Issue 40, 2023

Anisotropic material depletion in epitaxial polymer crystallization

Abstract

The physical properties of a semicrystalline polymer thin film are intimately related to the morphology of its crystalline domains. While the mechanisms underlying crystallization of flat-on oriented polymer crystals are well known, similar mechanisms remain elusive for edge-on oriented thin films due to the propensity of substantially thin films to adopt flat-on orientations. Here, we employ an epitaxial polymer–substrate relationship to enforce edge-on crystallization in thin films. Using matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE), we deposit films in which crystal nucleation is spatially separated from subsequent epitaxial crystallization. These experiments, together with phase-field simulations, demonstrate a highly anisotropic and localized material depletion during edge-on crystallization. These results provide deeper insight into the physics of polymer crystallization under confinement and introduce a processing motif in the crystallization of ultrathin structured films.

Graphical abstract: Anisotropic material depletion in epitaxial polymer crystallization

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
09 Jun 2023
Accepted
30 Sep 2023
First published
09 Oct 2023

Soft Matter, 2023,19, 7691-7695

Author version available

Anisotropic material depletion in epitaxial polymer crystallization

J. X. Liu, Y. Xia, Y. Wang, M. P. Haataja, C. B. Arnold and R. D. Priestley, Soft Matter, 2023, 19, 7691 DOI: 10.1039/D3SM00758H

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