Abstract

Ultra-thin polymer films attached to solid substrates (supported films) have attracted significant interest in recent years. Supported films are used in the design of advanced materials like photoresists, lubricants and other electronic devices. Glass transition temperatures (Tgs) of supported polymer films have also been of significant interest. The Tg has been shown to depend on the thickness of the polymer film on the surface and the inherent nature of the surface. The effect of end-grafting of a polymer chain to a surface, on the Tg of the polymer has been studied previously.1 Reports on the study of glass transition behaviors of different types of supported polymer films on substrates of a varying nature exist. These studies include investigations of the dependence of Tg on various parameters like film thickness, nature of the substrate, molecular architecture, stereochemistry of the polymer and interfacial interaction effects.10-15 in this preprint, we report the study of the Tg behavior of poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA) chains covalently bonded to silica using a silane coupling agent. Several PMA-silica composite samples with different relative amounts (low, medium and high) of PMA attached to the silica were synthesized and the Tg of the attached PMA in each composite was determined using modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC). The attached PMA, in the composite samples, exhibited interesting glass-transition behavior.

Department(s)

Chemistry

Sponsor(s)

National Science Foundation (U.S.)

Keywords and Phrases

PMA Chains; Glass Transition Temperature; Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry (MDSC); Silane Coupling Agent; Solid Substrates; Supported Polymer Films

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2008 American Chemical Society (ACS), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2008

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