Mobility Gradient of Polystyrene in Films Supported on Solid Substrates, by Yoshihisa Fujii, Hiroshi Morita, Atsushi Takahara and Keiji Tanaka Probing Properties of Polymers in Thin Films Via Dewetting, by Günter Reiter Heterogeneous and Aging Dynamics in Single and Stacked Thin Polymer Films, by Koji Fukao, Takehide Terasawa, Kenji Nakamura, Daisuke Tahara Heterogeneous Dynamics of Polymer Thin Films as Studied by Neutron Scattering, by Rintaro Inoue and Toshiji Kanaya

This book describes the dynamics of low molecular weight and polymeric molecules when they are constrained under conditions of geometrical confinement. It covers geometrical confinement in different dimensionalities: (i) in nanometer thin layers or self supporting films (1-dimensional confinement) (ii) in pores or tubes with nanometric diameters (2-dimensional confinement) (iii) as micelles embedded in matrices (3-dimensional) or as nanodroplets. The dynamics under such conditions have been a much discussed and central topic in the focus of intense worldwide research activities within the last two decades. The present book discusses how the resulting molecular mobility is influenced by the subtle counterbalance between surface effects (typically slowing down molecular dynamics through attractive guest/host interactions) and confinement effects (typically increasing the mobility). It also explains how these influences can be modified and tuned, e.g. through appropriate surface coatings, film thicknesses or pore diameters. "Dynamics in Confinement" sums up the present state-of-the-art and introduces to the analytical methods of choice for the study of dynamics in nanometer-scale confinement.

This book presents these important facts: a) The mechanism of anionic polymerization, a more than 50-year challenge in polymer chemistry, has now become better understood; b) Precise synthesis of many polymers with novel architectures (triblock, multi-block, graft, exact graft, comb, cyclic, many armed stars with multi-components, dendrimer-like hyper-branched, and their structural mixed (co)polymers, etc.) have been advanced significantly; c) Based on such polymers, new morphological and self-organizing nano-objects and supra molecular assemblies have been created and widely studied and are considered nanodevices in the fields of nano science and technology; d) New high-tech and industrial applications for polymeric materials synthesized by anionic polymerization have been proposed. These remarkable developments have taken place in the last 15 years. Anionic polymerization continues to be the only truly living polymerization system (100 % termination free under appropriate conditions) and consequently the only one with unique capabilities in the synthesis of well-defined (i.e., precisely controlled molecular weight, nearly mono-disperse molecular weight distribution, structural and compositional homogeneity) complex macromolecular architectures. This book, with contributions from the world’s leading specialists, will be useful for all researchers, including students, working in universities, in research organizations, and in industry.

This volume considers experimental and theoretical dielectric studies of the structure and dynamics of complex systems. Complex systems constitute an almost universal class of materials including associated liquids, polymers, biomolecules, colloids, porous materials, doped ferroelectric crystals, nanomaterials, etc. These systems are characterized by a new "mesoscopic" length scale, intermediate between molecular and macroscopic. The mesoscopic structures of complex systems typically arise from fluctuations or competing interactions and exhibit a rich variety of static and dynamic behaviour. This growing field is interdisciplinary; it complements solid state and statistical physics, and overlaps considerably with chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, and biology. A common theme in complex systems is that while such materials are disordered on the molecular scale and homogeneous on the macroscopic scale, they usually possess a certain degree of order on an intermediate, or mesoscopic, scale due to the delicate balance of interaction and thermal effects. In the present Volume it is shown how the dielectric spectroscopy studies of complex systems can be applied to determine both their structures and dynamics.

"the present book will be of great value for both newcomers to the field and mature active researchers by serving as a coherent and timely introduction to some of the modern approaches, ideas, results, emerging understanding, and many open questions in this fascinating field of polymer glasses, supercooled liquids, and thin films" –Kenneth S. Schweizer, Morris Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (from the Foreword) This book provides a timely and comprehensive overview of molecular level insights into polymer glasses in confined geometries and under deformation. Polymer glasses have become ubiquitous to our daily life, from the polycarbonate eyeglass lenses on the end of our nose to large acrylic glass panes holding water in aquarium tanks, with advantages over glass in that they are lightweight and easy to manufacture, while remaining transparent and rigid. The contents include an introduction to the field, as well as state of the art investigations. Chapters delve into studies of commonalities across different types of glass formers (polymers, small molecules, colloids, and granular materials), which have enabled microscopic and molecular level frameworks to be developed. The authors show how glass formers are modeled across different systems, thereby leading to treatments for polymer glasses with first-principle based approaches and molecular level detail. Readers across disciplines will benefit from this topical overview summarizing the key areas of polymer glasses, alongside an introduction to the main principles and approaches.

A textbook aimed at polymer and material scientists, but also of interest to chemists and physicists studying organic materials.

Introduction to Polymer Chemistry provides undergraduate students with a much-needed, well-rounded presentation of the principles and applications of natural, synthetic, inorganic, and organic polymers. With an emphasis on the environment and green chemistry and materials, this fourth edition continues to provide detailed coverage of natural and synthetic giant molecules, inorganic and organic polymers, elastomers, adhesives, coatings, fibers, plastics, blends, caulks, composites, and ceramics. Building on undergraduate work in foundational courses, the text fulfills the American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training (ACS CPT) in-depth course requirement

"the present book will be of great value for both newcomers to the field and mature active researchers by serving as a coherent and timely introduction to some of the modern approaches, ideas, results, emerging understanding, and many open questions in this fascinating field of polymer glasses, supercooled liquids, and thin films" –Kenneth S. Schweizer, Morris Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (from the Foreword) This book provides a timely and comprehensive overview of molecular level insights into polymer glasses in confined geometries and under deformation. Polymer glasses have become ubiquitous to our daily life, from the polycarbonate eyeglass lenses on the end of our nose to large acrylic glass panes holding water in aquarium tanks, with advantages over glass in that they are lightweight and easy to manufacture, while remaining transparent and rigid. The contents include an introduction to the field, as well as state of the art investigations. Chapters delve into studies of commonalities across different types of glass formers (polymers, small molecules, colloids, and granular materials), which have enabled microscopic and molecular level frameworks to be developed. The authors show how glass formers are modeled across different systems, thereby leading to treatments for polymer glasses with first-principle based approaches and molecular level detail. Readers across disciplines will benefit from this topical overview summarizing the key areas of polymer glasses, alongside an introduction to the main principles and approaches.

This book deals with those properties of non-equilibrium soft matter that deviate greatly from the bulk properties as a result of nanoscale confinement.The ultimate physical origin of these confinement effects is not yet fully understood. At the state of the art, the discussion on confinement effects focuses on equilibrium properties, finite size effects and interfacial interactions. However this is a limited vision which does not fully capture the peculiar behaviour of soft matter under confinement and some exotic phenomena that are displayed. This volume will be organized in the following three main themes. Equilibration and physical aging: treating non-equilibrium via the formal methodology of statistical physics in bulk, we analyse physical origin of the non-equilibrium character of thin polymer. We then focus on the impact of nanoconfinement on the equilibration of glasses of soft matter (a process of tremendous technological interest, commonly known as physical aging), comparing the latest trends of polymers in experiments, simulations with those of low-molecular weight glass formers. Irreversible adsorption: the formation of stable adsorbed layers occurs at timescales much larger than the time necessary to equilibrate soft matter in bulk. Recent experimental evidence show a strong correlation between the behaviour of polymers under confinement and the presence of a layer irreversibly adsorbed onto the substrate. This correlation hints at the possibility to tailor the properties of ultrathin films by controlling the adsorption kinetics. The book reports physical aspects of irreversible chain adsorption, such as the dynamics, structure, morphology, and crystallization of adsorbed layers. Glass transition and material properties: this section of the book focuses on the spread of absolute values in materials properties of confined systems, when measured by different experimental and computation techniques and a new method to quantify the effects of confinement in thin films and nanocomposites independently on the investigation procedure will be presented.