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Despite the many controversial discussions about the nanometric confinement effect and the predictions of the three-layer model, much remain not understood and/or experimentally unproven. Here, a combination of Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS), Specific Heat Spectroscopy (SHS), and ellipsometry was utilized to investigate the glassy dynamics of ultra-thin films of Poly (vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) and PVME/Polystyrene (PS) 50:50 wt-% miscible blend (thicknesses: 8nm - 200nm). For BDS measurements, a recently developed nano-structured sample arrangement; where ultra-thin films are spin-coated on an ultra-flat highly conductive silicon wafer and sandwiched between a wafer with nanostructured silica nano-spacers, was used. For PVME films, two processes were observed and interpreted to be the α-processes of a bulk-like layer and an absorbed layer to the substrate. BDS and SHS showed that glassy dynamics are bulk-like. However, for films lower than 15nm, BDS showed weakly slowed dynamics. For PVME/PS blend, by a self-assembling process, a nanometer-thin surface layer with a higher molecular mobility is formed at the polymer/air interface. By measuring the dynamic Tg in dependence on the film thickness, both BDS and SHS, showed that the Tg of the whole film was strongly influenced by that nanometer thick surface layer, with a lower Tg.
In the recent years, highly crosslinked plasma polymers have started to unveil their potential in numerous biomedical applications in thin-films form. However, conventional diagnostic methods often fail due to their diverse molecular dynamics conformations. Here, glassy dynamics and the melting transition of thin PEO-like plasma assisted deposited (ppPEO) films (thickness 100 nm) were In situ studied by a combination of specific heat spectroscopy, utilizing pJ/K sensitive AC-calorimeter chip, and composition analytical techniques. Different crosslinking densities were obtained by different plasma powers during the deposition of the films. Glassy dynamics was observed for all values of the plasma power. It was found that the glassy dynamics slows down with increasing the plasma power. Moreover, the underlying relaxation time spectra broaden indicating that the molecular motions become more heterogeneous with increasing plasma power. In a second set of experiment, the melting behavior of the ppPEO films was studied. The melting temperature of ppPEO was found to be decreasing with increasing plasma power. This was explained by a decrease of the order in the crystals due to formation of chemical defects during the plasma process.