Substrate induced molecular order and nucleation in polymer thin films (B03)

• Subject Area: Experimental and Theoretical Physics of Polymers
• Term: from 2011 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 189853844

It is the aim of the project to work out a fundamental understanding of crystallization induced at the interface between a solid substrate and a liquid polymer. Using in-situ AFM we experimentally established prefreezing as one mode of interface induced crystallization and showed that it corresponds to a first order wetting process. In the next funding period, we will extend our studies additionally to heterogeneous nucleation, the other possible process by which an interface can induce crystallization. The work is relevant to understand the function of nucleating agents and the effect of fillers on crystallization in polymers as well as for thin films of functional materials.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 102: Polymers under Multiple Constraints: Restricted and Controlled Molecular Order and Mobility
• Applicant Institution: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Thomas Thurn-Albrecht