Môn, D, Higgins, AM, James, D et al. (6 more authors) (2015) Bimodal crystallization at polymer-fullerene interfaces. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 17 (3). 2216 - 2227. ISSN 1463-9076
Abstract
The growth-kinetics of [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) crystals, on two different length-scales, is shown to be controlled by the thickness of the polymer layer within a PCBM-polymer bilayer. Using a model amorphous polymer we present evidence, from in situ optical microscopy and grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD), that an increased growth-rate of nanoscale crystals impedes the growth of micron-sized, needle-like PCBM crystals. A combination of neutron reflectivity and GIXD measurements, also allows us to observe the establishment of a liquid-liquid equilibrium composition-profile between the PCBM layer and a polymer-rich layer, before crystallization occurs. While the interfacial composition-profile is independent of polymer-film-thickness, the growth-rate of nanoscale PCBM crystals is significantly larger for thinner polymer films. A similar thickness-dependent behavior is observed for different molecular weights of entangled polymer. We suggest that the behavior may be related to enhanced local-polymer-chain-mobility in nanocomposite thin-films.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © the Owner Societies 2015. This is an open access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) > Institute for Materials Research (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 08 Oct 2015 15:56 |
Last Modified: | 08 Oct 2015 15:56 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c4cp04253k |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Royal Society of Chemistry |
Identification Number: | 10.1039/c4cp04253k |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:89968 |