Pattern formation in thin films of polymer solutions: Theory and simulations

Sarika, CK and Tomar, Gaurav and Basu, JK (2016) Pattern formation in thin films of polymer solutions: Theory and simulations. In: JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 144 (2).

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Abstract

Self-assembly has been recognized as an efficient tool for generating a wide range of functional, chemically, or physically textured surfaces for applications in small scale devices. In this work, we investigate the stability of thin films of polymer solutions. For low concentrations of polymer in the solution, long length scale dewetting patterns are obtained with wavelength approximately few microns. Whereas, for concentrations above a critical value, bimodal dispersion curves are obtained with the dominant wavelength being up to two orders smaller than the usual dewetting length scale. We further show that the short wavelength corresponds to the phase separation in the film resulting in uniformly distributed high and low concentration regions. Interestingly, due to the solvent entropy, at very high concentration values of polymer, a re-entrant behaviour is observed with the dominant length scale now again corresponding to the dewetting wavelength. Thus, we show that the binary films of polymer solutions provide additional control parameters that can be utilized for generating functional textured surfaces for various applications. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
Publisher:	AMER INST PHYSICS
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belongs to the AMER INST PHYSICS, 1305 WALT WHITMAN RD, STE 300, MELVILLE, NY 11747-4501 USA
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Mechanical Engineering Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited:	29 Feb 2016 07:26
Last Modified:	29 Feb 2016 07:26
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/53315

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