A New Measuring System for the Determination of the Ice Adhesion Strength on Smooth Surfaces.

To gain knowledge about cause-effect relationships for the adhesion of ice on surfaces with different chemical groups, we wanted to study the effect of thin polymer layers on the ice adhesion strength. To minimize the effect of roughness, smooth substrates that have generally relatively low ice adhesion strengths were chosen. To be able to obtain highly reproducible values for the region of low ice adhesion and to measure small differences of ice adhesion at surfaces with different chemical compositions, a new measuring system for the determination of the ice adhesion strength which is based on a modified spin-coater was developed. We show its technical potential on the basis of first results on pure silicon wafers and selected hydrophilic polymer layers. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of the water quality on the ice adhesion strength. The obtained data are discussed in the context of physicochemical properties of the layers and of the chemical characteristics of the used polymers.

Tunable Hydrophilic or Amphiphilic Coatings: A "Reactive Layer Stack" Approach.

Thin films with tunable properties are very interesting for potential applications as functional coatings with, for example, anti-icing or improved easy-to-clean properties. A novel "reactive layer stack" approach was developed to create covalently grafted mono- and multilayers of poly(glycidyl methacrylate)/poly(tert-butyl acrylate) diblock copolymers. Because these copolymers contain poly(glycidyl methacrylate) blocks they behave as self-cross-linking materials after creation of acrylic acid functionalities by splitting off the tert-butyl units. The ellipsometrically determined coating thickness of the resulting hydrophilic multilayers depended linearly on the number of applied layers. Amphiphilic films with tunable wettability were prepared using triblock terpolymers with an additional poly(methyl methacrylate) block. The mechanism of the formation of the (multi)layers was investigated in detail by studying the acidolysis of the surface-linked tert-butyl acrylate blocks by infrared reflection absorbance spectroscopy, accompanied by surface analysis using atomic force microscopy and contact angle measurements. In the case of the amphiphilic and switchable terpolymer layers this reaction was very sensitive to the used acidic reagent.

Adsorption of poly(vinylformamide-co-vinylamine) polymers (PVFA-co-PVAm) on copper.

The adsorption of poly(vinylformamide) (PVFA) and its derivative statistical copolymer poly(vinyl-formamide-co-vinylamine) (PVFA-co-PVAm) on metallic copper and copper oxide particles as well as planar copper surfaces was studied as a function of the degree of hydrolysis of PVFA, the pH, and the polymer concentration in solution. The chemical composition and molecular structure of the PVFA-co-PVAm layers were investigated by surface-sensitive spectroscopic methods such as XPS, DRIFT spectroscopy, and ellipsometry. The findings allowed us to explain the adsorption mechanisms and the forces driving the PVFA-co-PVAm adsorption. It was shown that PVFA-co-PVAm layers thicker than 30 nm are able to protect the planar copper surface against corrosive attack.

Hydrophobic chitosan microparticles: heterogeneous phase reaction of chitosan with hydrophobic carbonyl reagents.

Hydrophobically modified chitosan microparticles were produced by various syntheses carried out as heterogeneous phase reactions. Perfluorinated carbonyl components such as carbonic acids and acid chlorides were used as hydrophobization agents. To enhance the layer stability preceding cross-linkages between the chitosan macromolecules were introduced. These cross-linkages involve some of the chitosan amino groups. The use of a highly reactive alkylene-maleic anhydride copolymer produces cross-linkages and hydrophobizes the chitosan layer simultaneously in a one-step reaction. The heterogeneous reactions serve as model reactions for the hydrophobization of chitosan films deposited on supports.