Abstract

Here, in this work, neutron reflectometry (NR) studies of the bio-mimetic polymer, polydopamine (PDA), deposited from differing initial concentrations of precursor material dopamine hydrochloride for a range of polymerization times, is reported. PDA can form a complex and highly versatile polymer film, with many structure studies having been performed previously, but a comprehensive structural determination of PDA by NR is lacking in the literature. It was found that simple box models were incapable of fully explaining the observed data, necessitating the use of a composite model consisting of the weighted average of both the 1 and 2 box models to fully capture the heterogeneous nature of the PDA film structure. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were performed to capture the surface structure and relative mechanical difference between the separate domains of the PDA. The CLSM results provide evidence that the PDA domains are larger than the coherent scattering length of a neutron used in these measurements, 10μm, supporting the need for a composite model. The AFM measurements show complex structure below the coherence length provide physical justification for the two box model. It was determined that film structure and quality are both heavily impacted bymore » the initial concentration of dopamine hydrochloride and the polymerization time, giving confidence to the highly customizable nature of PDA as an adhesion promoting interface treatment in composite systems, such as plastic bonded explosives (PBX).« less

Authors:

Herman, Matthew Joseph  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Herman, Matthew Joseph"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-1400-848X"

Bull, Michael R.  ^[2];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Bull, Michael R."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-7550-4260"

Watkins, Erik Benjamin  ^[3];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Watkins, Erik Benjamin"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-8573-9629"

Hooks, Daniel E. ^[1]; Miller, Nathan A.  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Miller, Nathan A."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-4226-2909"

Liu, Cheng  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Liu, Cheng"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-4927-2803"

Yeager, John David  ^[4]

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Yeager, John David"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-3121-6053"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
3. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
4. University of Dayton Research Institute, Eglin AFB, FL (United States)

Publication Date:

Fri Aug 18 00:00:00 EDT 2023

Research Org.:

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

OSTI Identifier:

2008280

Report Number(s):

LA-UR-22-27773
Journal ID: ISSN 0032-3861

Grant/Contract Number:  

89233218CNA000001

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Polymer

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 284; Journal ID: ISSN 0032-3861

Publisher:

Elsevier

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Polydopamine; Neutron reflectometry; Surface modification