Robustness of wetting and morphology of maleimide copolymer films to choice of solvent and annealing

We report the surface properties of thin polymer films prepared by spin coating from different solvents and subsequent annealing. Surface morphology is studied using optical and scanning force microscopy (SFM). Low-rate dynamic advancing contact angles of water are measured by axisymmetric drop shape analysis (ADSA). Optical, SFM and contact angle measurements give complementary information on the surface properties. We find that annealing at moderate temperatures and choice of suitable solvent have little or no effect on surface morphology and wettability of poly(propene-alt-N-(n-dodecyl)maleimide) films. Thus, contact angle measurements reflect material properties of these surfaces, and are unchanged by normal environmental effects.