Translating molecular relaxations in non-equilibrated polymer melts into lifting macroscopic loads

Spin coating yields thin films of non-equilibrated polymers, with severe consequences, observable by the naked eye, in creep experiments on molten filamentlike samples derived from these films. While filaments from annealed films showed the expected monotonic elongation, filaments made from as-cast films initially showed the opposite behavior: They contracted and thereby lifted loads up to a thousand times the weight of the filament over a distance of almost up to $40\%$ its initial length. We discuss the molecular origin of such large macroscopic manifestations of deviations from equilibrium in terms of reduced conformational entropy.