Category

Polymer research

(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCompositesCustomer publicationsMaterialNanoparticles & colloidsParticle interactionsParticle size and size distributionPolymer researchSAXSShapeSizeTechnique

Effects of Hairy Nanoparticles on Polymer Crystallization Kinetics

Jimenez, Andrew M.; Krauskopf, Alejandro A.; Pérez-Camargo, Ricardo A.; Zhao, Dan; Pribyl, Julia; Jestin, Jacques; Benicewicz, Brian C.; Müller, Alejandro J.; Kumar, Sanat K.

We previously showed that nanoparticles (NPs) could be ordered into structures by using the growth rate of polymer crystals as the control variable. In particular, for slow enough spherulitic growth fronts, the NPs grafted with amorphous polymer chains are selectively moved into the interlamellar, interfibrillar, and interspherulitic zones of a…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialPolymer researchTechniqueWAXS

A facile approach to thermomechanically enhanced fatty acid-containing bioplastics using metal–ligand coordination

Lamm, Meghan E.; Song, Lingzhi; Wang, Zhongkai; Lamm, Benjamin; Fu, Lin; Tang, Chuanbing

Biomass-based polymers show promise for the mitigation of environmental issues associated with petroleum-derived commodity polymers; however, due to poor entanglement, many of these polymers typically lack mechanical strength and toughness. Herein, we report a facile approach to utilizing metal–ligand coordination to create physical crosslinking, and thus chain entanglements for plant…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCompositesCustomer publicationsMaterialOrientation analysisPolymer researchSAXSTechnique

Nanofiller Dispersion, Morphology, Mechanical Behavior, and Electrical Properties of Nanostructured Styrene-Butadiene-Based Triblock Copolymer/CNT Composites

Staudinger, Ulrike; Satapathy, Bhabani K.; Jehnichen, Dieter

A nanostructured linear triblock copolymer based on styrene and butadiene with lamellar morphology is filled with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) of up to 1 wt% by melt compounding. This study deals with the dispersability of the MWCNTs within the nanostructured matrix and its consequent impact on block copolymer (BCP) morphology,…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsLiquid crystalsMaterialPhase analysisPolymer researchSAXSTechnique

Tough Ordered Mesoporous Elastomeric Biomaterials Formed at Ambient Conditions

Rajasekharan, Anand K.; Gyllensten, Christoffer; Blomstrand, Edvin; Liebi, Marianne; Andersson, Martin

Synthetic dry elastomers are randomly cross-linked polymeric networks with isotropic and unordered higher-level structural features. However, their growing use as soft-tissue biomaterials has demanded the need for an ordered and anisotropic nano-micro (or) mesoarchitecture, which is crucial for imparting specific properties such as hierarchical toughening, anisotropic mechanics, sustained drug…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialParticle interactionsPolymer researchSAXSShapeSizeTechnique

Revisiting the Dissolution of Cellulose in NaOH as “Seen” by X-rays

Martin-Bertelsen, Birte; Andersson, Erika; Köhnke, Tobias; Hedlund, Artur; Stigsson, Lars; Olsson, Ulf

Cotton production is reaching a global limit, leading to a growing demand for bio-based textile fibers produced by other means. Textile fibers based on regenerated cellulose from wood holds great potential, but in order to produce fibers, the components need to be dissolved in suitable solvents. Furthermore, the dissolution process…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialOtherPhase analysisPolymer researchTechniqueWAXS

Facile treatment to fine-tune cellulose crystals in cellulose-silk biocomposites through hydrogen peroxide

Love, Stacy A.; Popov, Elizabeth; Rybacki, Karleena; Hu, Xiao; Salas-de la Cruz, David

The modulation of structural fibrous protein and polysaccharide biopolymers for the design of biomaterials is still relatively challenging due to the non-trivial nature of the transformation from a biopolymer's native state to a more usable form. To gain insight into the nature of the molecular interaction between silk and cellulose…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialOtherPolymer researchSAXSTechniqueWAXS

Rheological modifiers based on supramolecular block copolymers: From weak associations to interconnected micelles

Goldansaz, Hadi; Jangizehi, Amir; Nikravan, Goolia; Verkinderen, Olivier; Goderis, Bart; Ghaffarian, Seyed Reza; van Ruymbeke, Evelyne; Ahmadi, Mostafa

The rheological spectra of poly(n-butyl acrylate) in the presence of a series of P(nBA-b-HEMA) rheology modifiers show a two-step relaxation process originating from the PnBA matrix and the self-assemblies. The HEMA segments are further grafted with strong, hydrogen bonding UPy groups, which both magnifies and slows down the relaxation of…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialParticle interactionsPhase analysisPolymer researchSAXSSelf-assembled materialSizeTechnique

Order–Order Phase Transitions Induced by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide in Triblock Copolymer Thin Films

Abate, Anabella A.; Vu, Giang Thi; Piqueras, Cristian M.; del Barrio, María Cecilia; Gómez, Leopoldo R.; Catalini, Gabriel; Schmid, Friederike; Vega, Daniel A.

We study the influence of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) on the phase behavior of a cylinder-forming polystyrene-block-polybutadiene-b-polystyrene triblock copolymer thin film. Solvent annealing with scCO2 can produce patterns with long-range order but these structures become unstable for thin films with small thicknesses. These results are in good agreement with self-consistent…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialPolymer researchSAXSSelf-assembled materialTechnique

CO2-Triggered and temperature-switchable crystallization-driven self-assembly of a semicrystalline block copolymer in aqueous medium

Zhu, Rui; Luo, Xinjie; Feng, Yujun; Billon, Laurent

The synthesis of a semicrystalline block copolymer comprising a hydrophilic poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) pure block and an amphiphilic poly(acrylic acid)-r-poly(octadecyl acrylate) (PAA-r-PODA) random block by nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP) is reported. The aggregation behavior of the copolymer in aqueous medium was studied by using a MicroCal VP differential scanning calorimeter (VP-DSC)…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCrystalline fractionCustomer publicationsMaterialPhase analysisPolymer researchSAXSTechniqueTemperatureWAXS

Determination of the Critical Size of Secondary Nuclei on the Lateral Growth Front of Lamellar Polymer Crystals

Zhang, Shujing; Han, Jiarui; Gao, Yang; Guo, Baohua; Reiter, Günter; Xu, Jun

Nucleation is the rate-limiting first step of crystallization. The energy barrier related to form the critical nucleus predominantly affects the nucleation rate. Determination of the size of the critical nucleus is a key for understanding the mechanism of nucleation and allows testing theories. However, it has been a great challenge…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021