Individual carbon nanotubes were immersed and removed from various organic liquids using atomic force microscopy. The carbon nanotube–liquid interactions could be monitored in situ, and accurate measurements of the contact angle between liquids and the nanotube surface were made. These wetting data were used to produce Owens and Wendt plots giving the dispersive and polar components of the nanotube surface.

• Received 29 December 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.186103