Dynamics in the Glassy State and Near the Glass Transition of Amorphous Polymers as Studied by Neutron Scattering

Quasielastic neutron scattering study of microscopic dynamics in polybutadiene reinforced with an unsaturated carboxylate

We studied the dynamics of zinc diacrylate (ZDA) reinforced polybutadiene rubber (BR) (ZDA/BR) using the quasielastic neutron scattering technique to determine the effect of concentration of ZDA on polymer dynamics. First, we evaluated the temperature dependence of mean square displacements (〈u²〉) for ZDA/BR with different ZDA volume fractions. 〈u²〉 increased with temperature below 170 K, and we observed no significant ZDA volume fraction dependence. However, it increased more steeply above 170 K, and the value of 〈u²〉 was smaller for the samples with increasing ZDA fraction. To elucidate the origin of the decrease in 〈u²〉 with increasing ZDA content, dynamic scattering laws (S(Q,ω)) were analyzed. An increase in the elastic component, an increase in the mean relaxation time, and a broadening of distribution of relaxation time were observed with the increasing volume fraction of ZDA. In addition, the ZDA volume fraction dependence of the elastic component roughly corresponded to that of elastic modulus, indicating that the elastic component is related to its mechanical strength. Referring to the previously reported static structure of the present ZDA/BR system, a model for the heterogeneous BR dynamics was proposed. This model assumes the coexistence of immobile, mobile, and interfacial constrained mobile regions. It was found to be appropriate for the explanation of the observed dynamics. We proposed that a network-like structure of the BR having a high crosslinking density around ZDA aggregates is mainly responsible for the high elastic modulus of ZDA/BR.

Dispersive kinetics in discotic liquid crystals

The dynamics of the discotic liquid-crystalline system, hexakis (n-hexyloxy) triphenylene (HAT6), is considered in the frame of the phenomenological model for rate processes proposed by Berlin. It describes the evolution of the system in the presence of the long-time scale correlations in the system, and we compare this with experimental quasielastic neutron scattering of the molecular assembly of HAT6 in the columnar phase. We interpret the parameters of this model in terms of nonextensive thermodynamics in which rare events in the local fast dynamics of some parts of the system control the slower dynamics of the larger molecular entity and lead to a fractional diffusion equation. The importance of these rare local events to the overall dynamics of the system is linked to the entropic index, this being obtained from the data within the model approach. Analysis of the waiting-time dependence from momentum transfer reveals a Lévy distribution of jump lengths, which allows us to construct the van Hove correlation function for discotic liquid-crystalline system.

Comparative surface dynamics of amorphous and semicrystalline polymer films

The surface dynamics of amorphous and semicrystalline polymer films have been measured using helium atom scattering. Time-of-flight data were collected to resolve the elastic and inelastic scattering components in the diffuse scattering of neutral helium atoms from the surface of a thin poly(ethylene terephthalate) film. Debye-Waller attenuation was observed for both the amorphous and semicrystalline phases of the polymer by recording the decay of elastically scattered helium atoms with increasing surface temperature. Thermal attenuation measurements in the specular scattering geometry yielded perpendicular mean-square displacements of 2.7•10(-4) Å(2) K(-1) and 3.1•10(-4) Å(2) K(-1) for the amorphous and semicrystalline surfaces, respectively. The semicrystalline surface was consistently ∼15% softer than the amorphous across a variety of perpendicular momentum transfers. The Debye-Waller factors were also measured at off-specular angles to characterize the parallel mean-square displacements, which were found to increase by an order of magnitude over the perpendicular mean-square displacements for both surfaces. In contrast to the perpendicular motion, the semicrystalline state was ∼25% stiffer than the amorphous phase in the surface plane. These results were uniquely accessed through low-energy neutral helium atom scattering due to the highly surface-sensitive and nonperturbative nature of these interactions. The goal of tailoring the chemical and physical properties of complex advanced materials requires an improved understanding of interfacial dynamics, information that is obtainable through atomic beam scattering methods.

Glass transition and molecular mobility in polymer thin films

Extensive studies on polymer thin films to date have revealed their interesting but unusual properties such as film thickness dependence of glass transition temperature Tg and thermal expansivity. Recent studies have shown that the lower Tg is not always related to the higher mobility in polymer thin films, which contradicts our current understanding of the glass transition process. In this work, we report the results of inelastic neutron-scattering measurements on polystyrene thin films using two spectrometers with different energy resolutions as well as ellipsometry measurements. The results are interpreted in terms of cooperatively rearranging region and motional slowing down due to the surface effect that explain plausibly the anomalous relationship between the glass transition temperature Tg and the molecular mobility in thin films.

Analysis of rapid chain dynamics in isochronal dielectric measurements of polymers

Fast dynamics within the microwave frequency range (approximately gigahertz) in polymer systems as a function of temperature (in the range from 20 to 190 degrees C) were studied using high frequency dielectric spectroscopy. The frequency of radiation was varied from 0.5 to 18 GHz. The isochronal dielectric loss data were taken to eliminate the complexity arising from the frequency-independent, temperature-dependent background loss in the condensed phase. These studies were conducted for poly(caprolactone) (PCL), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(ethylene oxide) with methoxy end group (PEO-CH3), PLA-b-PEO-b-PLA triblock copolymers, and several polymers with high glass transition temperatures. These polymers possess glass temperatures ranging from -62 degrees C (PCL) to 110 degrees C (PMMA). One broad relaxation process was found only for polymers (PCL, PEO, and PLA-b-PEO-b-PLA) with low glass transition temperatures. The effect due to end groups was investigated by comparing the results of PEO with hydroxy versus methoxy end groups. The measured relaxation process was determined not to be associated with end groups. The results from temperature-dependent dielectric spectroscopy indicate that the relaxation process follows an Arrhenius T dependence suggesting that it is due to local motions. The activation energy of the relaxation process was measured and investigated based on the coupling model. The results suggest that the observed relaxation process behaves as a Johari-Goldstein beta relaxation.

Signatures of the fast dynamics in glassy polystyrene: First evidence by high-field Electron Paramagnetic Resonance of molecular guests

The reorientation of one small paramagnetic molecule (spin probe) in glassy polystyrene (PS) is studied by high-field electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy at two different Larmor frequencies (190 and 285 GHz). Two different regimes separated by a crossover region are evidenced. Below 180 K the rotational times are nearly temperature independent with no apparent distribution. In the temperature range of 180-220 K a large increase of the rotational mobility is observed with the widening of the distribution of correlation times which exhibits two components: (i) a deltalike, temperature-independent component representing the fraction of spin probes w which persist in the low-temperature dynamics; (ii) a strongly temperature-dependent component, to be described by a power distribution, representing the fraction of spin probes 1-w undergoing activated motion over an exponential distribution of barrier heights g(E). Above 180 K a steep decrease of w is evidenced. The shape and the width of g(E) do not differ from the reported ones for PS within the errors. For the first time the large increase of the rotational mobility of the spin probe at 180 K is ascribed to the onset of the fast dynamics detected by neutron scattering at T(f)=175+/-25 K.

Correlation of fragility of supercooled liquids with elastic properties of glasses

We present a detailed analysis of correlations between fragility and other parameters of glass-forming systems. The analysis shows the importance of the ratio between the instantaneous bulk and shear modulus of glass-forming systems, or their Poisson ratio, for structural alpha relaxation and fast dynamics. In particular, for simple glass formers, the bulk to shear modulus ratio in the glassy state correlates with fragility in the liquid state and is inversely proportional to the intensity of the boson peak. A simple relationship between the temperature dependence of the viscosity of liquids at high temperatures and near the glass transition is used to rationalize these correlations. We argue that the ratio of the moduli controls the high-temperature activation energy of the structural relaxation and in this way affects the fragility. The ratio also defines the amplitude of the structural relaxation (i.e., the nonergodicity parameter) and the latter influences the strength of the boson peak. These observations might explain the puzzling correlation observed between the fragility and fast dynamics in glass-forming systems.