Mechanical Reinforcement in Polymer Melts Filled with Polymer Grafted Nanoparticles

We critically leverage the fact that polymer grafted nanoparticles behave akin to block copolymers to systematically vary nanoparticle dispersion and critically examine its role on the mechanical reinforcement in liquid-polymer-based nanocomposites. The nanoparticles are noncontacting, and we perfor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMacromolecules Vol. 44; no. 18; pp. 7473 - 7477
Main Authors Moll, Joseph F, Akcora, Pinar, Rungta, Atri, Gong, Shushan, Colby, Ralph H, Benicewicz, Brian C, Kumar, Sanat K
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, DC American Chemical Society 27.09.2011
Subjects
Applied sciences
Composites
Exact sciences and technology
Forms of application and semi-finished materials
Polymer industry, paints, wood
Technology of polymers
Viscoelasticity
Nanoparticle
Dispersion degree
Morphology
Mechanical properties
Styrene polymer
Nanocomposite
Experimental study
Silica
Modified material
Graft polymers
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Summary:We critically leverage the fact that polymer grafted nanoparticles behave akin to block copolymers to systematically vary nanoparticle dispersion and critically examine its role on the mechanical reinforcement in liquid-polymer-based nanocomposites. The nanoparticles are noncontacting, and we perform rheological measurements 80K above the polymer’s glass transition temperature. Our rheology results unequivocally show that reinforcement is maximized by the formation of a transient, but long-lived, percolating polymer–particle network with the particles serving as the network junctions.
ISSN:0024-9297
1520-5835
DOI:10.1021/ma201200m