Lamm, Meghan E.; Song, Lingzhi; Wang, Zhongkai; Rahman, Md Anisur; Lamm, Benjamin; Fu, Lin; Tang, Chuanbing
Tuning Mechanical Properties of Biobased Polymers by Supramolecular Chain Entanglement
A variety of biobased polymers have been derived from diverse natural resources. However, the mechanical properties of some of these polymers are inferior due to low chain entanglement. We report a facile strategy termed supramolecular chain entanglement, which utilizes supramolecular interactions to create physical cross-linking and entanglements for polymers with…
Tunable Fluorophobic Effect Determines Nanoparticle Dispersion in Homopolymers and Block Polymers
Marsh, Zachary M.; Blom, Douglas A.; Stefik, Morgan
The controlled placement of nanoparticles (NPs) within homopolymers and block polymers is of broad interest for functional nanomaterials. This manuscript focuses on small molecule-stabilized NPs that bring a large fraction of functionality. For such NP mixtures with block polymers, the overwhelming focus to date has been the use of attractive…
Comparative Study of Direct Compounding, Coupling Agent-Aided and Initiator-Aided Reactive Extrusion to Prepare Cellulose Nanocrystal/PHBV (CNC/PHBV) Nanocomposite
Zheng, Ting; Clemons, Craig M.; Pilla, Srikanth
Three compounding methods were compared to determine their effects on the organization of the interphase in nanocomposites of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) processed via (1) direct compounding, (2) reactive extrusion using a coupling agent (PHBV-g-GMA), or (3) reactive extrusion using a peroxide free-radical initiator (dicumyl peroxide,
Fast Photochromic Dye Response in Rigid Block Polymer Thermosets
Peterson, Colin; Hillmyer, Marc A.
The behavior of photochromic spiropyran (SP) dyes is greatly affected by the local environment in which they reside. Fluid microenvironments such as liquidlike polymers grant favorably fast dye decoloration whereas rigid microenvironments such as glassy polymers inhibit fast dye response. We study the use of disorganized but microphase-separated block polymer…
Improving the Hydrolysis Rate of the Renewable Poly(hexamethylene sebacate) Through Copolymerization of a Bis(pyrrolidone)-Based Dicarboxylic Acid
Noordzij, Geert J.; Roy, Manta; Bos, Natasja; Reinartz, Vincent; Wilsens, Carolus H. R. M.
In this work, we report on the synthesis of a series of polyesters based on 1,6-hexanediol, sebacic acid, and N,N’-dimethylene-bis(pyrrolidone-4-carboxylic acid) (BP-C2), of which the latter is derived from renewable itaconic acid and 1,2-ethanediamine. Copolymers with a varying amount of BP-C2 as dicarboxylic acid are synthesized using a melt-polycondensation reaction…
Structure Evolution and Deformation Behavior of Polyethylene Film during Biaxial Stretching
Chen, Qiang; Wang, Zhiwei; Zhang, Sumei; Cao, Ya; Chen, Jinyao
The structure evolution and deformation behavior of tenter-frame biaxially oriented polyethylene (TF-BOPE) films were investigated in this study. For sequential biaxial stretching, the original spherulites were broken into small pieces, and the fibrillar structure simultaneously formed during the machine direction (MD) stretching. Subsequently, the single fibrils were pulled away, and…
Tailored crystalline order of nascent polyethylene from metallocene supported on confined polystyrene
Wu, Yanjie; Yang, Huaqin; Li, Wei; Mattea, Carlos; Stapf, Siegfried; Zhang, Letian; Ye, Chunlin; Ye, Xiaofeng
Building the desirable superstructure of polyethylene is one of the important topics for developing high value-added products, which brings potential benefits for society and sustainable development. Crystalline order is the ubiquitous superstructure for enhancing mechanical properties of polymeric materials. In this work, polystyrene copolymers (c-PS) are incorporated into pores of…
Fragmentation of 1,2-Polybutadiene-block-Poly(ethylene oxide) Micelles in Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids
Early, Julia T.; Lodge, Timothy P.
The effect of solvent selectivity on the fragmentation kinetics of spherical micelles formed by a 1,2-polybutadiene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) BO copolymer in five 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide-based ionic liquids (ILs), (, where n = methyl, ethyl, butyl, hexyl, and octyl) was investigated by temperature-jump dynamic light scattering (T-jump DLS),
Tubular Sensor with Multi-Axial Strain Sensibility and Heating Capability Based on Bio-Mimic Helical Networks
Li, Yijun; Zhang, Kailin; Nie, Min; Wang, Qi
Sensors are crucial in industrial robotics and smart production line owing to the basic needs for humanmachine communication and real-time monitoring. However, a lack of versatile sensing capability and multifunctionalities are still two urgent bottlenecks for current sensors to break through. In this study, from the biomimic perspective, helical and…
Microstructure and properties of polyacrylonitrile based carbon fibers
Lu, Junshan; Li, Weiwei; Kang, Hongliang; Feng, Libang; Xu, Jian; Liu, Ruigang
The microstructure of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibers with different mechanical properties was investigated. It was found that the tensile strength of the PAN-based carbon fibers generally decrease with the increase in the modulus. The properties of PAN-based carbon fiber are mainly controlled by the microstructure and microvoids. The increase in…