Local Dynamics and Hydrogen Bonding in Hyperbranched Aliphatic Polyesters

Static and Dynamic Behavior of Polymer/Graphite Oxide Nanocomposites before and after Thermal Reduction

Nanocomposites of hyperbranched polymers with graphitic materials are investigated with respect to their structure and thermal properties as well as the dynamics of the polymer probing the effect of the different intercalated or exfoliated structure. Three generations of hyperbranched polyester polyols are mixed with graphite oxide (GO) and the favorable interactions between the polymers and the solid surfaces lead to intercalated structure. The thermal transitions of the confined chains are suppressed, whereas their dynamics show similarities and differences with the dynamics of the neat polymers. The three relaxation processes observed for the neat polymers are observed in the nanohybrids as well, but with different temperature dependencies. Thermal reduction of the graphite oxide in the presence of the polymer to produce reduced graphite oxide (rGO) reveals an increase in the reduction temperature, which is accompanied by decreased thermal stability of the polymer. The de-oxygenation of the graphite oxide leads to the destruction of the intercalated structure and to the dispersion of the rGO layers within the polymeric matrix because of the modification of the interactions between the polymer chains and the surfaces. A significant increase in the conductivity of the resulting nanocomposites, in comparison to both the polymers and the intercalated nanohybrids, indicates the formation of a percolated rGO network.

Universal localization transition accompanying glass formation: insights from efficient molecular dynamics simulations of diverse supercooled liquids

The origin of the precipitous dynamic arrest known as the glass transition is a grand open question of soft condensed matter physics. It has long been suspected that this transition is driven by an onset of particle localization and associated emergence of a glassy modulus. However, progress towards an accepted understanding of glass formation has been impeded by an inability to obtain data sufficient in chemical diversity, relaxation timescales, and spatial and temporal resolution to validate or falsify proposed theories for its physics. Here we first describe a strategy enabling facile high-throughput simulation of glass-forming liquids to nearly unprecedented relaxation times. We then perform simulations of 51 glass-forming liquids, spanning polymers, small organic molecules, inorganics, and metallic glass-formers, with longest relaxation times exceeding one microsecond. Results identify a universal particle-localization transition accompanying glass formation across all classes of glass-forming liquid. The onset temperature of non-Arrhenius dynamics is found to serve as a normalizing condition leading to a master collapse of localization data. This transition exhibits a non-universal relationship with dynamic arrest, suggesting that the nonuniversality of supercooled liquid dynamics enters via the dependence of relaxation times on local cage scale. These results suggest that a universal particle-localization transition may underpin the glass transition, and they emphasize the potential for recent theoretical developments connecting relaxation to localization and emergent elasticity to finally explain the origin of this phenomenon. More broadly, the capacity for high-throughput prediction of glass formation behavior may open the door to computational inverse design of glass-forming materials.

Dynamics of Hyperbranched Polymers under Confinement: A Dielectric Relaxation Study

The effect of severe confinement on the dynamics of three different generations of hyperbranched polyesters of the Boltorn family is investigated by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS). The polymer chains are intercalated within the galleries of natural montmorillonite (Na+-MMT), thus forming 1 nm polymer films confined between solid walls. The structure of the nanocomposites is studied with X-ray diffraction and the thermal behavior of the polymers in bulk and under confinement is determined by differential scanning calorimetry. The glass transition temperatures of the polymers show a clear dependence on the generation whereas the transition is completely suppressed when all the polymer chains are intercalated. The dynamic investigation of the bulk polymers reveals two sub-Tg processes, with similar behavior for the three polymers with the segmental relaxation observed above the Tg of each polymer. For the nanocomposites, where all the polymer chains are severely confined, the dynamics show significant differences compared to that of the bulk polymers. The sub-Tg processes are similar for the three generations but significantly faster and with weaker temperature dependence than those in the bulk. The segmental process appears at temperatures below the bulk polymer Tg, it exhibits an Arrhenius temperature dependence and shows differences for the three generations. A slow process that appears at higher temperatures is due to interfacial polarization.

Effects of nanoscopic-confinement on polymer dynamics

The static and dynamic behavior of polymers in confinement close to interfaces can be very different from that in the bulk. Among the various geometries, intercalated nanocomposites, in which polymer films of ∼1 nm thickness reside between the parallel inorganic surfaces of layered silicates in a well-ordered multilayer, offer a unique avenue for the investigation of the effects of nanoconfinement on polymer structure and dynamics by utilizing conventional analytical techniques and macroscopic specimens. In this article, we provide a review of research activities mainly in our laboratory on polymer dynamics under severe confinement utilizing different polymer systems: polar and non-polar polymers were mixed with hydrophilic or organophilic silicates, respectively, whereas hyperbranched polymers were studied in an attempt to probe the effect of polymer-surface interactions by altering the number and the kinds of functional groups in the periphery of the branched polymers. The polymer dynamics was probed by quasielastic neutron scattering and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy and was compared with that of the polymers in the bulk. In all cases, very local sub-Tg processes related to the motion of side and/or end groups as well as the segmental α-relaxation were identified with distinct differences recorded between the bulk and the confined systems. Confinement was found not to affect the very local motion in the case of the linear chains whereas it made it easier for hyperbranched polymers due to modifications of the hydrogen bond network. The segmental relaxation in confinement becomes faster than that in the bulk, exhibits Arrhenius temperature dependence and is observed even below the bulk Tg due to reduced cooperativity in the confined systems.