Dynamic phase transitions in freestanding polymer thin films.

ABSTRACT: After more than two decades of study, many fundamental questions remain unanswered about the dynamics of glass-forming materials confined to thin films. Experiments and simulations indicate that free interfaces enhance dynamics over length scales larger than molecular sizes, and this effect strengthens at lower temperatures. The nature of the influence of interfaces, however, remains a point of significant debate. In this work, we explore the properties of the nonequilibrium phase transition in dynamics that occurs in trajectory space between high- and low-mobility basins in a set of model polymer freestanding films. In thick films, the film-averaged mobility transition is broader than the bulk mobility transition, while in thin films it is a variant of the bulk result shifted toward a hig

SUBMITTER: Ivancic RJS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7568329 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature