(24d) Nanostructured Amorphous Polymer Films

A major theme in materials engineering is the development of materials with new and unusual properties from the same atoms or molecules by uniquely manipulating their organization at the atomic or molecular level.  For instance, carbon atoms can be arranged into numerous structures resulting in a range of materials including diamond, graphite and nanotubes.  In starting from the gas phase to make glassy materials, we are able to generate nanostructured amorphous materials formed via the assembly of molecular-scale building blocks.  In comparison to the conventionalmaterial, these nanostructured materials can have superior thermal stability (40 K enhancement in glass transition temperature), factor of 300 increase in kinetic stability as well as a 40 % reduction in density.  Individually, each of these property changes is exceptional.  When viewed as a whole, the combination of properties for these amorphous materials makes them truly unique.  Questions to be addressed in this talk include: What is the mechanism of glass formation? What are the nanoscale building blocks and their individual properties? Why are the glasses ultra-stable?