droplet volume has been determined an automatic test of Super Low angles can be carried out. Place the instrument on a clean test surface free from debris and water droplets and press START to continue.

  • Page 28: View Mode

    The manual results will now appear in the top left-hand corner of the image together with the original data. To save the manual results instead of the original results, click on “Save data”, which will also store the manually selected points superimposed in the image. To select three new points along the contour, click on “Reset”.

  • Page 29: Surface Tension

    9.9 Surface Tension The instrument must be placed on a stable, horizontal table to give correct results. A sufficiently big pendant droplet must be pumped out at the dispensing tip to determine the surface tension from the droplet shape (Bashfort-Adams). The critical dimensions are calculated from a polynomial curve fitting at sub-pixel resolution with an accuracy of 10 mm, which offers an accuracy of ±...

  • Page 30: Surface"Free" Energy (Sfe)

    9.10 Surface”free” Energy (SFE) As this surface property cannot be measured directly; it is calculated from contact angle measurements using different, properly characterised liquids. Depending on the substrate, one or more liquids are used. Please note SFE calculations are subject to the following constraints: No penetration of test liquid into surface (check that volume remains constant over time) No chemical reaction between test liquid and surface (check contact angle is constant over time) Surface must by sufficiently smooth...
  • Page 31 The second option ‘Polar/Dispersive’ uses contact angle readings from two selected test liquids to determine the SFE of a substrate. Here the two first liquid fields (Water and DIM) are activated. For these calculations, the Harmonic approach (Wu) is used as the first option as this is considered 'more accurate'.

  • Page 32: Options Screen

    The program will automatically search for associated result fields. The condition is, however, that all files must use the same ID as a file name (e.g. 45901.wgs and 45901.dgs). The operator can still overwrite information displayed in the contact angle fields, in which case the Sample ID window will be erased.

  • Page 33: Enhance Mode

    Online Help_ is the full User’s Manual supplied with the program Font offers other fonts necessary for foreign languages Maintenance_ runs diagnostic tests on the PG program _Language offers additional language versions Support creates a diagnostic file used for support issues Performance check This function tests the capture rate from the USB camera.

  • Page 34: Camera Gain & Threshold

    9.13 Base Line determination A water droplet applied on a reflecting background will appear as a dark ’saucer’ when the contact angle is below 90 degrees. A high contact angle above 90 degrees will appear as a ’black snowman’ with a waist against the white background. Similarly a contact angle of 90 degrees will result in a black circular shape.

  • Page 35: Translation Of The User Interface

    9.17 Translation of the User Interface The text of control buttons and the screens is controlled from a language file named PG_NNN.LGG, where NNN indicates the international short form country code (e.g. PG_CHT.LGG for traditional Chinese). The language file can be edited with a regular text editor (e.g. NOTEPAD.EXE). Try to use ‘short words’...

  • Page 36: Trouble Shooting

    Drop Application Mode (Up / Down) applies the pendant droplet on the test surface by lowering the droplet onto the surface (“Touch Down”) or lifts the droplet to be released with a small controlled force (“Impact”). Delay (seconds) The Delay parameter has different functions depending on type of measurement. Static Mode …………..….
  • Page 37 The micro-pump runs but does not produce a droplet a) Make sure liquid system is filled as described in section 5.3. b) If pump runs but liquid does not appear at the dispensing tip, make sure the pump lid screw (C in Figure D-2) is firmly tightened.

  • Page 38: Recommended Droplet Sizes

    Appendix A A.1 Recommended droplet sizes The default droplet size is 4,0 µl, which has been used as the recommended size in contact angle testing for historical reasons. In general the contact angle is not affected by the droplet size as long as the droplet is not affected by the gravity.

  • Page 39: Experienced Problems

    Appendix B B.1 Experienced problems Bundled operating systems We have come across occasional problems with modified operating systems delivered with certain computers. As a result the displayed image might not appear or it will freeze up on the screen. Kindly note we can take no responsibility for the use of modified operating systems, as these are completely outside our control.

  • Page 40: Replacement Of Pump Tubing

    Appendix D D.1 Replacement of Pump Tubing a) Remove the pump tubing from its holder b) Open up the pump lid screw (C) and lift up the pump lid. c) Disconnect the old pump tubing from the liquid container and the cannulus connected to the droplet dispenser.

  • Page 41: Adjustment Of Pump Volume

    D.2 Adjustment of Pump Volume The micro pump delivers droplets in steps of 0,5 µl and for a target volume of 4,0 µl the pump will make eight pump movements. The Static Mode can be used to measure the average volume from six droplets applied on a non-absorbent specimen surface (e.g.

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