TY - JOUR
T1 - Direct observation of polymer surface mobility via nanoparticle vibrations
AU - Kim, Hojin
AU - Cang, Yu
AU - Kang, Eunsoo
AU - Graczykowski, Bartlomiej
AU - Secchi, Maria
AU - Montagna, Maurizio
AU - Priestley, Rodney D.
AU - Furst, Eric M.
AU - Fytas, George
N1 - Funding Information:
The work was supported by ERC SmartPhon (No. 694977). MDSC experiments were done in Advanced Materials Characterization Lab (AMCL, University of Delaware, Newark). B.G. acknowledges support from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation. R. D.P. acknowledges support from the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM), a U.S. National Science Foundation Materials Research Science, and Engineering Center (Grant DMR-1420541). E.M.F. acknowledges support from the NASA (NNX16AD21G and NNX10AE44G) and the NSF (CBET-1637991).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Measuring polymer surface dynamics remains a formidable challenge of critical importance to applications ranging from pressure-sensitive adhesives to nanopatterning, where interfacial mobility is key to performance. Here, we introduce a methodology of Brillouin light spectroscopy to reveal polymer surface mobility via nanoparticle vibrations. By measuring the temperature-dependent vibrational modes of polystyrene nanoparticles, we identify the glass-transition temperature and calculate the elastic modulus of individual nanoparticles as a function of particle size and chemistry. Evidence of surface mobility is inferred from the first observation of a softening temperature, where the temperature dependence of the fundamental vibrational frequency of the nanoparticles reverses slope below the glass-transition temperature. Beyond the fundamental vibrational modes given by the shape and elasticity of the nanoparticles, another mode, termed the interaction-induced mode, was found to be related to the active particle–particle adhesion and dependent on the thermal behavior of nanoparticles.
AB - Measuring polymer surface dynamics remains a formidable challenge of critical importance to applications ranging from pressure-sensitive adhesives to nanopatterning, where interfacial mobility is key to performance. Here, we introduce a methodology of Brillouin light spectroscopy to reveal polymer surface mobility via nanoparticle vibrations. By measuring the temperature-dependent vibrational modes of polystyrene nanoparticles, we identify the glass-transition temperature and calculate the elastic modulus of individual nanoparticles as a function of particle size and chemistry. Evidence of surface mobility is inferred from the first observation of a softening temperature, where the temperature dependence of the fundamental vibrational frequency of the nanoparticles reverses slope below the glass-transition temperature. Beyond the fundamental vibrational modes given by the shape and elasticity of the nanoparticles, another mode, termed the interaction-induced mode, was found to be related to the active particle–particle adhesion and dependent on the thermal behavior of nanoparticles.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-018-04854-w
DO - 10.1038/s41467-018-04854-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 30046038
AN - SCOPUS:85050685729
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 9
JO - Nature communications
JF - Nature communications
IS - 1
M1 - 2918
ER -