Morphological, Optical and Voronoi Polygon Analysis of Breath Figures Prepared on Polymeric Surface

Abstract

Background/ Objectives: The formation of breath figures over polymers like polystyrene has vast applications in material science for making numerous micro- and nanopatterned functional surfaces. However, the breath figures (BFs) method is a complex phenomenon as the actual formation of structures are many times unpredictable and the nature of structure depends on the type of polymer, solvent, degree of humidity and additives used. The work presented in this paper deals with the study of condensation on the surface of volatile polystyrene polymer solution and their uses for non-wetting using optical and morphological studies along with mathematical model Voronoi polygon analysis using polystyrene and solvent of benzene and chloroform. The growth dynamics of Breath-Figures (BFs) formed due to condensation is presented in brief. Method: Breath Figure (BF) patterns were prepared by two solvents: benzene and chloroform. Different representative values of relative Humidity viz. 60, 70, 80 and 90 % were employed for making BFs. Two different polymer concentrations of 5 and 10 w/v % was used in this study. Findings: The morphology has been statistically analyzed for different parameters like average diameter and their size distribution etc. In case of BFs formed on benzene surface, droplet has average diameter of about 12 µm at 90% humidity but in case of chloroform surface this diameter is about 25 µm at 90% humidity. Voronoi analysis demonstrates simplistic way to qualitatively check the six-fold order and the coordination numbers in BFs. Novelty: The work shows comparative study of BFs patterns using polystyrene on two different solvents with changing humidity. The study shows morphology of the breath patterns is mainly dependent on the polymer concentration, humidity and density of solvents which is a new observation. The study leads to the acquisition of new knowledge on BFs which provides insight important for various applications including biological fields. Keywords: Breath­figures, Voronoi polygon, Polystyrene, Contact angle, Condensation