  We have studied the adsorption of bisphenol-A-polycarbonate (BPA-PC) on the
alpha-Al2O3(0001) surface using density-functional theory (DFT) with van der
Waals (vdW) corrections. The BPA-PC polymer can be divided into its chemical
fragments which are phenylene, carbonate and isopropylidene groups. We have
calculated the adsorption energy and geometry of the BPA-PC segments that
consist of two to three adjacent groups of the polymer. Our DFT results show
that the adsorption is dominated by the vdW interaction. It is also important
to include the interaction of nearest-neighbor groups in order to provide a
realistic environment for the adsorption of the polymer onto the surface. Our
results also show that the BPA-PC molecule attaches to the alumina surface via
the carbonate group located in the middle of the molecule chain.
