Critical assessment of the correlation between surface tension components and Hansen solubility parameters

Surface or interfacial phenomena, including wetting, adsorption, adhesion, and dissolution, are of significant interest for daily life as well as for industrial and engineering applications. Surface tension and the Hansen solubility parameter (HSP) both represent similar physical characteristics related to these phenomena. It is therefore interesting to study the relation between them, and in the present work, reported empirical relations between surface tension and HSP are critically investigated. There exists an approximately proportional relation between total surface tension and HSP, although the coefficient obtained in the present work is much smaller than the commonly reported ones. The result is supported by an estimation of the coefficient using a simple physical model. On the other hand, finding correlations between the partial components of surface tension and HSP appears to be difficult as they are measured differently. The uses of databases from which measurements are taken must also be taken into question. As an example, the surface tension components of diiodomethane are investigated, and the validity of the reported values are called into question.