| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/S96852/01 |
| Title: |
The effects of free surfaces & molecular confinement on relaxation processes in thin polymer films |
| Principal Investigator: |
Sharp, Dr JS |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Sch of Physics & Astronomy |
| Organisation: |
University of Nottingham |
| Scheme: |
First Grant Scheme Pre-FEC |
| Starts: |
01 June 2004 |
Ends: |
31 May 2007 |
Value (£): |
118,895
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Materials Characterisation |
Surfaces & Interfaces |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Chemicals |
Electronics |
| Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The aim of this proposal is to quantify the effects that surfaces, interfaces and molecular confinement effects have upon molecular relaxation processes in polymeric materials. Much work has been done to study the macroscopic relaxation properties of bulk glass forming materials, but little is understood about the way that these materials behave on the molecular lengthscale. One way to attempt to quantify these molecular level processes is to study systems where the sample size is comparable to a molecular diameter. This can be achieved by studying thin (5-300 nm thick) films of material. Polymers are an excellent class of materials for studying the glass transition. The extended size of these molecules (10-20 nm) means that many polymers will form glasses very easily. These materials are also amenable to a variety of solvent and melt based casting techniques and films with thicknesses ranging from a few nanometres up to tens of microns can be manufactured using these methods.We propose to use a combination of dielectric relaxation, physical aging and stress relaxation measurements on thin polymer films, with one, two and zero free surfaces to attempt to study these relaxation processes. The combined experiments will allow us to quantify the relaxation behaviour of polymer molecules on segmental lengthscales (motions involving a few monomer units) and on lengthscales comaparable to the dimensions of whole polymer chains. This will allow us to quantify the nature of relaxation processes in thin polymer films and will also allow us to gain some insights into the generic properties of the glass transition; a phenomenon that remains to be 'the deepest and most interesting problem in solid state theory' (P.W. Anderson, Science, 267, p1615,1995).This work will be done in collaboration with researchers from the University of Waterloo (Canada) and also the University of Leipzig (Germany). A total of 117,005 has been requested to establish a thin film polymer physics laboratory at the University of Nottingham, to enable us to carry out this work.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk |