Surface free energy of polymeric materials: relevancy of conventional contact angle data analyses

To analyze various approaches for the determination of surface free energies of solids from liquid-solid contact angles, comb-like polymers with controlled grafting rates and macromolecular structures have been synthesized. The surface fr ee energy parameters were calculated from the contact angles of standard liquids on the solid surfaces. A mathematical approach of the so-called acid-base theory of adhesion was used to characterize the nucleophilic and/or electrophilic behavior of the polymeric solid surfaces. Thus, correlations were established between the macromolecular structures and the dispersive component of the surface free energy, on the one hand, and the acid and base components, on the other. The main conclusion is that the surface free energy components are relevant for the characterization of functional comb-like polymeric materials: the dispersive and base components increase with the number of grafted electron-donating groups, whereas the acid component decreases.