Interactions between surfaces intermediated by polymer melts

Abstract

The understanding of the properties of pure polymer melt in a confined geometry between two solid surfaces is relevant to many diverse engineering problems such as lubrication, adhesion, polymer composites, ceramic processing from colloidal dispersions, thin film casting. We study the structure and properties of polymer liquids in a confined state experimentally using a Surface Force Apparatus and theoretically by molecular simulations. The equilibrium and hydrodynamic (in squeezing and shearing flows) behavior of three polymers have been investigated. These were polydimethylsiloxane, polybutadiene and perfluorinated polyether. The polymers were chosen because of their relatively low viscosity at room temperature and their chemical structure which are both related to their lubricating and adhesive properties. In the molecular simulations using Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics techniques we investigated the equilibrium and dynamic properties of the confined polymer liquids. The connection between the experiments and the molecular simulations will be presented.