Signatures of slip in dewetting polymer films.

Thin polymer films on hydrophobic substrates are susceptible to rupture and hole formation. This, in turn, initiates a complex dewetting process, which ultimately leads to characteristic droplet patterns. Experimental and theoretical studies suggest that the type of droplet pattern depends on the specific interfacial condition between the polymer and the substrate.

Impact of energy dissipation on interface shapes and on rates for dewetting from liquid substrates.

We revisit the fundamental problem of liquid-liquid dewetting and perform a detailed comparison of theoretical predictions based on thin-film models with experimental measurements obtained by atomic force microscopy. Specifically, we consider the dewetting of a liquid polystyrene layer from a liquid polymethyl methacrylate layer, where the thicknesses and the viscosities of both layers are similar. Using experimentally determined system parameters like viscosity and surface tension, an excellent agreement of experimentally and theoretically obtained rim profile shapes are obtained including the liquid-liquid interface and even dewetting rates.

Droplets on liquids and their journey into equilibrium.

The morphological path of droplets on a liquid substrate towards equilibrium is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The droplets emerge in the late stage of a dewetting process of short chained polystyrene (PS) dewetting from liquid polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA). The three-dimensional droplet profiles are obtained experimentally by combining the in situ imaged PS/air interface during equilibration and the ex situ imaged PS/PMMA interface after removal of the PS by a selective solvent.

Conductivity in nonpolar media: experimental and numerical studies on sodium AOT-hexadecane, lecithin-hexadecane and aluminum(III)-3,5-diisopropyl salicylate-hexadecane systems.

The conductivity behavior of doped hydrocarbon systems is studied by applying impedance spectroscopy. In the case of 3,5-diisopropyl salicylato aluminum (III) the charge carriers are formed by dissociation of the compound and their concentration is proportional to the square root of the solute concentration. In hydrocarbon systems that consist of micelle forming compounds (sodium AOT/ lecithin) a linear dependence of charge carrier concentration on solute concentration is observed in the concentration regime where micelles are present.