Open AccessLiquid film/polymer interfaces
Author(s) -
David L. Allara
Publication year - 2003
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/811808
Subject(s) - wetting , contact angle , adsorption , polymer , siloxane , materials science , alkyl , chemical engineering , surface energy , chemical physics , organic chemistry , chemistry , composite material , engineering
The objectives were: (1) Through experimental studies, advance the fundamental understanding of the principles that govern adsorption and wetting phenomena at polymer and organic surfaces. (2) Establish a firm scientific basis for improving the design of coatings for metal fin cooling surfaces used to control the wetting of water condensate for optimum energy efficiency. Several important findings were: (1) water adsorbed at hydrophobic surfaces has a liquid-like structure, in contrast to the generally held view of an ordered structure; (2) Correlations of large amounts of contact angle wetting data of grafted alkyl chain compounds showed a distinct link between the contact angle and the conformational ordering of the chains; (3) water adsorption at long chain alkysiloxane films showed a strong pH dependence on the film stability, which can be attributed to interfacial chemical effects on the siloxane network