Characterization of Nanostructured Polymer Films

: In 2011, we discovered that polymer films with exceptional thermal and kinetic stability could be formed by Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE) onto substrates held at low temperatures compared to the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the polymer. The unique and unprecedented combination of properties is due to the film morphology, i.e., the films are nanostructured. The aim of this proposal was to understand the mechanism of film formation and to characterize the nanoscale building blocks of the stable glasses. Recently, we characterized the transport, i.e., time-of-flight, and nanoscale thermal properties of amorphous polymer nanoglobules fabricated via Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Deposition (MAPLE). We discovered that stability in nanostrutured glasses was due to the nanoscale stability of the materials' building blocks, i.e., nanoglobules.