Rachel Yerushalmi-Rozen

We have investigated the wetting behaviour of a polymer melt on top of a cross-linked network of itself. For substrate films that were not cross-linked at all (or at very low cross-link densities) the melt completely wets the underlying layer. At intermediate cross-linking densities we observe dewetting, which we suggest is due to the brush-like surface of the network. At higher cross-linking densities the melt again completely wets the network, due, we believe, to increased roughening of the surface of the cross-linked substrate.