Modeling of Surfactant-Enhanced Drying of Poly(styrene)-p-xylene Polymeric Coatings Using Machine Learning Technique

In this work, a machine learning technique based on a regression tree model was used to model the surfactant enhanced drying of poly(styrene)-p-xylene coatings. The predictions of the developed model based on regression trees are in excellent agreement with the experimental data. A total of 16,258 samples were obtained through experimentation. These samples were separated into two parts: 12,960 samples were used for the training of the regression tree, and the remaining 3298 samples were used to test the tree’s prediction accuracy. MATLAB software was used to grow the regression tree. The mean squared error between the model-predicted values and actual outputs was calculated to be 8.8415 × 10−6. This model has good generalizing ability; predicts weight loss for given values of time, thickness, and triphenyl phosphate; and has a maximum error of 1%. It is robust and for this system, can be used for any composition and thickness for this system, which will drastically reduce the need for further experimentations to explain diffusion and drying.