Related papers: A New Phenomenon: Sub-Tg, Solid-State, Plasticity-…
Bonding between polymeric interfaces is encountered widely in several industrial applications. Many of these bonding processes rely on time-consuming and temperature-dependent classical mechanism of polymer interdiffusion via reptation in a…
The glass transition temperature and its connection to statistical properties of confined and free-standing polymer films of varying thickness containing unentangled to highly entangled bead-spring chains are studied by molecular dynamics…
Bonding between polymers below the glass transition temperature through molecular-scale dilatation (or densification)-based interdiffusion of macromolecules has recently been introduced. In this mechanism, short timeframe plastic…
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…
Recent experiments have demonstrated that the glass transition temperature of thin polymer films can be shifted as compared to the same polymer in the bulk, the amplitude and the sign of this effect depending on the interaction between the…
We present results of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for a non-entangled polymer melt confined between two completely smooth and repulsive walls, interacting with inner particles via the potential $U_{\rm wall}\myeq (\sigma/z)^9$,…
On the basis of a previous theoretical approach to the plastic flow of highly refined materials, a physical explanation for diffusion bonding is essayed, which yields closed--form equations relating the bonding progress with time,…
We have investigated the reduction of the glass transition temperature, $T_g$, for thin supported films of particularly small molecular weight ($M_W$ = 2 kg/mol) polystyrene, and found good agreement with earlier studies on larger…
The glass transition temperature ($T_g$) of polymer thin films has been a subject of controversy in the last two decades. (Pseudo)thermodynamic determinations of $T_g$ generally suggest a significant depression, whereas the molecular…
The structure of polymers at solid interfaces evolves over time, but the corresponding changes in their rheological properties remain poorly understood. Here, using a home-built quartz tuning fork atomic force microscope-based…
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…
Polymer-related materials exhibit rich glassy behaviors at different length scales due to their various molecular structures and topological constraints. Recent studies have identified transient interpenetration of the long-chain rings…
We present a thermal activated solvent bonding technique for the formation of embedded microstrucutres in polymer. It is based on the temperature dependent solubility of polymer in a liquid that is not a solvent at room temperature. With…
Interfaces between materials with different electronic ground states have become powerful platforms for creating and controlling novel quantum states of matter, in which inversion symmetry breaking and other effects at the interface may…
Polyamide 6,6 (PA66) is a key engineering polymer, whose unique mechanical properties arise from strong interchain hydrogen bonding. However, its hygroscopic nature makes it highly sensitive to water uptake, which markedly alters its…
The advances in new technologies have prompted the need for functional systems smaller than the gyration radius of polymer chains. Thus, understanding how nanoconfinement affects polymer properties has been the focus of a lot of research…
In a recent manuscript, the discovery of a new phenomenon in glasses has been reported: {\it glass paramagnetism}, that is the intrinsic magnetisation developed by a substance that has failed to crystallise in a temperature quench when…
Glass transition process gets affected in ultrathin films having thickness comparable to the size of the molecules. We observe systematic broadening of glass transition temperature (Tg) as the thickness of the polymer film reduces below the…
In large area micro hot embossing, the process temperature plays a critical role to both the local fidelity of microstructure formation and global uniformity. The significance of low temperature hot embossing is to improve global flatness…
We show that non-entangled polymers display an elastic-like behaviour at a macroscopic scale (probed at some 0.100 mm thickness) up to at least hundred degrees above the glass transition temperature. This observation, found under…