Films of amorphous polystyrene (PS) with a weight-average molecular weight (M-w) of 225 X 10(3) g/mol were bonded in a T-peel test geometry, and the fracture energy (G) of a PS/PS interface was measured at the ambient temperature as a function of the healing time (t(h)) and healing temperature (T-h). G was found to develop with (t(h))(1/2) at T-h = Tg-bulk -33 degreesC (where Tg-bulk is the glass-transition temperature of the bulk sample), and log G was found to develop with 1/T-h at Tg-bulk -43 degreesC less than or equal to T-h less than or equal to Tg-bulk -23 degreesC. The smallest measured value of G = 1.4 J/m(2) was at least one order of magnitude larger than the work of adhesion required to reversibly separate the PS surfaces. These three observations indicated that the development of G at the PS/PS interface in the temperature range investigated (

Keywords:glassy polystyrene;interface healing below the glass-transition temperature of the bulk;T-peel test;fracture energy;polystyrene;interface;fracture