Glass-Transition Temperature Gradient in Nanocomposites: Evidence from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Differential Scanning Calorimetry

The slowing-down of the dynamics of a polymer chain near a surface has been observed for many years now. Here we show that the behavior of model nanocomposites can be quantitatively described with a gradient of glass-transition temperature. We describe with a single parameter-the range of this gradient-the temperature and solvent effect on the spin relaxation dynamics. Moreover, this parameter allows a quantitative description of the nanocomposite calorimetric response from the one of the bulk polymer.