Reduced viscosity in thin polymer films

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Dec 31;97(26):266105. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.266105. Epub 2006 Dec 29.

Abstract

The dewetting of thin polystyrene films (20-500 nm) on a liquid substrate is studied at time scales that are long compared to the reptation time. It is shown that the kinetics correspond to those of purely viscous flow and that the viscosity measured by this technique is, for the thickest films, consistent with bulk measurements. Films on the order of the coil size are then studied. The effective viscosity of these films displays a large decrease when the film thickness h is below several radius of gyration, R(g). This viscosity reduction is found to depend only on the ratio h/R(g).