The distribution of glass-transition temperatures in nanoscopically confined glass formers

Despite the decade-long study of the effect of nanoconfinement on the glass-transition temperature (Tg) of amorphous materials, the quest to probe the distribution of Tgs in nanoconfined glass formers has remained unfulfilled. Here the distribution of Tgs across polystyrene films has been obtained by a fluorescence/multilayer method, revealing that the enhancement of dynamics at a surface affects Tg several tens of nanometres into the film. The...