Issue 14, 2021

Polymers under nanoconfinement: where are we now in understanding local property changes?

Abstract

Polymers are increasingly being used in applications with nanostructured morphologies where almost all polymer molecules are within a few tens to hundreds of nanometers from some interface. From nearly three decades of study on polymers in simplified nanoconfined systems such as thin films, we have come to understand property changes in these systems as arising from interfacial effects where local dynamical perturbations are propagated deeper into the material. This review provides a summary of local glass transition temperature Tg changes near interfaces, comparing across different types of interfaces: free surface, substrate, liquid, and polymer–polymer. Local versus film-average properties in thin films are discussed, making connections to other related property changes, while highlighting several historically important studies. By experimental necessity, most studies are on high enough molecule weight chains to be well entangled, although aspects that connect to lower molecule weight materials are described. Emphasis is made to identify observations and open questions that have yet to be fully understood such as the evidence of long-ranged interfacial effects, finite domain size, interfacial breadth, and chain connectivity.

Graphical abstract: Polymers under nanoconfinement: where are we now in understanding local property changes?

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
16 ጃንዩ 2021
First published
04 ጁን 2021

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2021,50, 8050-8066

Author version available

Polymers under nanoconfinement: where are we now in understanding local property changes?

C. B. Roth, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2021, 50, 8050 DOI: 10.1039/D1CS00054C

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