Collapse of polymer brushes grafted onto planar ... - Wageningen UR
Collapse of polymer brushes grafted onto planar ... - Wageningen UR
Collapse of polymer brushes grafted onto planar ... - Wageningen UR
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span the gap between the electrodes. Throughout the course <strong>of</strong> growth, the characteristic wavelength<br />
remains invariant. The characteristic length scale coupled with the sharpening <strong>of</strong> the peaks <strong>of</strong> the fluctuations<br />
gives rise to a hexagonal packing <strong>of</strong> the cylinders laterally.<br />
By replacing the air gap with a second fluid or <strong>polymer</strong> layer between the electrodes reduces the energetic<br />
cost <strong>of</strong> generating interfacial area by replacing the surface energy with an interfacial energy. In general, the<br />
interfacial energy is approximately one order <strong>of</strong> magnitude smaller than the surface energy. This translates<br />
into a reduction in the characteristic fluctuation wavelength. The experimentally measured wavelengths are in<br />
excellent agreement with the predictions. Theoretically, significant changes are unexpected, but a significant<br />
decrease is observed. While unexpected, this represents a tremendous advantage for end-use <strong>of</strong> this<br />
phenomenon.