Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Deviations from liquidlike behavior in molten polymer films at interfaces
Young-Soo Seo1, T Koga, J Sokolov
1Department of Material Science & Engineering, State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA.
Abstract:
We have performed x-ray specular and diffuse scattering on liquid polymer films and analyzed the spectra as a function of film thickness and molecular weight. The results show that films whose molecular weight is close to the entanglement length behave as simple liquids except that the shortest wavelength is determined by the radius of gyration (R(g)) rather than the monomer-monomer distance. When the molecular weight is higher than the entanglement length, the strong deviations from liquidlike behavior are observed. We find that the long wavelength cutoff vector, q(l,c), scales with film thickness, d as d(-1.1+/-0.1) rather than the usual d(-2) expected for simple liquids. If we assume that these deviations are due to surface pinning of the polymer chains, then our results are consistent with the formalism developed by Fredrickson et al. to explain the capillary wave spectrum that can propagate in a polymer brush.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity
Theories of Dissolution: The Danckwerts' Model and Interfacial Barrier Model
Fluid Mosaic Model
Determination of Molar Masses of Polymers II
Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview
Many natural and synthetic polymers are produced by...

