Interfacial properties of polystyrene thin films as revealed by neutron reflectivity

Enhanced Glass Transition Temperature of Thin Polystyrene Films Having an Underneath Cross-Linked Layer

Due to the importance of the interface in the segmental dynamics of supported macromolecule ultrathin films, the glass transition temperature (T_g) of polystyrene (PS) ultrathin films upon solid substrates modified with a cross-linked PS (CLPS) layer has been investigated. The results showed that the T_g of the thin PS films on a silica surface with a ∼5 nm cross-linked layer increased with reducing film thickness. Meanwhile, the increase in T_g of the thin PS films became more pronounced with increasing the cross-linking density of the layer. For example, a 20 nm thick PS film supported on CLPS with 1.8 kDa of cross-linking degree exhibited a ∼35 and ∼50 K increase in T_g compared to its bulk and that on neat SiO₂ substrate, respectively. Such a large T_g elevation for the ultrathin PS films was attributed to the interfacial aggregation states in which chains diffused through nanolevel voids formed in the cross-linked layer to the SiO₂-Si surface. In such a situation, the chains were topologically constrained in the cross-linked layer with less mobility. These results offer us the opportunity to tailor interfacial effects by changing the degree of cross-linking, which has great potential application in many polymer nanocomposites.

Molecular Weight Dependence of Crystal Growth in Isotactic Polystyrene Ultrathin Films

In this paper, we report the molecular weight dependence of the crystal growth of isotactic polystyrene from 10 nm ultrathin films. The growth rate and characteristic length of the branching morphology of a crystal grown in 10 nm ultrathin films change depending on the molecular weight of the sample. Analysis of the molecular weight dependence according to the theory of growth front instability reveals that the diffusion coefficient of molecular chains in ultrathin films around branching crystals scales with the molecular weight as M_w^-1.4 for samples with weights higher than the critical molecular weight for the entanglement of polystyrene. This result indicates that the polymer chains in the depletion zone around the crystals diffuse in quasi-two dimensions through the reptational motion modified on an attractive substrate.

Elucidation of a Heterogeneous Layered Structure in the Thickness Direction of Poly(vinyl alcohol) Films with Solvent Vapor-Induced Swelling

We investigated the swelling behaviors of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) films deposited on Si wafers with water vapor, which is a good solvent for PVA for elucidating structural and dynamical heterogeneities in the film thickness direction. Using deuterated water vapor, structural and dynamical differences in the thickness direction can be detected easily as different degrees of swelling in the thickness direction by neutron reflectivity. Consequently, the PVA film with a degree of saponification exceeding 98 mol % exhibits a three-layered structure in the thickness direction. It is considered that an adsorption layer consisting of molecular chains that are strongly adsorbed onto the solid substrate is formed at the interface with the substrate, which is not swollen with water vapor compared with the bulk-like layer above it. The adsorption layer is considered to exhibit significantly slower dynamics than the bulk. Furthermore, a surface layer that swells excessively compared with the underneath bulk-like layer is found. This excess swelling of the surface layer may be related to a higher mobility of the molecular chains or lower crystallinity at the surface region compared to the underneath bulk-like layer. Meanwhile, for the PVA film with a much lower degree of saponification, a thin layer with a slightly lower degree of swelling than the bulk-like layer above it can be detected at the interface between the film and substrate only under a high humidity condition. This layer is considered to be the adsorption layer composed of molecular chains loosely adsorbed onto the Si substrate.

Thickness Changes in Temperature-Responsive Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Ultrathin Films under Ambient Conditions

In this paper, we report detailed experimental observations of unusual changes in the thickness of solid poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) ultrathin films, which are well known to have temperature-responsive hydrophilic-hydrophobic switching properties. To date, a number of studies have been carried out on the bulk and the brush forms of PNIPAM in contact with liquid water, as well as in highly humid environments, and, recently, these ultrathin films have been preliminarily shown to exhibit temperature responses even under low-humidity, ambient conditions. In this work, the thicknesses of ultrathin PNIPAM films in a temperature/moisture-controlled sample stage were monitored continuously using multichannel X-ray reflectometry. At room temperature, the sample thickness showed an unexpected increase after thermal treatment at 70 °C for 3 h. In the temperature cycle between 15 and 60 °C, heating and cooling resulted in some clear differences. During cooling, initially, the thickness was almost constant but began to increase when the temperature exceeded 33 °C, which corresponds to the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). This observation indicates that the PNIPAM ultrathin film is sensitive to the small amounts of water contained in the air, even under ambient, low-humidity conditions. On the other hand, during heating run from 15 to 60 °C, the humidity dependence was monotonic, and no specific changes in the PNIPAM films were observed at around the LCST. By studying the humidity dependence, we found that the hydrophilic and hydrophobic states of the PNIPAM ultrathin film exhibit different temperature dependence behaviors. In addition, we found that swelling takes place even under low-moisture conditions. To understand the difference in the thickness changes observed on cooling and heating further, some models considering the effect of the boundary conditions in the polymer ultrathin film system were considered. In the case of the ultrathin film, the hydrophilic/hydrophobic switching property occurred only in the surface layer, which dominated the absorption of water molecules from air. In contrast, the interface layer was time-stable and provided an escape route for water molecules during heating.

Uniaxial Negative Thermal Expansion of Polyvinyl Acetate Thin Film

The present paper reports some experimental observations of reproducible uniaxial negative thermal expansion (u-NTE) in an amorphous polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) ultrathin film. It has been found that the mechanism of the phenomena is different from latest reports on so-called NTE in crystal or other topological materials. It is known that PVAc exhibits glass transition at around 31 °C. During cooling from the high-temperature side, one can observe the decrease of the thickness by monitoring interference fringes in the X-ray reflectivity curve as a function of temperature. Across the glass transition, however, the thickness starts to increase, instead of reducing. In the heating process, the thickness decreases as long as the temperature is lower than that for glass transition ( T_g). In the present research, such changes in thickness during repeated heating/cooling cycles have been studied systematically. To discuss the mechanism, dependence on film thickness has been investigated as well. It has been found that the present phenomena are well explained as u-NTE, which induces reduction and increase of thickness ( z-direction) just by thermal expansion and shrinking in x- y directions, respectively. This would be caused and enhanced by the growth of a mechanically hard, high-density layer near the interface to the surface of hydrophilic silicon dioxide. The structural change during heating/cooling cycles is discussed in detail.

Experimental investigation of the glass transition of polystyrene thin films in a broad frequency range

In this study, we investigate the α process of a polystyrene thin film using inelastic neutron scattering (INS), dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS), and thermal expansion spectroscopy (TES). The DRS and TES measurements exhibited a decrease in glass transition temperature (T_{g}) with film thickness. On the other hand, an increase in T_{g} was observed in INS studies. In order to interpret this contradiction, we investigated the temperature dependence of the peak frequency (f_{m}) of the α process probed by DRS and TES. The experiments revealed an increase in the peak frequency (f_{m}) with decreasing film thickness in the frequency region. This observation is consistent with the observed decrease in T_{g} with thickness. Interestingly, the increase in T_{g} with film thickness was confirmed by fitting the temperature dependence measurements of the peak frequency with the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation, within the frequency region probed by INS. The discrepancy between INS and DRS or TES descriptions of the α process is likely to be attributed to a decrease in the apparent activation energy with film thickness and reduced mobility, due to the impenetrable wall effect.

Structure and Mechanical Properties of Polybutadiene Thin Films Bound to Surface-Modified Carbon Interface

The structure and mechanical properties of polybutadiene (PB) films on bare and surface-modified carbon films were examined. There was an interfacial layer of PB near the carbon layer whose density was higher (lower) than that of the bulk material on the hydrophobic (hydrophilic) carbon surface. To glean information about the structure and mechanical properties of PB at the carbon interface, a residual layer (RL) adhering to the carbon surface, which was considered to be a model of "bound rubber layer", was obtained by rinsing the PB film with toluene. The density and thickness of the RLs were identical to those of the interfacial layer of the PB film. In accordance with the change in the density, normal stress of the RLs evaluated by atomic force microscopy was also dependent on the surface free energy: the RLs on the hydrophobic carbon were hard like glass, whereas those on the hydrophilic carbon were soft like rubber. Similarly, the wear test revealed that the RLs on the hydrophilic carbon could be peeled off by scratching under a certain stress, whereas the RLs on the hydrophobic carbons were resistant to scratching.

Interfacial interaction and glassy dynamics in stacked thin films of poly(methyl methacrylate)

Neutron reflectivity and dielectric permittivity of alternately stacked thin films of protonated and deuterated poly(methyl methacrylate) were measured to elucidate a correlation between the time evolution of the interfacial structure and the segmental dynamics in the stacked thin polymer films during isothermal annealing above the glass transition temperature. The roughness at the interface between two thin layers increases with the annealing time, whereas the relaxation rate and strength of the α-process decrease with an increase in the annealing time. A strong correlation between the time evolution of the interfacial structure and the dynamics of the α-process during annealing could be observed using neutron reflectivity and dielectric relaxation measurements.

Distribution of glass transition temperatures Tg in polystyrene thin films as revealed by low-energy muon spin relaxation: A comparison with neutron reflectivity results

In a previous paper [Phys. Rev. E 83, 021801 (2011)] we performed neutron reflectivity (NR) measurements on a five-layer polystyrene (PS) thin film consisting of alternatively stacked deuterated polystyrene (dPS) and hydrogenated polystyrene (hPS) layers (dPS/hPS/dPS/hPS/dPS, ∼100 nm thick) on a Si substrate to reveal the distribution of Tg along the depth direction. Information on the Tg distribution is very useful to understand the interesting but unusual properties of polymer thin films. However, one problem that we have to clarify is if there are effects of deuterium labeling on Tg or not. To tackle the problem we performed low-energy muon spin relaxation (μSR) measurements on the above-mentioned deuterium-labeled five-layer PS thin film as well as dPS and hPS single-layer thin films ∼100 nm thick as a function of muon implantation energy. It was found that the deuterium labeling had no significant effects on the Tg distribution, guaranteeing that we can safely discuss the unusual thin film properties based on the Tg distribution revealed by NR on the deuterium-labeled thin films. In addition, the μSR result suggested that the higher Tg near the Si substrate is due to the strong orientation of phenyl rings.

Method to Probe Glass Transition Temperatures of Polymer Thin Films

A new methodology was developed to probe glass transition temperatures (T_gs) of polymer thin films supported on gold (Au) substrates and confined between two solid (silica and silver) surfaces based on the surface plasmon polariton (SFPP) signals generated by sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. The measured T_gs for polymer (poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(benzyl methacrylate) and poly(ethyl methacrylate)) thin films supported on Au substrates showed similar thickness-dependent trend, that is, the T_g decreased as the thin film thickness decreased due to the free surface effect. However, the measured T_g of the (poly(methyl methacrylate)) thin films confined between two solid surfaces increased significantly with respect to the bulk value, indicating the strong interfacial effect when the free surface was replaced by a buried interface. This method to measure the T_g can be applied to study different polymer thin films supported on metal surfaces or confined between two solid surfaces with different surface chemistries. More importantly, SFG has the unique selectivity and sensitivity to study surfaces and interfaces, providing the feasibility to develop SFG into a powerful tool to detect surface, interfacial, and bulk T_gs of a polymer thin film simultaneously in the future.

Phase segregation of sulfonate groups in Nafion interface lamellae, quantified via neutron reflectometry fitting techniques for multi-layered structures

Neutron reflectometry analysis methods for under-determined, multi-layered structures are developed and used to determine the composition depth profile in cases where the structure is not known a priori. These methods, including statistical methods, sophisticated fitting routines, and coupling multiple data sets, are applied to hydrated and dehydrated Nafion nano-scaled films with thicknesses comparable to those found coating electrode particles in fuel cell catalyst layers. These results confirm the lamellar structure previously observed on hydrophilic substrates, and demonstrate that for hydrated films they can accurately be described as layers rich in both water and sulfonate groups alternating with water-poor layers containing an excess of fluorocarbon groups. The thickness of these layers increases slightly and the amplitude of the water volume fraction oscillation exponentially decreases away from the hydrophilic interface. For dehydrated films, the composition oscillations die out more rapidly. The Nafion-SiO2 substrate interface contains a partial monolayer of sulfonate groups bonded to the substrate and a large excess of water compared to that expected by the water-to-sulfonate ratio, λ, observed throughout the rest of the film. Films that were made thin enough to truncate this lamellar region showed a depth profile nearly identical to thicker films, indicating that there are no confinement or surface effects altering the structure. Comparing the SLD profile measured for films dried at 60 °C to modeled composition profiles derived by removing water from the hydrated lamellae suggests incomplete re-mixing of the polymer groups upon dehydration, indicated limited polymer mobility in these Nafion thin films.

Distribution of glass transition temperature in multilayered poly(methyl methacrylate) thin film supported on a Si substrate as studied by neutron reflectivity

We studied the distribution of glass transition temperature (Tg) through neutron reflectivity in a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) thin film supported on a silicon substrate with a five-layered PMMA thin film consisting of deuterated-PMMA and hydrogenated-PMMA. The depth distribution of Tg was successfully observed in the PMMA thin film. Compared to the previously reported distribution of Tg in a polystyrene thin film, the presence of a long-range interfacial effect, supposedly caused by an interaction between PMMA and the substrate, is considered to be responsible for the differences in both the distribution of Tg and the thickness dependence of Tg in both polymers. Therefore, it is expected that the thickness dependence of Tg reported for single-layered polymer thin films can, in principle, be understood from the viewpoint of the difference in the depth distribution of Tg.

Effect of Long Range Interactions on the Glass Transition Temperature of Thin Polystyrene Films

The glass transition temperature (T_g) of thin polystyrene (PS) films supported on silicon wafers with oxide layers of varying thickness was characterized by the temperature dependence of the film thickness using ellipsometry. This allowed us to uncover how a long-range interaction affects the T_g of polymer films. As previously reported using a variety of methods, the T_g decreased with decreasing film thickness. However, the extent was not the same among the reports. In this study, we found that the T_g attenuation of a PS film of a given thickness was dependent on the oxide layer thickness of the silicon wafer via the long-range interaction.