Thermal transport around the nanoscale contact area between the heated atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe tip and the specimen under investigation is a central issue in scanning thermal microscopy (SThM). Polarized light microscopy and AFM imaging of the temperature-induced crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films in the region near the tip were used in this study to unveil the lateral heat transport. The radius of the observed lateral surface isotherm at 133 °C ranged from 2.2 ± 0.5 to 18.7 ± 0.5 μm for tip-polymer interface temperatures between 200 and 300 °C with contact times varying from 20 to 120 s, respectively. In addition, the heat transport into polymer films was assessed by measurements of the thermal expansion of poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) films with variable thickness on silicon supports. Our data showed that heat transport in the specimen normal (z) direction occurred to depths exceeding 1000 μm using representative non-steady-state SThM conditions (i.e., heating from 40 to 180 °C at a rate of 10 °C s(-1)). On the basis of the experimental results, a 1D steady-state model for heat transport was developed, which shows the temperature profile close to the tip-polymer contact. The model also indicates that ≤1% of the total power generated in the heater area, which is embedded in the cantilever end, is transported into the polymer through the tip-polymer contact interface. Our results complement recent efforts in the evaluation and improvement of existing theoretical models for thermal AFM, as well as advance further developments of SThM for nanoscale thermal materials characterization and/or manipulation via scanning thermal lithography (SThL).
Core–shell nanoparticles consisting of silica as core and surface-grafted poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) as shell with different diameters were prepared and used as heterogeneous nucleation agents to obtain CO2-blown poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposite foams. PDMS was selected as the shell material as it possesses a low surface energy and high CO2-philicity. The successful synthesis of core–shell nanoparticles was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. The cell size and cell density of the PMMA micro- and nanocellular materials were determined by scanning electron microscopy. The cell nucleation efficiency using core–shell nanoparticles was significantly enhanced when compared to that of unmodified silica. The highest nucleation efficiency observed had a value of ∼0.5 for nanoparticles with a core diameter of 80 nm. The particle size dependence of cell nucleation efficiency is discussed taking into account line tension effects. Complete engulfment by the polymer matrix of particles with a core diameter below 40 nm at the cell wall interface was observed corresponding to line tension values of approximately 0.42 nN. This line tension significantly increases the energy barrier of heterogeneous nucleation and thus reduces the nucleation efficiency. The increase of the CO2 saturation pressure to 300 bar prior to batch foaming resulted in an increased line tension length. We observed a decrease of the heterogeneous nucleation efficiency for foaming after saturation with CO2 at 300 bar, which we attribute to homogenous nucleation becoming more favorable at the expense of heterogeneous nucleation in this case. Overall, it is shown that the contribution of line tension to the free energy barrier of heterogeneous foam cell nucleation must be considered to understand foaming of viscoelastic materials. This finding emphasizes the need for new strategies including the use of designer nucleating particles to enhance the foam cell nucleation efficiency.
We describe a successful strategy to substantially enhance cell nucleation efficiency in polymer foams by using designer nanoparticles as nucleating agents. Bare and poly(dimethylsilane) (PDMS)-grafted raspberry-like silica nanoparticles with diameters ranging from ∼80 nm to ∼200 nm were synthesized and utilized as highly efficient cell nucleators in CO2-blown nanocellular polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) foams. The successful synthesis of core–shell nanoparticles was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller measurements, and transmission electron microscopy. The cell size and cell density of the obtained PMMA micro- and nanocellular foams were determined by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that increased surface roughness enhances the nucleation efficiency of the designer silica particles. This effect is ascribed to a decreased nucleation free energy for foam cell nucleation in the nanocavities at the melt–nucleator interface. For PDMS grafted raspberry-like silica nanoparticles with diameters of 155 and 200 nm, multiple cell nucleation events were observed. These hybrid particles had nucleation efficiencies of 3.7 and 6.2, respectively. The surprising increase in nucleation efficiency to above unity is ascribed to the significant increase in CO2 absorption and capillary condensation in the corresponding PMMA during saturation. This increase results in the presence of large amounts of the physical blowing agent close to energetically favorable nucleation points. Additionally, it is shown that as a consequence of cell coalescence, the increased number of foam cells is rapidly reduced during the first seconds of foaming. Hence, the design of highly efficient nucleating particles, as well as careful selection of foam matrix materials, seems to be of pivotal importance for obtaining polymer cellular materials with cell dimensions at the nanoscale. These findings contribute to the fabrication of polymer foams with high thermal insulation capacity and have relevance in general to the area of cellular materials.
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