Calorimetric glass transition temperature and absolute heat capacity of polystyrene ultrathin films

The absolute heat capacity and glass transition temperature (T_g) of unsupported ultrathin films were measured with differential scanning calorimetry with the step-scan method in an effort to further examine the thermodynamic behavior of glass-forming materials on the nanoscale. Films were stacked in layers with multiple preparation methods. The absolute heat capacity in both the glass and liquid states decreased with decreasing film thickness, and T_g also decreased with decreasing film thickness. The magnitude of the T_g depression was closer to that observed for films supported on rigid substrates than that observed for freely standing films. The stacked thin films regained bulk behavior after the application of pressure at a high temperature. The effects of various preparation methods were examined, including the use of polyisobutylene as an interleaving layer between the polystyrene films. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3518–3527, 2006     

Effect of residual water and free volume on the glass‐transition temperature and heat capacity in polystyrene/poly(vinyl acetate‐co‐butyl acrylate) structured latex films

The dynamic heat capacity and glass‐transition temperature of polystyrene (PS)/poly(vinyl acetate‐co‐butyl acrylate) (VAc–BA) (50:50 w/w) structured latex films as a function of annealing time at 70, 77, and 85 °C were examined with modulated‐temperature differential scanning calorimetry. The PS and poly(vinyl acetate‐co‐n‐butyl acrylate) components were considered to be the cores and shells, respectively, in the structured latex. The dynamic heat capacity decreased with time. The glass‐transition temperatures of the PS and VAc–BA phases shifted to higher values after annealing. The results of thermogravimetry showed that there existed about 1.8% residual water in the films. The mean free volume and relative concentration of holes at room temperature (before and after annealing) and 85 °C, as a function of time, were obtained with positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). The PALS results indicated no significant change in free volume during annealing. It is believed that the loss, by diffusion, of residual water mainly caused a decrease in heat capacity and an increase in the glass‐transition temperatures. As little as 1.8% residual water in the structured latex films had a significant influence on the thermal properties. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 1659–1664, 2001     

Recent developments in thermal analysis of polymers: Calorimetry in the limit of slow and fast heating rates

This review focuses on new insights into the crystal melting transition and the amorphous glass transition of polymers that have been gained through recent advances in thermoanalytical methods. The specific heat capacity can now be studied under two extreme limits, that is, under quasi‐isothermal conditions (limit of zero heating rate) and, at the other end of the scale, under rapid heating conditions (heating rates on the order of thousands of degrees per second), made possible through nanocalorimetry. The reversible melting, and multiple reversible melting, of semicrystalline polymers is explored using quasi‐isothermal temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry, TMDSC. The excess reversing heat capacity, above the baseline, measured under nearly isothermal conditions is attributed to locally reversible surface melting and crystallization processes that do not require molecular nucleation. Observations of double reversible melting endotherms in isotactic polystyrene suggest existence of two distinct populations of crystals, each showing locally reversible surface melting. The second subject of the review, nanocalorimetry, is utilized to study samples of small mass under conditions of very fast heating and cooling. The glass transition properties of thin amorphous polymer films are observed under adiabatic conditions. The glass transition temperature appears to be independent of film thickness, and is observed even in ultra‐thin films. Recrystallization and reorganization during rapid heating are studied by nanocalorimetry of semicrystalline polymers. The uppermost endotherm seen under normal DSC scanning of poly(ethylene terephthalate) is caused by reorganization, and vanishes under the rapid heating conditions (3000K/s) provided by nanocalorimetry. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 629–636, 2005     

Crystallization and melting of a branched polyethylene with precisely controlled chemical structure

The heat capacity of a linear polyethylene with dimethyl branches, at every 21st backbone atom was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and quasi-isothermal temperature-modulated DSC. This novel copolyethylene (PE2M) is relatively difficult to crystallize from the melt. On subsequent heating, a first, sharp melting peak is followed by a sharp cold-crystallization and crystal perfection and a smaller endotherm, before reaching the main melting at 315–320 K, close to the melting temperatures of eicosane and tetracontane. The low-temperature melting is sensitive to the cooling rate and disappears below 1.0 K min⁻¹. The cold crystallization can be avoided by heating with rates faster than 80 K min⁻¹. The PE2M exhibits some reversing and reversible melting, which is typical for chain-folded polymers. The glass transition of semicrystalline PE2M is broadened and reaches its upper limit at about 260 K (midpoint at about 0.355 K). Above this temperature, the crystals seem to have a heat capacity similar to that of the liquid. A hypothesis is that the melting transition can be explained by changes in crystal perfection without major alteration of the crystal structure and the lamellar morphology. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3461–3474, 2006     

Enthalpy relaxation of an epoxy–anhydride resin by temperature‐modulated differential scanning calorimetry

The enthalpy relaxation of an epoxy–anhydride resin was studied by physical aging and frequency‐dependence experiments with alternating differential scanning calorimetry (ADSC), which is a temperature‐modulated differential scanning calorimetry technique. The samples were aged at 80 °C, about 26 K below the glass‐transition temperature, for periods up to 3800 h and then scanned under the following modulation conditions: underlying heating rate of 1 K min⁻¹, amplitude of 0.5 K, and period of 1 min. The enthalpy loss was calculated by the total heat‐flow signal, and its variation with the log (aging time) gives a relaxation rate (per decade), this value being in good agreement with that calculated by conventional DSC. The enthalpy loss was also analyzed in terms of the nonreversing heat flow, revealing that this property is not suitable for calculating enthalpy loss. The effect of aging on the modulus of the complex heat capacity, |Cp*|, is shown by a sharper variation on the low side of the glass transition and an increase in the inflexional slope of |Cp*|. Likewise, the phase angle also becomes sharper in the low‐temperature side of the relaxation. The area under the corrected out‐phase heat capacity remains fairly constant with aging. The dependence of the dynamic glass transition, measured at the midpoint of the variation of |Cp*|, on ln(frequency) allows one to determine an apparent activation energy, Δh*, which gives information about the temperature dependence of the relaxation times in equilibrium over a range close to the glass transition. The values of Δh*, determined from ADSC experiments in a range of frequencies between 4.2 and 33 mHz and at an amplitude of 0.5 K, and an underlying heating rate of 1 K min⁻¹, were analyzed and compared with that obtained by conventional DSC from the dependence of the fictive temperature on the cooling rate. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 2272–2284, 2000     

Energy‐damping behaviors of poly(methyl acrylate‐co‐divinylbenzene) microspheres coated with a porous nickel–phosphorus layer

Hybrid microspheres of poly(methyl acrylate‐co‐divinylbenzene) (PMADVB) with a thin and porous nickel–phosphorus (Ni–P) alloy layer were prepared via suspension polymerization and electroless nickel plating. The characterization of pristine and nickel‐coated microspheres was carried out with a differential scanning calorimeter and a scanning electron spectroscope equipped with an energy‐dispersive system. The glass‐transition range of Ni–P‐coated PMADVB was broadened and extended in the higher temperature direction. This effect allowed the PMADVB network to embrace more diversified energy states of the segment motion, this being a desired feature for damping sound waves. The low‐frequency (100–1000‐Hz) sound absorption behavior of the microspheres was tested with a sound attenuation kit. Besides the testing of their low‐frequency damping performance, an investigation into the ultrasonic‐wave (～35 kHz) absorption feature of the microspheres was conducted through chemical means; that is, the attenuation to the ultrasonic wave with respect to the unprotective situation was assessed through the chemisorption extent of copper ions on a biomass adsorbent. The Ni–P deposition layer was found to augment the damping capacity of the polymer network. The alloy layer was determined to cause an expansion of the glass‐transition range of PMADVB and its wave‐scattering capability because this layer was made up of submicrometer metallic grains. In this work, the particulars of the metal–polymer interactions were associated with a core–shell structure. The metal outer layer was thought to create a spherical temperature field inside the PMADVB network, and concerted motions of the polymer segments resulted. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 2710–2723, 2004     

Conformational contribution to the heat capacity of the starch and water system

The heat capacities of starch and starch—water have been measured with adiabatic calorimetry and standard differential scanning calorimetry and are reported from 8 to 490 K. The amorphous starch containing 11–26 wt % (53–76 mol %) water shows a partial glass transition decreasing from 372 to 270 K, respectively. Even the dry amorphous starch gradually increases in heat capacity above 270 K beyond that set by the vibrational density of states. This gradual increase in the heat capacity is identified as part of the glass transition of dry starch that is, however, not completed at the decomposition temperature. The heat capacities of the glassy, dry starch are linked to an approximate group vibrational spectrum with 44 degrees of freedom. The Tarasov equation is used to estimate the heat capacity contribution due to skeletal vibrations with the parameters Θ₁ = 795.5 K, Θ₂ = 159 K, and Θ₃ = 58 K for 19 degrees of freedom. The calculated and experimental heat capacities agree better than ±3% between 8 and 250 K. Similarly, the vibrational heat capacity has been estimated for glassy water by being linked to an approximate group vibrational spectrum and the Tarasov equation (Θ₁ = 1105.5 K and Θ₃ = 72.4 K, with 6 degrees of freedom). Below the glass transition, the heat capacity of the solid starch—water system has been estimated from the appropriate sum of its components and also from a direct fitting to skeletal vibrations. Above the glass transition, the differences are interpreted as contributions of different conformational heat capacities from chains of the carbohydrates interacting with water. The conformational parts are estimated from the experimental heat capacities of dry starch and starch—water, decreased by the vibrational and external contributions to the heat capacity. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 3038–3054, 2001     

Melting and crystallization of poly(butylene terephthalate) by temperature‐modulated and superfast calorimetry

Quantitative temperature‐modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC) and superfast thin‐film chip calorimetry (SFCC) are applied to poly(butylene terephthalate)s (PBT) of different thermal histories. The data are compared with those of earlier measured heat capacities of semicrystalline PBT by adiabatic calorimetry and standard DSC. The solid and liquid heat capacities, which were linked to the vibrational and conformational molecular motion, serve as references for the quantitative analyses. Using TMDSC, the thermodynamic and kinetic responses are separated between glass and melting temperature. The changes in crystallinity are evaluated, along with the mobile–amorphous and rigid–amorphous fractions with glass transitions centered at 314 and 375 K. The SFCC showed a surprising bimodal change in crystallization rates with temperature, which stretches down to 300 K. The earlier reported thermal activity at about 248 K was followed by SFCC and TMDSC and could be shown to be an irreversible endotherm and is not caused by a glass transition and rigid–amorphous fraction, as assumed earlier. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1364–1377, 2006     

Viscoelastic dewetting of constrained polymer thin films

Thin films of fluids are playing a leading role in countless natural and industrial processes. Here we study the stability and dewetting dynamics of viscoelastic polymer thin films. The dewetting of polystyrene close to the glass transition reveals unexpected features: asymmetric rims collecting the dewetted liquid and logarithmic growth laws that we explain by considering the nonlinear velocity dependence of friction at the fluid/solid interface and by evoking residual stresses within the film. Systematically varying the time so that films were stored below the glass-transition temperature, we studied simultaneously the probability for film rupture and the dewetting dynamics at early stages. Both approaches proved independently the significance of residual stresses arising from the fast solvent evaporation associated with the spin-coating process. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3022–3030, 2006     

Thermodynamic characteristics and the temperatures of relaxation transitions of poly(methacrylic acid)

The heat capacity of poly(methacrylic acid) containing 2.5 wt % water was measured in a vacuum adiabatic calorimeter at temperatures between 80 and 325 K. The heat capacity of anhydrous poly(methacrylic acid) was calculated, and its standard enthalpies of combustion and formation were determined. On the basis of the enthalpy of melting of the “free”-water phase, the limit of water solubility in the polymer was found calorimetrically at 273 K. The temperatures of relaxation transitions (the glass transition and the β and γ transitions) of poly(methacrylic acid) mixtures with water were determined via differential thermal analysis in the region 80–550 K. In addition, the determination of the temperatures of transitions of anhydrous poly(methacrylic acid) was performed via extrapolation to zero water content of the concentration dependences of the relaxation-transition temperatures.     

Thickness dependence of free‐standing thin films

Below a critical thickness, of about 60 nm, the glass transition temperature of polystyrene (PS) films decreases with film thickness, as demonstrated using free‐standing films. A geometrical model is developed here describing this phenomenon in the case of ideal (Gaussian) chains. This model, which can be considered as an application of the free volume model, assumes that the decrease of the glass transition temperature from thick to ultrathin films is due to the modification of the interpenetration between neighboring chains. The theoretical curve deduced from the model is in excellent agreement with the PS experimental results, without using any adjustable parameters. From these results, it can be concluded that new chain motions, usually buried in bulk samples, are expressed by the presence of the surface. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 10–17, 2007     

Heat capacity of poly(butylene terephthalate)

The low‐temperature heat capacity of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) was measured from 5 to 330 K. The experimental heat capacity of solid PBT, below the glass transition, was linked to its approximate group and skeletal vibrational spectrum. The 21 skeletal vibrations were estimated with a general Tarasov equation with the parameters Θ₁ = 530 K and Θ₂ = Θ₃ = 55 K. The calculated and experimental heat capacities of solid PBT agreed within better than ±3% between 5 and 200 K. The newly calculated vibrational heat capacity of the solid from this study and the liquid heat capacity from the ATHAS Data Bank were applied as reference values for a quantitative thermal analysis of the apparent heat capacity of semicrystalline PBT between the glass and melting transitions as obtained by differential scanning calorimetry. From these results, the integral thermodynamic functions (enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs function) of crystalline and amorphous PBT were calculated. Finally, the changes in the crystallinity with the temperature were analyzed. With the crystallinity, a baseline was constructed that separated the thermodynamic heat capacity from cold crystallization, reorganization, annealing, and melting effects contained in the apparent heat capacity. For semicrystalline PBT samples, the mobile‐amorphous and rigid‐amorphous fractions were estimated to complete the thermal analysis. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4401–4411, 2004     

Freezing of polymer thin films and surfaces: The small molecular weight puzzle

Experimental observations (ellipsometry, scanning force microscopy, and nuclear magnetic recsonance (NMR)) of the freezing behavior of thin supported films as well as the free surface of atactic polystyrene are reported, taken at a particularly small molecular weight of 2 kg/mol. Remarkably, we find the same effect of reduction of the glass transition temperature, T_g, as observed earlier with much longer molecules. Furthermore, surface melting is observed by NMR, with the molten layer thickness similar to what has been observed with larger molecular weight. We conclude that molecular geometry effects cannot account for these observations, and that a consistent explanation must be presentable in a continuum picture. On the basis of the capillary mode spectrum of the free surface and of the supported films, we present such a model and find that it accounts very consistently with all observations made so far, at least with polystyrene. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2968–2979, 2006     

Reversible melting and crystallization of high‐molar‐mass poly(oxyethylene)

The heat capacity of poly(oxyethylene) (POE) with a molar mass of 900,000 Da has been analyzed with differential scanning calorimetry and quasi‐isothermal, temperature‐modulated differential scanning calorimetry. The crystal structure, lattice parameters, and coherently scattering domain sizes have been measured with wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction as a function of temperature. The high‐molar‐mass POE crystals are in a folded‐chain macroconformation and show some locally reversible melting starting already at about 250 K. At 335 K, the thermodynamic heat capacity reaches the level of the melt. The reversible crystallinity depends on the modulation amplitude and has been varied in the melting range from ±0.2 to ±3.0 K. Before melting, there is neither a change in the crystal structure nor a change in the domain size, but the expansivity of the crystals increases at about 320 K. These observations support the interpretation that the monoclinic POE crystals possess a glass transition temperature with a midpoint at about 324 K, whereas the maximum melting temperature is 341 K. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 475–489, 2007     

乙醇和甲苯组成的最低共沸混合物热力学性质的研究

The molar heat capacity of the azeotropic mixture composed of ethanol and toluene was measured by a high precision adiabatic calorimeter from 80 to 320 K. The glass transition and phase transitions of the azeotropic mixture were determined based on the heat capacity measurements. A glass transition at 103.350 K was found. A solid-solid phase transition at 127.282 K, two solid-liquid phase transitions at 153.612 and 160.584 K were observed, which correspond to the transition of metastable crystal to stable crystal of ethanol and the melting of ethanol and toluene, respectively. The thermodynamic functions and the excess ones of the mixture relative to the standard temperature 298.15 K were derived based on the relationships of the thermodynamic functions and the function of the measured heat capacity with respect to temperature.     

Creep behavior of amorphous ethylene–styrene interpolymers in the glass transition region

The viscoelastic behavior of amorphous ethylene–styrene interpolymers (ESIs) was studied in the glass transition region. The creep behavior at temperatures from 15°C below the glass transition temperature (T_g) to T_g was determined for three amorphous ESIs. These three copolymers with 62, 69, and 72 wt % styrene had glass transition temperatures of 11, 23, and 33°C, respectively, as determined by DMTA at 1 Hz. Time–temperature superposition master curves were constructed from creep curves for each polymer. The temperature dependence of the shift factors was well described by the WLF equation. Using the T_g determined by DMTA at 1 Hz as a reference temperature, C₁ and C₂ constants for the Williams, Landel, and Ferry (WLF) equation were calculated as approximately 7 and 40 K, respectively. The master curves were used to obtain the retardation time spectrum and the plateau compliance. The entanglement molecular weight obtained from the plateau compliance increased with increasing styrene content as 1,600, 1,870, and 2,040, respectively. The entanglement molecular weight of the ESIs was much closer to that of polyethylene (1,390) than to that of polystyrene (18,700); this was attributed to the unique chain microstructure of these ESIs with no styrene–styrene dyads. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 2373–2382, 1999     

Discrepancies in the characterization of the glass transition in thin films of hyperbranched polyesters

The dynamic glass transition and the dilatometric glass transition temperature are simultaneously characterized in thin films of hyperbranched aromatic polyesters by broadband dielectric spectroscopy and capacitive scanning dilatometry. A diverging thickness dependence is detected: while the temperature position of the alpha relaxation peak T_α decreases by ∼30 K, the dilatometric T_g increases by ∼10 K with decreasing film thickness. This emphasizes the subtle character of the glass transition phenomenon—as manifested in the molecular dynamics and in the (structural) thermal expansion—and proves that, in contrast to the bulk, different experimental techniques do not necessarily deliver similar results in confinement. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3006–3010, 2006     

Heat capacity of molten polymers

Heat capacities of molten polyethylene, polypropylene, poly-1-butene, polystyrene, and poly(methyl methacrylate) were measured over a wide range of temperature by using a differential scanning calorimeter. The upper limit of temperature was established for each polymer at about 10°K below the beginning of thermal decomposition. For poly-1-butene and poly(methyl methacrylate) the solid-state heat capacity was also measured starting from room temperature. Several samples of each polymer were used so that average values of heat capacities could be established (reported in 10°K intervals). The data revealed for all polymers a nearly linear increase of heat capacity with increasing temperature over the whole temperature range investigated.     

Molecular motion and phase transitions of clathrate hydrates**

Abstract

Heat capacities and complex dielectric permittivities of three clathrate hydrates of type II, encaging tetrahydrofuran (THF), acetone (Ac), and trimethylene oxide (TMO), were measured at low temperatures. The heat capacity measurement was done in the temperature range 13–300 K by using an adiabatic calorimeter with a built-in cryorefrigerator. The permittivities were measured in the temperature range 20–260 K and in the frequency range 20 Hz-1 MHz. For pure samples, with a glass transition due to freezing out of water, reorientational motion of the host lattice was observed calorimetrically at 85 K for THF and at 90 K for Ac hydrates, respectively. Spontaneous temperature drift rates of the calorimetric cell were measured under adiabatic conditions to derive the characteristic time for enthalpy relaxation. The enthalpy relaxation times thus derived were well correlated in an Arrhenius plot with the dielectric relaxation times derived from the dielectric relaxation of orientation polarization. The situation is the same as hexagonal ice which has a similar four co-ordinated hydrogen-bonded network.