Viscoelastic properties of ultrathin polycarbonate films by liquid dewetting

A liquid dewetting method for the determination of the viscoelastic properties of ultrathin polymer films has been extended to study thickness effects on the properties of ultrathin polycarbonate (PC) films. PC films with film thicknesses ranging from 4 to 299 nm were placed on glycerol at temperatures from below the macroscopic glass transition temperature (T_g) to above it with the dewetting responses being monitored. It is found that the isothermal creep results for films of the same thickness, but dewetted at different temperatures can be superposed into one master curve, which is consistent with the fact of PC being a thermorheologically simple material. Furthermore, the results show that the T_g of PC thin films is thickness dependent, but the dependence is weaker than the results for freely standing films and similar to literature data for PC films supported on rigid substrates. It was also found that the rubbery plateau region for the PC films stiffens dramatically, but still less than what has been observed for freely standing polycarbonate films. The rubbery stiffening is discussed in terms of a recently reported model that relates macroscopic segmental dynamics with the stiffening. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1559–1566     

Fluid‐structure coupling of linear elastic model with compressible flow models

Cavitation erosion is caused in solids exposed to strong pressure waves developing in an adjacent fluid field. The knowledge of the transient distribution of stresses in the solid is important to understand the cause of damaging by comparisons with breaking points of the material. The modeling of this problem requires the coupling of the models for the fluid and the solid. For this purpose, we use a strategy based on the solution of coupled Riemann problems that has been originally developed for the coupling of 2 fluids. This concept is exemplified for the coupling of a linear elastic structure with an ideal gas. The coupling procedure relies on the solution of a nonlinear equation. Existence and uniqueness of the solution is proven. The coupling conditions are validated by means of quasi‐1D problems for which an explicit solution can be determined. For a more realistic scenario, a 2D application is considered where in a compressible single fluid, a hot gas bubble at low pressure collapses in a cold gas at high pressure near an adjacent structure.     

3D‐morphology reconstruction of nanoscale phase‐separation in polymer memory blends

In many organic electronic devices functionality is achieved by blending two or more materials, typically polymers or molecules, with distinctly different optical or electrical properties in a single film. The local scale morphology of such blends is vital for the device performance. Here, a simple approach to study the full 3D morphology of phase‐separated blends, taking advantage of the possibility to selectively dissolve the different components is introduced. This method is applied in combination with AFM to investigate a blend of a semiconducting and ferroelectric polymer typically used as active layer in organic ferroelectric resistive switches. It is found that the blend consists of a ferroelectric matrix with three types of embedded semiconductor domains and a thin wetting layer at the bottom electrode. Statistical analysis of the obtained images excludes the presence of a fourth type of domains. The criteria for the applicability of the presented technique are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1231–1237     

Precise Synthesis and Thin Film Self-Assembly of PLLA-b-PS Bottlebrush Block Copolymers

The ability of bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCPs) to self-assemble into ordered large periodic structures could greatly expand the scope of photonic and membrane technologies. In this paper, we describe a two-step synthesis of poly(l-lactide)-b-polystyrene (PLLA-b-PS) BBCPs and their rapid thin-film self-assembly. PLLA chains were grown from exo-5-norbornene-2-methanol via ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of l-lactide to produce norbornene-terminated PLLA. Norbonene-terminated PS was prepared using anionic polymerization followed by a termination reaction with exo-5-norbornene-2-carbonyl chloride. PLLA-b-PS BBCPs were prepared from these two norbornenyl macromonomers by a one-pot sequential ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). PLLA-b-PS BBCPs thin-films exhibited cylindrical and lamellar morphologies depending on the relative block volume fractions, with domain sizes of 46–58 nm and periodicities of 70–102 nm. Additionally, nanoporous templates were produced by the selective etching of PLLA blocks from ordered structures. The findings described in this work provide further insight into the controlled synthesis of BBCPs leading to various possible morphologies for applications requiring large periodicities. Moreover, the rapid thin film patterning strategy demonstrated (>5 min) highlights the advantages of using PLLA-b-PS BBCP materials beyond their linear BCP analogues in terms of both dimensions achievable and reduced processing time.     

Facile non‐lithographic route to highly aligned silica nanopatterns using unidirectionally aligned polystyrene‐block‐polydimethylsiloxane films

Thin films (monolayer and bilayer) of cylinder forming polystyrene‐block‐polydimethylsiloxane (PS‐b‐PDMS) were shear aligned by the swelling and deswelling of a crosslinked PDMS pad that was physically adhered to the film during solvent vapor annealing. The nanostructures formed by self‐assembly were exposed to ultraviolet‐ozone to partially oxidize the PDMS, followed by calcination in air at 500 °C. In this process, the PS segments were fully decomposed, while the PDMS yielded silica nanostructures. The highly aligned PDMS cylinders were thus deposited as silica nanolines on the silicon substrate. Using a bilayer film, the center‐to‐center distance of these features were effectively halved from 38 to 19 nm. Similarly, by sequential shear‐alignment of two distinct layers, a rhombic array of silica nanolines was fabricated. This methodology provides a facile route to fabricating complex topographically patterned nanostructures. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1058–1064     

Ⅱ-Ⅵ族化合物薄膜电致发光

电致发光薄膜是平板显示器的重要材料之一,我们从研究ZnS:Mn,Cu直流电致发光薄膜的大面积稳定发光开始,首次将稀土离子引进直流电致发光薄膜,实现了各色的直流电致发光,并研究其激发机理、过热电子的能量分布、稀土离子的碰撞截面和稀土离子发光中心在晶格中的位置等。在国内首先研制成功ZnS:Mn交流电致发光薄膜计算机终端显示器,并扩大面积到640×480像素(对角线10英寸)。为了实现彩色化显示,研制出稀土离子掺杂的各色交流电致发光薄膜。研究不同稀土离子在薄膜中的浓度猝灭,以便提高薄膜的发光亮度。在致力于实现彩色的过程中,首要的任务是提高蓝色电致发光薄膜的亮度和探索新的蓝色电致发光薄膜材料:从ZnS:TmF₃到CaS:TmF₃,发光亮度有了很大的提高;使SrS:Ce薄膜蓝色电致发光的亮度超过1000cd/m²;同时探索纳米Si和非晶Si/SiO₂超晶格结构的蓝色电致发光。成功地实现了ZnS:Mn/SrS:Ce白色电致发光和SrS:HoF₃三基色线谱发射的白色电致发光,发光亮度也超过1000cd/m²。     

富锌条件下生长氮掺杂氧化锌薄膜的光学和电学性质

报道了采用等离子体辅助分子束外延方法(P-MBE),利用NO作为N源和O源,在c-面蓝宝石(c-Al₂O₃)衬底上外延生长了N掺杂ZnO薄膜。X射线衍射谱(XRD)和吸收谱中都出现了不同于未掺杂样品的特性,X射线光电子谱(XPS)中也发现了N的受主信号。但是在霍尔效应(Hall-effect)测量中,发现该样品并没有出现预期的p型导电特性,而是出现载流子浓度很高(2.15×10²⁰cm^-3)的n型导电特性。结合XPS结果和理论分析,认为在富Zn条件下生长会导致过量的填隙Zn原子,补偿了全部的受主后,又促使其出现了从半导体-金属的Mott转变。     

ZnS作为空穴缓冲层的新型有机发光二极管

采用磁控溅射方法在ITO表面沉积了不同厚度的ZnS超薄膜作为有机发光二极管(OLEDs)的缓冲层,使典型结构(ITO/TPD/Alq3/Al)的OLEDs的发光性能得到改善。ZnS缓冲层厚度对器件性能影响的实验结果表明,当ZnS缓冲层厚度为5nm时,器件电流密度提高了近2倍,亮度提高了2倍;当ZnS缓冲层厚度为10nm时,器件发光的电流效率提高18%,器件的性能得到改善。宽禁带的ZnS缓冲层对空穴从阳极到有机功能层的注入有阻碍作用,促进器件载流子平衡,提高了器件发光效率,改善了器件性能。