Surface energy and surface composition of end-fluorinated polystyrene

Ralf Mason, Claire A. Jalbert, Patricia A.V. O'Rourke Muisener, Jeffrey T. Koberstein, James F. Elman, Tim E. Long, Binnur Z. Gunesin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

Contact angle analysis was applied to characterize the compositions, surface enrichment and surface energies for a homologous series of fluorosilane-terminated polystyrenes (PS-F) ranging from 5300 to 148000 g/mol in molecular weight. Surface enrichment of fluorinated end groups was found to decrease with increasing molecular weight but the relative enrichment of end groups (the ratio of the surface to the bulk concentration) increased with increasing molecular weight. Calculations showed that surface segregation greatly affected surface properties with a 3% concentration of end groups yielding a 39% decrease in surface tension and a 0.1% concentration leading to an 8% decrease. The scaling of polymer surface tension with molecular weight for this system was compared with theory and was found to vary with molecular weight, the power law dependence increasing with molecular weight.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-19
Number of pages19
JournalAdvances in Colloid and Interface Science
Volume94
Issue number1-3
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 15 2001
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Contact angle analysis
  • Fluorosilane-terminated polystyrenes
  • Molecular weight
  • Polymer surface tension
  • Surface enrichment
  • Surface segregation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Surfaces and Interfaces
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Colloid and Surface Chemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Surface energy and surface composition of end-fluorinated polystyrene'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this