Line tension in the thermodynamics of thin liquid films

The results of theoretical and experimental studies of line tension in thin liquid films and three-phase systems in the last 20 years have been examined and generalised. The main theories of line tension, the reported measurements of its magnitude and sign, and the results of numerical calculations of the line tension on the basis of various thermodynamic models have been analysed. The results of this analysis are discussed in terms of the generalised theory of line tension.
The bibliography includes 74 references.