Unravelling the mechanism behind adhesion failure events at the polymer-solid interfaces

Polymer thin films on solid substrates play a crucial role in nanocomposite materials as well as protective industrial coatings. In particular, polymethylpentene (PMP) has been reported to have a wide array of very promising properties such as high heat tolerance (melting point of 220°C) and resistance to a variety of both inorganic and organic chemicals and materials. In this presentation, we chose PMP thin films on a weakly attractive silicon substrates as a rational model to understand the mechanism of adhesion failure at the solid interface. We will discuss the critical role of a physically adsorbed polymer layer (“adsorbed nanolayer”) at the polymer-substrate interface in the adhesion failure event.