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Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Cooling Rate Dependent Ellipsometry Measurements to Determine the Dynamics of Thin Glassy Films
Published on: January 26, 2016
Intrinsic correlations between dynamic heterogeneity and conformational transition in polymers during glass
Yijing Nie1, Xubo Ye1, Zhiping Zhou1
1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang 212013, China.
Abstract:
We performed dynamic Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the micro-structural evolutions of polymers during glass transition. A new parameter, probability of segment movement, was proposed to probe the heterogeneity of local segment dynamics. A microscopic picture of spatial distribution of dynamic heterogeneity was obtained. A conformational transition was also detected. Further analysis demonstrated the existence of intrinsic links between the two phenomena. Compared with chain segments with gauche-conformation, segments with trans-conformation were packed more closely, and thus easier to be frozen. This difference in segmental mobility between the gauche- and trans-conformations results in the emergence of dynamic heterogeneity. Our simulation results reveal the underlying mechanism controlling the dynamic heterogeneity during glass transition from the viewpoint of local conformational changes.
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