Substrate effect on the melting temperature of thin polyethylene films.
Strong dependence of the crystal orientation, morphology, and melting temperature (Tm) on the substrate is observed in the semicrystalline polyethylene thin films. The Tm decreases with the film thickness decrease when the film is thinner than a certain critical thickness, and the magnitude of the depression increases with increasing surface interaction. We attribute the large Tm depression to the decrease in the overall free energy on melting, which is caused by the substrate attraction force to the chains that competes against the interchain force which drives the chains to crystallization.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794-2275, USA.
Y
Y
Wang
M
M
Rafailovich
J
J
Sokolov
D
D
Gersappe
T
T
Araki
Y
Y
Zou
A D L
AD
Kilcoyne
H
H
Ade
G
G
Marom
A
A
Lustiger
D003460:Crystallization; D020959:Polyethylene / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D044366:Transition Temperature
D020959:Polyethylene