Structure Formation in Thin Liquid-Liquid Films

这一串联方案的主要主题是对薄液-液系统的破裂、去湿动力学和平衡模式的数学建模、分析和实验研究的结果进行直接比较。实验系统采用了数百nm厚的PS/PMMA双层膜，通过改变聚合物链的长度，可以将其液体性质从牛顿行为调节到粘弹性流变行为。在这些小尺度上，除了毛细管力和粘性耗散外，分子间力将在界面的动力学和形态中发挥重要作用。通过与实验的直接比较，将使用从基本流体力学方程推导出的适当的薄膜模型的数学分析和数值模拟，以阐明甚至基本的性质，如平衡接触角、奇点形成或去湿速率。这将为涉及蒸发、表面活性剂单分子膜和滑移的更复杂的情况奠定基础，从而产生对自然界和技术中许多重要的纳米流体问题至关重要的理解，从人类泪膜的破裂到有机太阳能电池中使用的供体/受体聚合物溶液的界面动力学。

The main topic of this tandem proposal is the direct comparison of results from mathematical modeling, analysis and experimental investigations of rupture, dewetting dynamics and equilibrium patterns of a thin liquid-liquid system. The experimental system uses a PS (polystyrene)/PMMA(polymethylmethacrylate) thin bilayer of a few hundred nm, whose liquid properties can be tuned from Newtonian to visoelastic rheological flow behavior by varying the length of the polymer chains. On these small scales, apart from capillary forces and viscous dissipation intermolecular forces will play an important role in the dynamics and morphology of interfaces. The mathematical analysis and numerical simulation of adequate thin film models that will be derived from the underlying fluid mechanical equations, will be used, through direct comparisons with experiments, to clarify even fundamental properties, such as equilibrium contact angles, singularity formation or dewetting rates. This shall form the basis for more complex situations involving evaporation, surfactant monolayers, and slippage, to yield the understanding crucial for many important nanofluidic problems in nature and technology ranging from rupture of the human tear film to the interface dynamics of donor/acceptor polymer solutions used in organic solar cells.