Quantifying glass transition behavior in ultrathin free-standing polymer films

J. Mattsson, J. A. Forrest, and L. Börjesson
Phys. Rev. E 62, 5187 – Published 1 October 2000
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Abstract

We have used Brillouin light scattering to make a detailed study of the behavior of the glass transition temperature Tg in ultrathin, free-standing polystyrene films. The glass transitions were experimentally identified as near discontinuities in the thermal expansion. The effects of film thickness, molecular weight, and thermal history on the measured Tg values have been investigated. While the size of the glass transition effects was comparable for all molecular weights, a complicated Mn dependence suggested a separation of the results into two regimes, each dominated by a different length scale: a low Mn regime controlled by a length scale intrinsic to the glass transition and a high Mn region, where polymer chain confinement induced effects take over.

  • Received 18 February 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.62.5187

©2000 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J. Mattsson*

  • Department of Experimental Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden

J. A. Forrest*,†

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, S3 7RH Sheffield, United Kingdom

L. Börjesson

  • Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden

  • *Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
  • Present address: Guelph-Waterloo Physics Institute, University of Waterloo Campus, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1.

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Vol. 62, Iss. 4 — October 2000

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