Non-monotonous crossover between capillary condensation and interface localisation/delocalisation transition in binary polymer blends

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2000 EDP Sciences
, , Citation M. Müller et al 2000 EPL 50 724 DOI 10.1209/epl/i2000-00542-5

0295-5075/50/6/724

Abstract

Within self-consistent field theory we study the phase behaviour of a symmetric binary AB polymer blend confined into a thin film. The film surfaces interact with the monomers via short-range potentials. One surface attracts the A component and the corresponding semi-infinite system exhibits a first-order wetting transition. The surface interaction of the opposite surface is varied as to study the crossover from capillary condensation for symmetric surface fields to the interface localisation/delocalisation transition for antisymmetric surface fields. In the former case the phase diagram has a single critical point close to the bulk critical point. In the latter case the phase diagram exhibits two critical points which correspond to the prewetting critical points of the semi-infinite system. The cross over between these qualitatively different limiting behaviours occurs gradually; however, the critical temperature and the critical composition exhibit a non-monotonic dependence on the surface field.

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10.1209/epl/i2000-00542-5