Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Glassy Nanocomposites by Tuning Polymer Molecular Weight

Genix, Anne-Caroline; Bocharova, Vera; Kisliuk, Alexander; Carroll, Bobby; Zhao, Sheng; Oberdisse, Julian; Sokolov, Alexei P.

doi:10.1021/acsami.8b13109

Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Glassy Nanocomposites by Tuning Polymer Molecular Weight

Journal Article · Tue Sep 11 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.8b13109· OSTI ID:1476416

^[1]; ^[2]; Kisliuk, Alexander ^[2]; ^[2]; Zhao, Sheng ^[3]; Oberdisse, Julian ^[4]; Sokolov, Alexei P. ^[5]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. de Montpellier (France)
(United States); Univ. de Montpellier (France)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
(United States); Univ. de Montpellier (France); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

The addition of nanoparticles to a polymer matrix is a well-known process to improve the mechanical properties of polymers. Many studies of mechanical reinforcement in polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) focus on rubbery matrices; however, much less effort concentrates on the factors controlling the mechanical performance of the technologically important glassy PNCs. This paper presents a study of the effect of the polymer molecular weight (MW) on the overall mechanical properties of glassy PNCs with attractive interaction by using Brillouin light scattering. We found that the mechanical moduli (bulk and shear) have a nonmonotonic dependence on MW that cannot be predicted by simple rule of mixtures. The moduli increase with increasing MW up to 100 kg/mol followed by a drop at higher MW. We demonstrate that the change in the mechanical properties of PNCs can be associated with the properties of the interfacial polymer layer. The latter depend on the interfacial chain packing and stretching, as well as polymer bridging, which vary differently with the MW of the polymer. These competing contributions lead to the observed nonmonotonic variations of the glassy PNC moduli with MW. Our work provides a simple, cost-effective, and efficient way to control the mechanical properties of glassy PNCs by tuning the polymer chain length. Our finding can be beneficial for the rational design of PNCs with desired mechanical performance.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1476416

Journal Information:: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Journal Name: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces Journal Issue: 39 Vol. 10; ISSN 1944-8244

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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