Reduction of polymer surface tension by crystallized polymer nanoparticles
Abstract
Self-consistent field theory is applied to investigate the effects of crystallized polymer nanoparticles
on polymer surface tension. It is predicted that the nanoparticles locate preferentially at the polymer
surface and significantly reduce the surface tension, in agreement with experiment. In addition to the
reduction of surface tension, the width of the polymer surface is found to narrow. The reduced width
and surface tension are due to the smaller spatial extent of the nanoparticles compared to the
polymer. This allows the interface to become less diffuse and so reduces the energies of interaction
at the surface, which lowers the surface tension. The solubility of the surrounding solvent phase into
the polymer melt is mostly unchanged, a very slight decrease being detectable. The solubility is
constant because away from the interface, the system is homogeneous and the replacement of
polymer with nanoparticles has little effect.
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Cite this version of the work
Russell Thompson, Chul B. Park, P. Chen
(2010).
Reduction of polymer surface tension by crystallized polymer nanoparticles. UWSpace.
http://hdl.handle.net/10012/10300
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