Julien Giboz

This work aims at developing polymer surfaces with enhanced hydrophobicity by controlling both the surface chemistry and the surface structure. As a first step, a chemical surface modification is achieved by the incorporation of a synthetized tailored fluorinated copolymer, named POISE-a (Polymer prOcessing Interface StabilizEr), in a commercial polystyrene matrix. Then, a complementary physical approach based on micro-structuration of a polymer surface is used. Polystyrene films containing various contents of POISE-a were elaborated by a solvent casting method. The structuration of the films was conducted by replicating a texture from a nickel insert using a hot-embossing technique with optimized processing conditions. The beneficial effect of POISE-a on both the wettability properties and the replication efficiency was evaluated by the water/polymer static contact angle and the quantification of the replication rate, respectively. The use of this tailored additive, even at low percentages (i.e., 1 wt.%), associated with the structuration of the PS surface, improves both the hydrophobicity of polystyrene and the robustness of the replication process.

Based on experimental measurements of the in situ conditions within polymer flow during micro‐injection molding, a new geometrical parameter is defined to predict realistic dimensions of micro‐parts (μparts). To this aim, thin‐walled parts of various aspect ratios “length/thickness” (L/h) were first molded, with two different polymers: (i) a polystyrene and (ii) a cyclo‐olefin copolymer. It is shown that pressure drops (ΔP_i), measured between the injection pressure and the various sensors present in the mold, are directly related to the square of the ratio of L/h. This approach has finally been successfully applied to the results of the literature, confirming its relevance. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 45719.

Thermal analyses of microparts in high density polyethylene (HDPE) have shown that the specific processing conditions used in microinjection molding have irreversible consequences on the polymer morphology. This result has been demonstrated with the analysis of the non‐isothermal crystallization behavior of a HDPE with different thermal histories. The evolution of the absolute crystallinity has been analyzed with a relevant model able to separate the primary and secondary mechanisms all over the crystallization duration. This model has emphasized that the evolution of the primary crystallinity with time is different for the microparts compared to the conventional objects. These differences were attributed to variations of the crystallization mechanisms, especially within the nucleation phase, where a persistent melt memory effect of the former chains orientation/extension was assumed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44239.