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Carbon nanomembranes are synthetic two-dimensional sheets with nanometer thickness, macroscopic lateral dimensions, and high structural homogeneity. They have great application potential in various branches of nanotechnology. Because of their full carbon structure, it is not clear whether macromolecules like poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) can be irreversibly adsorbed on their surface. Here, irreversible adsorption means that the polymer chains cannot be removed by a leaching process, which is assumed in technological transfer processes. However, if polar defects are present on the carbon nanomembranes (CNMs), it may occur that polymers can be irreversibly adsorbed. To address this question, PMMA was spin-coated on top of CNMs, annealed for a specific time at different temperatures, and then tried to be removed by a acetone treatment in a leaching approach. The samples were investigated in detail by atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and broadband dielectric spectroscopy, where the latter method has been applied to CNMs for the first time. Unambiguously, it was shown that PMMA can be adsorbed on the surface of CNMs after annealing the sample above the glasstransition temperature of PMMA. The general occurrence of polar defects on the surface of CNMs and the adsorption of polymers open opportunities for advanced innovative hybrid materials combining the properties of the CNM with those of the polymer.
Despite the many controversial discussions about the nanometric confinement effect on the properties of ultra-thin films, much remain not understood and/or experimentally unproven. Here, a combination of 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 a low MW Poly (vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) (thicknesses: 7 nm – 160 nm). 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 films with thicknesses up to 50 nm, BDS measurements showed two relaxation processes, which can be analyzed for these film thicknesses in details. The process located at higher frequencies coincidence in both, its position and temperature dependence, with the -relaxation of bulk PVME and is therefore assigned to the -relaxation of a bulk-like layer. The temperature dependence of the relaxation rate of this process in independent of film thickness. This is further confirmed by the SHS investigations, which superimpose in its temperature dependence with the BDS results; independent of film thickness. The second process is located at lower frequencies, where it shows a different temperature dependence and ascribed to the relaxation of polymer segments adsorbed at the substrate. The interaction of PVME with SiO2 was further confirmed by contact angle investigations. This adsorbed layer further undergoes a confinement effect that results in a lower Vogel temperature than that of the bulk-like layer. 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. As a main conclusion, BDS showed that the glassy dynamics of the bulk-like and the adsorbed layer are thickness independent, which is in agreement with the SHS results. To our knowledge, this is the first probing of the segmental dynamics of an adsorbed layer in ultrathin films.
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.
A combination of nanosized dielectric relaxation (BDS) and thermal spectroscopy (SHS) was utilized to characterize the dynamics of thin films of Poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) (thicknesses: 7 nm – 160 nm). For the BDS measurements, a recently designed nano-structured electrode system is employed. A thin film is spin-coated on an ultra-flat highly conductive silicon wafer serving as the bottom electrode. As top electrode, a highly conductive wafer with non-conducting nanostructured SiO2 nano-spacers with heights of 35 nm or 70 nm is assembled on the bottom electrode. This procedure results in thin supported films with a free polymer/air interface. The BDS measurements show two relaxation processes, which are analyzed unambiguously for thicknesses smaller than 50 nm. The relaxation rates of both processes have different temperature dependencies. One process coincidences in its position and temperature dependence with the glassy dynamics of bulk PVME and is ascribed to the dynamic glass transition of a bulk-like layer in the middle of the film. The relaxation rates were found to be thickness independent as confirmed by SHS. Unexpectedly, the relaxation rates of the second process obey an Arrhenius-like temperature dependence. This process was not observed by SHS and was related to the constrained fluctuations in a layer, which is irreversibly adsorbed at the substrate with a heterogeneous structure. Its molecular fluctuations undergo a confinement effect resulting in the localization of the segmental dynamics. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the molecular dynamics of an adsorbed layer in thin films.
The molecular mobility of the highly asymmetric miscible blend poly(vinyl methyl ether)/polystyrene was investigated by broadband dielectric (frequency range 10^-1 Hz – 10^9 Hz) and specific heat spectroscopy (frequency range 10^1 Hz – 10^4 Hz). The dielectric spectra revealed a complex molecular dynamic behavior, where three different relaxation processes were observed. At temperatures below the glass transition temperature an α´-relaxation was found, with an Arrhenius-like temperature dependence of its relaxation rates. It is assigned to localized fluctuations of the confined PVME segments within a frozen glassy matrix dominated by PS. Above the thermal glass transition temperature two processes with a VFT behavior of their relaxation rates were detected called α1- and α2-relaxation, both originating from PVME dipoles fluctuating in PS-rich environments, however with diverse PS concentrations. The relevant length scales for the processes are assumed to be different, corresponding to the Kuhn segment length for the former relaxation and to the CRR for the latter one. The observed multiple glassy dynamics result from spatial local compositional heterogeneities on a microscopic level. Additionally, SHS investigations were performed for the first time for this system, proving an existence of a fourth relaxation process (α3-relaxation) due to the cooperative fluctuations of both PS and PVME segments. The separation between the thermal α3- and dielectric α2-relaxation increases dramatically with increasing polystyrene concentration, proving that the thermal response is dominated by PS.