Crystal growth rate in ultrathin films of poly(ethylene oxide)

Many dynamical properties of polymers, including segmental relaxation and chain diffusion, exhibit anomalies in thin-film samples. We extend the studies of thin-film dynamics to the case of semicrystalline polymers and present a study of the crystal growth rate for thin films of poly(ethylene oxide). We used optical microscopy and quartz crystal microbalance techniques to characterize the kinetics of crystallization for films with thicknesses from 40 to 1000 nm for a range of temperatures near the melting point. A remarkable slowing down of the crystal growth is observed at all temperatures studied for films with a thickness of less than similar to 100 nm. The results can be used to suggest reductions of the mobility of chains at the crystal/amorphous interface. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.