Related papers: A Unifying Framework to Quantify the Effects of Su…
We report molecular dynamics simulation results on the equilibrium properties of polymer thin films adsorbed onto flat and curved substrates. We first systematically determine the contact angle of polymer droplets on flat substrates as a…
We perform molecular dynamics simulations of a supported molecular thin film. By varying thickness and temperature, we observe anisotropic mobility as well as strong gradients of both the vibrational motion and the structural relaxation…
To understand the role of collective motion in the often large changes in interfacial molecular mobility observed in polymer films, we investigate the extent of collective motion in the interfacial regions of a thin supported polymer film…
Nanoscale polymeric thin films are widely used in diverse applications such as energy devices, flexible electronics and biosensors, where a satisfactory mechanical performance is of vital importance to realize their full functionality. It…
For three-dimensional mono-layer molecularly thin-film lubrication, it is found that elasticity of the substrate affects tribological behaviors of a thin fluid film confined by two solid substrates.To account for the elastic effects, a…
Glasses have a wide range of technological applications. The recent discovery of ultrastable glasses that are obtained by depositing the vapor of a glass-forming liquid onto the surface of a cold substrate has sparked renewed interest in…
We present a molecular dynamics study of the influence of knot complexity and molecular mass on glass formation upon cooling in knotted ring polymer melts. We find that cooperative motion, rigidity, and glassy dynamics can be tuned over a…
A detailed formulation for the effects of the surface integrity, i.e. surface topography, surface metallurgy, and surface mechanical properties, on the mechanics of ultra-thin films is proposed in the framework of linear elasticity. In this…
Previously, we developed a minimal model based on random cooperative strings for the relaxation of supercooled liquids in the bulk and near free interfaces, and we recovered some key experimental observations. In this article, after…
It is frequent for active or living entities to find themselves embedded in a surrounding medium. Resulting composite systems are usually classified as either active fluids or active solids. Yet, in reality, particularly in the biological…
We measure the isothermal rejuvenation of stable glass films of poly(styrene) and poly(methylmethacrylate). We demonstrate that the propagation of the front responsible for the transformation to a supercooled-liquid state can serve as a…
Thin liquid films on surfaces are part of our everyday life, they serve e.g. as coatings or lubricants. The stability of a thin layer is governed by interfacial forces, described by the effective interface potential, and has been subject of…
We report simulation results on melts of entangled linear polymers confined in a free-standing thin film. We study how the geometric constraints imposed by the confinement alter the entanglement state of the system compared to the…
A simple and predictive model is put forward explaining the experimentally observed substantial shift of the glass transition temperature, Tg, of sufficiently thin polymer films. It focuses on the limit of small molecular weight, where…
This paper reviews recent Monte Carlo simulation studies of the glassy behavior in thin polymer films. The simulations employ a version of the bond-fluctuation lattice model, in which the glass transition is driven by the competition…
We simulate entangled linear polymers in free-standing thin film geometries where the confining dimension is on the same scale or smaller than the bulk chain dimensions. We compare both film-averaged and layer-resolved, spatially…
Polymer thin films exhibit pronounced interfacial mobility gradients that modify chain relaxation, yet how these gradients govern chain-scale dynamics across depth remains incompletely understood. Using molecular dynamics simulations of…
Crumpling of a thin film leads to a unique stiff yet lightweight structure. The stiffness has been attributed to a complex interplay between four basic elements - smooth bends, sharp folds, localized points (developable cones), and…
We extend the force-level ECNLE theory to treat the spatial gradients of the alpha relaxation time and glass transition temperature, and the corresponding film-averaged quantities, to the geometrically asymmetric case of finite thickness…
The viscoelastic properties of thin polymeric films represent a central issue, especially for nanotechnological applications. In particular, it is highly relevant the dependence of viscoelasticity on the temperature. For polystyrene it is…