A Practical Method for Assessing Hydrophobicity of Smartphone Screen Protectors

Abstract

Hydrophobicity is the property of a surface that repels water. In this study, the sliding behavior of water droplets on different smartphone screen protectors was analyzed as a model for static hydrophobicity. The critical tilt angle at which droplets began to slide was measured for various screen protectors. Contact angles were also recorded and used as the primary measure of surface hydrophobicity. A lower tilt angle was associated with greater hydrophobicity and vice versa. The relationship between contact angle and sliding angle was found to be well-approximated by a negative linear model within the tested range.