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The addition of nanofillers to rubber matrices is a powerful route to improve the mechanical properties. Here, we focus on a molecular understanding of basic mechanisms that are important for the r...

The addition of nanoparticles (NPs) to polymers is a powerful method to improve the mechanical and other properties of macromolecular materials. Such hybrid polymer-particle systems are also rich in fundamental soft matter physics. Among several factors contributing to mechanical reinforcement, a polymer-mediated NP network is considered to be the most important in polymer nanocomposites (PNCs). Here, we present an integrated experimental-theoretical study of the collective NP dynamics in model PNCs using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy and microscopic statistical mechanics theory. Silica NPs dispersed in unentangled or entangled poly(2-vinylpyridine) matrices over a range of NP loadings are used. Static collective structure factors of the NP subsystems at temperatures above the bulk glass transition temperature reveal the formation of a network-like microstructure

We have performed small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements to study the evolution of length-scale-dependent nanoparticle (NP) correlations over a wide range of loadings in miscible silica–p...

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising technique to rapidly produce polymeric materials into complex 3-dimensional (3D) geometries. While AM is widespread and relevant for a range of applicatio...

Fouling is the undesirable accumulation of a material on a wide variety of objects and has now become a widespread global problem from land to ocean with both economic and environmental penalties. ...

We report in situ nanostructures and dynamics of polybutadiene (PB) chains bound to carbon black (CB) fillers (the so-called “bound polymer layer (BPL)”) in a good solvent. The BPL on the CB fillers was extracted by solvent leaching of a CB-filled PB compound and subsequently dispersed in deuterated toluene to label the BPL for small-angle neutron scattering and neutron spin echo techniques. The results demonstrate that the BPL is composed of two regions regardless of molecular weights of PB: the inner unswollen region of ≈ 0.5 nm thick and outer swollen region where the polymer chains display a parabolic profile with a diffuse tail. In addition, the results show that the dynamics of the swollen bound chains can be explained by the so-called “breathing mode” and is generalized with the thickness of the swollen BPL.

We report that the nanometer-scale architecture of polymer chains plays a crucial role in its protein resistant property over surface chemistry. Protein-repellent (noncharged), few nanometer thick polymer layers were designed with homopolymer chains physisorbed on solids. We evaluated the antifouling property of the hydrophilic or hydrophobic adsorbed homopolymer chains against bovine serum albumin in water. Molecular dynamics simulations along with sum frequency generation spectroscopy data revealed the self-organized nanoarchitecture of the adsorbed chains composed of inner nematic-like ordered segments and outer brush-like segments across homopolymer systems with different interactions among a polymer, substrate, and interfacial water. We propose that this structure acts as a dual barrier against protein adsorption.

We here report that adsorbed chains composed of one of the constituent blocks can be used as a new surface modification approach to induce perpendicularly oriented lamellar microdomains in block copolymer thin films. A nearly symmetric polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-block-PMMA) diblock copolymer was used as a model. Densely packed PS- or PMMA-adsorbed chains of about 2–3 nm in thickness (“polymer nanocoatings”) were deposited on silicon (Si) substrates using a solvent-rinsing approach. Spin-cast films of 40 or 60 nm-thick PS-block-PMMA (equivalent to two or three interdomain spacings) were subsequently deposited onto the PS or PMMA nanocoatings. Grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering experiments revealed the formation of perpendicularly oriented lamellar microdomains within the entire films at 200 °C, where balanced interfacial interactions at the polymer–air interface were achieved. Additionally, X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy studies demonstrated the dynamics of the fully...

We here report the self-organization process of poly(styrene-b-ethylene/butadiene-b-styrene) (SEBS) triblock copolymer chains physically adsorbed on a non-neutral surface. Spin-cast SEBS thin films were prepared on silicon (Si) substrates and then annealed at a high temperature far above the bulk glass transition temperatures of the two constituent blocks. To reveal the buried interfacial structure, we utilized solvent rinsing processes and a suite of surface-sensitive techniques including ellipsometry, X-ray reflectivity, atomic force microscopy, and grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering. We revealed that the SEBS chains form two different chain structures on the substrate simultaneously: (i) “flattened chains” with the average height of 2.5 nm but without forming microdomain structures; (ii) “loosely adsorbed chains” with the average height of 11.0 nm and the formation of perpendicularly oriented cylindrical microdomains to the substrate surface. In addition, the kinetics to form the perpendicular-oriented cylinder was sluggish (∼200 h) and proceeded via multistep processes toward the equilibrium state. We also found that the lateral microdomain structures were distorted, and the characteristic lengths of the microdomains were slightly different from the bulk even after reaching “quasiequilibrium” state within the observed time window. Furthermore, we highlight the vital role of the adsorbed chains in the self-assembling process of the entire SEBS thin film: a long-range perturbation associated with the adsorbed chains propagates into the film interior, overwhelming the free surface effect associated with surface segregation of the lower surface tension of polystyrene blocks.

We report the in situ structures and dynamics of hydrogenated polybutadiene (PB) chains bound to carbon black nanoparticle surfaces in polymer solutions composed of deuterated PB and deuterated toluene using small-angle neutron scattering and neutron spin-echo techniques together with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The experimental results showed that the swollen bound polymer chains exhibit the collective dynamics (the so-called breathing mode) at polymer concentrations (c) below and above the overlap polymer concentration (c*) (i.e., 0.61 < c/c* < 1.83), where the concentration profiles of the bound polymer remained unchanged with the different c values. Interestingly, the collective dynamics slowed down by a factor of 2 compared to that in pure d-toluene when the chain lengths of the bound polymer and matrix polymer were equal. However, when the free polymer chains were longer than the bound polymer chains, the decrease in collective dynamics was not as significant. MD simulations were performed ...

Self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) into arrays of well-defined nanoscopic structures has attracted extensive academic and industrial interests over the past several decades. In contrast to the bulk where phase behavior is controlled by the segmental interaction parameter, the total number of segments in BCPs and volume fraction, the morphologies and orientations of BCP thin films can also be strongly influenced by the substrate surface energy/chemistry effect (considered as a “substrate field”). Here, we report the formation of locally favored structures where all constituent blocks coexist side-by-side on nonneutral solid surfaces irrespective of their chain architectures, microdomain structures, and interfacial energetics. The experimental results using a suite of surface-sensitive techniques intriguingly demonstrate that individual preferred blocks and nonpreferred blocks lie flat on the substrate surface and form a two-dimensional percolating network structure as a whole. The large numbers of so...

Here we report a link between the interfacial structure and adhesive property of homopolymer chains physically adsorbed (i.e., via physisorption) onto solids. Polyethylene oxide (PEO) was used as a model and two different chain conformations of the adsorbed polymer were created on silicon substrates via the well-established Guiselin's approach: "flattened chains" which lie flat on the solid and are densely packed, and "loosely adsorbed polymer chains" which form bridges jointing up nearby empty sites on the solid surface and cover the flattened chains. We investigated the adhesion properties of the two different adsorbed chains using a custom-built adhesion testing device. Bilayers of a thick PEO overlayer on top of the flattened chains or loosely adsorbed chains were subjected to the adhesion test. The results revealed that the flattened chains do not show any adhesion even with the chemically identical free polymer on top, while the loosely adsorbed chains exhibit adhesion. Neutron reflectivity experiments corroborated that the difference in the interfacial adhesion is not attributed to the interfacial brodening at the free polymer-adsorbed polymer interface. Instead, coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation results suggest that the tail parts of the loosely adsorbed chains act as "connector molecules", bridging the free chains and substrate surface and improving the interfacial adhesion. These findings not only shed light on the structure-property relationship at the interface, but also provide a novel approach for developing sticking/anti-sticking technologies through precise control of the interfacial polymer nanostructures.

It is known that when nanoparticles are added to polymer thin films, they often migrate to the film–substrate interface and form an “immobile interfacial layer”, which is believed to be the mechanism behind dewetting suppression. We here report a new mechanism of dewetting suppression from the structural aspect of polymer chains accommodated at the film–substrate interface. Dodecanethiol-functionalized gold (Au) nanoparticles embedded in relatively low molecular weight PS thin films prepared on silicon (Si) substrates were used as a model. We mimicked the previously reported conditions, where the nanoparticles preferentially migrate to the substrate, and successfully stabilized the PS thin films via thermal annealing. A suite of surface-sensitive techniques including atomic force microscopy, grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, X-ray/neutron reflectivity, and sum frequency generation spectroscopy in conjunction with the established solvent leaching process enabled us to unveil the polymer chain...

We report the effects of compressed CO, molecules as a novel plasticization agent for poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)-conjugated polymer thin films. In situ neutron reflectivity experiments demonstrated the excess sorption of CO, molecules in the P3HT thin films (about 40 nm in thickness) at low pressure (P = 8.2 MPa) under the isothermal condition of T = 36 degrees C, which is far below the polymer bulk melting point. The results proved that these CO2, molecules accelerated the crystallization process of the polymer on the basis of ex situ grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements after drying the films-via rapid depressurization to atmospheric pressure: both the out-of-plane lamellar ordering of the backbone chains and the intraplane pi-pi stacking of the side chains were significantly improved, when compared with those in the control P3HT films subjected to conventional thermal annealing (at T = 170 degrees C). Electrical measurements elucidated that the CO2-annealed P3HT thin films exhibited enhanced charge carrier mobility along with decreased background charge carrier concentration and trap density compared with those in the thermally annealed counterpart. This is attributed to the CO2-induced increase in polymer chain mobility that can drive the detrapping of molecular oxygen and healing of conformational defects in the polymer thin film. Given the universality of the excess sorption of CO2 regardless of the type of polymers, the present findings suggest that CO2 annealing near the critical point can be useful as a robust processing strategy for improving the structural and electrical characteristics of other semiconducting conjugated polymers and related systems such as polymer:fullerene bulk heterojunction films.

The temperature dependence of structural development in a self-exfoliating nano-composite system has been studied utilizing time resolved small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and time resolved mechanical spectroscopy (TRMS) employing small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS). This system consists of a montmorillonite organoclay and end-functionalized polybutadiene. Self-exfoliation refers to a system where a layered component, in this case clay, breaks into individual sheets randomly distributed throughout the matrix without any shear, sonication, or other external input. With SAOS, a maximum rate of modulus growth was found at intermediate temperatures. With SAXS complete exfoliation was found to occur fastest at intermediate temperatures. A comparison between SAXS and SAOS showed that the early rapid change in rheological properties results from the expansion of the clay stacks and intercalation. Alternative exfoliation mechanisms are hypothesized to fully explain the new SAOS and SAXS findings along with several other inconsistencies with this system's previously proposed mechanism.

We report the structural relaxation process of irreversibly adsorbed polymer chains via thermal annealing that lie flat on a solid (“flattened chains”). Amorphous polystyrene and quartz, which together constitute a weakly attractive system, was used as a model where the local chain conformations of the flattened chains were investigated by sum frequency generation spectroscopy (SFG). Two different film preparation processes (i.e., spin coating and dip coating methods) were utilized to create different initial chain conformations. The spin-coated and dip-coated PS thin films were annealed at a temperature far above the bulk glass transition temperature to reach the “quasiequilibrium” state and subsequently rinsed with chloroform to uncover the buried flattened chains. The SFG results revealed that the backbone chains (constituted of CH and CH2 groups) of the flattened PS chains preferentially orient to the weakly interactive substrate surface via thermal annealing regardless of the initial chain conformati...

The evolution of nanoscale properties is measured during the thermally triggered curing of an industrial epoxy adhesive. We use x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) to track the progression of the curing reaction through the local dynamics of filler particles that reflect the formation of a thermoset network. Out-of-equilibrium dynamics are resolved through identification and analysis of the intensity–intensity autocorrelation functions obtained from XPCS. The characteristic time scale and local velocity of the filler is calculated as functions of time and temperature. We find that the dynamics speed up when approaching the curing temperature (Tcure), and decay rapidly once Tcure is reached. We compare the results from XPCS to conventional macroscale characterization by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The demonstration and implementation of nanoscale characterization of curing reactions by XPCS proves useful for future development and optimization of epoxy thermoset materials and other industrial adhesive systems.

The glass transition of supported polystyrene (PS) and poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) thin films in the vicinity of the substrate interface was studied by using a nanoplasmonic sensing (NPS) method. This “nanocalorimetric” approach utilizes localized surface plasmon resonance from two-dimensional arrangements of sensor nanoparticles deposited on SiO2-coated glass substrates. The NPS results demonstrated the existence of a high glass transition temperature (Tg,high) along with the bulk glass transition temperature (Tg,bulk ≈ 100 °C for PS and P2VP) within the thin films: Tg,high ≈ 160 °C for PS and Tg,high ≈ 200 °C for P2VP. To understand the origin of the Tg,high, we also studied the thermal transitions of lone polymer chains strongly adsorbed onto the substrate surface using solvent rinsing. Interestingly, the NPS data indicated that the Tg,high is attributed to the adsorbed polymer chains. To provide a better understanding of the mechanism of the Tg,high, molecular dynamics simulations were performed on a...

A series of polystyrene-block-poly(4-(phenylethynyl)styrene) (PS-b-PPES) diblock copolymers with a range of compositions were prepared by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Block copolymer/cobalt carbonyl adducts (PSx-PPESy[Co2(CO)6]n) were subsequently prepared by reaction of Co2(CO)8 with the alkyne groups of the PPES block. Phase behavior of the block copolymer/cobalt carbonyl adducts (PSx-PPESy[Co2(CO)6]n, 8% ≤ wt % PS ≤ 68%) was studied by small-angle X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As the composition of PSx-PPESy[Co2(CO)6]n copolymers was shifted from PS as the majority block to PPESy[Co2(CO)6]n as the majority block, the morphology was observed to shift from lamellar with larger PS domains to cylindrical with PS as the minority component and then to spherical with PS as the minority component. These observations have been used to map out a partial phase diagram for PSx-PPESy[Co2(CO)6]n diblock copolymers. Heating of PSx-PPESy[Co2(CO)...

We report a mobility gradient of polymer chains in close proximity of a planar solid substrate in compressed carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. A series of bilayers composed of bottom hydrogenated polystyrene (h-PS) and top deuterated PS (d-PS) layers were prepared on Si substrates. A high-pressure neutron reflectivity (NR) technique was used to study the diffusive motion at the h-PS/d-PS interface as a function of the distance from the substrate interface. The results reveal that the interdiffusive chain dynamics gets strongly hindered compared to the bulk when the distance from the substrate is less than 3R(g) (R-g is the radius of polymer gyration of the h-PS). At the same time, by utilizing rapid quench of CO2 and subsequent solvent leaching, we reveal the presence of the CO2-induced polymer adsorbed layer on the substrate. We postulate that loop components in the adsorbed polymer chains provide a structure that can trap the neighboring polymer chains effectively, hence reducing the chain mobility in the close vicinity of the solid substrate even in the presence of the effective plasticizer.

Attaching dendritically branched side chains to each repeat unit of a linear polymer produces molecular building blocks of nanometer-sized dimensions called dendronized polymers. The structure of these complex molecular architectures is highly tunable and, therefore, of interest for a wide range of potential applications. The first examples of dendronized polymers prepared by living ring-opening metathesis polymerization of oxanorbornenedicarboximide macromonomers with poly(alkyl ether) dendrons are reported. Small-angle X-ray scattering experiments on bulk samples confirm that the diameter of the individual cylindrical polymers can be tailored by the choice of dendron generation or the length of the hydrocarbon peripheral group. Analysis of the SAXS data based on a core-shell model indicates that although the diameter of the cylinder increases with generation, the size of the core does not change; this suggests that these dendrons only loosely encapsulate the polymer backbone. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014, 52, 3221–3239

Recently, nanoconfined poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its random copolymers have attracted substantial attention in research. In addition to the drastic change in crystallization kinetics, major interest lies in crystal orientation and polymorphism in order to understand whether enhanced piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties can be achieved. For example, PVDF has been two-dimensionally (2D) confined in cylindrical nanopores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) with various pore diameters. The crystal c-axis becomes perpendicular to the cylinder axes, which favors dipole switching in the impregnated AAO membrane. However, no polar phases have been obtained from 2D confinement even down to 35 nm pores after melt recrystallization. In this work, we realized three-dimensionally (3D) confined crystallization of PVDF in 180 nm nanospheres by employing a facile emulsifier-free batch seeded emulsion polymerization to prepare PVDF@polystyrene (PS) core–shell particles. Influences of polymerization temperature...

Thermal annealing is one of the most indispensable polymer fabrication processes and plays essential roles in controlling morphologies and properties of polymeric materials. We here report that thermal annealing also facilitates polymer adsorption from the melt on planar silicon (Si) substrates, resulting in the formation of a high-density polymer nanolayer with flattened chain confirmations. Three different homopolymers (polystyrene, poly(2-vinylpyridine), and poly(methyl methacrylate)), which have similar inherent stiffness and bulk glass transition temperature (Tg), but have different affinities with Si substrates, were chosen as models. Spin-cast films (∼50 nm in thickness) with the three polymers were prepared on cleaned Si substrates and then placed in a vacuum oven set at a temperature far above the bulk Tg. In order to monitor the polymer adsorption process at the solid-polymer melt interface during thermal annealing, we used the protocol that combines vitrification of the annealed films (via rapi...

The orientation changes of perpendicular cylindrical microdomains in polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) thin films upon annealing in different solvent vapors were investigated by in situ grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) and ex situ scanning force microscopy (SFM). The swelling of P4VP perpendicular cylinders (C⊥) in chloroform, a non-selective solvent vapor, leads to the reorientation to in-plane cylinders through a disordered state in a particular kinetic pathway in the phase diagram upon drying. On the other hand, the swelling of the P4VP perpendicular cylinders in a selective solvent vapor (i.e., 1,4-dioxane) induces a morphological transition from cylindrical to ellipsoidal as a transient structure to spherical microdomains; subsequent solvent evaporation resulted in shrinkage of the matrix in the vertical direction, merging the ellipsoidal domains into the perpendicularly aligned cylinders. In this paper, we have discussed the mechanism based on the selectivity of the solvent to the constituting blocks that is mainly responsible for the orientation changes.

We report the effects of compressed CO

Various properties of ultrathin polymer films differ substantially from their bulk values. However, the critical question is whether the unusual properties are uniform throughout the films. To explore the presence of heterogeneous viscosity distributions, we have established grazing-incidence X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy for single polymer films with embedded metal nanoparticles that act as markers. In addition, the combined use of resonance enhanced X-ray scattering enables us to intensify the probing electrical field in the regions of interest within a single polymer film.

We report the structural heterogeneity of recrystallized linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) films (25, 50, and 100 rim in thickness) in the direction normal to the surface, based on in situ grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) and X-ray diffraction (GID) measurements. The GID results have clarified the presence of the edge-on lamellae at the surfaces and in the interior of the LLDPE films prepared on Si substrates as thin as 25 nm in thickness. However, the degree of the crystallinity for the 25 nm thick film was almost half of those for the SO and 100 nm thick films, while the melting temperature (T-m) for all the films remained unchanged relative to the bulk (T-m = 117 degrees C). Moreover, the GISAXS results for the 25 nm thick film indicate the structural heterogeneity in the direction normal to the surface: (i) At the polymer/air interface, the presence of the disordered edge-on lamellae which lack well-defined long periods even at T << T-m; (ii) At the polymer/substrate interface, the persistence of a substrate-bound edge-on lamellar layer even at T >> T-m; (iii) In between the two interfacial layers, the existence of the well-ordered edge-on lamellae with the long periods. These heterogeneous structures can be explained as a consequence of the nucleation initiated at the topmost surface of the substrate-bound lamellar layer.

The stability or wettability of thin polymer films on solids is of vital interest in traditional technologies as well as in new emerging nanotechnologies. We report here that nanoscale structures of polymer chains adsorbed onto a solid surface play a crucial role in the thermal stability of the film. In this study, polystyrene (PS) spin-cast films (20 nm in thickness) with eight different molecular weights prepared on silicon (Si) substrates were used as a model. When low molecular weight (Mw≤ 50 kDa) PS films were subjected to thermal annealing at temperatures far above the bulk glass transition temperature, dewetting occurred promptly, while high molecular weight (Mw≥ 123 kDa) PS films were stable for at least 6 weeks at 150 °C. We reveal a strong correlation between the film stability and the two different interfacial structures of the adsorbed polymer chains: their opposing wettability against chemically identical free polymer chains results in a wetting-dewetting transition at the adsorbed polymer-free polymer interface. This is a unique aspect of the stability of polymer thin films and may be generalizable to other polymer systems regardless of the magnitude of solid-polymer attractive interactions.

We studied the effects of a step-up shear flow from zero shear rate to the given shear rate, γ ˙ , on formation of shear-induced structures for a semidilute polystyrene (PS)/diethyl malonate (DEM) solution below its cloud point temperature where the solution undergoes phase separation via spinodal decomposition (SD) in quiescent state. We elucidated that the effects of step-up shear can be divided into two regions: below and above a critical shear rate, γ ˙ c,SD . At γ ˙ γ ˙ c,SD , growing phase-separated domains via SD are found to be deformed under the flow, so that FFT spectra of the shear-microscopy images become elliptical with the wave number qmx at the maximum intensity parallel to the flow being smaller than the corresponding wave number qmz parallel to the neutral axis. However, strikingly enough, the aspect ratio qmz/qmx of the elliptic spinodal ring observed for this system was much smaller than that observed for binary fluids. The unique feature was proposed to be the elastic effect inherent in this system. When γ ˙ is larger than γ ˙ c,SD , however, initially phase-separating structures via SD are strongly deformed and distorted. Interestingly enough, the light scattering pattern was transformed from the isotropic ring pattern into the butterfly pattern. This is interpreted as follows: when γ ˙ > γ ˙ c,SD , there may not be enough time for the domains composed of elastically deformed swollen-network chains to relax, and consequently the domains are cooperatively disrupted. The disrupted domains tend to squeeze solvent in order to release the elastic free energy stored in the deformed swollen-network chains, resulting in anisotropic domain more extended to neutral axis than flow direction and hence giving rise to the butterfly pattern.

Solid-polymer interfaces play crucial roles in the multidisciplinary field of nanotechnology and are the confluence of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. There is now growing evidence that polymer chains irreversibly adsorb even onto weakly attractive solid surfaces, forming a nanometer-thick adsorbed polymer layer (“adsorbed polymer nanolayers”). In this Chapter, we review our recent experimental results on the structures and dynamics of the adsorbed polymer chains. Furthermore, we shed light on the mechanism giving rise to the extraordinary properties of the adsorbed nanolayers and on how these properties can propagate into the film interior over distances of several tens of nanometers, resulting in heterogeneities of local crystalline structures, viscosity, interdiffusive motions (in the melts and a solvent) of supported polymer thin films.

The effect of solvent quality on shear-induced structures in semidilute polystyrene solutions are investigated by using light-scattering and rheological methods. We found that the shear-induced structures are universally formed in various solvents employed in this experiment. We especially focus on a critical shear rate γcx, at which the light scattering intensity starts to increase in our experimental geometry, and on a critical shear stress, σxy,cx, at γ = γcx. We found that γcx is not well correlated with χ but rather that σxy,cx is better correlated with χ, where χ is the Flory−Huggins interaction parameter between polystyrene and solvents. σxy,cx increases with decreasing χ. This indicates that the structure formation is strongly affected by solvent quality, mainly through the thermodynamic state of the solution. We also analyzed the solvent quality dependence of γcx in the context of Onuki's linear theory, and found that γcx can be scaled by Kos/η0, where Kos is the osmotic modulus and η0 the ...

The solid–polymer melt interface is of great scientific interest due to its vital importance in governing a wide array of physical and mechanical properties of polymer thin films. Recent studies have elucidated the coexistence of two different chain conformations of polymer chains adsorbed on a solid (i.e., loosely adsorbed chains and flattened chains). In this work, film stabilities of the polystyrene (PS) “interfacial sublayer” (composed of outer loosely adsorbed chains and inner flattened chains) and flattened layer (composed of the lone flattened chains) prepared on silicon (Si) substrates are investigated. The atomic force microscopy studies reveal that the as-rinsed PS flattened layer is subjected to spinodal-like dewetting during a post-thermal annealing process even at temperatures below the bulk glass transition temperature. Furthermore, it is found that the surface morphology of the flattened layer can be reversibly changed from a homogeneous pattern under good solvent conditions to spinodal-like droplets under poor solvent conditions. By contrast, it is found that the PS interfacial sublayer remains stable under both good and poor solvent conditions. These findings illuminate the role which density variations within the adsorbed layers play in the mechanism behind the wetting-dewetting transition.

The effects of CO2 annealing on the melting and subsequent melt crystallization processes of spin-cast poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) ultrathin films (20-100 nm in thickness) prepared on Si substrates were investigated. By using in situ neutron reflectivity, we found that all the PEO thin films show melting at a pressure as low as P = 2.9 MPa and at T 48 degrees C which is below the bulk melting temperature (T-m). The films were then subjected to quick depressurization to atmospheric pressure, resulting in the non-equilibrium swollen state, and the melt crystallization (and/or dewetting) process was carried out in air via subsequent annealing at given temperatures below T-m. Detailed structural characterization using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and polarized optical microscopy revealed two unique aspects of the CO2-treated PEO films: (i) a flat-on lamellar orientation, where the molecular chains stand normal to the film surface, is formed within the entire film regardless of the original film thickness and the annealing temperature; and (ii) the dewetting kinetics for the 20 nm thick film is much slower than that for the thicker films. The key to these phenomena is the formation of irreversibly adsorbed layers on the substrates during the CO2 annealing: the limited plasticization effect of CO2 at the polymer-substrate interface promotes polymer adsorption rather than melting. Here we explain the mechanisms of the melt crystallization and dewetting processes where the adsorbed layers play vital roles.

We report the chain conformations of polymer molecules accommodated at the solid-polymer melt interfaces in equilibrium. Polystyrene ``Guiselin'' brushes (adsorbed layers) with different molecular weights were prepared on Si substrates and characterized by using x-ray and neutron reflectivity. The results are intriguing to show that the adsorbed layers are composed of the two different nanoarchitectures: flattened chains that constitute the inner higher density region of the adsorbed layers and loosely adsorbed polymer chains that form the outer bulklike density region. In addition, we found that the lone flattened chains, which are uncovered by the additional prolonged solvent leaching ($\ensuremath{\sim}120$ days), are reversibly densified with increasing temperature up to $150\text{ }\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\mathrm{C}$. By generalizing the chain conformations of bulks, we postulate that the change in probabilities of the local chain conformations (i.e., trans and gauche states) of polymer molecules is the origin of this densification process.

We report the origin of the effect of nanoscale confinement on the local viscosity of entangled polystyrene (PS) films at temperatures far above the glass transition temperature. By using marker x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy with gold nanoparticles embedded in the PS films prepared on solid substrates, we have determined the local viscosity as a function of the distance from the polymer-substrate interface. The results show the impact of a very thin adsorbed layer (~7 nm in thickness) even without specific interactions of the polymer with the substrate, overcoming the effect of a surface mobile layer at the air-polymer interface and thereby resulting in a significant increase in the local viscosity as approaching the substrate interface.

By using in-situ neutron reflectivity, we have investigated swelling isotherms of solvophilic and solvophobic end-grafted/non-grafted polymer chains on solid substrates in supercritical carbon dioxide and supercritical ethane. It was found that anomalous expansion of the polymer chains associated with excess absorption of the fluid molecules occurs in the large compressible regions of both supercritical fluids (SCFs) regardless of the polymer-fluid interactions. In addition, we found that the excess expansion of the solvophobic polymer chains in both SCFs collapse onto one master curve under the same magnitude of density fluctuations in the fluids. A simple thermodynamic two-state model along with the experimental results proposes that polymer chains are expanded independently of the polymer fluid interactions to further change solvent density fluctuations around the polymer chains, thereby lowering the free energy of the polymer/SCF systems. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We report the nucleation process of methane hydrate on the molecular scale. A stationary planar interface separating methane gas and liquid water was studied by using in situ neutron reflectivity. We found that the angstrom-scale surface roughening is triggered as soon as the water phase contacts methane gas under the hydrate forming conditions. In addition, it was found that the microscopic surface structure remains unchanged until a macroscopic hydrate film is developed at the interface. We therefore postulate that the angstrom-scale surface roughening is attributed to the formation of microscopic hydrate “embryos” in a “dynamic equilibrium” manner.

By embedding "dilute" gold nanoparticles in single polystyrene thin films as "markers", we probe the local viscosity of the free surface at temperatures far above the glass transition temperature (T(g)). The technique used was x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy with resonance-enhanced x-ray scattering. The results clearly showed the surface viscosity is about 30% lower than the rest of the film. We found that this reduction is strongly associated with chain entanglements at the free surface rather than the reduction in T(g).

We aimed at elucidating the influence of shear-induced structures (shear-enhanced concentration fluctuations and/or shear-induced phase separation), as observed by rheo-optical methods with small-angle light scattering under shear flow (shear-SALS) and shear-microscopy, on viscoelastic properties in semidilute polystyrene (PS) solutions of 6.0 wt % concentration using dioctyl phthalate (DOP) as a Theta solvent and tricresyl phosphate (TCP) as a good solvent. In order to quantify the effects of the shear-induced structures, we conducted a numerical analysis of rheological properties in a homogeneous solution based on the constitutive equation developed by Kaye-Bernstein, Kearsley, and Zapas (K-BKZ). In the low-to-intermediate shear rate gamma region between tau(w) (-1) and tau(e) (-1), where tau(w) and tau(e) are, respectively, terminal relaxation time and the relaxation time for chain stretching, the steady state rheological properties, such as shear stress sigma and the first normal stress difference N(1), for the PS/DOP and PS/TCP solutions are found to be almost same and also well predicted by the K-BKZ equation, in spite of the fact that there is a significant difference in the shear-induced structures as observed by shear-SALS and shear-microscopy. This implies that the contribution of the concentration fluctuations built up by shear flow to the rheological properties seems very small in this gamma region. On the other hand, once gamma exceeds tau(e) (-1), sigma and N(1) for both PS/DOP and PS/TCP start to deviate from the predicted values. Moreover, when gamma further increases and becomes higher than gamma(a,DOP) (sufficiently higher than tau(e) (-1)), above which rheological and scattering anomalies are observed for PS/DOP, sigma and N(1) for PS/DOP and PS/TCP are significantly larger than those predicted by K-BKZ. Particularly, a steep increase of sigma and N(1) for PS/DOP above gamma(a,DOP) is attributed to an excess free energy stored in the system via the deformation of interface of well-defined domains, which are aligned into the stringlike structure developed parallel to the flow axis, and stretching of the chains connecting the domains in the stringlike structures. Thus, we advocate that the effect of shear-induced structures should be well considered on the behavior of sigma and N(1) at the high gamma region above tau(e) (-1) in semidilute polymer solutions.

We report a versatile route for self-assembly of polymer-soluble nanoparticles at the polymer surface using highly compressible supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). Polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate)-based nanocomposite thin films with functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane and phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester nanoparticles were prepared on Si substrates and exposed to scCO2 at different pressures under the isothermal condition of 36 °C. The resultant structures could be then preserved by the vitrification process of the glassy polymersvia quick pressure quench to atmospheric pressure and subsequently characterized by using various surface sensitive experimental techniques in air. We found that the surface segregation of these nanoparticles is induced in the close vicinity of P = 8.2 MPa where the excess absorption of the fluid into the polymers maximizes. However, when the film thickness becomes less than about 4Rg thick (where Rg is the radius of polymer gyration), the uniform dispersion of the nanoparticles is favorable instead even at the same CO2 conditions. We clarify that the phase transition is correlated with the emergence of a concentration gradient of the fluid at the polymer/CO2 interface and is a general phenomenon for different polymer–nanoparticle interactions.

The dynamics of polymer chains near the surface of a melt and within thin films remains a subject of inquiry along with the nature of the glass transition in these systems. Recent studies show that the properties of the free surface region are crucial in determining the anomalous glass transition temperature (Tg) reduction of polymer thin films. In this study, by embedding dilute gold nanoparticles in polystyrene (PS) thin films as markers, we could successfully probe the diffusive Brownian motion which tracks the local viscosity both at the free surface and within the rest of the single PS thin film far above bulk Tg. The technique used was X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy with resonance-enhanced X-rays that allows us to independently measure the motion in the regions of interest at the nanometer scale. We found the presence of the surface reduced viscosity layer in entangled PS thin films at T>>Tg.

Surface segregation (i.e., preferential segregation of one component to the surface in multicomponent systems) is common to all material classes and is typically driven by a reduction in surface energy which compensates for the entropy loss and/or energy gain associated with the demixing of the components. However, the conventional surface segregation for polymeric systems requires high temperatures, typically close to 200°C, and long annealing time, in order to ensure enough polymer mobility. Here we show a low-temperature method to preferentially migrate organoclay nanoparticles to the polymer surface using supercritical carbon dioxide.

We report supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) technology used for forming a large degree of molecular scale porosity in semicrystalline polymer thin films. The following three steps were integrated: (i) pre-exposure to an organic solvent which melted crystalline structures but did not cause a decrease in thickness, (ii) scCO2 exposure under the unique conditions where the anomalous absorption of CO2 occurred, and (iii) subsequent quick evaporation of CO2 to preserve the swollen structures. This unified process resulted in homogenous low-density polyphenylene vinylene films (a 15% reduction in density) with the sustained structure for at least 6 months at room temperature.