Alkylsilane self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are often used as model substrates for their ease of preparation and hydrophobic properties. We have observed that these atomically smooth monolayers also provide a slip boundary condition for dewetting films composed of unentangled polymers. This slip length, an indirect measure of the friction between a given liquid and different solids, is switchable and can be increased [R. Fetzer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 127801 (2005); O. Bäumchen et al., J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 24, 325102 (2012)] if the alkyl chain length is changed from 18 to 12 backbone carbons, for example. Typically, this change in boundary condition is affected in a quantized way, using one or the other alkyl chain length, thus obtaining one or the other slip length. Here, we present results in which this SAM structure is changed in a continuous way. We prepare bidisperse mixed SAMs of alkyl silanes, with the composition as a control parameter. We find that all the mixed SAMs investigated show an enhanced slip boundary condition as compared to the single-component SAMs. The slip boundary condition is accessed using optical and atomic force microscopy, and we describe these observations in the context of X-ray reflectivity measurements. The slip length, varying over nearly two orders of magnitude, of identical polymer melts on chemically similar SAMs is found to correlate with the density of exposed alkyl chains. Our results demonstrate the importance of a well characterized solid/liquid pair, down to the angstrom level, when discussing the friction between a liquid and a solid.
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28 May 2017
Research Article|
March 30 2017
Influence of bidisperse self-assembled monolayer structure on the slip boundary condition of thin polymer films
Special Collection:
JCP Editors' Choice 2017
Joshua D. McGraw;
Joshua D. McGraw
a)
1Soft Matter Physics Group, Experimental Physics,
Saarland University
, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany
2Département de Physique,
Ecole Normale Supérieure/PSL Research University, CNRS
, 24 Rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
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Mischa Klos;
Mischa Klos
1Soft Matter Physics Group, Experimental Physics,
Saarland University
, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany
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Antoine Bridet
;
Antoine Bridet
1Soft Matter Physics Group, Experimental Physics,
Saarland University
, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany
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Hendrik Hähl;
Hendrik Hähl
1Soft Matter Physics Group, Experimental Physics,
Saarland University
, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany
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Michael Paulus;
Michael Paulus
3
Fakultät Physik/DELTA, TU Dortmund
, 44221 Dortmund, Germany
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Juan Manuel Castillo;
Juan Manuel Castillo
4Laboratory of Engineering Thermodynamics,
University of Kaiserslautern
, Erwin-Schrödinger-Strasse 44, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
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Martin Horsch;
Martin Horsch
4Laboratory of Engineering Thermodynamics,
University of Kaiserslautern
, Erwin-Schrödinger-Strasse 44, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
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Karin Jacobs
Karin Jacobs
b)
1Soft Matter Physics Group, Experimental Physics,
Saarland University
, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany
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J. Chem. Phys. 146, 203326 (2017)
Article history
Received:
November 09 2016
Accepted:
March 03 2017
Citation
Joshua D. McGraw, Mischa Klos, Antoine Bridet, Hendrik Hähl, Michael Paulus, Juan Manuel Castillo, Martin Horsch, Karin Jacobs; Influence of bidisperse self-assembled monolayer structure on the slip boundary condition of thin polymer films. J. Chem. Phys. 28 May 2017; 146 (20): 203326. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4978676
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