Glassy Dynamics in Condensed Isolated Polymer Chains

Polymer Dynamics While free surfaces should allow polymer chains to move faster than in the bulk, the presence of a substrate might slow down the motion if there is an attraction between the two. Tress et al. (p. 1371 ; see the Perspective by Russell ) used dielectric spectroscopy to study “polymer islands” deposited on a substrate from dilute solution, where some islands contained just a few or only one polymer chain. The confinement of the polymer chain to small-surface geometries had virtually no influence on the dynamics of the polymers, aside from the segments in direct contact with the substrate.