Despite extensive efforts, a definitive picture of the glass transition of ultra-thin polymer films has yet to emerge. The effect of film thickness h on the glass transition temperature T(g) has been widely examined, but this characterization does not account for the fragility of glass-formation, which quantifies how rapidly relaxation times vary with temperature T. Accordingly, we simulate sup...

We show that a film of a suspension of polymer grafted nanoparticles on a liquid substrate can be employed to create two-dimensional nanostructures with a remarkable variation in the pattern length scales. The presented experiments also reveal the emergence of concentration-dependent bimodal patterns as well as re-entrant behaviour that involves length scales due to dewetting and compositional ...

We recently reported the discovery of soliton-like electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) waves from pure conjugated polymer films and gold-nanoparticles-doped polymer films. In addition to a more detailed study of these polymer systems by changing the film thickness and the distribution of local leaks, we also apply the ECL wave phenomenon to polymer blends of conjugated and nonconjugated po...

A simple, reliable and potentially cost-effective composite film casting procedure is presented using the evaporation of solvent (water) from a dilute mixture of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) polymer. It is found that the fabrication method develops excellent dispersion of MWCNTs in PEO confirmed by morphology observations, final crystallinity of polymer (am...

When a laminate of a thin metal film on a tough polymer substrate is stretched, the metal film may rupture at strains ranging from a few percent to a few tens of percent. This variation in the ductility of the metal film is modulated by the adhesion of the metal/polymer interface. To study this modulation, here we use the finite element method to simulate the co-evolution of two processes: debo...

We have hitherto synthesized a peanut-shaped nanocarbon based on C 60 by use of electron-beam (EB)-induced polymerization. Comparison of in situ infrared spectra with theoretical IR calculations indicated that the electron-beam (EB) irradiated film is neither graphite nor carbon nanotube-like but a peanut-shaped C 60 polymer, which are a new polyhedral structured carbon nanomaterial [1]. In add...

A simple, yet innovative, method is presented for fabricating high-aspect-ratio polymer nanohairs (aspect ratio >20) on a solid substrate by sequential application of molding and drawing of a thin polymer film. The polymer film was prepared by spin coating on a rigid or flexible substrate, and the temperature was raised above the polymer's glass transition while in conformal contact with a poly...

This paper describes the fabrication of transparent electrodes based on grids of copper microwires using a non-photolithographic process. The process--"abrasion lithography"--takes two forms. In the first implementation (Method I), a water-soluble commodity polymer film is abraded with a sharp tool, coated with a conductive film, and developed by immersion in water. Water dissolves the polymer ...

We have developed a simple technique for the fabrication of polymer nanotubes with a monodisperse size distribution and uniform orientation. When either a polymer melt or solution is placed on a substrate with high surface energy, it will spread to form a thin film, known as a precursor film, similar to the behavior of low molar mass liquids (1, 2). Similar wetting phenomena occur if porous tem...

The conducting polymer films have been widely applied in the field of electrochemistry owing to their goodstability, permselectivity, unique physical and chemical properties. A novel nano-Au/poly (4-aminobenzoicacid) (PABA) film modified carbon paste electrode was fabricated for sensitive detection of acetaminophenin this paper. The PABA film and nano-Au/PABA film were characterized by scanning...