2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Direct observation of critical Casimir effect using capacitance measurements for thin polymer films
| Project/Area Number |
23654154
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Biophysics/Chemical physics
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| Research Institution | Ritsumeikan University |
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Principal Investigator |
FUKAO Koji 立命館大学, 理工学部, 教授 (50189908)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2011 – 2012
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| Keywords | 微小力測定 / 臨界カシミール効果 / 高分子ブレンド系 / α過程 / 界面相互作用 |
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| Research Abstract |
The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the existence of Casimir force for thin films of polymer blends with a critical component. We made precise measurements of electric capacitance at 100kHz for thin films of poly(dimethyl siloxane)/poly(ethyl methyl siloxane) with 55 % wt fraction of PEMS. The electric capacitance decreases with increasing temperature above the glass transition temperature and then shows a plateau around the critical temperatures. This results suggest that there is an attractive interaction between two electrodes. The origin of the attractive force might be due to the Casimir forces, although the detailed measurements could not yet be done successfully. Secondly, we measured the dynamics of alpha-process of poly(2-chlorostyrene) thin films between two polystyrene thin films with various thicknesses using dielectric spectroscopy for annealing process. This experiment will be important for understanding of the microscopic mechanism of the Casimir effect.
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