Specific heat and dielectric relaxations in ultra-thin polystyrene layers

The effect of thickness on the glass transition dynamics in ultra-thin polystyrene (PS) films (4 nm < L < 60 nm) was studied by thin film ac-calorimetry, dielectric spectroscopy (DRS) and capacitive dilatometry (CD). In all PS-films, a prominent α-process was found in both the ac-calorimetric and dielectric response, indicating the existence of cooperative bulk dynamics even in films as thin as 4 nm. Glass transition temperatures (T_g) were obtained from ac-calorimetric data at 40 Hz and from capacitive dilatometry, and reveal a surprising, marginal thickness dependence T_g(L). These results, which confirm recent data by Efremov et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91 (2003)] but oppose many previous observations, is rationalized by differences in film annealing conditions together with the fact that our techniques probe exclusively cooperative dynamics (ac-calorimetry) or allow the effective separation of surface and “bulk”-type mobility (CD). Two other observations, a significant reduction in c_p towards lower film thickness and the decrease in the contrast of the dilatometric glass transition, support the idea of a layer-like mobility profile consisting of both cooperative “bulk” dynamics and non-cooperative surface mobility.     

Dynamic mechanical and dielectric relaxations of polystyrene below the glass temperature

Dynamic mechanical and dielectric properties of various kinds of polystyrene, including bulk-polymerized, monodisperse, isotactic, and thermally degraded samples, have been measured below the glass temperature to 4°K. Five relaxation processes are found, designated β, γ, γ′, δ, and ε in order of descending temperature. The β peak (350°K at 10 kHz) is attributed to the local oscillation mode of backbone chains and the γ′ peak (180°K at 10 kHz) to rotation of phenyl groups. The δ peak (100°K at 10 kHz) is observed only in dielectric properties of the bulk-polymerized sample and is assigned to weak polar bonds, such as oxygen bonds in the chain. The δ peak (55°K at 10 kHz) which is prominent in dynamic mechanical properties is interpreted in terms of lattice defects due to a syndiotactic diad inserted between isotactic sequences in a chain or vice versa. The ε peak (ca. 25°K at 10 kHz) is first reported in the present work, but the mechanism involved is not yet clear.     

Structure and dielectric relaxations of antibacterial sulfonated polystyrene and silver nanocomposites

Structure and dielectric relaxations of antibacterial sulfonated polystyrene (SPS) and silver nanocomposites (SPS/Ag) were investigated via broadband dielectric spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction. SPS/Ag nanocomposites were prepared from SPS containing 2, 4, and 7 mol% of acid contents, followed by ion exchange and a reduction process. Silver nanoparticles were formed in the structural cavities of SPS films. The single glass transition temperature of the SPS copolymers was observed and increased with increasing acid contents and more enhanced with embedded silver nanoparticles because of the restriction of the polymer chain movement. The particle size of embedded silver nanoparticles was about 10 nm and well dispersed in SPS matrices. Four dielectric relaxations were observed above the glass transition temperature, and they were attributed to the fast segmental relaxation, the slow‐hindered segmental relaxation, relaxations associated with Maxwell–Wagner–Sillars interfacial polarization and electrode polarization. Weak local relaxations were observed due to the motion of sulfonated phenyl groups. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiple dielectric relaxations in liquid crystals, their analysis and interpretation

Dielectric measurements on laterally substituted molecules were carried out in the frequency range 10 Hz to 10 MHz. In these systems, the main part of the molecules exhibits only a very small dipole moment in the direction of the para-axis, whereas the lateral substituent is strongly polar. Depending on the position of the dipole (o,m,p), a more or less strong dipolar correlation in the parallel direction was detected. The absorption data at higher frequencies were fitted to two Cole-Cole mechanisms. The low frequency relaxation was interpreted as angular vibration of the dipole moment of the lateral group, and the high frequency one as the reorientation about the para-axis of the main part of the molecule and of the lateral group. The appearance of two high frequency mechanisms is unexpected and demonstrates that in complicated molecules the dynamics also become differentiated.     

The effect of sorbed oxygen on the γ and δ dielectric relaxations in polystyrene

The γ and δ relaxations of polystyrene (PS) are rendered more active dielectrically by sorbed oxygen. This effect, coupled with comparative work on molecularly similar systems has led to the assignment of the γ relaxation to a rotational libration of the phenyl ring in PS. Specific interactions of the pendant phenyl ring with molecular oxygen to induce off-axis dipole moments in the phenyl moiety is proposed. It is concluded that this interaction is strong enough to influence the dielectric relaxation strength of other relaxations in PS. It is further concluded that because of the interactions occuring in aromatic polymers containing sorbed oxygen, care must be taken to exclude oxygen or to vary its content, in order that intrinsic motions in the polymer system can be studied.     

Capillary electrophoresis of glucosinolates and their degradation products

Glucosinolates are important natural products occurring mainly in plants of the Cruciferae family. This review article is aimed at describing the recent progress made in capillary electrophoresis of glucosinolates and their degradation products. It describes the various electrophoretic systems and detection schemes introduced to date for the capillary electrophoresis (CE) of glucosinolates and their degradation products. Also included in this review are the applications of CE to the qualitative and quantitative determination of glucosinolates and their degradation products in plant extracts.     

Analysis of polyolefin stabilizers and their degradation products

Polymeric materials are complex samples, as they contain various groups of additives, compounding ingredients, and fillers. An important group of additives are stabilizers. Efficient stabilization is essential especially for polypropylene, as it is sensitive to oxidation and radical attack due to the numerous tertiary carbon atoms in its structure. How long a polymer will be sufficiently stabilized can be deduced from the contained amount of intact stabilizer. Different approaches for the analysis of stabilizers in polyolefins are available, which include sample preparation with subsequent chromatographic separation as well as direct analysis techniques. In round-robin tests, stabilizer concentrations obtained varied strongly. This shows the demand for reliable and robust methods. Stabilizers get consumed while protecting the polymer and are then present as degradation products. They were observed while quantifying intact stabilizers, in migration studies, and - if volatile - in emission studies of polymers. Furthermore, e.g. interactions with other polymer ingredients or irradiation degraded stabilizers. The identification of degradation products provides a better insight into the reactions associated with stabilization. Their quantitation makes it possible to deduce the original level of stabilization. Furthermore, polymer ingredients degrading stabilizers can be identified. Knowledge on these interactions contributes significantly to improved polymer stabilization.     

Deuteration shift of low temperature dielectric relaxations

Polyethylene and paraffin samples at a temperature of 4.2 K exhibited dielectric relaxations as a result of containing v arious phenol derivatives and amines. Four of these dipolar additives caused distinctly faster relaxations in poly(C₂D₄) than in comparable poly(C₂H₄), the difference being 13 to 20%. The amines, like the phenol derivatives reported earlier, also relaxed orders of magnitude more slowly when their labile hydrogens had been deuterium-substituted. A 4-methyl-2, 6-di-tert-butyl phenol sample in which most of the non-labile hydrogens were deuteriums, relaxed more slowly than the normal compound, the relaxation time being 25–30% longer. These results are all explained with the phononassisted tunnelling model and provide new evidence for the validity of this model.     

Moisture effect on the low- and high-temperature dielectric relaxations in nylon-6

The effect of water sorption on the dielectric relaxation processes of nylon-6 samples with water concentrations ranging from the dry to the water-saturated polymer has been studied by thermally stimulated depolarization currents experiments in a broad temperature range, from 77 to 365 K. The strengths of the low-temperature modes, γ- and β-peaks, are affected in opposite ways by the water concentration, h, as the first one shows a decrease in intensity and the second one grows as h increases. The precise determination of the relaxation parameters is made by the decomposition in elementary Debye processes and best fitting to the experimental profile of the complex peak. For h < 3%, the reorienting energies are almost independent of the water content, and the most significant intensity variations occur. The firmly bound water is held responsible for these effects. As for the higher temperature zone besides the α-peak, which is the dielectric manifestation of the glass transition, intermediate temperatures modes are observed at high h values and are originated by the loosely bound water, while the highest temperature peak is attributed to a Maxwell–Wagner interfacial polarization. The characteristic parameters of the α-mode are determined and related to the plasticization effect of water. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 35: 2879–2888, 1997     

Mechanical and dielectric relaxations in liquid crystalline copolyesters

Dynamic mechanical measurements in tension and torsion on oriented tapes and monofilaments of a range of liquid crystalline polyesters have been combined with dielectric measurements to obtain a molecular understanding of the relaxation processes. This paper extends our previous work [1,2,3] on polyesters of hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA) and hydroxynaphthoic acid (HNA) to related polymers containing dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) and terephthalic acid (TPA) or biphenyl (BP) and TPA in place of the HNA. It confirms the association of the β and γ processes with naphthyl and phenyl moieties but shows that the processes cannot be due simply to the independent motions of single units.     

A dielectric study of secondary relaxations and the “memory effect” in two compatible polystyrene blends

Dielectric permittivities and loss tangents of 10 and 30% poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO)–polystyrene (PS) blends and 10 and 25% poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME)–polystyrene blends have been measured from 80 to 360 K at 1 and 10 kHz. The PPO-PS blends have two secondary relaxations below T_g and the PVME-PS blends have three regions. All blends have a β process which appears near 290 K, is independent of PPO or PVME concentration, and is associated with the local modes of motions of PS chains. It is suggested that the β process of PS allows a dipolar reorientation of the PPO or PS chain segments by creating more favorable surroundings for the motions of the latter. The effect of physical aging in the PPO-PS blend is substantial but the “memory effect” is significantly less. This is due to the lower contribution to tanδ from the β process of the blend.     

TSC and dielectric study of multiple relaxations in poly-L-proline

The thermally stimulated current (TSC) technique has been used to perform a detailed study of the complex relaxation modes observed in poly-L -proline II. Each mechanism has been resolved into elementary processes, each well described by using the assumption of a single relaxation time following an Arrhenius equation. This resolution allows us to predict the complex dielectric constant for temperatures between 77 and 400°K and frequencies between 10^?6 and 10⁴ Hz. In the range where experimental results are available, the predicted energy losses are in very good agreement with those measured by DC transient experiments, the pendulum technique without contacting electrodes, and the AC bridge. We discuss the probable origin of the various relaxation modes. The relaxation observed at the highest temperature may be attributed to electrons trapped at the boundaries between paracrystalline and crystalline regions. From the changes in the relaxations caused by bound water, we conclude that there are two types of water interacting with the macromolecular substrate. With increasing water content, the relaxation modes observed may first be due to water tightly bound between two carbonyl groups of adjacent chains and second, to increased stiffness of the poly-L -proline chain from more mobile water.     

Analysis of the relaxations on polymers from the real part of a general complex susceptibility. Application to dielectric relaxations

From a thermodynamic relation that involves the generalized relaxation function, an approximated method that allows estimation of the thermal dependence of the imaginary part of the general complex susceptibility from the real part is discussed. Several conditions such as broad distribution of relaxation times, the applicability of the time–temperature superposition principle, and the temperature dependence of the relaxation strength are considered and analyzed, together with the expected thermal behavior of the relaxed and unrelaxed susceptibilities. The method is tested by means of dielectric measurements on the poly(vinyl acetate) polymer in the temperature range corresponding to the segmental dynamics and the secondary relaxation. An acceptable agreement respect with the maximum temperature of the ε″(T) and the width and shape of the loss peak is obtained between the experimental and estimated imaginary part. This comparison gives validity to the method when the imaginary part is experimentally not well resolved due to the signal–resolution ratio or to the presence of other contributions that mask the thermal behavior of the imaginary part. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 1337–1349, 1999     

The effect of water on the secondary dielectric relaxations in nylon 66

Dielectric data were taken on nylon 66 at several moisture levels at frequencies from 10 to 10⁵ Hz and temperatures from ?70°C to room temperature. Moisture increases the frequency and the peak height for the β relaxation and reduces its activation energy. The peak height of the γ relaxation is reduced by moisture and shifts to slightly higher frequencies with little change in activation energy. The β relaxation follows the pattern of Jonscher and Ngai for a cooperative many-body process. The γ relaxation is slightly broader than a Debye relaxation and approaches that model quite closely as the temperature is increased. The high-frequency end of the β relaxation overlaps the γ relaxation.     

Mechanisms of thermal degradation of polystyrene,polymethacrylonitrile, and their copolymers on flash pyrolysis

The mechanism of thermal degradation of homopolymers of styrene (St) and methacrylonitrile (MAN) and their copolymers was investigated theoretically and experimentally by the pyrolysis gas chromatography using a Curie-point pyrolyzer. Poly(St-co-MAN)s generate dimers and trimers as well as monomers by flash pyrolysis. Parameter α was proposed to account for the competition between the back-biting reaction and depolymerization. The back-biting parameter α is defined as the ratio of rate constants, α = k_bb/k_dp, where k_bb is the rate constant for the back-biting reaction and k_dp is that for depolymerization. The back-biting process is followed by β-scission, where dimer and trimer are generated, and directly correlated with the C—H bond dissociation energies in the polymer chain. Using the back-biting parameter α, where 1/α is equal to the zip length n in depolymerization, the boundary effect for the difference of monomer yields from the homopolymers of St and MAN and their copolymers is well explained. The calculated values of boundary effect parameters, β_St and β_MAN, agreed well with the experimental results. It was found that thermal degradation mechanisms of homo- and copolymers of vinyl compounds can be analyzed comprehensively using the back-biting parameter α and the boundary effect parameter β. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. A Polym. Chem. 36: 2315–2330, 1998     

Kinetic studies on thermal decomposition of polystyrene peroxide

Polystyrene peroxide has been synthesized and its decomposition has been studied by thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis. Polystyrene peroxide has been found to decompose exothermically at about 110°C. The activation energy for the decomposition was estimated to be 30 kcal/mole both by the Jacobs and Kureishy method and by fitting the α versus time curves to the first-order kinetic equation. This suggests that the rate-controlling step in the decomposition of polystyrene peroxide is cleavage of the OO bond.     

Study of dielectric relaxations of anhydrous trehalose and maltose glasses

We investigated the frequency dependent dielectric relaxation behaviors of anhydrous trehalose and maltose glasses in the temperature range which covers a supercooled and glassy states. In addition to the α-, Johari-Goldstein (JG) β-, and γ-relaxations in a typical glass forming system, we observed an extra relaxation process between JG β- and γ-relaxations in the dielectric loss spectra. We found that the unknown extra relaxation is a unique property of disaccharide which might originate from the intramolecular motion of flexible glycosidic bond. We also found that the temperature dependence of the JG β-relaxation time changes at 0.95T(g) and it might be universal.     

Polysiloxane dizwitterionomers. IV. Mechanical and dielectric relaxations

The relaxation behavior of a series of polysiloxane dizwitterionomers has been studied by using dynamic mechanical and dielectric spectroscopy. The temperature range was 100–375 K and the frequency was ca. 1 Hz in the mechanical measurements and 50 Hz–50 kHz in the dielectric measurements. Three relaxation regions, labeled α_s, β, α_z in order of increasing temperature, were observed. The β_s relaxation was assigned to the nonionic portion of the siloxane chain and correlated with the glass transition of polydimethylsiloxane. The β and α_z processes are ionic-related relaxations; β probably originated from the motion of a chain segment carrying a dizwitterion, and α_z, from the collapse of the organization in the ionic domains. Absorbed water exerts a profound influence on relaxation behavior–primarily on α_z ionic relaxation and the relative rigidity of the samples. The water molecules solvate the ions and thus shift the α_z relaxation to lower temperatures. Some aspects of the effect of thermal history on the microphase separation into domains have also been investigated. The results indicate that the organization of the zwitterions in the ionic domains is improved at slow cooling rates.     

Oxidative degradation of polystyrene

Nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared, and ultraviolet spectroscopy were used to elucidate the structure of oxidized polystyrene. To identify the nuclear magnetic resonance peaks of the degraded polystyrene, deuterated polystyrenes were synthesized and degraded. The primary structure present in the degraded polystyrene was found to be an aromatic carbonyl group. It was shown that this structure was formed regardless of the presence of ultraviolet light and was also present when polystyrene was degraded in carbon tetrachloride solution. When polystyrene was degraded in carbon tetrachloride solution, stable polymeric peroxides were formed in a concentration of 4 peroxide groups for every 1000 styrene units.