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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 40: Polymer Crystallization and Semicrystalline Polymers
CPP 40.9: Talk
Thursday, March 17, 2011, 12:45–13:00, ZEU 160
Single Molecule Studies of Stress Relaxation in Elastomeric Polyproplyene — •Stefan Krause1, Martin Neumann2, Melanie Bibrach2, Harald Graaf1, Robert Magerle2 und Christian von Borczyskowski1 — 1Center for Nanostructured Materials and Analysis, Chemnitz University of Technology D-09107 Chemnitz, Germany — 2Chemische Physik, Chemnitz University of Technology
Since the early 90s, single molecule (SM) spectroscopy studies provided a manifold of new information about systems with heterogeneities, such as biological systems, polymer melts and glasses. The fluorescence of a SM is a very sensitive probe and changes of the fluorescence lifetime, the emission wavelength, and the polarization can report spatial and temporal variations in the environment with high sensitivity[1]. Here we report on SM microscopy and spectroscopy studies of stress relaxation in thin films of elastomeric polypropylene, a semicrystalline polymer with a complex microstructure of crystalline and amorphous regions on the nanometer scale. The films are strained in-situ using a microtensile testing setup and the temporal evolution of mechanical stress is measured. Simultaneously, perylenediimide dyes embedded in the ePP film as isolated dye molecules or covalently linked to ePP molecules report their molecular dynamics and changes within their local environment via SM spectroscopy. This experiment allows for insights into the molecular dynamics within the amorphous regions of ePP which are not accessible with other microscopy techniques.
[1] S. Krause, P. F. Aramendia, D. Täuber and C. von Borczyskowski, 2011, PCCP, accepted.