Investigating the relationship between the mechanical properties of plasma polymer-like thin films and their glass transition temperature

Abstract

This work aims at understanding the influence of the substrate temperature (Ts) on the viscoelastic properties of propanethiol plasma polymer films (PPF). By means of state-of-the-art AFM characterization-based techniques including...

Designing Nanostructured Organic-Based Material by Combining Plasma Polymerization and the Wrinkling Approach

“…It should be noted that the mechanical properties of this PPF have been previously investigated. 21 However, only the viscous part of this sample could be evaluated (i.e., ∼10 6 Pa s) as the technique employed to investigate its elastic modulus (i.e., PeakForce QNM measurements on AFM) was not suitable due to its viscous nature. Therefore, in addition to the control of the morphology of a material, the concept of the wrinkling process applied to plasma polymers can also be employed as a tool to probe their mechanical properties.…”

“…On this basis, considering a value of 85 GPa for E M , E P is estimated to be ∼7.5 × 10 5 Pa for the PPF bottom layer. It should be noted that the mechanical properties of this PPF have been previously investigated . However, only the viscous part of this sample could be evaluated (i.e., ∼10 6 Pa s) as the technique employed to investigate its elastic modulus (i.e., PeakForce QNM measurements on AFM) was not suitable due to its viscous nature.…”

“…The choice of these conditions is guided by our previous works. 12,21 For all experiments, the substrate temperature was fixed 30 min before starting the deposition, ensuring a thermal equilibrium between the substrate holder and the substrate surface.…”

“…Recently, our group has established a novel and versatile method for the design of a nano/micro pattern with tunable dimensions. , The strategy was based on the spontaneous wrinkling phenomenon taking place in bilayer systems consisting of a viscous PPF fluid and a magnetron-sputtered Al layer. If the preliminary results highlighted the attractiveness of our method, several aspects remain unclear regarding the dependence of the wrinkle dimensions on the thickness of the PPF and the stability over time of the nanostructures.…”

Structure of plasma‐deposited copolymer films prepared from acrylic acid and styrene: Part III sulfonation and electrochemical properties

“…The DC conductivity increases with growing temperature as predicted for polymers where the conduction mechanism is a hopping process triggered by the segmental dynamics related to the glass transition. [ 55 ] The increase of the conductivity is assigned to the increase of free ion mobility caused by the thermal energy. It is generally accepted in the literature, that the drift motion of charge carriers is related to the segmental dynamics in the rubbery state as a slave mechanism.…”