Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 24: Glasses and Glass Transition I (jointly with DY and DF)

CPP 24.6: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 15:45–16:15, H48

Slow domains percolation in polymer melts and blends close to the glass transition: a unifying concept regarding bulk dynamics, dynamics in the vicinity of interfaces, and the physical properties of nanocomposites — •Didier R. Long — Laboratoire Polymères et Matériaux Avancés; CNRS/Rhodia; F-69192 Saint Fons, France.

Experiments have demonstrated over past 15 years that the dynamics in liquids close to and below the glass transition temperature is strongly heterogeneous, on the scale of a few nanometers and, independantly, that the glass transition temperature in the vicinity of interfaces can be very different from that in the bulk, with shifts either positive or negative depending on the interaction between the polymer and the interface. By considering thermally induced density fluctuations in the bulk, we proposed that the 3-D glass transition is controlled by the percolation of small domains of slow dynamics, which allows to explain the heterogeneous dynamics close to Tg. This model allowed then for interpreting a priori unrelated features of polymer dynamics: 1) the main feature of confinement effects on the dynamics; 2) Unique reinforcement, plastic and recovery behaviour of nano-filled elastomers; 3) ageing and rejuvenating dynamics polymeric liquids; 4)case II diffusion, which is how a solvent penetrates and finally melts a glassy polymer matrix.

Regarding these various issues, I will put the emphasis on how percolation of slow domains is key for explaining their main features.