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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level
Published on: September 26, 2016
Calculation of the Contact Angle of Polymer Melts on Tool Surfaces from Viscosity Parameters
Gernot Zitzenbacher1, Hannes Dirnberger2, Manuel Längauer3
1Department of Materials Technology, School of Engineering, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, 4600 Wels, Austria. g.zitzenbacher@fh-wels.at.
Abstract:
It is of great importance for polymer processing whether and how viscosity influences the wettability of tool surfaces. We demonstrate the existence of a distinct relationship between the contact angle of molten polymers and zero shear viscosity in this paper. The contact angle of molten polypropylene and polymethylmethacrylate on polished steel was studied in a high temperature chamber using the sessile drop method. A high pressure capillary rheometer with a slit die was employed to determine the shear viscosity curves in a low shear rate range. A linear relation between the contact angle and zero shear viscosity was obtained. Furthermore, the contact angle and the zero shear viscosity values of the different polymers were combined to one function. It is revealed that, for the wetting of tool surfaces by molten polymers, a lower viscosity is advantageous. Furthermore, a model based on the temperature shift concept is proposed which allows the calculation of the contact angle of molten polymers on steel for different temperatures directly from shear viscosity data.
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