https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2008-10334-3
Anisotropic dewetting on stretched elastomeric substrates
CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, PRC
* e-mail: lhhe@ustc.edu.cn
Received:
31
January
2008
Revised:
21
April
2008
Published online:
7
July
2008
We study the instability of a very thin liquid film resting on a uniformly stretched soft elastomeric substrate driven by van der Waals forces. A linear stability analysis shows that the critical fluctuation wavelength in the tensile direction is larger than those in the other directions. The magnitudes of the critical wavelengths are adjustable in the sense that they depend on the principal stretch of the substrate. For example, when the principal stretch of the substrate varies from 1.0 (unstretched) to 3.0, the range of the critical wavelength in the tensile direction increases by 7.0% while that normal to the tensile direction decreases by 8.7%. Therefore, the phenomenon may find potential applications in creating tunable topographically patterned surfaces with nano-to microscale features.
PACS: 68.08.Bc Wetting – / 68.15.+e Liquid thin films – / 47.54.-r Pattern selection; pattern formation – / 83.10.-y Fundamentals and theoretical –
© Springer, 2008