Polymer Crystallization in Ultrathin Films at the Air-Water Interface
rehearsal by Nazmul Hasan
date: December 13, 14.00
hybrid seminar: in seminar room 1.03, von-Danckelmann-Platz 3, Halle and via zoom
Polymer Crystallization in Ultrathin Films at the Air-Water Interface
rehearsal by Nazmul Hasan
Poly(ethylene) (PE) cannot form stable Langmuir films and cannot crystallize at the air-water interface. This is because PE doesn’t have any polar groups in the structure. The Phenoxy/Ethoxy- poly(phosphoester) (PPE) and Methyl-PPE-co-decadiene, which are similar to PE and have regular phosphoester polar groups in the methylene backbone, can be used as an alternative as shown in this thesis. The Langmuir films were made by spreading the polymer solutions on the water surface of a Langmuir trough and then compressing them after solvent evaporation. All PPEs crystallized with different morphologies when compressed as characterized by π-mmA isotherm measurements, Brewster angle microscopy (BAM), and epifluorescence microscopy (EFM). The crystallites were further investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GI-WAXS) after transferring them from the water surface to solid supports. Different morphologies of the PPEs crystallites related to different crystal structures were confirmed.
