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The wettability of polymer films depends on the polymerization conditions

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Abstract

The polymerization conditions have a strong influence on the properties and time-dependent behavior of a sessile water drop on polymer films. For a given copolymer composition, the recipe components of emulsion copolymer films clearly influence the initial static water contact angle. Common emulsifiers such as sodium dodecyl sulfate lead to lower contact angles than poly(ionic liquid) dispersions which are a new class of stabilizers for emulsion polymerization. In contrast to the static contact angle, the time-dependent properties of the water contact angle reflect the particular conditions during the polymerization. It is a general conclusion of this study that waterborne emulsion copolymers show a distinctly different time-dependent behavior of the contact angle than bulk polymers of the same molecular composition regardless of the initial static contact angle.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. JY Yuan for introducing us in the synthesis of PIL dispersions and Patrick Höhne for technical help with the contact angle measurements and photopolymerization. The authors would like to thank Mrs. Anne Heilig for AFM measurements. RY acknowledges a fellowship within the joint doctoral promotion program between the Max Planck Society and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Colloid Chemistry, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, D-14424, Potsdam, Germany

    Chunxiang Wei, Ran Yu & Klaus Tauer

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  1. Chunxiang Wei
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  2. Ran Yu
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  3. Klaus Tauer
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Correspondence to Klaus Tauer.

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Wei, C., Yu, R. & Tauer, K. The wettability of polymer films depends on the polymerization conditions. Colloid Polym Sci 292, 1545–1552 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-014-3210-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-014-3210-3

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