Abbas, Zaid M.; Tawfilas, Massimo; Khani, Mohammed M.; Golian, Karl; Marsh, Zachary M.; Jhalaria, Mayank; Simonutti, Roberto; Stefik, Morgan; Kumar, Sanat K.; Benicewicz, Brian C.
Reinforcement of polychloroprene by grafted silica nanoparticles
Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization of chloroprene on the surface of silica nanoparticles was performed to obtain polychloroprene-grafted-silica nanoparticles (PCP-g-SiO2 NPs). These particles were dispersed in a commercial polychloroprene matrix to obtain PCP nanocomposites with different silica core loadings (1, 5, 10, and 25?wt%). Two different chain graft densities
Gas separation properties of polybenzimidazole/thermally-rearranged polymer blends
Moon, Joshua D.; Bridge, Alexander T.; D’Ambra, Colton; Freeman, Benny D.; Paul, Donald R.
Polybenzimidazole (PBI) is highly selective for H2 removal from mixtures with CO2, but it exhibits low gas permeabilities. Celazole® PBI was blended with more permeable HAB-6FDA-CI, an ortho-functional thermally rearrangeable polyimide, to improve its gas permeabilities while attempting to maintain high selectivity. A compatibilizer, 1-methylimidazole, enhanced phase dispersion when added…
Gradient supramolecular interactions and tunable mechanics in polychaete jaw inspired semi-interpenetrating networks
Thompson, Chase B.; Chatterjee, Sourav; Korley, LaShanda T. J.
Polychaete worms display a remarkable jaw structure, where a gradient in metal-ligand coordination down the length of the jaw results in a shift from hard to soft mechanics. To mimic these gradient structures, a Zn-coordinated supramolecular polymer is crosslinked into a covalent matrix to afford supramolecular semi-interpenetrating networks (SIPNs). These…
Mechanism of stress induced crystallization of polyethylene
Yakovlev, Sergey; Fiscus, David; Brant, Pat; Butler, Jeff; Bucknall, David G.; Downing, Kenneth H.
When polymer melt is subjected to stress, molecular chains become aligned along the elongation direction. However, when polyethylene film crystallizes under stress, molecular chains frequently align perpendicular to the elongation direction. In this paper we investigate why this happens. Evaluating metallocene LLDPE film we show that under the stress lamellae…
Understanding the Static Interfacial Polymer Layer by Exploring the Dispersion States of Nanocomposites
Genix, Anne-Caroline; Bocharova, Vera; Carroll, Bobby; Lehmann, Michelle; Saito, Tomonori; Krueger, Susan; He, Lilin; Dieudonné-George, Philippe; Sokolov, Alexei P.; Oberdisse, Julian
The dynamic and static properties of the interfacial region between polymer and nanoparticles have wide-ranging consequences on performances of nanomaterials. The thickness and density of the static layer are particularly difficult to assess experimentally due to superimposing nanoparticle interactions. Here, we tune the dispersion of silica nanoparticles in nanocomposites by…
Nafion/Protic Ionic Liquid Blends: Nanoscale Organization and Transport Properties
Danyliv, Olesia; Martinelli, Anna
In this work, the possibility of using the protic ionic liquids N-ethylimidazolium trifluoromethylsulfonate, , and N-ethylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, , as charge carriers in appropriately modified Nafion membranes has been investigated. The superior thermal stability of ionic liquids, as compared to that of water-based electrolytes, hypothetically offers a
Adjustable self-assembly in polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) dip-coated thin films
Konefa?, Magdalena; Zhigunov, Alexander; Pavlova, Ewa; ?ernoch, Peter; Pop-Georgievski, Ognen; pírková, Milena
This work studies the influence of dip-coating parameters on self-assembly in ultra-thin films of asymmetric polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) copolymers from a 1-chloropentane solution using a combination of several experimental techniques. Small-Angle X-ray Scattering, Atomic Force Microscopy, Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering and Transmission Electron Microscopy
Widely tunable persistent micelle templates via homopolymer swelling
Sarkar, Amrita; Thyagarajan, Akshay; Cole, August; Stefik, Morgan
The combination of precision control with wide tunability remains a challenge for the fabrication of porous nanomaterials suitable for studies of nanostructurebehavior relationships. Polymer micelle templates broadly enable porous materials, however micelle equilibration hampers independent pore and wall size control. Persistent micelle templates (PMT) have emerged as a kinetic controlled
Addition of Monovalent Silver Cations to CH3NH3PbBr3 Produces Crystallographically Oriented Perovskite Thin Films
Siegler, Timothy D.; Zhang, Yangning; Dolocan, Andrei; Reimnitz, Lauren C.; Torabi, Aida; Abney, Michael K.; Choi, Junho; Cossio, Gabriel; Houck, Daniel W.; Yu, Edward T.; Li, Xiaoqin; Harvey, Taylor B.; Milliron, Delia J.; Korgel, Brian A.
The incorporation of monovalent silver (Ag+) cations into methylammonium lead bromide (CH3NH3PbBr3) perovskite films leads to a strongly preferred (001) crystallographic orientation on a wide variety of substrates, ranging from glass to mesoporous TiO2. CH3NH3PbBr3 films deposited without Ag+ exhibit only a weakly preferred (011) orientation. Compositional maps and depth…
Self-assembly of oppositely charged polyelectrolyte block copolymers containing short thermoresponsive blocks
Hees, I. A. van; Swinkels, P. J. M.; Fokkink, R. G.; Velders, A. H.; Voets, I. K.; Gucht, J. van der; Kamperman, M.
The assembly of oppositely charged block copolymers, containing small thermoresponsive moieties, was investigated as a function of salt concentration and temperature. Aqueous solutions of poly--b-poly (NIPAM44-b-DMAEMA216) and PNIPAM-b-poly-b-PNIPAM (NIPAM35-b-AA200-b-NIPAM35) were mixed in equal charge stoichiometry, and