Spreading of Novel Cyclotriphosphazine-Terminated PFPE Films on Carbon Surfaces

Abstract

Spreading characteristics of novel cyclotriphosphazine-terminated Perfluoropolyether (PFPE) films on carbon surfaces were investigated experimentally by using a scanning micro-ellipsometer. The apparent diffusion coefficients of novel lubricants were also studied in order to evaluate the spreading speed and they were compared with the conventional Zdol. It was found that the mobility of cyclotriphosphazine-terminated PFPE films is lower than that of Zdol. This characteristics is dependent on the interactions between the end groups of the lubricants and carbon surfaces and it is found that the tendency of “work of adhesion” for the lubricants has a good correlation with the mobility tendency of the lubricants. In addition, the monolayer film thickness of novel lubricant films as well as conventional Zdol was identified, which was extracted using Matano interface method. As a result, the existing conformation of novel cyclotriphosphazine-terminated PFPE film on carbon surfaces could be estimated, based on the monolayer film thickness results.