TY - JOUR
T1 - Epitaxially crystallized polyethylene exhibiting near-equilibrium melting temperatures*
AU - Wang, Yucheng
AU - Liu, Jason X.
AU - Gu, Kaichen
AU - Soman, Anishkumar
AU - Gu, Tingyi
AU - Arnold, Craig B.
AU - Register, Richard A.
AU - Loo, Yueh Lin
AU - Priestley, Rodney D.
N1 - Funding Information:
Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Grant/Award Number: FA9550‐18‐1‐0300; National Science Foundation (US), Grant/Award Numbers: DMR‐1420541, DMR‐2011750; Brookhaven National Laboratory, Grant/Award Number: DE‐SC0012704 Funding information
Funding Information:
We acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers Program through the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (DMR‐1420541 and 2011750). Kaichen Gu and Yueh‐Lin Loo acknowledge the support of ExxonMobil through its membership in Princeton E‐ffiliates Partnership of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. Anishkumar Soman and Tingyi Gu are partially supported by AFOSR (FA9550‐18‐1‐0300). We appreciate help from Dr. R. Li and Dr. E. Tsai on the x‐ray scattering measurements. This research used the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) and the Complex Materials Scattering (CMS) beamline of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS‐II), which both are U.S. DOE Office of Science Facilities, at Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE‐SC0012704.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Society of Plastics Engineers.
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - The morphology and orientation of polymer crystals are important factors which determine the performance of thin-film, polymer-based technologies such as organic electronic devices and gas separation membranes. Here, we utilize polymer-substrate epitaxy to achieve a highly oriented crystalline morphology during thin-film processing. To accomplish this, we employ matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE), a slow physical vapor deposition process, to deposit linear polyethylene epitaxially atop a graphene substrate. Via MAPLE, we demonstrate the ability to achieve a film morphology comprised of well-aligned, edge-on crystalline lamellae. Furthermore, we show that MAPLE can be exploited to grow crystalline lamellae composed entirely of extended polymer chains which exhibit a near-equilibrium melting temperature. Our study demonstrates that MAPLE, as a bottom-up approach, can deposit polymer thin films with improved control over crystalline morphology.
AB - The morphology and orientation of polymer crystals are important factors which determine the performance of thin-film, polymer-based technologies such as organic electronic devices and gas separation membranes. Here, we utilize polymer-substrate epitaxy to achieve a highly oriented crystalline morphology during thin-film processing. To accomplish this, we employ matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE), a slow physical vapor deposition process, to deposit linear polyethylene epitaxially atop a graphene substrate. Via MAPLE, we demonstrate the ability to achieve a film morphology comprised of well-aligned, edge-on crystalline lamellae. Furthermore, we show that MAPLE can be exploited to grow crystalline lamellae composed entirely of extended polymer chains which exhibit a near-equilibrium melting temperature. Our study demonstrates that MAPLE, as a bottom-up approach, can deposit polymer thin films with improved control over crystalline morphology.
KW - epitaxial polymer crystallization
KW - graphene
KW - grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction
KW - matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation
KW - melting
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U2 - 10.1002/pen.25890
DO - 10.1002/pen.25890
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85123124263
SN - 0032-3888
VL - 62
SP - 841
EP - 847
JO - Polymer Engineering and Science
JF - Polymer Engineering and Science
IS - 3
ER -