Wetting Behavior of Polymer Droplets: Effects of Droplet Size and Chain Length

Abstract

Monte Carlo computer simulations were utilized to probe the behavior of homopolymer droplets adsorbed at solid surfaces as a function of the number of chains making up the droplets and varying droplet sizes. The wetting behavior is quantified via the ratio of the perpendicular to the parallel component of the effective radii of gyration of the droplets and is analyzed further in terms of the adsorption behavior of the polymer chains and the monomers that constitute the droplets. This analysis is complemented by an account of the shape of the droplets in terms of the principal moments of the radius of gyration tensor.Single-chain droplets are found to lie flatter and wet the substrate more than chemically identical multi-chain droplets, which attain a more globular shape and wet the substrate less.The simulation findings are in good agreement with atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments. The present investigation illustrates a marked dependence of wetting and adsorption on certain structural arrangements and propose this dependence as a technique through which polymer wetting may be tuned.

Novel Diffusion Mechanism of Polymers Pinned to an Attractive Impurity

“…If hydrodynamic effects are relevant, the size dependence is [ 6 , 14 ]. Effects due to confinement, for example, of polymer chains lengths in droplets of various sizes have also been studied [ 28 , 29 ].…”

Triptycene‐based fluorescent polymers with pendant alkyl chains: interaction with fullerenes and morphology of thin films

“…It has been shown that the entropically driven wettability can be tailored in a controllable fashion by varying the functionality of polymers. Some other theoretical arguments have also been proposed for predicting the effect of chain length of polymers on wetting/dewetting behaviours . In the work presented here, we attempted to study the effect of chain length on dewetting behaviour of TPPE thin films on silicon surfaces.…”

“…The wetting property of a polymer droplet is known to be dependent on several factors such as its size, structure, functional groups, etc. 47 The morphologies of polymer thin films thus obtained are reported to vary from continuous films to various discontinuous films including fractals, honeycombs and droplets because of dewetting phenomena. 48,49 Interesting nanostructures such as pancake-like aggregates, zigzag structures and Janus and tripod structures were observed depending on the polymer chain conformations.…”

“…Some other theoretical arguments have also been proposed for predicting the effect of chain length of polymers on wetting/dewetting behaviours. 47 In the work presented here, we attempted to study the effect of chain length on dewetting behaviour of TPPE thin films on silicon surfaces. AFM images revealed three distinct dewetting patterns for the polymers with three different pendant chain lengths.…”

“…The wetting property of a polymer droplet is known to be dependent on several factors such as its size, structure, functional groups, etc . The morphologies of polymer thin films thus obtained are reported to vary from continuous films to various discontinuous films including fractals, honeycombs and droplets because of dewetting phenomena .…”