Premium
Effect of roughness as determined by atomic force microscopy on the wetting properties of PTFE thin films
Author(s) -
Miller J. D.,
Veeramasuneni S.,
Drelich J.,
Yalamanchili M. R.,
Yamauchi G.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.10580
Subject(s) - wetting , materials science , contact angle , surface roughness , surface finish , composite material , nanometre , atomic force microscopy , coating , nanotechnology
The influence of film roughness on the wetting properties of vacuum‐deposited polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) thin films has been investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle goniometry. Surface roughness has been characterized by atomic force microscopy in terms of RMS roughness ( R q ) and fractal dimensions. A contact angle correlation with surface roughness, as determined by AFM, is evident from these results, which are discussed on the basis of wetting theory. The results also confirm that the high water contact angles (as high as 150°) recently observed at the surface of a new water repulsive coating material (mixture of PTFE and binder) are because of surface roughness. Such measurements clarify the effect of nanometer‐size surface asperities on the wetting properties of hydrophobic coating.