Diffusive motion of molecules in submonolayer liquid films on a solid surface

Abstract

The spreading of submonolayer liquid polymer films on a solid surface that consist of molecules with different mobilities was investigated. The molecular conformations of the adsorbed and free molecules were estimated from the dispersive surface energy measurement and the relationship between the diffusion coefficient of the free molecules and the coverage of the adsorbed molecules were obtained from the spreading profile measurement. A free mobile molecule lies flat on the solid surface and an adsorbed molecule lies less flat than a mobile one. The relation between the diffusion coefficient and the coverage can be explained by the percolation model at a small coverage and it can be explained by the reptation model at a large coverage.