Unexpected Preparative Effects on the Properties of Thin Polymer Films

Unexpected Preparative Effects on the Properties of Thin Polymer Films 

Anatoli Serghei (El) Friedrich Kremer Institute for experimental physics I, University of Leipzig, Linnestr. 5, 04103 Leipzig, Germany e-mail serghei rz.uni-leipzig.de 

Abstract Thin polystyrene films are prepared by spin-coating and annealed above the calorimetric glass transition temperature Tg alternatively in vacuum, in a pure nitrogen atmosphere, in the presence of water vapor or in ambient air. 

It is experimentally shown that these preparative conditions have a pronounced impact on the stability of the samples, on their surface 

Keywords Polymer mobility Confined polymers Thin films 

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