Physical aging of confined glasses

Abstract

The properties of glasses confined to the nanometre length-scale can deviate substantially from those found in bulk samples. Physical aging, the structural relaxation of glasses toward equilibrium, leads to time-dependent mechanical, electrical, optical properties, etc. This article highlights experimental work on the impact of confinement on the physical aging of molecular and polymeric glasses, a topic that is both scientifically interesting and technologically important. Experimental observations, as well as challenges and future work, are discussed.