Relationship between Spreading Rate and Wetting Behaviour of Oil on Surface of Surfactant Solution

We report a systematic investigation of the spreading of a polydimethylsiloxane oil layer on flat surfaces of solution containing anionic surfactant of sodium dodecylsulfate. The experiment reveals that different wetting behaviours of the oil follow different spreading rates. In the case of complete wetting, it obeys a 0.75 power law, while in the pseudopartial wetting it follows a non-power law. The results can well be explained by a new simple theory of spreading. The theory further predicts that for a complete wetting state there exists another spreading rate.