Abstract
We have used nulling ellipsometry to measure the glass transition temperature, T g , of thin films of polystyrene in ambient, dry nitrogen, and vacuum environments. For all environments, the measured T g values decrease with decreasing film thickness in a way that is quantitatively similar to previously reported studies in ambient conditions. These results provide strong reinforcement of previous conclusions that such reduced T g values are an intrinsic property of the confined material. Furthermore, the results are in contrast to recent reports which suggest that the T g reductions measured by many researchers are the results of artifacts (i.e. degradation of the polymer due to annealing in ambient conditions, or moisture content).
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Raegen, A.N., Massa, M.V., Forrest, J.A. et al. Effect of atmosphere on reductions in the glass transition of thin polystyrene films. Eur. Phys. J. E 27, 375–377 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2008-10394-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2008-10394-3