Effect of physical ageing in thin glassy polymer films

We have studied the effect of physical ageing in thin supported glassy polystyrene films by using ellipsometry to detect overshooting in the expansivity-temperature curve upon heating of aged samples. Films with thickness 10-200 nm have been aged at 70^° C and 80^° C (below the bulk glass transition temperature). We observe clear relaxation peaks in the expansivity-temperature curve for films thicker than 18 nm but not for the 10 nm film. The intensity of the relaxation peak is inversely proportional to the film thickness, while the temperatures characteristic to the relaxation peak are almost independent of the film thickness. These observations are successfully interpreted by the idea that the surface layer of the order of 10 nm has liquid-like thermal properties. Received 28 October 2002 / Published online: 1 April 2003 RID="a" ID="a"Present address: Yokohama Research Center, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, 1000 Kamoshida-chou, Aoba-ku, Yokohama 227-8502, Japan; e-mail: kawana@rc.m-kagaku.co.jp     

Molecular dynamics of hyperbranched polyesters in the confinement of thin films

Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy is employed to investigate the molecular dynamics in thin films of hyperbranched polyesters (type AB₁B₂, with -OH and -OCOCH₃ as terminal groups). Three relaxation processes are detected: alpha, beta and gamma. While the latter two are not influenced by the confinement, a pronounced effect is observed on the alpha relaxation: with decreasing film thickness the slower relaxation modes of the dynamic glass transition are gradually suppressed, resulting in an increase of the average relaxation rate and in a linear decrease of the dielectric strength. This is attributed to an immobilization in confinement of the polymeric segments located at the periphery of the hyperbranched macromolecular structures.     

Dielectric relaxation of poly(ethylenglycol)- b-poly(propylenglycol)-b-poly(ethylenglycol) copolymers above the glass transition temperature

The complex dielectric permittivity has been measured for three poly(ethylenglycol)-b-poly(propylenglycol)-b-poly(ethylenglycol) copolymers with different content of poly(ethylenglycol) (15%, 33% and 80%), and increasing degree of crystallinity (0%, 10% and 20%, respectively). Only the non-crystalline sample shows the normal mode relaxation together with the segmental (α-relaxation) and the Johari-Goldstein (β-relaxation) modes. The crystalline samples show also polarization contributions due to the existence of interfaces between the crystallites and the amorphous phase. The relaxation times of the (α and normal modes can be described by a VFT equation with the same value of T₀. There is a slowing-down of the segmental mode due to the presence of crystallites. The temperature dependence of the α and β relaxations in the copolymers is very similar to that found in pure PPG, while there are significant differences in the case of the normal mode of the non-crystalline sample. The size of the cooperatively rearranging regions CRR, and the width of the glass transition region increase slightly with the degree of crystallinity. The temperature dependence of the size of CRRs is compatible with the prediction of fluctuation theory. No systematic effect of the degree of crystallinity on the β-relaxation has been found. Near T _g the β-relaxation time is close to the primitive time of the coupling model. Received: 31 May 2000     

Scaling of broadband dielectric data of glass-forming liquids and plastic crystals

The Nagel scaling and the modified scaling procedure proposed recently by Dendzik et al. have been applied to broadband dielectric data on two glass-forming liquids (glycerol and propylene carbonate) and three plastic crystals (ortho-carborane, meta-carborane, and 1-cyano-adamantane). Our data extend the upper limit of the abscissa range to considerably higher values than in previously published analyses. At the highest frequencies investigated, deviations from a single master curve show up which are most pronounced in the Dendzik scaling plot. The loss curves of the plastic crystals do not scale in the Nagel plot, but they fall onto a separate master curve in the Dendzik plot. In addition, we address the question of a possible divergence of the static susceptibility near the Vogel-Fulcher temperature. For this purpose, the low-temperature evolution of the high-frequency wing of the dielectric loss peaks is investigated in detail. No convincing proof for such a divergence can be deduced from the present broadband data. Received 14 June 1999 and Received in final form 4 October 1999     

Some relevant parameters affecting the glass transition of supported ultra-thin polymer films

We have measured, the thickness dependence of the glass transition temperature T(g)( h), using ellipsometry at variable temperature, for poly(methyl-methacrylate) (PMMA) of various tacticity in confined geometry. We report that several factors significantly affect T(g)( h): i) polymer microstructure (stereoregularity of PMMA) related to local dynamics; ii) interfacial interactions; iii) conformation of the polymer chains. These results raise many fundamental questions on the origin of the thickness-dependent glass transition. Why and how do the interactions with the substrate significantly affect T(g)( h)? Does T(g)( h) depend on the modifications of conformational parameters of the chains (their entropy)? What is the correlation between local dynamics and T(g)( h) in thin films? The aim of this paper is to summarise these open questions, which should stimulate further investigations in the thin polymer film scientific community.     

Molecular dynamics in nanophase-separated comb-like poly( $ \upalpha$- n-alkyl $ \upbeta$-L-aspartate)s

A series of poly( -n-alkyl -L-aspartates) which are nanophase self-assembled comb-like polymers has been studied by dielectric spectroscopy in a broad frequency range ( 10^-23×10⁶ Hz), with n-alkyls side chains of various lengths, 10n18. In every member of the series the same relaxations were identified after the decomposition of the experimental isothermal trace in up to three peaks with relaxation times distributions. The strength, width and average relaxation time for all the relaxation modes were determined for each material. Besides the local low temperature, Arrhenius modes, two relaxation modes, and , present a cooperative character whose dynamics are not affected by the side chains melting. The relaxation is a polyethylene-like glass transition of the amorphous side chains and its dynamics is strongly dependent on the n value due to the increasing restrictions imposed by the self-assembled confinement. The strength of the relaxation mode increases as the lateral chains loose their 2D order. The restricted chopstick motion of the rigid rods is thought to be the origin of the mode; this motion is hindered at temperatures where the cage size decreases as a result of the increasing disorder with temperature.     

Surface effects in thin films of antiferroelectric smectic liquid crystals in terms of the short-pitch long-pitch competition model

A theoretical model based on the competition between short-pitch and long-pitch types of helical order is developed for thin films of antiferroelectric smectic liquid crystals. In the case of the “bookshelf” structure of the film and non-polar surfaces, subsurface perturbations of the ordering are found out analytically. Corresponding contributions to the free energies of the different phases are analysed. The possibility of sufficient influence of the boundaries on phase sequences is predicted even in the case of weak surface anchoring. A consistent explanation of the controversial experimental information is given; further ways of experimental justification of the model assumptions are discussed. Received 23 May 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: mgorkoun@uos.de     

The origins of fast segmental dynamics in 2 nm thin confined polymer films

Molecular-Dynamics computer simulations were used to study 2 nm wide polystyrene films confined in slit pores, defined by inorganic crystalline surfaces. The simulated systems mimic experimentally studied hybrid materials, where polystyrene is intercalated between mica-type, atomically smooth, crystalline layers. A comparison between the experimental findings and the simulation results aims at revealing the molecular origins of the macroscopically observed behavior, and thus provide insight about polymers in severe/nanoscopic confinements, as well as polymers in the immediate vicinity of solid surfaces. Pronounced dynamic inhomogeneities are found across the 2 nm thin film, with fast relaxing moieties located in low local density regions throughout the film. The origins of this behavior are traced to the confinement-induced density inhomogeneities, which are stabilized over extended time scales by the solid surfaces. Received 9 August 2001 and Received in final form 7 January 2002     

Heterogeneous dynamics at the glass transition in van der Waals liquids, in the bulk and in thin films

It has been shown over the last few years that the dynamics close to the glass transition is strongly heterogeneous, both by measuring the diffusion coefficient of tagged particles or by NMR studies. Recent experiments have also demonstrated that the glass transition temperature of thin polymer films can be shifted as compared to the same polymer in the bulk. We propose here first a thermodynamical model for van der Waals liquids, which accounts for experimental results regarding the bulk modulus of polymer melts and the evolution of the density with temperature. This model allows us to describe the density fluctuations in such van der Waals liquids. Then, by considering the thermally induced density fluctuations in the bulk, we propose that the 3D glass transition is controlled by the percolation of small domains of slow dynamics, which allows to explain the heterogeneous dynamics close to T _g. We show then that these domains percolate at a lower temperature in the quasi-2D case of thin suspended polymer films and we calculate the corresponding glass transition temperature reduction, in quantitative agreement with experimental results of Jones and co-workers. In the case of strongly adsorbed films, we show that the strong adsorption amounts to enhance the slow domains percolation. This effect leads to 1) a broadening of the glass transition and 2) an increase of T _g in quantitative agreement with experimental results. For both strongly and weakly adsorbed films, the shift in T _g is given by a power law, the exponent being the inverse of that of the correlation length of 3D percolation. Received 21 March 2000 and Received in final form 4 December 2000     

Spin-cast, thin, glassy polymer films: Highly metastable forms of matter

Ultra thin films of glassy polymers such as polystyrene (PS) can show a) anomalously large thickness changes, b) unexpected dewetting properties, c) large shifts in the glass temperature T_g. The present discussion focusses mainly on point a). A certain cascade of metastable states is presented together with (tentative) explanations. Received 1 March 2001 and Received in final form 10 May 2001     

Mobility in thin polymer films ranging from local segmental motion, Rouse modes to whole chain motion: A coupling model consideration

Large increases of mobility of local segmental relaxation observed in polymer films as the film thickness is decreased, as evidenced by decreases of the glass temperature, are not found for relaxation mechanisms that have longer length scales including the Rouse relaxation modes and the diffusion of entire polymer chains. We show that the coupling model predictions, when extended to consider polymer thin films, are consistent with a large increase of the mobility of the local segmental motions and the lack of such a change for the Rouse modes and the diffusion of entire polymer chains. There are two effects that can reduce the coupling parameter of the local segmental relaxation in thin films. One is the chain orientation that is induced parallel to the surface when the film thickness h becomes smaller than the end-to-end distance of the chains and the other is a finite-size effect when h is no longer large compared to the cooperative length scale. Extremely thin ( ≈ 1.5 nm) films obtained by intercalating a polymer into layered silicates have thickness significantly less than the cooperative length scale near the bulk polymer glass transition temperature. As a result, the coupling parameter of the local segmental relaxation in such thin films is reduced almost to zero. With this plausible assumption, we show the coupling model can explain quantitatively the large decrease of the local segmental relaxation time found experimentally. Received 1 August 2001 and Received in final form 1 December 2001     

Advanced memory effects in the aging of a polymer glass

A new kind of memory effect on low frequency dielectric measurements on plexiglass (PMMA) is described. These measurements show that cooling and heating the sample at constant rate give an hysteretic dependence on temperature of the dielectric constant ε. A temporary stop of cooling produces a downward relaxation of ε. Two main features are observed (i) when cooling is resumed ε goes back to the values obtained without the cooling stop (i.e. the low temperature state is independent of the cooling history) (ii) upon reheating ε keeps the memory of all the cooling stops (Advanced memory). The dependence of this effect on frequency and on the cooling rate is analyzed. The memory deletion is studied too. Finally the results are compared with those of similar experiments done in spin glasses and with the famous experiments of Kovacs. Received 24 September 2001 and Received in final form 20 November 2001     

Miscibility in poly(L-lactide)- b -poly( $ \upvarepsilon$ -caprolactone) double crystalline diblock copolymers

Thermally stimulated depolarization currents, TSDC, wide-angle X-ray scattering, WAXS, differential scanning calorimetry, DSC, and polarized light optical microscopy, PLOM, have been used to examine poly(L-lactide)-b -poly( -caprolactone) diblock copolymers in a wide composition range. Both components are crystallizable and the miscibility in the amorphous phase has been determined from the behavior of the primary relaxations which are the dielectric manifestation of the glass transition, and also from the superstructural morphology revealed by PLOM and the compositional dependence of the melting points as determined by DSC. Distinct segmental mobilities in the amorphous phase which can be well resolved by TSDC are present; the mode of the slower component shifts to lower temperatures as the PCL content increases while the glass transition of neat PCL is present for all compositions. A relaxation times bimodal distribution is apparent for PCL-rich copolymers. The composition dependence of the multiple glass transitions detected in these weakly segregated copolymers are predicted by the self-concentration model for a miscible blend made of components with a large T_g contrast.     

Dewetting of thin polymer films

We study the dewetting of thin polymer films deposited on slippery substrate. Recent experiments on these systems have revealed many unexpected features. We develop here a model that takes into account the rheological properties of polymer melts, focussing on two dewetting geometries (the receding of a straight edge, and the opening of a hole). We show that the friction law associated with the slippage between the film and the substrate has a direct influence on the dewetting dynamic. In addition, we demonstrate that residual stresses, which can be stored in the films due to their viscoelasticity, are a source of destabilization for polymer films, and accelerate the dewetting process.     

Glass transition of the two distinct single-chain particles of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)

Two distinct single-chain particles of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) in the state of loose coil and compact globule, have been prepared successfully below and above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) in extreme dilute aqueous solution by the freeze-drying method, respectively. During the preparation of the compact globular single-chain sample, the surfactant of sodium n-dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was added into the system to prevent aggregation of globular single chains formed at a temperature above the LCST. After all the coil has been transformed into the compact globular particle, the SDS molecules were removed by dialysis. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of the two single-chain samples has been measured by differential scanning calorimetery (DSC) in comparison with that of bulk polymer. It was found that the T_g of the single-chain sample in compact-globule state was very near to that of the bulk polymer, whereas the T_g of the single-chain sample in loose-coil state was approximately 6 K lower than that of the bulk polymer. After treating the sample with repeated DSC cycles, the T_g of the single-chain sample in loose-coil state rose up successively near to that of the bulk polymer. These results have been explained in terms of the effect of entanglement on the mobility of the polymer segments in the two distinct single-chain samples.     

Structure and mechanical properties of low stress tetrahedral amorphous carbon films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Tetrahedral amorphous carbon films have been produced by pulsed laser deposition, at a wavelength of 248 nm, ablating highly oriented pyrolytic graphite at room temperature, in a 10^-2 Pa vacuum, at fluences ranging between 0.5 and 35 Jcm^-2. Both (100) Si wafers and wafers covered with a SiC polycrystalline interlayer were used as substrates. Film structure was investigated by Raman spectroscopy at different excitation wavelength from 633 nm to 229 nm and by transmission Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy. The films, which are hydrogen-free, as shown by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, undergo a transition from mainly disordered graphitic to up to 80% tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) above a threshold laser fluence of 5 J cm^-2. By X-ray reflectivity roughness, density and cross-sectional layering of selected samples were studied. Film hardness as high as 70 GPa was obtained by nanoindentation on films deposited with the SiC interlayer. By scratch test film adhesion and friction coefficients between 0.06 and 0.11 were measured. By profilometry we obtained residual stress values not higher than 2 GPa in as-deposited 80% sp³ ta-C films. Received 25 June 2001     

Heterogeneous dynamics at the glass transition in van der Waals liquids: Determination of the characteristic scale

Recent experiments have demonstrated that the dynamics in liquids close to the glass transition temperature is strongly heterogeneous. The characteristic size of these heterogeneities has been measured to be a few nanometers at T _g. We extend here a recent model for describing the heterogeneous nature of the dynamics which allows both to derive this length scale and the right orders of magnitude of the heterogeneities of the dynamics close to the glass transition. Our model allows then to interpret quantitatively small probes diffusion experiments. Received 29 March 2002 and Received in final form 11 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: long@lps.u-psud.fr     

Effect of atmosphere on reductions in the glass transition of thin polystyrene films

We have used nulling ellipsometry to measure the glass transition temperature, T _g , of thin films of polystyrene in ambient, dry nitrogen, and vacuum environments. For all environments, the measured T _g values decrease with decreasing film thickness in a way that is quantitatively similar to previously reported studies in ambient conditions. These results provide strong reinforcement of previous conclusions that such reduced T _g values are an intrinsic property of the confined material. Furthermore, the results are in contrast to recent reports which suggest that the T _g reductions measured by many researchers are the results of artifacts (i.e. degradation of the polymer due to annealing in ambient conditions, or moisture content).     

Non ergodic aging in potassium niobo-tantalate crystals

Slow dynamics has been studied in various potassium niobo-tantalate crystals (KTN) by recording the complex dielectric constant after several thermal histories: isothermal evolution following controlled cooling or rapid quenching, positive or negative temperature cycles. The results reveal most of the behaviours of aging already found in lithium-potassium tantalate (KLT): effective ergodicity breaking (the asymptotic value of the dielectric constant varies as the logarithm of the cooling rate R), quasi-independence of the isothermal evolution with respect to a sojourn at lower temperature. But some differences between KTN and KLT are noticeable: coefficients of with opposite signs, role of the quenching temperature on the subsequent evolution, no overshot after a temperature jump. In order to explain the results we propose to extend the model initially developped for KLT taking into account the different nature of the low temperature phase, paraelectric for KLT and ferroelectric for KTN. In this model the variations of the dielectric constant are attributed to the slow movements of polarization domain walls hindered by static random fields. By measuring the dielectric constant during cooling and immediate heating at the same rate, an illustrative comparison is provided, showing that the evolution of the domain size is reversible in KLT and not in KTN. Received 17 November 1999     

Molecular-weight dependence of the glass transition temperature of freely-standing poly(methyl methacrylate) films

We have used transmission ellipsometry to measure the glass transition temperature, T_g, of freely-standing films of atactic and syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). We have prepared films with different molecular weights, MW, (159×10³ < M _w < 1.3×10⁶) and film thicknesses, h, ( 30nm < h < 200 nm). For the high-MW ( M _w > 509×10³) atactic PMMA films, we find that T_g decreases linearly with decreasing h, which is qualitatively similar to previous results obtained for high-MW freely-standing polystyrene (PS) films. However, the overall magnitude of the T_g reduction is much less (by roughly a factor of three) for the high-MW freely-standing PMMA films than for freely-standing PS films of comparable MW and h. The observed differences between the freely-standing PMMA and PS film data suggest that differences in chemical structure determine the magnitude of the T_g reduction and we discuss the possible origins of these differences. Our analysis of the MW-dependence of the T_g reductions suggests that the mechanism responsible for the MW-dependent T_g reductions observed in the high-MW freely-standing films is different than that responsible for the MW-independent T_g reductions observed in the low-MW freely-standing and supported films.