Dewetting: Nucleation and growth of dry regions

Self-Organization via Dewetting in Polymeric Assemblies

Dewetting is a spontaneous process involving a thin liquid film that minimizes interfacial energy by reducing the surface area via the generation of defects on the film. In industry, dewetting is regarded as a problem that results in defects or a heterogeneous surface; however, in this study, dewetting is intentionally induced to create various patterns at intended positions spontaneously with polymeric materials and nanoparticles. The dewetting-induced patterning process is conducted by controlling the capillary force and evaporation ratio through an evaporative self-assembly system. The linear-polymeric arrays on the substrate played an important role in modifying the surface geometry and treatment for a heterogeneous surface, and an additional patterning process is performed on patterned arrays to create dewetting-induced self-organizing patterns. Here, this method is used to introduce material arrays with specific shapes such as dots, dumbbells, potbellies, Vs, and trapezoids.

An efficient solution based on the synergistic effects of nickel foam in NiFe-LDH nanosheets for oil/water separation

Efficient oil-water separation has always been a research hotspot in the field of environmental studies. Employing a one-step hydrothermal approach, NiFe-layered double hydroxides (LDH) nanosheets were synthesized on nickel foam substrates. The resulting NiFe-LDH/NF membrane exhibited rejection rates exceeding 99% across six diverse oil-water mixtures, concurrently demonstrating a remarkable ultra-high flux of 1.4 × 106 L·m-2·h-1. This flux value significantly surpasses those documented in existing literature, maintaining stable performance over 1000 manual filtration cycles. These breakthroughs stem from the synergistic interplay among the three-dimensional channels of the nickel foam, the nanosheets, and the hydration layer. By leveraging the pore size of the foam to enhance the functionality of the hydration layer, the conventional trade-off between permeability and selectivity was transformed into a balanced force relationship between the hydration layer and the oil phase. The operational and failure mechanisms of the hydration layer were examined using the prepared NiFe-LDH/NF membrane, validating the correlation between oil phase viscosity and density with hydration layer rupture. Additionally, an extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) theory was employed to investigate changes in interaction energy, further reinforcing the study's findings. This research contributes novel insights and assistance to the comprehension and application of hydration layers in other membrane studies dedicated to oil-water separation.

Solution and Solid-State Behavior of Amphiphilic ABA Triblock Copolymers of Poly(acrylic acid-stat-styrene)-block-poly(butyl acrylate)-block-poly(acrylic acid-stat-styrene)

A combination of statistical and triblock copolymer properties is explored to produce stable aqueous polymer dispersions suitable for the film formation. In order to perform an extensive structural characterization of the products in the dissolved, dispersed, and solid states, a wide range of symmetrical poly(acrylic acid-stat-styrene)_x-block-poly(butyl acrylate)_y-block-poly(acrylic acid-stat-styrene)_x, poly(AA-st-St)_x-b-PBA_y-b-poly(AA-st-St)_x, (x = 56, 108 and 140, y = 100–750; the AA:St molar ratio is 42:58) triblock copolymers were synthesized by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) solution polymerization using a bifunctional symmetrical RAFT agent. It is demonstrated that the amphiphilic statistical outer blocks can provide sufficient stabilization to largely hydrophobic particles in aqueous dispersions. Such a molecular design provides an advantage over copolymers composed only of homoblocks, as a simple variation of the statistical block component ratio provides an efficient way to control the hydrophilicity of the stabilizer block, which ultimately affects the copolymer morphology in solutions and solid films. It was found by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) that the copolymers behaved as dissolved chains in methylethylketone (MEK) but self-assembled in water into stable and well-defined spherical particles that increased in size with the length of the hydrophobic PBA block. These particles possessed an additional particulate surface structure formed by the statistical copolymer stabilizer block, which self-folded through the hydrophobic interactions between the styrene units. SAXS and atomic force microscopy showed that the copolymer films cast from the MEK solutions formed structures predicted by self-consistent field theory for symmetrical triblock copolymers, while the aqueous dispersions formed structural morphologies similar to a close-packed spheres, as would be expected for copolymer particles trapped kinetically due to the restricted movement of the blocks in the initial aqueous dispersion. A strong correlation between the structural morphology and mechanical properties of the films was observed. It was found that the properties of the solvent cast films were highly dependent on the ratios of the hard [poly(AA-st-St)] and soft (PBA) blocks, while the aqueous cast films did not show such a dependence. The continuous phase of hard blocks, always formed in the case of the aqueous cast films, produced films with a higher elastic modulus and a lower extension-to-break in a comparison with the solvent-cast films.

Dewetting Dynamics of Sheared Thin Polymer Films: An Experimental Study

An experimental investigation is reported on the effect of shear on the bursting of molten ultrathin polymer films embedded in an immiscible matrix. By use of an optical microscope coupled with a shearing hot stage, the dewetting dynamics, i.e., the growth of dewetting holes, is monitored over time at various shear rates. It is observed that their circularity is modified by shear and that for all temperatures and thicknesses studied the growth speed of the formed holes rapidly increases with increasing shear rate. A model balancing capillary forces and viscous dissipation while taking into account shear thinning is then proposed and captures the main features of the experimental data, such as the ellipsoid shape of the holes and the faster dynamics in the direction parallel to the shear. This research will help to understand the instabilities occurring during processing of layered polymeric structures, such as multilayer coextrusion.

Energy of a Drop Required to Break a Liquid Film

An external disturbance can destabilize and break a liquid film on a nonwettable surface. Previous studies focused on evaluating critical film thickness for a spontaneous breakup, but the required energy has been unknown. We experimentally found that the energy of a drop to break a liquid film is an order of magnitude more than that predicted by a free energy balance. Here, we show how to evaluate the energy needed to rupture a liquid film by considering the formation of a crater with a critical size.

In-vitro dewetting properties of planned replacement and daily disposable silicone hydrogel contact lenses

AIM

To compare the in-vitro videokeratoscopic surface dewetting properties of new-generation silicone hydrogel (SiH) planned replacement contact lenses (CL) with those of daily disposable CLs.

METHOD

A chrome coated cornea model was used for the in-vitro evaluation of surface dewetting. Pre-lens and post-lens film layers were formed by instilling a normal preservative-free normal saline solution (PFNs) (0.9 %) before and after the placement of the CL on the model cornea. The tests were carried out on fanfilcon A, lotrafilcon B, samfilcon A, and senofilcon A lenses, as well as such daily disposable lenses as delefilcon, nesofilcon A and senofilcon one day. Using videokeratoscopic methods, images were obtained at 30-second intervals up to 180 s in the lens and control groups and were analyzed by the ImajeJ® program.

RESULTS

The mean measured area of the keratoscopic rings was largest in the fanfilcon group (67.56 mm²), followed by 61.53 mm² in the lotrafilcon A group and 64.60 mm² in the samfilcon group, while the smallest area was measured in the senofilcon A group, at 56.90 mm². The area was measured as 64.33, 63.09 and 68.39 mm² for the delefilcon, nesofilcon and Senofilcon one day CLs, respectively. The dewetting patterns and properties differed in the CL groups (p < 0.05), while no significant differences were found between the measured areas of the planned replacement and daily disposable CL groups (p > 0.05).

DISCUSSION

Videokeratoscopy using in-vitro cornea models has been identified as a reproducible and reliable method for the analysis of the surface dewetting of CLs. The dewetting characteristics of CL groups have been found to differ from each other, despite all being produced from SiH materials. The surface wetting coating has been shown to affect CL dewetting performance.

Thermodynamic Stability of Volatile Droplets and Thin Films Governed by Disjoining Pressure in Open and Closed Containers

Distributed thin films of water and their coexistence with droplets are investigated using a capillary description based on a thermodynamic fundamental relation for the film Helmholtz energy, derived from disjoining pressure isotherms and an accurate equation of state. Gas-film and film-solid interfacial tensions are derived, and the latter has a dependence on film thickness. The resulting energy functionals from the capillary description are discretized, and stationary states are identified. The thermodynamic stability of configurations with thin films in systems that are closed (canonical ensemble) or connected to a particle reservoir (grand canonical ensemble) is evaluated by considering the eigenvalues of the corresponding Hessian matrices. The conventional stability criterion from the literature states that thin flat films are stable when the derivative of the disjoining pressure with respect to the film thickness is negative. This criterion is found to apply only in open systems. A closer inspection of the eigenvectors of the negative eigenvalues shows that condensation/evaporation destabilizes the film in an open system. In closed systems, thin films can be stable even though the disjoining pressure derivative is positive, and their stability is governed by mechanical instabilities of a similar kind to those responsible for spinodal dewetting in nonvolatile systems. The films are stabilized when their thickness and disjoining pressure derivative are such that the minimum unstable wavelength is larger than the container diameter. Droplets in coexistence with thin films are found to be unstable for all considered examples in open systems. In closed systems, they are found to be stable under certain conditions. The unstable droplets in both open and closed systems are saddle points in their respective energy landscapes. In the closed system, they represent the activation barrier for the transition between a stable film and a stable droplet. In the open system, the unstable droplets represent the activation barrier for the transition from a film into a bulk liquid phase. Thin films are found to be the equilibrium configuration up to a certain value of the total density in a closed system. Beyond this value, there is a morphological phase transition to stable droplet configurations.

Bubble-Driven Detachment of Bacteria from Confined Microgeometries

Moving air-liquid interfaces, for example, bubbles, play a significant role in the detachment and transport of colloids and microorganisms in confined systems as well as unsaturated porous media. Moreover, they can effectively prevent and/or postpone the development of mature biofilms on surfaces that are colonized by bacteria. Here we demonstrate the dynamics and quantify the effectiveness of this bubble-driven detachment process for the bacterial strain Staphylococcus aureus. We investigate the effects of interface velocity and geometrical factors through microfluidic experiments that mimic some of the confinement features of pore-scale geometries. Depending on the bubble velocity U, at least three different flow regimes are found. These operating flow regimes not only affect the efficiency of the detachment process but also modify the final distribution of the bacteria on the surface. We organize our results according to the capillary number, [Formula: see text], where μ and γ are the viscosity and the surface tension, respectively. Bubbles at very low velocities, corresponding to capillary numbers Ca < 5 × 10^-5, exhibit detachment efficiencies of up to 80% at the early stage of bacterial adhesion. In contrast, faster bubbles at capillary numbers Ca > 10^-3, have lower detachment efficiencies and cause significant nonuniformities in the final distribution of the cells on the substrate. This effect is associated with the formation of a thin liquid film around the bubble at higher Ca. In general, at higher bubble velocities bacterial cells in the corners of the geometry are less influenced by the bubble passage compared to the central region.

Large-area graphene-based nanofiltration membranes by shear alignment of discotic nematic liquid crystals of graphene oxide

Graphene-based membranes demonstrating ultrafast water transport, precise molecular sieving of gas and solvated molecules shows great promise as novel separation platforms; however, scale-up of these membranes to large-areas remains an unresolved problem. Here we demonstrate that the discotic nematic phase of graphene oxide (GO) can be shear aligned to form highly ordered, continuous, thin films of multi-layered GO on a support membrane by an industrially adaptable method to produce large-area membranes (13 × 14 cm²) in <5 s. Pressure driven transport data demonstrate high retention (>90%) for charged and uncharged organic probe molecules with a hydrated radius above 5 Å as well as modest (30–40%) retention of monovalent and divalent salts. The highly ordered graphene sheets in the plane of the membrane make organized channels and enhance the permeability (71±5 l m⁻² hr⁻¹ bar⁻¹ for 150±15 nm thick membranes).

Membranes made from graphene have ultra-fast water transport and precise molecular sieving properties. Here, the authors show how large-area membranes can be manufactured by a rapid and scalable process based on shear alignment of graphene-oxide liquid crystals for unlocking industrial applications.

Thickness, composition, and molecular structure of residual thin films formed by forced dewetting of Ag from glycerol/D₂O solutions

The thickness, composition, and interfacial molecular structure of residual thin films retained on the surface of polycrystalline Ag substrates after being forcibly dewet from glycerol/D2O solutions are investigated using contact angle measurements, ellipsometry, and polarization modulation-infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS). Residual film thicknesses are rationalized on the basis of the relevant long-range van der Waals and structural forces leading to residual film formation along with the interfacial glycerol and D2O structure. Unique interfacial composition, wherein glycerol preferentially segregates to the residual film interfaces, is substantiated by PM-IRRAS. Thus, the residual films possess composition and molecular structure that differ from those of bulk solution. Specifically, in the thinnest residual films, glycerol interacts strongly with the Ag substrate, leading to glycerol that is more ordered than the bulk liquid that coexists with bulk-like D2O. In thicker residual films, the glycerol mole fraction is still enhanced relative to the bulk solution, but both ordered and liquid-like glycerol species are observed along with D2O that is more strongly hydrogen-bonded than in the bulk. The creation of residual films by forced dewetting and their interrogation by spectroscopic methods are thus demonstrated to represent a powerful approach for characterizing interfacial liquid molecular structure near solid surfaces but beyond the first monolayer under ambient conditions.

Disjoining pressure and capillarity in the constrained vapor bubble heat transfer system

Using the disjoining pressure concept in a seminal paper, Derjaguin, Nerpin and Churaev demonstrated that isothermal liquid flow in a very thin film on the walls of a capillary tube enhances the rate of evaporation of moisture by several times. The objective of this review is to present the evolution of the use of Churaev's seminal research in the development of the Constrained Vapor Bubble (CVB) heat transfer system. In this non-isothermal "wickless heat pipe", liquid and vapor flow results from gradients in the intermolecular force field, which depend on the disjoining pressure, capillarity and temperature. A Kelvin-Clapeyron model allowed the use of the disjoining pressure to be expanded to describe non-isothermal heat, mass and momentum transport processes. The intermolecular force field described by the convenient disjoining pressure model is the boundary condition for "suction" and stability at the leading edge of the evaporating curved flow field. As demonstrated by the non-isothermal results, applications that depend on the characteristics of the evaporating meniscus are legion.

Rupture of thin films formed during droplet impact

Rupture of liquid films formed during droplet impact on a dry solid surface was studied experimentally. Water droplets (580±70 μm) were photographed as they hit a solid substrate at high velocities (10–30 m s −1 ). Droplet–substrate wettability was varied over a wide range, from hydrophilic to superhydrophobic, by changing the material of the substrate (glass, Plexiglas, wax and alkylketene dimer). Both smooth and rough wax surfaces were tested. Photographs of impact showed that as the impact velocity increased and the film thickness decreased, films became unstable and ruptured internally through the formation of holes. However, the impact velocity at which rupture occurred was found to first decrease and then increase with the liquid–solid contact angle, with wax showing rupture at all impact velocities tested. A thermodynamic stability analysis combined with a droplet spreading model predicted the rupture behaviour by showing that films would be stable at very small or at very large contact angles, but unstable in between. Film rupture was found to be greatly promoted by surface roughness.

Instability of confined thin liquid film trilayers

The instability of a system in which three stratified thin liquid films are confined in a channel with parallel walls and the interior film is subject to van der Waals-driven breakup is examined in this work. We derive a model based on lubrication theory and consisting of a pair of nonlinear partial differential equations describing the position of the two liquid interfaces. A linear stability analysis is carried out to show that the effects of varying the boundary film thicknesses can be understood in terms of several known limits, including a supported monolayer, confined bilayer, and supported bilayer. Variation of the boundary film viscosities is shown in many cases to eliminate the supported-bilayer limit. The parameter regimes in which squeezing and bending modes dominate the initial growth are determined, and nonlinear simulations are used to show that the mode always switches to squeezing near rupture. It is also found that a multi-modal dispersion relation may be created by asymmetries in thickness ratio, but not viscosity ratio, even in the absence of asymmetric interfacial tensions. The results of this study are expected to be relevant to multiphase microfluidic systems and the lithographic printing process.

Formation and mobility of droplets on composite layered substrates

A mesoscale fluid film placed on a solid support may break up and form droplets. In addition, droplets may exhibit spontaneous translation by modifying the wetting properties of the substrate, resulting in asymmetry in the contact angles. We examine mechanisms for droplet formation and motion on uniform and terraced landscapes, i.e., composite substrates. The fluid film stability, droplet formation and velocity are studied theoretically in the isothermal case using a lubrication approach in one spatial dimension. The droplet properties are found to involve contributions from both the terraced layer thickness and molecular interactions via the disjoining potential.

Ultrathin film deposition by liquid CO2 free meniscus coating-uniformity and morphology

Ultrathin organic films of sucrose octaacetate (SOA) were deposited on 12.5 cm diameter silicon wafer substrates using high-pressure free meniscus coating (hFMC) with liquid CO2 (l-CO2) as a coating solvent. The dry film thickness across the wafer and the morphology of deposited films were characterized as a function of coating conditions-withdrawal velocity, solution concentration, and evaporation driving force (deltaP). When no evaporation driving force was applied (deltaP = 0), highly uniform films were deposited with thickness in the range of 8-105 angstroms over the entire concentration range (3-11 wt%). Uniform films were also obtained at low concentrations (3-5 wt%) with a low evaporation driving force (deltaP = 0.0138 MPa). However, films deposited at medium to high concentrations (7-11 wt%) were thicker (110-570 angstroms) and less uniform, with larger nonuniformities at higher applied evaporation driving forces. Optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to characterize film morphology including drying defects and film roughness. Films deposited without evaporation had no apparent drying defects and very low root-mean-square (RMS) roughness (1.4-3.8 angstroms). Spinodal-like dewetting morphologies including holes with diameters in the range of 100-300 nm, and surface undulations were observed in films deposited at medium concentration (7 wt%) and low deltaP (0.0138-0.0276 MPa). At higher concentrations and higher evaporative driving forces, spinodal-like dewetting morphologies disappeared but concentric ring defect structures were observed with diameters in the range 20-125 microm. The film thickness and morphology of SOA films deposited from 1-CO2 hFMC were compared to those deposited from toluene and acetone under normal dip coating. Films deposited from l-CO2 hFMC were much thinner, more uniform, and exhibited much fewer drying defects and lower RMS roughness.

A criterion for dewetting initiation from surface disturbances on ultrathin polymer films

Nanoindentation-induced defects on ultrathin (h = 17 nm) polystyrene (PS) films that are spin cast on silicon (Si) substrates, with residual depths of penetration lower than the film thickness (<17 nm), can either grow to initiate dewetting or level, which results in a flat polymer surface, upon heating above the glass-transition temperature (T(g)). The excess surface energy (DeltaF(gamma)) of the system, which is added to the initially flat coating with the formation of an indent, provides a critical value, DeltaF(gamma,crit) = 6.1 x 10(-16) J, which determines indent evolution upon annealing. An indent grows when DeltaF(gamma) > DeltaF(gamma,crit) and levels when DeltaF(gamma) < DeltaF(gamma,crit). This conclusion is in agreement with previous reports, which used DeltaF(gamma) to distinguish the two (dewetting/leveling) opposing processes (1) in the case of indents deeper than the film thickness and (2) in the case of built-in ordered surface disturbances by capillary force lithography.

A new form of the Cahn-Hilliard equation: applications to spinodal dewetting

This paper presents a new form of the Cahn-Hilliard equation. The new equation is substantially more robust to simulating intrinsic instabilities of the spinodal dewetting process compared to the standard one.

Moving fronts in entangled polymeric films

Thin liquid films can become structurally unstable and dewet, forming holes which subsequently grow on the substrate. Considerable research has been conducted on the structural evolution and growth of holes, which invariably are shown to be circular. We show that morphologies characterized by circular holes comprise one of three possible morphological regimes. In polystyrene films, supported by silicon oxide substrates, two other regimes are observed with decreasing film thickness. In the second regime, the moving boundary of the growing hole may become unstable and form fingers. The spacing between the fingers is characterized by a well-defined wavelength lambda proportional to h(7/6) M(-1/2) , where h is the film thickness and M is the molecular weight. A dense branchlike morphology characterizes the peripheral regions of the holes in the third regime and is found only in the thinnest films.

The Effect of Airway Wall Motion on Surfactant Delivery

Soluble surfactant and airway surface liquid transport are examined using a mathematical model of Marangoni flows which accounts for airway branching and for cyclic airway stretching. Both radial and longitudinal wall strains are considered. The model allows for variation of the amplitude and frequency of the motion, as may occur under a variety of ventilatory situations occurring during surfactant replacement therapy. The soluble surfactant dynamics of the thin fluid film are modeled by linear sorption. The delivery of surfactants into the lung is handled by setting the proximal boundary condition to a higher concentration compared to the distal boundary condition. Starting with a steady-state, nonuniform, surfactant distribution, we find that transport of surfactant into the lung is enhanced for increasing strain amplitudes. However, for fixed amplitude, increasing frequency has a smaller effect. At small strain amplitudes, increasing frequency enhances transport, but at large strain amplitudes, increasing cycling frequency has the opposite effect.

Dewetting behavior of aqueous cationic surfactant solutions on liquid films

Previous experimental work has shown that the spreading of a drop of aqueous anionic surfactant solution on a liquid film supported by a negatively charged solid substrate may give rise to a fingering instability (Afsar-Siddiqui, A. B.; Luckham P, F.; Matar, O. K. Langmuir 2003, 19, 703-708). However, upon deposition of a cationic surfactant on a similarly charged support, the surfactant will adsorb onto the solid-liquid interface rendering it hydrophobic. Water is then expelled from the hydrophobic regions, causing film rupture and dewetting. In this paper, experimental results are presented showing how the surfactant concentration and film thickness affect the dewetting behavior of aqueous dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide solutions. At low surfactant concentrations and large film thicknesses, the film ruptures at a point from which dewetting proceeds. At higher concentrations and smaller film thicknesses, the ruptured region is annular in shape and fluid moves away from this region. At still higher concentrations and smaller film thicknesses, the deposited surfactant forms a cap at the point of deposition that neither spreads nor retracts. This variation in dewetting mode is explained by considering the relative Marangoni and bulk diffusion time scales as well as the mode of assembly of the surfactant adsorbed on the solid surface.

Dewetting of thin liquid films near soft elastomeric layers

Thin liquid film instabilities driven by van der Waals forces and in the proximity of soft elastomeric layers are considered in this work through two model problems: (i) a liquid film resting on an elastomeric layer and (ii) a liquid film bounded from one side by a rigid substrate and from the other side by an elastomeric layer. The elastomeric layers are modeled as linear viscoelastic solids, van der Waals forces are assumed to act only in the liquid, and lubrication theory and linear stability analysis are applied. For a liquid film resting on an elastomeric layer, substrate deformability has a destabilizing effect, as evidenced by an increase in the maximum growth rate and range of unstable wavenumbers. The destabilization worsens for thicker solid layers and is due to a lowering of the effective liquid-air interfacial tension. For an elastomeric layer resting on a liquid film, layer deformability has a stabilizing effect for thin layers but a destabilizing effect for thicker layers, with the former due to an enhancement and the latter due to a reduction of the effective solid-air interfacial tension. The results presented here suggest the possibility of exploiting the dewetting of thin liquid films to create topographically patterned surfaces on soft polymeric solids.

The spreading of surfactant solutions on thin liquid films

The spreading of a surfactant solution on a water film at first glance seems a trivial problem. However, in the last 30 years or so this has been shown to be anything like the case. There have been numerous studies which show that Marongoni driven fingering of the spreading surfactant front exists. In this paper this work has been reviewed and an attempt has been made to rationalise the results. The paper concludes with some recent observations of ours concerning the spreading of sodium dodecyl sulfate over relatively thick water films, 200 microm or less.

Modelling thin-film dewetting on structured substrates and templates: bifurcation analysis and numerical simulations

We study the dewetting process of a thin liquid film on a chemically patterned solid substrate (template) by means of a thin-film evolution equation incorporating a space-dependent disjoining pressure. Dewetting of a thin film on a homogeneous substrate leads to fluid patterns with a typical length scale, that increases monotonously in time (coarsening). Conditions are identified for the amplitude and periodicity of the heterogeneity that allow to transfer the template pattern onto the liquid structure ("pinning") emerging from the dewetting process. A bifurcation and stability analysis of the possible liquid ridge solutions on a periodically striped substrate reveal parameter ranges where pinning or coarsening ultimately prevail. We obtain an extended parameter range of multistability of the pinning and coarsening morphologies. In this regime, the selected pattern depends sensitively on the initial conditions and potential finite perturbations (noise) in the system as we illustrate with numerical integrations in time. Finally, we discuss the instability to transversal modes leading to a decay of the ridges into rows of drops and show that it may diminish the size of the parameter range where the pinning of the thin film to the template is successful.

Hole formation in thin polymer films: a two-stage process

Thin, supported liquid films are known to rupture, creating holes throughout the film, due to defects or to van der Waals interactions. We show that the hole formation process before rupturing occurs in two stages, each characterized by distinct dynamical and morphological features. The time scale for the formation process is orders of magnitude slower than the translational (reptation) relaxation time of the individual chains. This has implications regarding the transition from the formation regime to subsequent hole growth regime on the underlying substrate.

Viscosity of entangled polystyrene thin film melts: Film thickness dependence

We determined the low-shear effective viscosity of entangled polystyrene thin film melts, in the thickness range of 27<h<100 nm, on SiO(x)/Si substrates. This was accomplished using a method based on the notion that thin liquid films can become unstable and rupture due to defects or to destabilizing, long-range van der Waals interactions (dewetting). The holes that are created in the film subsequently grow at a rate determined by a balance between the capillary driving forces and the viscous resistive forces. Based on the velocity of growth of holes on the substrate, we show that the viscosity decreases appreciably with decreasing thickness for 25<h<50 nm. These results are consistent with studies which suggest that the glass transition of entangled polystyrene thin film melts on SiO(x)/Si substrates exhibit an apparent decrease with decreasing film thickness over the same range of h.

Film rupture in the diffuse interface model coupled to hydrodynamics

The process of dewetting of a thin liquid film is usually described using a long-wave approximation yielding a single evolution equation for the film thickness. This equation incorporates an additional pressure term-the disjoining pressure-accounting for the molecular forces. Recently a disjoining pressure was derived coupling hydrodynamics to the diffuse interface model [L. M. Pismen and Y. Pomeau, Phys. Rev. E 62, 2480 (2000)]. Using the resulting evolution equation as a generic example for the evolution of unstable thin films, we examine the thickness ranges for linear instability and metastability for flat films, the families of stationary periodic and localized solutions, and their linear stability. The results are compared to simulations of the nonlinear time evolution. From this we conclude that, within the linearly unstable thickness range, there exists a well defined subrange where finite perturbations are crucial for the time evolution and the resulting structures. In the remainder of the linearly unstable thickness range the resulting structures are controlled by the fastest flat film mode assumed up to now for the entire linearly unstable thickness range. Finally, the implications for other forms of disjoining pressure in dewetting and for spinodal decomposition are discussed.

Dewetting: film rupture by nucleation in the spinodal regime

Unstable thin liquid films on solid substrates dewet by hole nucleation on defects or by a linear surface instability (spinodal dewetting). A system with destabilizing short-range and stabilizing long-range molecular interactions is investigated. We show that, for a subrange within the linearly unstable film thickness range, nucleation determines the final structure, whereas spinodal dewetting is of negligible influence. The results are also applicable to the spinodal decomposition of binary mixtures.

Numerical Study of a Lifshitz-Slyozov-like Metastable Dewetting Model

A Lifshitz-Slyozov-type of model of the coalescence of dry zones in the process of metastable dewetting proposed in V. S. Mitlin (J. Colloid Interface Sci. 227, 371, 2000) is applied to simulating the evolution of the probability distribution of holes by sizes. For the model considered, the average size of a hole increases linearly with time, the surface fraction of holes grows as the time squared, and the maximum value of the probability distribution decreases as the inverse square root of time. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Dewetting Revisited: New Asymptotics of the Film Stability Diagram and the Metastable Regime of Nucleation and Growth of Dry Zones

Stability properties of a nonwetting film are discussed. Assuming a general form of the disjoining pressure, accurate asymptotic formulas for the upper thickness range of the film instability/metastability are derived. This analysis is applied to two particular cases: a nonionic liquid film with the (m, n) power form of the disjoining pressure and an ionic liquid film with an exponentially decaying electrostatic part of the disjoining pressure. The metastable regime of dewetting is considered, and an expression for the critical radius of a hole is derived. A new Fokker-Planck kinetic model of metastable dewetting, applicable at early stages of the process, is developed. It yields a relationship between the number of viable holes (per unit area and unit time) moving in steady-state regime to the supercritical part of the "embryo size space" and the equilibrium number of "critical" holes determined from thermodynamics. The dynamics of metastable dewetting is quantitatively described in terms of the surface fraction of holes in the film. Continuous dynamic models of the metastable dewetting applicable in the entire range of times have to include the thermal noise, as proposed by V. S. Mitlin (1994, Colloids Surf. A 89, 97). Copyright 2000 Academic Press.