TY - CONF A1 - Omar, Hassan A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Hertwig, Andreas A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Probing Nanoscale Relaxation Behavior in Thin Polymer Films N2 - The investigations into the complicated effects of film thickness on bulk properties of thin polymer films has yielded conflicting results. The reduction in molecular mobility, and with it an increase in the glass transition temperature, for thin films of poly (bisphenol A carbonate) (PBAC) was assigned to the formation of an adsorbed layer. The adsorbed layer was obtained by washing away the loosely bounded chains using a good solvent. Next, using atomic force microscopy (AFM), the thickness of each sample was measured after annealing for various times at three different annealing temperatures. The growth of this adsorbed layer was shown to deviate from the previously reported 2-step mechanism seen for other polymers. For PBAC, after very long annealing times at high temperatures the thin films were dewetted, where segments of the adsorbed layer were removed from the substrate. T2 - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Poster CY - Online meeting DA - 28.02.2023 KW - Thin films KW - Adsorbed Layer KW - Broadband dielectric spectroscopy KW - Atomic force microscopy KW - Growth Kinetics PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57196 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Madkour, Sherif A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Evidence of a three-layred structure in ultrathin PVME and PVME-PS blend films by nanosized relaxation spectroscopy N2 - In the course of miniaturizing modern technology down to the molecular scale, much remain unknown about the materials behavior and the deviations from the bulk that might arises from confinement effects. Here, a combination of nano-sized relaxation spectroscopies (Broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and Specific heat spectroscopy (SHS); employing AC nanochip calorimetry) were utilized to investigate the glassy dynamics of ultra-thin films of Poly (vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) and of blends PVME / Polystyrene (PS) 50:50 wt-%,, which are miscible in bulk (thicknesses: ca. 8 nm – 160 nm, film thickness was controlled by ellipsometry, film topography by AFM). Both methods are sensitive to different probes; where SHS senses entropy fluctuations while BDS measures dipole fluctuations. For BDS measurements, a recently developed nano-structured electrode sample arrangement is employed, where ultra-thin films are spin-coated on an ultra-flat highly conductive silicon wafer, sandwiched between a wafer with nanostructured SiO2 nano-spacers with heights between 35 nm and 70 nm. For PVME films, two thickness independent processes were observed and interpreted to be the α-processes of a bulk-like layer and a process due to an absorbed layer to the substrate. This adsorbed layer further undergoes a confinement effect that results in the localization of the segmental dynamics, which results in an Arrhenius-like temperature dependence. A detailed analysis of the dielectric strengths of both processes reveals that the thickness of the adsorbed layer decreases with increasing temperature, while that of the bulk-like layer increases. For the blend system, by measuring the dynamic Tg in dependence of the film thickness, SHS showed that the Tg of the whole film was strongly influenced by a nanometer-thick surface layer at the polymer/air interface due to a self-assembling process. The dynamic Tg obtained from the SHS measurements decreased with decreasing film thickness. On the other hand, BDS measurements showed a completely different behavior. At high temperatures, the temperature dependence of the relaxation times of the films follows that of bulk-like PS/PVME; obeying the VFT-law. With decreasing temperature, the temperature dependence deviates from the VFT to an Arrhenius law; where the apparent activation energy decreases with decreasing film thickness. This is the first example where confinement induced changes were observed by BDS for ultra-thin films. All results were analyzed in detail in a comprehensive discussion. T2 - Polydays 2016 CY - Potsdam, Germany DA - 28.09.2016 KW - Ultra-Thin films PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-38188 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Cano Murillo, Natalia A1 - Elert, Anna Maria A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - Electron beam modified cellulose acetate electrospun mats N2 - The electrospun fibers with micrometer diameter show ribbon-like morphology, the physical features are further studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman and XPS Spectroscopy is used to study the changes after irradiation. Partial electron beam treatment of the electrospun mats lead to localized fluorescence with a broad band emission. The change in the optical response of the fluorescent area in the mats is measured under different chemical environments to evaluate their suitability as an optical chemical sensor in polar and non polar environments. T2 - EUROMAT 2017 CY - Thessaloniki, Greece DA - 17.09.2017 KW - Fluorescence quenching KW - Electrospinning KW - Electron beam PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-42172 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Schönhals, Andreas A1 - Madkour, Sherif T1 - Multiple Glassy Dynamics of an Asymmetric PVME/PS Blend Investigated by Broadband Dielectric and Specific Heat Spectroscopy N2 - Over the past decades research on the molecular dynamics of miscible polymer blends is of topical interest in the literature, to understand the segmental mobility of individual components, as it is affected by blending. In general, miscible polymer blends exhibit a complex dynamic behavior. For an A/B blend the relaxation times of component A and component B are affected by the spatial local compositional heterogeneity, present in binary systems on a microscopic level, regardless of the macroscopic homogeneity. Here, a combination of broadband dielectric and specific heat spectroscopy was employed to study the dynamically asymmetric PVME/PS blend with seven different compositions, focusing on samples with high PS contents. Considering that PS is dielectrically invisible, BDS is a powerful technique to study the response of PVME, as it is affected by PS segments. Here, three separate relaxation processes were found by dielectric investigations, related to confined or constrained PVME segments due to the spatial local compositional heterogeneities, which is in contrary to the previous literature findings [1]. Moreover, the dielectric data was compared with results obtained by specific heat spectroscopy, where a fourth relaxation process was found, due to the cooperative fluctuations of PVME and PS. [1] Colmenero, J., Arbe, A. Soft Matter, 2007, 3, 1474. T2 - DPG-Frühjahrstagung 2019 CY - Regensburg, Germany DA - 01.04.2019 KW - Specific heat spectroscopy KW - Polymer blends KW - Dielectric spectroscopy PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-47764 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Madkour, Sherif A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Evidence of a Three-Layred Structure in Ultrathin PVME and PVME-PS Blend Films by Nanosized Relaxation Spectroscopy N2 - In the course of miniaturizing modern technology down to the molecular scale, much remain unknown about the materials behavior and the deviations from the bulk that might arises from confinement effects. Here, a combination of nano-sized relaxation spectroscopies (Broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) and Specific heat spectroscopy (SHS); employing AC nanochip calorimetry) were utilized to investigate the glassy dynamics of ultra-thin films of Poly (vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) and of blends PVME / Polystyrene (PS) 50:50 wt-%,, which are miscible in bulk (thicknesses: ca. 8 nm – 160 nm, film thickness was controlled by ellipsometry, film topography by AFM). Both methods are sensitive to different probes; where SHS senses entropy fluctuations while BDS measures dipole fluctuations. For BDS measurements, a recently developed nano-structured electrode sample arrangement is employed, where ultra-thin films are spin-coated on an ultra-flat highly conductive silicon wafer, sandwiched between a wafer with nanostructured SiO2 nano-spacers with heights between 35 nm and 70 nm. For PVME films, two thickness independent processes were observed and interpreted to be the α-processes of a bulk-like layer and a process due to an absorbed layer to the substrate. This adsorbed layer further undergoes a confinement effect that results in the localization of the segmental dynamics, which results in an Arrhenius-like temperature dependence. A detailed analysis of the dielectric strengths of both processes reveals that the thickness of the adsorbed layer decreases with increasing temperature, while that of the bulk-like layer increases. For the blend system, by measuring the dynamic Tg in dependence of the film thickness, SHS showed that the Tg of the whole film was strongly influenced by a nanometer-thick surface layer at the polymer/air interface due to a self-assembling process. The dynamic Tg obtained from the SHS measurements decreased with decreasing film thickness. On the other hand, BDS measurements showed a completely different behavior. At high temperatures, the temperature dependence of the relaxation times of the films follows that of bulk-like PS/PVME; obeying the VFT-law. With decreasing temperature, the temperature dependence deviates from the VFT to an Arrhenius law; where the apparent activation energy decreases with decreasing film thickness. This is the first example where confinement induced changes were observed by BDS for ultra-thin films. All results were analyzed in detail in a comprehensive discussion. T2 - 14. Lähnwitzseminar on Calorimetry CY - Rostock-Warnemünde, Germany DA - 05.05.2016 KW - Ultra-Thin films PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-36477 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Madkour, Sherif A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Dynamics of nanoscopically confined PVME in thin films of an asymmetric PVME/PS blend N2 - In recent years, substantial efforts have been devoted to investigating nanoscopic confinement of polymers, and its effect on glassy dynamics. Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) was used to study the dynamics of ultra-thin films of PVME/PS 50/50 wt% blend, employing a novel nano-structured capacitor sample arrangement. The investigated system shows a complex dynamic behavior. First, an α-relaxation, related to a bulk-like layer was found. Second, an α’-relaxation was observed, characteristic for dynamically asymmetric blends, where the out of equilibrium dynamics is attributed to weakly-cooperative PVME segments relaxing within a frozen environment of PS segments. Thirdly, for thinnest films, an Arrhenius-like process was dominant in the dielectric spectra, indicating localized fluctuations of the segments. Relaxation rates of this process resembled that of the degenerated α-relaxation of the adsorbed layer, found for pure PVME, thus it was assigned accordingly. For thinnest films, this process undergoes a further confinement, due to the topological constraints, introduced by PS. Such multiple confinement effect has not been reported for ultra-thin films of polymer blends, before this study. T2 - Spring Meeting of German Physical Society CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 12.03.2018 KW - Thin polymeric films PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44502 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Sturm, Heinz A1 - Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani, Media A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Competition of mobilization and immobilization effects of segmental dynamics in epoxy/Boehmite nanocomposites N2 - The polymer matrix region near a filler surface, termed as the interface, witnessed increasing interest, due to its possible influence on the macroscopic properties of the nanocomposite. The interphase is expecting to have different segmental dynamic, as compared to the pure matrix, which can percolate into the entire system. Here, the segmental dynamics of epoxy/Boehmite nanocomposite was studied by Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy. It was found that an artificial relaxation process is present in the nanocomposite, on the contrary to the pure epoxy system. It was assigned to constrained fluctuations of polymer chains in the interfacial region, due to the nanofiller. However, the overall dynamic Tg of the system decreased with increasing filler concentration, indicating higher segmental mobility. This was in accordance with Temperature Modulated DSC investigations of specific heat capacity of the system, which was found to increase with increasing filler concentration, up to 10 wt%, indicating increasing mobility of the polymer matrix segments. Surprisingly, for the highest filler content, the heat capacity decreases, implying a formation of an immobilized rigid amorphous phase in the interfacial region. T2 - Spring Meeting of German Physical Society CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 12.03.2018 KW - Nanocomposites PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44503 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kolmangadi, Mohamed Aejaz A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Molecular dynamics of Janus Polynorbornenes: Glass Transitions and Nanophase separation N2 - For the first time, dielectric and calorimetric investigations of a homologous series of Janus polynorbornenes with rigid main backbones and flexible −Si(OR)3 side groups of differing length alkyl chains (R = propyl, butyl, hexyl, octyl, and decyl) is reported. Generally, this class of polymers has some potential for applications in the field of gas separation membranes. Two dielectrically active processes are observed at low temperatures, denoted as β- and α-relaxation. The former can be assigned to localized fluctuations, while the latter is related to the glassy dynamics of the flexible −Si(OR)3 side groups, creating a nanophase separation in both the alkyl chain-rich and backbone-rich domains. This is confirmed through temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC) measurements and X-ray scattering experiments. The glass transition temperatures of the backbone rich domains, which are beyond or near to their degradation temperatures in terms of conventional DSC, are determined for the first time using fast scanning calorimetry employing both fast heating and cooling rates. This is complemented with scattering experiments that show how the size of the alkyl chain-rich domains increases with the side chain length. Alongside these results, a significant conductivity contribution was observed for all poly(tricyclononenes) with −Si(OR)3 side groups, which is interpreted in terms of a percolation model. T2 - DPG Online Spring Conference 2021 CY - Online meeting DA - 22.03.2021 KW - Dynamics KW - Glass transition KW - Conductivity PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52335 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Waniek, Tassilo A1 - Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani, Media A1 - Braun, Ulrike A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - Water as side effect of reinforcing boehmite filler Local changes in anhydride cured epoxy resin N2 - Nanocomposites offer wide opportunities for lightweight constructions and enable reduction of weight and volume. Beside macroscopic toughening nanoparticle reinforced polymers show a soft interface around boehmite (AlOOH) filler nanoparticles. A related strong interaction between boehmite and the anhydride cured resin system is widely suspected in literature but not determined by structural Analysis. Determination of the molecular structure is important to allow simulations approaching the real system and predict future reinforcing effects. DRIFT (diffuse refletance infrared fourier transformed) spectra of the boehmite reinforced anhydride cured epoxy show significant changes in the molecular structure compared to the neat polymer. Further investigations of the interactions between the single components of the resin system and the boehmite filler pointed out reactions between released water released from the boehmite filler and the anhydride hardener or amine accelerator. This leads to the discussion of competing polymerisation mechanisms that highly influence the polymer properties. Ongoing experiments and literature research approve that this impact of water is able to locally change the stoichiometrie, alter the curing mechanism or support an inhomogeneous crosslink density. T2 - Polydays 2019 CY - Erwin-Schrödinger-Zentrum, Berlin Adlershof, Germany DA - 11.09.2019 KW - Nanocomposites KW - Epoxy KW - FTIR spectroscopy KW - Boehmite alumina PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49010 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani, Media A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - Mechanical and chemical alteration of polymer matrix induced by nanoparticles in epoxy-boehmite nanocomposites N2 - Inorganic nanoparticles are used to improve the performance of epoxy as the matrix phase in fiber-reinforced composites used for aerospace applications. The effectiveness of nanofillers on property enhancement of thermosetting polymers depends on many factors including the interaction between the functional groups of nanofillers and the polymer reactants. In the current work, we study the effect of boehmite nanoparticles (BNPs) on properties of anhydride-cured bisphenol-A-diglycidyl ether (DGEBA). Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and a high-resolution force measurement approach called intermodulation atomic force microscopy (ImAFM) were carried out to investigate the thermomechanical and nanomechanical properties of this material, respectively. It was found that BNPs lead to decrease of glass transition temperature (Tg) and crosslink density of the polymer network meanwhile significantly enhancing the Young’s modulus. Besides formation of a soft interphase near the particles, significant changes in local stiffness of polymer matrix far from the interphase was observed with ImAFM. Thus, boehmite induces long-range chemical alteration on the matrix. This effect has a higher impact on overall composite properties compared to the formation of interphase which is only a short-range effect. The local chemical evaluations on the soft interphase using an infrared-AFM method (NanoIR) revealed the accumulation of anhydride hardener near the boehmite interface. Based on these observations the effect of boehmite on the curing of epoxy is hypothesized to be governed by the strong interaction between boehmite and the anhydride. This interaction causes changes the ratio of reactants in the epoxy mixture and hence alteration of curing pathway and the network architecture. In future studies we examine this hypothesis by measuring the thermomechanical properties of cured epoxies in which the epoxy-hardener ratio is systematically altered and further comparing to those properties of nanocomposites shown in the current study. T2 - HYMA 6th International Conference on Multifunctional, Hybrid and Nanomaterials CY - Sitges, Spain DA - 11.03.2019 KW - Nanomechanics KW - Polymer nanocomposites KW - Boehmite KW - AFM KW - Epoxy PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-50692 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -