Thermally Induced Transfiguration of Polymer Nanowires under Irradiation of Electron Beams

Polymer nanowires were found to respond to external perturbations and to undergo transfiguration upon exposure to the irradiation of high-flux electron beams. The phenomenon is general, observable in the nanowires of conjugated and nonconjugated polymers with linear and hyperbranched structures. The transfiguration ceased to occur after the nanowires had been annealed at temperatures higher than the glass transition temperatures of the polymers. The phenomenon is rationalized to be associated with the residual internal stress in the nanowires that is relieved through the electron-beam irradiation and/or thermal annealing. This work thus offers cautionary advice that a proper annealing treatment should be exercised, if one wishes to fabricate polymer nanostructures and miniature devices with reliable stability and durable performance.