Dewetting Dynamics of Nanofilled Polymer Thin Films

We use molecular dynamics simulations to study the dewetting dynamics of nanofilled polymer thin films on a substrate. We find that the addition of nanofillers can significantly retard the dewetting of polymer films. Our results show that to prevent dewetting the ideal situation is one in which the fillers are confined to the substrate/polymer interface, in agreement with previous experimental results. We find that the mechanism that controls the dewetting is not purely a result of a pinning effect but is also affected by the mobility of the filler particle, the interaction between the filler and the polymer, and the size of the nanofiller.