Renate Fetzer

Slip-controlled thin-film dynamics

In this study, we present a novel method to assess the slip length and the viscosity of thin films of highly viscous Newtonian liquids. We quantitatively analyse dewetting fronts of low-molecular-weight polystyrene melts on octadecyl- (OTS) and dodecyltrichlorosilane (DTS) polymer brushes. Using a thin-film (lubrication) model derived in the limit of large slip lengths, we can extract slip length and viscosity. We study polymer films with thicknesses between 50 nm and 230 nm and various temperatures above the glass transition. We find slip lengths from 100 nm up to 1 μm on OTS- and between 300 nm and 10 μm on DTS-covered silicon wafers. The slip length decreases with temperature. The obtained values for the viscosity are consistent with independent measurements.

Solid surface structure affects liquid order at the polystyrene-self-assembled-monolayer interface.

We present a combined x-ray and neutron reflectivity study characterizing the interface between polystyrene (PS) and silanized surfaces. Motivated by the large difference in slip velocity of PS on top of dodecyl-trichlorosilane (DTS) and octadecyl-trichlorosilane (OTS) found in previous studies, these two systems were chosen for the present investigation. The results reveal the molecular conformation of PS on silanized silicon. Differences in the molecular tilt of OTS and DTS are replicated by the adjacent phenyl rings of the PS. We discuss our findings in terms of a potential link between the microscopic interfacial structure and dynamic properties of polymeric liquids at interfaces.

Sliding fluids: Dewetting experiments reveal the solid/liquid boundary condition

Nanoscale liquid polymer films are ideal candidates to probe the solid/liquid boundary condition: Prepared on hydrophobized Si wafer, the films are not stable, they dewet. The dewetting induces a flow without applying an external force. Probing the dynamics of the dewetting film and the morphology of the liquid front, we can deduce the slip length. A variation of the type of hydrophobic coating (silane or Teflon®) of the Si wafer enables us to tune the boundary condition from a no-slip to a nearly full-slip condition. For a short introduction to the topic, we offer a phenomenological approach and supply multimedia files.

Comprehensive Analysis of Dewetting Profiles to Quantify Hydrodynamic Slip

Hydrodynamic slip of Newtonian liquids is a new phenomenon, the origin of which is not yet clarified. There are various direct and indirect techniques to measure slippage. Here we describe a method to characterize the influence of slippage on the shape of rims surrounding growing holes in thin polymer films. Atomic force microscopy is used to study the shape of the rim; by analyzing its profile and applying an appropriate lubrication model we are able to determine the slip length for polystyrene films. In the experiments we study polymer films below the entanglement length that dewet from hydrophobized (silanized) surfaces. We show that the slip length at the solid/liquid interface increases with increasing viscosity. The correlation between viscosity and slip length is dependent on the type of silanization. This indicates a link between the molecular mechanism of the interaction of polymer chains and silane molecules under flow conditions that we will discuss in detail.