Position-Dependent Diffusion Dynamics of Entangled Polymer Melts Nanoconfined by Parallel Immiscible Polymer Films

Published

October 9, 2020

Author(s)

Kyong-Il Jo, Yonghoon Oh, Tae-Ho Kim, Joona Bang, Guangcui Yuan, Sushil K. Satija, Bong J. Sung, Jaseung Koo

Abstract

The morphological structure and dynamics of confined polymers adjacent to the polymer–polymer interface have a profound effect on determining the overall physical properties of polymer blends. We measured the diffusion dynamics of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) melts confined between polystyrene (PS) layers using neutron reflectivity. Combinations of various thicknesses of PMMA and deuterated PMMA (dPMMA) allowed us to experimentally reveal the non-monotonic behavior of polymer mobility near the PS–PMMA interface. From the neutron reflectivity results, we found that the polymers adjacent to the immiscible polymer–polymer interface showed enhanced diffusion dynamics because of the repulsive interaction between PS and PMMA, whereas the polymer at local regions farther from the interface exhibited reduced dynamics. This is probably due to the non-spherical conformation of PMMA and spatial confinement near the PS–PMMA interface.

Citation

ACS Macro Letters

Volume

9

Issue

10

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

confined polymers, morphological structure, dynamics, neutron reflectivity

Citation

Jo, K. , Oh, Y. , Kim, T. , Bang, J. , Yuan, G. , Satija, S. , Sung, B. and Koo, J. (2020), Position-Dependent Diffusion Dynamics of Entangled Polymer Melts Nanoconfined by Parallel Immiscible Polymer Films, ACS Macro Letters (Accessed March 13, 2025)