Abstract
Properties such as the glass transition temperature ( ) and the diffusion coefficient of ultrathin polymeric films are shown to depend on the dimensions of the system. In this work, a hard-sphere molecular dynamics methodology has been applied to simulate such systems. We investigate the influence that substrates have on the behavior of thin polymer films; we report evidence suggesting that, depending on the strength of substrate-polymer interactions, the glass transition temperature for a thin film can be significantly lower or higher than that of the bulk.
- Received 17 November 1999
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.3221
©2000 American Physical Society