Difference in Glass Transition Behavior Between Semi Crystalline and Amorphous poly(lactic acid) Thin Films

Summary: Semi crystalline and amorphous poly(lactic acid) (PLA) thin films exhibit different glass transition temperature and behaviour, as revealed by ellipsometry. For semi-crystalline poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) thin film (with crystalline content between 40 and 60%), the glass transition temperature (T_g) is found to decrease below a film thickness of 50 nm. This depression was interpreted in term of disentenglement effect which is likely to occur upon confining the amorphous PLA phase near a non interacting surface. New results performed on non completed films, i.e. isolated objects, also reveal the lower transition temperature, thus underlying the importance of the entanglement state of the polymer chains on their mobility. For amorphous PLA thin film, obtained from the L and D copolymer, two distinct glass transitions were observed, with the highest Tg attributed to the presence of some nano-phase domains, formed by a possible cooperation of the D and L blocks to form stereocomplexes sequences, within the film. Furthermore, if these T_g remained constant as film thicknesses decrease down to 50 nm, they were also found to slightly decrease for isolated objects, thus supporting the importance of the entanglement hypothesis on the glass transition.     

Measurements of dynamic interactions in thin films of polymer melts: The transition from simple to complex behavior

Two techniques are described for measuring the shear viscosities of thin liquid films confined between two surfaces. Both techniques employ the surface forces apparatus, which has already been used extensively to measure the static interactions between surfaces in liquids. With either of the new dynamic techniques, shear viscosities of the confined liquids can be measured as a function of film thickness with a precision of about 0.1 nm (1 Å). The techniques complement each other: one is used to best advantage at high shear rates, the other at low shear rates. Results are presented for measurements made on low-molecular-weight polymer melts of polybutadienes. At low shear rates, these results provide detailed information on the relation between polymer molecular weight, the conformation of polymer molecules at the surfaces, the intermolecular forces between the surfaces, and the location of the shear plane (plane of no-slip). At high shear rates, the results suggest the gradual evolution of non-Newtonian behavior in submicron liquid films.     

Low-energy electron-stimulated luminescence of thin H2O and D2O layers on Pt(111)

The electron-stimulated luminescence (ESL) from amorphous solid water and crystalline ice films deposited on Pt(111) at 100 K is investigated as a function of the film thickness, incident electron energy (5-1000 eV), isotopic composition, and film structure. The ESL emission spectrum has a characteristic double-peaked shape that has been attributed to a transition between a superexcited state (C) and the dissociative, first excited state (A) in water: C --> A. Comparing the electron-stimulated luminescence and O2 electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) yields versus incident electron energy, we find the ESL threshold is approximately 3 eV higher than the O2 ESD threshold, which is close to the center of the emission spectrum near 400 nm and supports the C --> A assignment for the ESL. For thin films, radiative and nonradiative interactions with the substrate tend to quench the luminescence. The luminescence yield increases with coverage since the interactions with the substrate become less important. The ESL yield from D2O is approximately 4-5 times higher than that from H2O. With use of layered films of H2O and D2O, this sizable isotopic effect on the ESL is exploited to spatially profile the luminescence emission within the ASW films. These experiments show that most of the luminescence is emitted from within the penetration depth of the incident electron. However, the results depend on the order of the isotopes in the film and can be modeled by assuming some migration of the electronically excited states within the film. The ESL is very sensitive to defects and structural changes in solid water, and the emission yield is significantly higher from amorphous films than from crystalline ice.     

基板受限条件下聚合物薄膜厚度对结晶的影响研究

通过溶液铸膜方法,用匀胶机(spin-coater)在铝箔基板上制备出一系列具有不同厚度的结晶聚合物聚羟基丁酸酯(PHB)和聚ε-己内酯(PCL)超薄膜.经退火处理后,用差热扫描量热仪(DSC)测试了薄膜厚度对其结晶熔点T_m和结晶温度T_c的影响.结果表明,结晶熔点T_m随超薄膜厚度的减小逐渐减小;在减至一定的厚度时,熔点有突升,至极大值后,随膜厚继续减小熔点又会骤降.而结晶温度T_c则一直随膜厚的减小而逐渐降低.可以认为,结晶聚合物的分子在基板受限作用下,主要是熔融熵的变化导致了熔点的上述变化,而受限条件下的扩散控制结晶使结晶温度降低.     

Fluidity of water confined down to subnanometer films

A surface force balance with extremely high sensitivity and resolution for measuring shear forces across thin films has been used to investigate directly the dynamic properties of salt-free water (so-called conductivity water) in a gap between two atomically smooth solid surfaces. Our results reveal that no shear stress can be sustained by water (within our resolution and shear rates) down to films of thickness D = D0 = 0.0 +/- 0.3 nm. At short range (D < 3.5 +/- 1 nm), an attractive van der Waals (vdW) force between the surfaces causes a jump into a flat adhesive contact at D0, at which the surfaces rigidly couple. Analysis of the jump behavior reveals that the viscosity of water remains within a factor of 3 or so of its bulk value down to D0. This contrasts sharply with the case of confined nonassociating liquids, whose effective viscosity increases by many orders of magnitude at film thicknesses lower than about five to eight monolayers. We attribute this to the fundamentally different mechanisms of solidification of organic liquids and of water. In the former case, the density increase induced in the films by the confinement promotes solidification, while, in the case of water, such densification (due to vdW attraction between the liquid molecules and the confining walls), in agreement with bulk behavior, suppresses the tendency of the water to solidify.     

Structural and compositional effects on thermal expansion behavior in polyimide substrates of varying thicknesses

Polyimide films with thicknesses ranging from 6 μm to 80 μm were prepared with a solvent casting method to explore film thickness effects on the in-plane thermal expansion coefficient (CTE). In the case of polyimide films composed of bulky and flexible molecular units, CTE is consistent regardless of film thickness. In contrast, films with rigid and planar molecular structure show CTE increase according to the increase of film thickness up to 40–50 μm, which then plateau for thicker films. It is apparent that the film thickness dependent thermal expansion originates from complex effects of molecular orientation, charge transfer complex formation, and crystal formation as a function of film thicknesses, through characterization on UV–Vis absorption, crystalline structure, glass transition behavior, and optical retardation. These results provide insight into the design of polymer structures for flexible display substrates that require appropriate CTE values.     

Noncrystalline phases in poly(9,9-di-n-octyl-2,7-fluorene)

Selective formation of amorphous, nematic (N), and beta phases in poly(9,9-di-n-octyl-2,7-fluorene) (PFO) films was achieved via judicious choice of process parameters. Phase structure and film morphology were carefully examined by means of X-ray diffraction as well as electron microscopy. "Amorphous" thin films were obtained by quick evaporation of solvent. Slow solvent removal during film formation or extended treatment of the amorphous film with solvent vapor resulted in predominantly the beta phase, which corresponds to a frozen (due to decreased segmental mobility upon solvent removal) and intrinsically metastable state of transformation midway between a solvent-induced clathrate phase and the equilibrium crystalline order in the undiluted state. The frozen transformation process is reactivated upon an increase in temperature beyond 100 degrees C. Compared to the amorphous film, extended backbone conjugation in the beta phase is evidenced from the emergence of a characteristic absorption peak around 430 nm near the absorption edge. For films of frozen nematic order (obtained by quenching from the nematic state), the conjugation length is also greater than the amorphous films as revealed by an absorption shoulder around 420 nm. Well-behaved single-chromophore emission with single-mode phonon coupling was observed for the beta phase; in the case of nematic films, dual-mode phonon coupling must exist if single-chromophore emission is assumed. In comparison, the emission spectrum of the amorphous film of generally shorter conjugation lengths exhibited mixed characteristics of nematic and beta phases, implying the presence of minor populations of extended conjugation similar to those in nematic and beta phases, which are of biased weightings in the emission spectra. All these films consist of nanograins (ca. 10 nm in size) of collapsed chains; the films are therefore inherently inhomogeneous in this length scale. In combination with previous observations on the crystalline (alpha and alpha') forms, the phase behavior of PFO is then generally summarized in terms of relative thermodynamic stability.     

Collapse transition in thin films of poly(methoxydiethylenglycol acrylate)

The thermal behavior of poly(methoxydiethylenglycol acrylate) (PMDEGA) is studied in thin hydrogel films on solid supports and is compared with the behavior in aqueous solution. The PMDEGA hydrogel film thickness is varied from 2 to 422?nm. Initially, these films are homogenous, as measured with optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray reflectivity, and grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). However, they tend to de-wet when stored under ambient conditions. Along the surface normal, no long-ranged correlations between substrate and film surface are detected with GISAXS, due to the high mobility of the polymer at room temperature. The swelling of the hydrogel films as a function of the water vapor pressure and the temperature are probed for saturated water vapor pressures between 2,380 and 3,170?Pa. While the swelling capability is found to increase with water vapor pressure, swelling in dependence on the temperature revealed a collapse phase transition of a lower critical solution temperature type. The transition temperature decreases from 40.6?°C to 36.6?°C with increasing film thickness, but is independent of the thickness for very thin films below a thickness of 40?nm. The observed transition temperature range compares well with the cloud points observed in dilute (0.1?wt.%) and semi-dilute (5?wt.%) solution which decrease from 45?°C to 39?°C with increasing concentration.     

Crystal bridges, tetratic order, and elusive equilibria: the role of structure in lubrication films

In this paper, we report on molecular dynamics simulation studies of thin dodecane films confined between mica surfaces. On confinement, the film undergoes a surface-mediated transition into a novel phase characterized by tetratic orientational order. The rheology of this ordered film is governed by slip planes and, at low shear rates, stick-slip behavior observable under steady shear rates. Melting of these films was observed either on heating or on exceeding a critical shear rate. Evidence is presented that this tetratic film is not the true equilibrium state; rather, a state characterized by nematic order and very low viscosities is found to be more stable.     

光致取向调控偶氮苯侧链液晶聚合物的阻隔特性研究

研究了液晶分子的排列方式对聚合物膜阻隔特性的影响,采用473 nm线偏振光照无定形偶氮液晶聚合物,使其介晶基元发生从无序到有序的取向排列.用膜透射率变化和锥光干涉图表征了分子的取向,其锥光干涉图为粗黑十字,说明在线偏振光下作用下液晶分子取向形成了单相畴沿面内排列的有序态.用金属表面氧化法进一步研究了取向态聚合物膜的阻隔...     

Phase diagrams of nonionic foam films: construction by means of disjoining pressure versus thickness curves

The thickness h of foam films can be measured as a function of the disjoining pressure Pi using a thin film pressure balance. Experimental Pi-h curves of foam films stabilized with nonionic surfactants measured at various concentrations resemble the p-V(m) isotherms of real gases measured at various temperatures (p is the pressure and V(m) is the molar volume of the gas). This observation led us to adopt the van der Waals approach for describing real gases to thin foam films, where the thickness h takes the role of V(m) and the disjoining pressure Pi replaces the ordinary pressure p. Our analysis results in a phase diagram for a thin foam film with spinodal, binodal as well as a critical point. The thicker common black film corresponds to the gas phase and the compact Newton black film for which the two surfaces are in direct contact corresponds to the dense liquid. We show that the tuning parameter for the phase behavior of the film is the surface charge density, which means that Pi-h curves should not be referred to as isotherms. In addition to the equilibrium properties the driving force for the phase transition from a common black film to a Newton black film or vice versa is calculated. We discuss how this transition can be controlled experimentally.     

Simulated annealing study of asymmetric diblock copolymer thin films

We report a simulated annealing study of the morphology of asymmetric diblock copolymer thin films confined between two homogeneous and identical surfaces. We have focused on copolymers that form a gyroidal morphology in the bulk. The morphological dependence of the confined films on the film thickness and the surface-polymer interaction has been systematically investigated. From the simulations it is found that much richer morphologies can form for the gyroid-forming asymmetric diblock copolymer thin films, in contrast to the lamella-forming symmetric and cylinder-forming asymmetric diblock copolymer films. Multiple morphological transitions induced by changing the film thickness and polymer-surface interactions are observed.     

Dispersion of functional tetraphenylporphyrin-ligated metal into ultra-thin flexible acrylate films. 1. Preparation of thin films

As functional metal complexes, copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and Cobalt (II) meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP) were chosen to prepare metal complex/polymer hybrid thin films which were prepared by metal complex sublimation and reactive monomer evaporation onto the glass substrate in the bell jar reactor in vacuum conditions. The polarized transmission micrograph images show that the film deposited at 80 °C contains uniformly dispersed tiny grains and the film deposited at 30 °C is amorphous and homogeneous. As the deposition rate increases, the crystalline clusters were found and were dispersed uniformly. Those crystalline clusters are not to be developed by recrystallization process. Deposited metal complex/acrylate hybrid thin films were in situ photopolymerized. The kinetics of photopolymerization was investigated by attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The thickness of the films was about 200 nm. The reactive monomer acts as a solvent to avoid the recrystallization of metal complexes and to have two-compositional continuous phase. The percent of metal complex can be adjusted up to 60% by controlling the metal complex sublimation rate. A good achievement in the uniformity and continuity of the film matrix has been made and the recrystallization of metal complex in the hybrid films has not been observed.     

Direct nanomechanical measurement of an anchoring transition in a nematic liquid crystal subject to hybrid anchoring conditions

We have used a surface forces apparatus to measure the normal force between two solid curved surfaces confining a film of nematic liquid crystal (5CB, 4'-n-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl) under hybrid planar-homeotropic anchoring conditions. Upon reduction of the surface separation D, we measured an increasingly repulsive force in the range D = 35-80 nm, reaching a plateau in the range D = 10-35 nm, followed by a short-range oscillatory force at D < 5 nm. The oscillation period was comparable to the cross-sectional diameter of the liquid crystal molecule and characteristic of a configuration with the molecules parallel to the surfaces. These results show that the director field underwent a confinement-induced transition from a splay-bend distorted configuration at large D, which produces elastic repulsive forces, to a uniform planar nondegenerate configuration with broken homeotropic anchoring, which does not produce additional elastic forces as D is decreased. These findings, supported by measurements of the birefringence of the confined film at different film thicknesses, provide the first direct observation of an anchoring transition on the nanometer scale.     

Vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation and surface morphology change of water ice films dosed with hydrogen chloride

Time-of-flight (TOF) spectra of photofragment H atoms from the photodissociation of water ice films at 193 nm were measured for amorphous and polycrystalline water ice films with and without dosing of hydrogen chloride at 100-145 K. The TOF spectrum is sensitive to the surface morphology of the water ice film because the origin of the H atom is the photodissociation of dimerlike water molecules attached to the ice film surfaces. Adsorption of HCl on a polycrystalline ice film was found to induce formation of disorder regions on the ice film surface at 100-140 K, while the microstructure of the ice surface stayed of polycrystalline at 145 K with adsorption of HCl. The TOF spectra of photofragment Cl atoms from the 157 nm photodissociation of neutral HCl adsorbed on water ice films at 100-140 K were measured. These results suggest partial dissolution of HCl on the ice film surface at 100-140 K.     

Effects of surface morphology on the anchoring and electrooptical dynamics of confined nanoscale liquid crystalline films

The orientation and dynamics of two 40-nm thick films of 4-n-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (5CB), a nematic liquid crystal, have been studied using step-scan Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The films are confined in nanocavities bounded by an interdigitated electrode array (IDA) patterned on a zinc selenide (ZnSe) substrate. The effects of the ZnSe surface morphology (specifically, two variations of nanometer-scale corrugations obtained by mechanical polishing) on the initial ordering and reorientation dynamics of the electric-field-induced Freedericksz transition are presented here. The interaction of the 5CB with ZnSe surfaces bearing a spicular corrugation induces a homeotropic (surface normal) alignment of the film confined in the cavity. Alternately, when ZnSe is polished to generate fine grooves along the surface, a planar alignment is promoted in the liquid crystalline film. Time-resolved FTIR studies that enable the direct measurement of the rate constants for the electric-field-induced orientation and thermal relaxation reveal that the dynamic transitions of the two film structures are significantly different. These measurements quantitatively demonstrate the strong effects of surface morphology on the anchoring, order, and dynamics of liquid crystalline thin films.     

ToF‐SIMS and principal component analysis: Effect of film thickness on crystal surfaces of polymers

The effect of film thickness on the structural conformation of the surfaces of the amorphous state, edge‐on lamellae and flat‐on lamellae of a semiflexible polymer, poly(bisphenol‐A‐etheroctane), was investigated by time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS) with the aid of principal component analysis (PCA). PCA results empirically indicate that a structurally regular polymer surface was obtained with the formation of the flat‐on lamellae from the amorphous state at a low degree of supercooling. A higher concentration of end group and cilium ion fragments, which are indicative of free chain ends, was observed on the edge‐on lamellar surfaces than on the amorphous and the flat‐on lamellar surfaces. This finding was attributed to the fact that the lateral surface of the edge‐on lamellae contains many growth fronts, leaving behind a large number of uncrystallized chain remnants on the surfaces. Structural disorder was facilitated on both edge‐on and flat‐on lamellar surfaces as the film thickness decreased. Hence, this PCA study offers new insights into the nonequilibrium nature of polymer crystals and the mechanism of polymer crystallization in thin and ultrathin films. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shear-induced coalescence of oil-in-water Pickering emulsions

Thermodynamic treatment of thin liquid films in Part III of this series was applied to foam films stabilized by sodium dodecyl sulfate. Miscibility of sodium chloride and sodium dodecyl sulfate in the adsorbed films at the film surfaces and transition between the black films were studied by measuring film thickness and contact angle. A discontinuous change in the thickness and a break on the contact angle vs. concentration curve appeared at the transition. Judging from the phase diagram of adsorption, sodium chloride and sodium dodecyl sulfate are a little miscible in the adsorbed films. The miscibility was ascribed to specific interaction between sodium ion and dodecyl sulfate ion in the adsorbed films. The miscibility in an adsorbed film was compared between the film surface and meniscus and between the common black and Newton black films.     

Structure and growth of thin films of aniline on silver: nucleation and premelting of nanocrystallites, porosity, and crystallization

The structure and growth of thin films of aniline vapor deposited on Ag(111) and Ag(110) surfaces have been examined using optical second harmonic generation (SHG) and linear optical differential reflectivity (DR). Aniline thin films deposited at 90 K give a detectable SH signal that arises from small polycrystallites with orientation anisotropy in the film. Upon annealing, the SH signal decreases, first due to premelting (at approximately 145 K) of the polycrystallites and then sublimation (at approximately 180 K) of the film. Quantitative analysis of the SH intensity change by a premelting model [J. Phys. Chem. 1988, 92, 7241] allows the determination of the average size of the crystallites as 1.1 nm in diameter and containing approximately 45 aniline molecules. The existence of the nanocrystalline structure and its premelting are confirmed by DR experiments. The DR signal around 145 K exhibits change corresponding to an order-disorder transition. Quantitative analysis of the DR data results in the same nanocrystallite size. Experimental observations indicate that films deposited at 90 K contain not only nanocrystallites but also approximately 30% porosity, which can be reduced by annealing. At temperatures above 195 K, micron-size crystallites start to form within the amorphous film, causing a large amount of light scattering while the film sublimates. It appears that, for molecules such as aniline with stronger intermolecular interactions, more enthalpy is released, upon adsorption to the local surrounding molecules, causing them to reorient into crystalline form. The low deposition temperature, on the other hand, prevents diffusion for further crystallization beyond nanocrystallites. The refractive index of the amorphous aniline solid can be determined as 1.68 +/- 0.03.     

聚ε-己内酯薄膜的受限结晶行为研究

利用原子力显微镜(AFM)系统地研究了聚ε-己内酯(PCL)在物理受限空间,即在薄膜、超薄膜中的结晶行为.结果表明,PCL的结晶形态与薄膜的厚度有关.当薄膜的厚度大于2Rg(Rg为回转半径)时,高分子结晶形态呈现球晶;当厚度介于Rg~2Rg之间时,高分子结晶生成枝蔓或树枝状结构;当厚度小于Rg时,其结晶形态为“岛”状结构.讨论了结晶温度、分子量与基底等对高分子结晶形态的影响.PCL在薄膜中的结晶是一个扩散控制的动力学过程,其生长机理可以用有限扩散凝聚(DLA)来解释.