Filtern
Erscheinungsjahr
Dokumenttyp
Sprache
- Englisch (12)
Referierte Publikation
- ja (12)
Schlagworte
- Glass transition (12) (entfernen)
The glassy dynamics of poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) and poly(methyl phenyl siloxane) (PMPS) confined to nanoporous glasses (pore sizes 2.520 nm) investigated by dielectric spectroscopy, temperature modulated DSC and neutron scattering is compared. For both systems the relaxation rates estimated from dielectric spectroscopy and temperature modulated DSC agree quantitatively indicating that both experiments sense the glass transition.
For PPG the glassy dynamics in nanopores is determined by a counterbalance of an adsorption and a confinement effect where the temperature dependence of the relaxation times obeys the Vogel/Fulcher/Tammann (VFT-) equation. The former effect results from an interaction of the confined macromolecules with the internal surfaces which in general slows down the molecular dynamics. A confinement effect leads to an acceleration of the segmental dynamics compared to the bulk state and points to an inherent length scale on which the glassy dynamics takes place. The step of the specific heat capacity Deltacp at the glass transition vanishes at a finite length scale of 1.8 nm. This result supports further the conception that a characteristic length scale is relevant for glassy dynamics.
For PMPS down to a pore size of 7.5 nm the temperature dependence of the relaxation times follows the VFT-dependence and a confinement effect is observed like for PPG. At a pore size of 5 nm this changes to an Arrhenius-like behavior with a low activation energy. At the same pore size Deltacp vanishes for PMPS. This points to a dramatic change in the character of molecular motions responsible for glassy dynamics and supports further the relevance of a characteristic length scale on which it takes place.
Quasielastic neutron scattering experiments on PMPS reveal that the microscopic dynamics characterized by the mean square displacement depends on confinement above the glass transition. The diffusive character of the relevant molecular motions seems to disappear at a length scale of about 1.6 nm.
Dielectric spectroscopy in combination with temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry and quasielastic/inelastic neutron scattering are employed to investigate the molecular (glassy) dynamics of poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) and poly(methyl phenyl siloxane) (PMPS) confined to random nanoporous glasses with nominal pore sizes between 2.5 nm and 20 nm. Inside the pores PDMS and PMPS have faster molecular dynamics than in the bulk state. Down to a pore size of 7.5 nm the temperature dependence of the relaxation times (or rates) obeys the Vogel/Fulcher/Tammann (VFT) equation where the data obtained from dielectric and thermal spectroscopy agree quantitatively. At a pore size of 5 nm this VFT-like temperature dependence changes to an Arrhenius behavior. At the same confining length scale the increment of the specific heat capacity at Tg normalized to the weight of the confined polymer vanishes. The results indicate that a minimal length scale seems to be relevant for glassy dynamics in both polymers although the estimated length scale of about 5 nm seems to a bit too large in comparison to other experimental results and theoretical approaches. Neutron scattering is employed to investigate methyl group reorientation and the fast segmental dynamics of both polymers in confinement. Although the methyl group rotation is a localized process these experiments show that a part of the methyl groups is immobilized by the confinement whereas the effects for PDMS are much more pronounced than for PMPS. With regard to the segmental dynamics, neutron scattering reveals a big difference in the behavior of both polymers. Whereas the data obtained for PMPS are in accord with a boundary layer formed at the surfaces of the nanopores, for PDMS a considerable amount of elastic scattering is observed. To explain this result it is assumed that some structure formation of PDMS takes place in the nanopores, although the thermal data show no crystallization or melting effects.
In this article, results on the microscopic dynamics of a low-molecular glass former and a polymer confined in nanoporous silica obtained by inelastic neutron scattering are presented. By combining time-of-flight spectroscopy and backscattering spectroscopy we are able to cover a large dynamical range, from the low-frequency vibrations to the relaxation. The most prominent effect was observed on the boson peak in the vibrational spectrum. A strong reduction of the modes at lowest frequencies could be observed in both cases. The main effect on the relaxation is a broadening for the salol system. For the polymeric system a difference of the confinement influence on the methyl-group rotation and the relaxation can be detected from a first qualitative interpretation of the data.
Broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS), specific heat spectroscopy (HCS) and capacitive scanning dilatometry (CSD) are used to study the glass transition and segmental dynamics in thin supported polystyrene (PS) films. Different molecular weights (Mw = 50 kg/mol, Mw = 260 kg/mol, Mw = 1408 kg/mol) and annealing protocols are employed in the study. The segmental dynamics is independent of the film thickness for each Mw in the temperature window of the dielectric measurement. The thermal glass transition temperature, Tg, measured by CSD depends on the film thickness and shows also a dependence on Mw. These observations are explained in terms of the formation of irreversibly adsorbed layer due to chain adsorption on the Al substrates during annealing.
Broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS), capacitive scanning dilatometry (CSD) and differential ac-chip calorimetry (DACC) were used to examine the glass transition and segmental dynamics of ultrathin poly(bisphenol A carbonate) (PBAC) films. An increase of Vogel temperature (T0) as well as glass transition temperature (Tg) with decreasing film thickness was observed when the thickness is less than 20 nm. Moreover, the segmental relaxation time at a fixed temperature was found to increase for the aluminium (Al) capped PBAC films (<20 nm) in the BDS measurements, whereas in the DACC measurements no thickness dependency of the segmental dynamics was detected within the experimental error limit for the supported PBAC films (10-55 nm). These properties are discussed in terms of the thin film geometry and the relevant interfacial interaction between the polymer and the substrate.
In this article we present inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments on different systems of confined glass-formers. The aim of these experiments is to study the influence of spatial restriction on the microscopic dynamics related to the glass transition. Such results could be helpful for the detection of a currently speculated cooperativity length of the glass transition. The glass-forming component is either a molecular liquid or a polymer. The confining matrices are `hard' (silica glass, silicon) or `soft' (microemulsion droplets). For some experiments the confining structure could be spatially oriented. Except for the soft confinement the naïvely expected acceleration effect could only be found at low temperatures where INS experiments are difficult because of the long relaxation times. A clear effect of confinement could be observed for the glass-typical low energy vibrations (boson peak). This effect seems to be completely different for soft and hard confinement. Surprisingly, the experiments on oriented nanopores did not show any signs of an anisotropy of the dynamics.
Ultra-thin films of polysulfone are prepared by spin coating down to thicknesses below 10 nm on an aluminum support and investigated by broadband dielectric spectroscopy. As a main result is was found that the glass transition temperature Tg does not depend on the film thickness for thicknesses larger than 10 nm. Secondly from the analysis of the dielectric strength it is concluded that the polysulfone segments form an adsorbed layer with a reduced mobility at the Al support having a thickness of ca. 5 nm.
The dynamic glass transition (α relaxation, structural relaxation) of ultrathin polysulfone films prepared between aluminum electrodes is investigated by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. As a main result, it is found that the glass transition temperature Tg does not depend on the thickness of the polymeric layer down to a thickness of 10 nm. For thicknesses lower than 10 nm, an increase of Tg is observed. A more detailed analysis of the temperature dependence of the relaxation rates reveals that the Vogel temperature increases and the fragility decreases systematically with decreasing film thickness d. Further, the dielectric strength Δε decreases with decreasing d. This is discussed by the formation of a surface layer of adsorbed polysulfone segments having a reduced molecular mobility with regard to the time scale characteristic of the glassy dynamics of bulk polysulfone. Plotted versus inverse film thickness Δε decreases linearly with 1/d and becomes zero for an extrapolated length scale of 10 nm. From that it is concluded that the thickness of the adsorbed boundary layer is about 5 nm. Contact-angle measurements were carried out to confirm the strong interaction between aluminum and polysulfone. It is also shown that preparation details like annealing conditions strongly influence the glass transition of supported ultrathin films.
The nematic liquid crystalline mixture E7 was confined with similar filling degrees to molecular sieves with constant composition but different pore diameters (from 2.8 to 6.8 nm). Fourier transform infrared analysis proved that the E7 molecules interact via the cyanogroup with the pore walls of the molecular sieves. The molecular dynamics of the system was investigated by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (10-2-109 Hz) covering a wide temperature range of ~ 200 K from temperatures well above the isotropic-nematic transition down to the glass transition of bulk E7. A variety of relaxation processes is observed including two modes that are located close to the bulk behavior in its temperature dependence. For all confined samples, two relaxation processes, at frequencies lower than the processes observed for the bulk, were detected. At lower temperatures, their relaxation rates have different temperature dependencies whereas at higher temperatures, they seem to collapse into one chart. The temperature dependence of the slowest process (S-process) obeys the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann law indicating a glassy dynamics of the E7 molecules anchored to the pore surface. The pore size dependence of both the Vogel temperature and fragility revealed a steplike transition around 4 nm pore size, which indicates a transition from a strong to a fragile behavior. The process with a relaxation rate in between the bulklike and the S-process (I-process) shows no dependence on the pore size. The agreement of the I-process with the behavior of a 5CB surface layer adsorbed on nonporous silica leads to the assignment of E7 molecules anchored at the outer surface of the microcrystals of the molecular sieves.