ISSN:
0098-1273
Keywords:
Physics
;
Polymer and Materials Science
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Physics
Notes:
Ordering of polystyrene (PS) molecules in thin films collapsed from toluene solutions onto a glass substrate by dip coating is studied in relation to the polymer molecular weight and its distribution. The degree of ordering of chain elements is deduced from measurements of film birefringence, between the normal and parallel directions to the film surface, as a function of film thickness. A technique has been developed for measuring this birefringence by monitoring the intensity of laser light passing through the film, as a function of the angle of incidence. Films of monodisperse low-molecular-weight PS exhibit high ordering very close to the substrate, but this ordering decays within 1 μm from the glass surface. Films of monodisperse high-molecular-weight PS, on the other hand, exhibit a much smaller, but very long-range degree of order. In a blend of PS of these two molecular weights, as well as in a polydisperse sample, these effects appear in tandem. The long-range ordering effect, evident in the 100,000 molecular weight polystyrene films, is much smaller in magnitude in lower-molecular-weight films, reflecting probably the importance of chain entanglements.
Additional Material:
7 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pol.1981.180190404
Permalink
