TY - GEN A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - Madkour, Sherif Aly Hassan Aly A1 - Schönhals, Andreas ED - Kremer, F. T1 - Glass transition of ultra-thin polymer films: A combination of relaxation spectroscopy with surface analytics T2 - Dynamics in geometrical confinement N2 - The glass transition behavior of ultra-thin supported polymer films is discussed controversially in the literature for around 20 years. Substantial efforts have been archived to understand it. In this contribution, a combination of methods sensitive to bulk properties of a system, like dielectric or specific heat spectroscopy with surface analytics, for instance, atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle measurements, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to study the glass transition of ultra-thin supported films. All investigations were carried out on identically prepared and treated samples. Different systems with different complexities going from more or less flexible homopolymers over rigid main chain macromolecules to polymer blends have been studied. For the investigated flexible macromolecules, the dynamic glass transition temperature estimated within the frame of the linear response approach is independent of the film thickness down to several nanometers and identical to the bulk value. For polystyrene it was found the thermal glass transition temperatures can depend on the film thickness. This different behavior is not well understood till now and needs further experimental clarification. For the investigated main chain polymers polycarbonate and polysulfone. Dynamic and thermal glass transition temperature estimated from the dielectric measurements increases with decreasing film thickness. This is discussed in the frame of a strong interaction of the polymer segments with the surface of the substrate. In general for homopolymers, the interaction energy of the polymer segments with the substrate surface cannot be considered as the only parameter, which is responsible for the change in the thermal glass transition with the film thickness. For the investigated miscible blend system of polystyrene/poly(vinyl methyl ether) at a composition of 50/50 wt-% a decrease of the dynamic glass transition temperature with decreasing film thickness is found. This is explained by the formation of a poly(vinyl methyl ether)-rich surface layer with a higher molecular mobility. KW - Broadband dielectric spectroscopy KW - Specific heat spectroscopy KW - Photoelectron spectroscopy KW - Contact angle measurements KW - Polystyrene KW - Poly(vinyl methyl ether) KW - Poly(2-vinylpyridine) KW - Polycarbonate KW - Polysulfone KW - Polystyrene/ Poly(vinyl methyl ether) blend PY - 2014 SN - 978-3-319-06099-6 SN - 978-3-319-06100-9 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06100-9_2 SN - 2190-930X SN - 2190-9318 SP - 17 EP - 59 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-31078 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - Mix, Renate A1 - Friedrich, Jörg Florian T1 - Influence of differently structured aluminium-polypropylene interfaces on adhesion JF - Journal of adhesion science and technology N2 - Polar groups were introduced on polypropylene surfaces for increasing the surface energy and the peel strength to evaporated aluminium layers. Three kinds of plasma processes were used for introducing such functional groups to polyolefin surfaces: low-pressure radio-frequency (RF) O2 plasma exposure, atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) treatment in air, and the deposition of allylamine plasma polymer. The amino groups of the allylamine plasma polymer were also used as anchoring points for chemical introduction of covalently bonded spacer molecules equipped with reactive endgroups. Thus, silanol endgroups of a covalently bonded spacer were able to interact with the evaporated metal layer. The Al-PP composites achieved a maximal peel strength of 470 N/m by exposing the polymer to the lowpressure O2 plasma and 500 N/m on exposure to the atmospheric DBD plasma. After allylamine plasma polymerization and grafting of spacers, the peel strength was usually higher than 1500 N/m and the composites could not be peeled. KW - Polypropylene KW - Low-pressure RF oxygen plasma KW - Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) KW - Pulsed plasma polymerization KW - Surface wettability KW - Peel strength PY - 2011 DO - https://doi.org/10.1163/016942410X511132 SN - 0169-4243 SN - 1568-5616 VL - 25 IS - 8 SP - 799 EP - 818 PB - VNU Science Press CY - Utrecht AN - OPUS4-23990 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Glass Transition of Thin Poly(bisphenol A carbonate) Films Studied by Dielectric Spectroscopy T2 - DPG-Spring-Meeting 2011 T2 - DPG-Spring-Meeting 2011 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 2011-03-13 PY - 2011 AN - OPUS4-23363 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Calorimetric Glass Transition of Thin Poly(bisphenol A carbonate) Films T2 - DPG-Spring-Meeting 2011 T2 - DPG-Spring-Meeting 2011 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 2011-03-13 PY - 2011 AN - OPUS4-23345 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Madkour, Sherif Aly Hassan Aly A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - Füllbrandt, Marieke A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Calorimetric evidence for a mobile surface layer in ultrathin polymeric films: poly(2-vinyl pyridine) JF - Soft matter N2 - Specific heat spectroscopy was used to study the dynamic glass transition of ultrathin poly(2-vinyl pyridine) films (thicknesses: 405–10 nm). The amplitude and the phase angle of the differential voltage were obtained as a measure of the complex heat capacity. In a traditional data analysis, the dynamic glass transition temperature Tg is estimated from the phase angle. These data showed no thickness dependency on Tg down to 22 nm (error of the measurement of ±3 K). A derivative-based method was established, evidencing a decrease in Tg with decreasing thickness up to 7 K, which can be explained by a surface layer. For ultrathin films, data showed broadening at the lower temperature side of the spectra, supporting the existence of a surface layer. Finally, temperature dependence of the heat capacity in the glassy and liquid states changes with film thickness, which can be considered as a confinement effect. PY - 2015 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c5sm01558h SN - 1744-683X VL - 11 IS - 40 SP - 7942 EP - 7952 PB - RSC Publ. CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-34605 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Thermal and Dynamic Glass Transition of Ultrathin Films of Homopolymers and Their Blends T2 - 27th GCCCD Annual Conference T2 - 27th GCCCD Annual Conference CY - Jena, Germany DA - 2015-08-28 PY - 2015 AN - OPUS4-34589 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zorn, R. A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - Lohstroh, W. A1 - Harrison, W. A1 - Budd, P.M. A1 - Pauw, Brian Richard A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Anomalies in the low frequency vibrational density of states for a polymer with intrinsic microporosity - the Boson peak of PIM-1 JF - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics N2 - Polymers with intrinsic microporosity are promising candidates for the active separation layer in gas separation membranes. Here, the vibrational density of states (VDOS) for PIM-1, the prototypical polymer with intrinsic microporosity, is investigated by means of inelastic neutron scattering. The results are compared to data measured for a more conventional high-performance polyimide used in gas separation membranes (Matrimid). The measured data show the characteristic low frequency excess contribution to VDOS above the Debye sound wave level, generally known as the Boson peak in glass-forming materials. In comparison to the Boson peak of Matrimid, that of PIM-1 is shifted to lower frequencies. This shift is discussed considering the microporous, sponge-like structure of PIM-1 as providing a higher compressibility at the molecular scale than for conventional polymers. For an annealed PIM-1 sample, the Boson peak shifts to higher frequencies in comparison to the un-annealed sample. These changes in the VDOS of the annealed PIM-1 sample are related to changes in the microporous structure as confirmed by X-ray scattering. KW - Polymers KW - Boson peak KW - Neutron scattering KW - Physical aging KW - Polymer of intrinsic microporosity PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/C7CP07141H SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 20 IS - 3 SP - 1355 EP - 1363 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-43808 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - Chua, Y. Z. A1 - Yang, B. A1 - Schick, C. A1 - Harrison, W. A1 - Budd, P. A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - First clear cut experimental evidence for a glass transition in a polymer with intrinsic microporosity: PIM-1 JF - Journal Physical Chemistry Letters N2 - Polymers with intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) represent a novel, innovative class of materials with great potential in various applications from high-performance gas separation membranes to electronic devices. Here for the first time, for PIM-1, as the archetypal PIM, fast scanning calorimetry provides definitive evidence for a glass transition (Tg=715 K, heating rate 3·10^4 K/s) by decoupling the time-scales responsible for glass transition and decomposition. As the rigid molecular structure of PIM-1 prevents any conformational changes, small-scale bend and flex fluctuations must be considered the origin of its glass transition. This result has strong implications for the fundamental understanding of the glass transition and for the physical aging of PIMs and other complex polymers, both topical problems of materials science. KW - Polymers with intrinsic microporosity KW - Fast Scanning Calorimetry PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00422 SN - 1948-7185 VL - 9 IS - 8 SP - 2003 EP - 2008 PB - ACS AN - OPUS4-44683 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - Madkour, Sherif Aly Hassan Aly A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Unambiguous evidence for a highly mobile surface layer in ultrathin polymer films by specific heat spectroscopy on blends JF - Macromolecules N2 - Despite the decade long controversial discussion on the effect of nanometer confinement on the glass transition temperature (Tg) of ultrathin polymer films, there is still no consistent picture. Here, the dynamic calorimetric glass transition of ultrathin films of a blend, which is miscible in the bulk, is directly investigated by specific heat spectroscopy. By a self-assembling process, a nanometer thick surface layer with a higher molecular mobility is formed at the polymer/air interface. By measuring the dynamic calorimetric Tg in dependence on the film thickness, it was shown that the Tg of the whole film was strongly influenced by that nanometer thick surface layer, with a lower Tg. Since the observed thickness dependence of the dynamic Tg is similar to the thickness dependence of the Tg for thin films of homopolymers, it is concluded that also for homopolymer a highly mobile surface layer is relevant for the widely observed Tg depression. PY - 2015 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5b01259 SN - 0024-9297 SN - 1520-5835 VL - 48 IS - 14 SP - 4936 EP - 4941 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-33841 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yin, Huajie A1 - B, Yang A1 - Chua, Y. Z. A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Carta, M A1 - Malpass-Evans, R A1 - McKeown, N A1 - Harrison, W A1 - Budd, P A1 - Schick, C A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Effect of backbone rigidity on the glass transition of polymers of in-trinsic microporosity probed by fast scanning calorimetry JF - ACS Macro letters N2 - Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIMs) of high performance have developed as materials with a wide application range in gas separation and other energy-related fields. Further optimization and long-term behavior of devices with PIMs require an understanding of the structure-property relationships including physical aging. In this context the glass transi-tion plays a central role, but with conventional thermal analysis a glass transition is usually not detectable for PIMs be-fore their thermal decomposition. Fast scanning calorimetry provides evidence of the glass transition for a series of PIMs, as the time scales responsible for thermal degradation and for the glass transition are decoupled by employing ultrafast heating rates of tens of thousands K s-1. The investigated PIMs were chosen considering the chain rigidity. The estimated glass transition temperatures follow the order of the rigidity of the backbone of the PIMs. KW - Polymers of intrinsic microporosity KW - Fast scanning calormetry PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmacrolett.9b00482 SN - 2161-1653 VL - 8 IS - 8 SP - 1022 EP - 1028 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-48617 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -