Polymers on Surfaces

We study systematically the behaviour of polymers and nanoparticles at surfaces and interfaces. These systems are of particular interest not only for their fundamental significance for the fields of polymer physics and soft-condensed matter but also for their practical importance in numerous technological applications such as colloidal stability and flocculation, polymer composites and nanocomposites, nonfouling biosurfaces, protective and functional coatings, biocompatibility of medical implants, separations, membranes, microfluidics, adhesion, lubrication and friction modification. We use bottom-up self-assembly and self-organisation methodologies from liquid phases to create coatings, ultrathin films, monolayers and sub-monolayers of polymers and nanoparticles on surfaces. The structures are fabricated by various methods such as dip-coating, spin-coating, casting and droplet evaporation. We aim to develop an inexpensive enabling technology for the directed and controlled fabrication of thin films, nanostructures and nanopatterns on surfaces. The atomic force microscope (AFM) plays a central role in the study of such systems and it is used systematically to investigate the morphological, physicochemical and chemomechanical properties of the nanostructures and nanopatterns at the micro/nanoscale. Other techniques used to characterise the ultrathin films are: contact angle analysis, scanning while light interferometry (SWLI), advanced optical microscopy, electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ellipsometry, mechanical, friction and adhesion testing. The experimental studies are complemented by simulations and theory.