Theoretical study of the prewetting transition in polymer blends

Abstract

Prewetting transitions in polymer blends near a hard surface which favors one of the phases in the blend are studied by both mean-field and Monte Carlo methods. The mean-field results predict for systems that have a first-order wetting transition at a bulk density of (ρ∞)W, there exists first-order prewetting transitions for (ρ∞)W≤ρ∞;(ρ∞)PW there exist second-order transitions so that (∞ρ)PW may be identified as the prewetting critical point. Monte Carlo simulations of the bond fluctuation model on a simple cubic lattice between two hard walls H lattice spacings apart are performed and qualitative agreement is found with the mean-field predictions. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.