Non-equilibrium Phenomena in Confined Soft Matter

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

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2. Equilibration and Physical Aging

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. History Dependent Temporal Changes of Properties of Thin Polymer Films

      • Günter Reiter

      Pages 3-23

   3. Equilibrium Pathway of Ultrathin Polymer Films as Revealed by Their Surface Dynamics

      • Kun Geng, Fei Chen, Zhaohui Yang, Ophelia K. C. Tsui

      Pages 25-46

   4. Structural Relaxation of Confined Glassy Polymers

      • Yunlong Guo, Rodney D. Priestley

      Pages 47-88

   5. Understanding Physical Aging in Ultrathin Polymer Films via Molecular Simulations

      • Qiyun Tang, Wenbing Hu

      Pages 89-108

3. Irreversible Adsorption

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 109-109

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   2. Kinetics of Irreversible Adsorption of Polymer Melts onto Solid Substrates

      • Caroline Housmans, Philippe Vandestrick, Michele Sferrazza, Jean-Paul Ryckaert, Simone Napolitano

      Pages 111-128

   3. Structures and Dynamics of Adsorbed Polymer Nanolayers on Planar Solids

      • Naisheng Jiang, Maya K. Endoh, Tadanori Koga

      Pages 129-160

   4. Irreversibly Adsorbed Layer in Supported Ultrathin Polymer Film Investigated by Local Dielectric Spectroscopy

      • Hung Kim Nguyen, Daniele Prevosto, Massimiliano Labardi, Simone Capaccioli, Mauro Lucchesi

      Pages 161-185

4. Glass Transition and Material Properties

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 187-187

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   2. Non-equilibrium Structure Affects Ferroelectric Behavior of Confined Polymers

      • Daniel E. Martínez-Tong, Alejandro Sanz, Jaime Martín, Tiberio A. Ezquerra, Aurora Nogales

      Pages 189-206

   3. Interfacial Role in the Increase of Structural Order of a Discotic Liquid Crystal

      • Gabin Gbabode, Basab Chattopadhyay

      Pages 207-225

   4. 1D Confinement Stabilizes Non-equilibrium Liquid Phase with Enhanced Orientational Order

      • Simona Capponi, Simone Napolitano, Michael Wübbenhorst

      Pages 227-244

   5. Dynamics of Confined Glass-Forming Liquids Near Equilibrium Conditions

      • Sindee L. Simon

      Pages 245-263

   6. Effect of Confinement Geometry on Out-of-Equilibrium Glassy Dynamics

      • Daniele Cangialosi

      Pages 265-298

5. Back Matter

   Pages 299-300

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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 ofconfinement in thin films and nanocomposites independently on the investigation procedure will be presented.

• Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy
• Chain Confiment in Ultrathin Films
• Characterization of Confinement Effects
• Confined Glass-Forming Liquids
• Irreversible Chain Adsorption
• Irreversibly Adsorbed Polymer Layers
• Molecular Dynamics in Confinement
• Nanoscopic Confinement
• Out-of-equilibrium Glass Dynamics
• Physical Aging of Polymer Glasses
• Polymers under Confinement
• Surface Dynamics of Thin Polymer Films

• Polymer and Soft Matter Dynamics, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium

  Simone Napolitano

Prof. Napolitano graduated in Materials Science from the University of Pisa in 2005 and two years after he received a PhD in Polymer Physics from KULeuven. After an appointment as postdoctoral researcher at the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), in 2011 he joined the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he holds a faculty position and leads the Laboratory of Polymers and Soft Matter Dynamics. His current research focuses on the molecular origin of the glass transition and the correlation between structure and dynamics in polymers and small molecules under nanoscopic confinement.

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