Category

Polymer research

(Hydro)gels(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialParticle interactionsPolymer researchSAXSShapeSizeTechnique

Mechanical Properties and Failure Behavior of Physically Assembled Triblock Copolymer Gels with Varying Midblock Length

Mishra, Satish; Prado, Rosa M. Badani; Zhang, Song; Lacy, Thomas E.; Gu, Xiaodan; Kundu, Santanu

Mechanical properties including the failure behavior of physically assembled gels or physical gels are governed by their network structure. To investigate such behavior, we consider a physical gel system consisting of poly(styrene)-poly(isoprene)-poly(styrene) in mineral oil. In these gels, the endblock (PS) molecular weights are not significantly different, whereas, the midblock…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialOrientation analysisPolymer researchSAXSTechnique

Pore formation and evolution mechanism during biaxial stretching of β-iPP used for lithium-ion batteries separator

Ding, Lei; Xu, Ruizhang; Pu, Lian; Yang, Feng; Wu, Tong; Xiang, Ming

The morphological evolution and pore formation mechanism of different kinds of ?-iPP spherulites during biaxial stretching were analyzed. The smaller radial-growth spherulite deforms heterogeneous, causing a faster reduction in ?-crystal content and higher orientation degree during longitudinal stretching, while the bigger spherulite derived from the hedrites deformed more homogeneous due…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialNanoparticles & colloidsParticlesPolymer researchSAXSSelf-assembled materialShapeSizeTechnique

Anisotropic polymer nanoparticles with controlled dimensions from the morphological transformation of isotropic seeds

Hua, Zan; Jones, Joseph R.; Thomas, Marjolaine; Arno, Maria C.; Souslov, Anton; Wilks, Thomas R.; O’Reilly, Rachel K.

Understanding and controlling self-assembly processes at multiple length scales is vital if we are to design and create advanced materials. In particular, our ability to organise matter on the nanoscale has advanced considerably, but still lags far behind our skill in manipulating individual molecules. New tools allowing controlled nanoscale assembly…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialPolymer researchSAXSTechnique

Multilayered assembly of poly(vinylidene fluoride) and poly(methyl methacrylate) for achieving multi-shape memory effects

Ji, Xiaoying; Chen, Dayong; Zheng, Yu; Shen, Jiabin; Guo, Shaoyun; Harkin-Jones, Eileen

The alternately-organized poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) multilayer materials were prepared through layer-multiplying coextrusion. With the multiplication of layers, the thickness of each layer was reduced in proportion and the layer interfaces were enriched generating a broader and more continuous thermal transition temperature (Ttrans) from PVDF to PMMA layers…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCompositesCustomer publicationsFibersMaterialOrientation analysisPolymer researchSAXSTechniqueWAXS

Melt-Spun Nanocomposite Fibers Reinforced with Aligned Tunicate Nanocrystals

Redondo, Alexandre; Chatterjee, Sourav; Brodard, Pierre; Korley, LaShanda T. J.; Weder, Christoph; Gunkel, Ilja; Steiner, Ullrich

The fabrication of nanocomposite films and fibers based on cellulose nanocrystals (P-tCNCs) and a thermoplastic polyurethane (PU) elastomer is reported. High-aspect-ratio P-tCNCs were isolated from tunicates using phosphoric acid hydrolysis, which is a process that affords nanocrystals displaying high thermal stability. Nanocomposites were produced by solvent casting (films) or melt-mixing…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGIWAXSMaterialOrientation analysisPolymer researchSurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Controlling the pore size in conjugated polymer films via crystallization-driven phase separation

Guo, Shaowen; Lu, Yaguang; Wang, Binghua; Shen, Changyu; Chen, Jingbo; Reiter, Günter; Zhang, Bin

A wide range of possible applications in sensors and optoelectronic devices have focused considerable attention on porous membranes made of semi-conducting polymers. In this study, porous films of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) were conveniently constructed through spin-coating of solutions of a blend of P3HT and polyethylene glycol (PEG). Pores were formed by…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
12 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialPolymer researchPore size and pore size distributionPorous materialSAXSTechnique

A π-Conjugated, Covalent Phosphinine Framework

Huang, Jieyang; Tarábek, Ján; Kulkarni, Ranjit; Wang, Cui; Dracínský, Martin; Smales, Glen J.; Tian, Yu; Ren, Shijie; Pauw, Brian R.; Resch-Genger, Ute; Bojdys, Michael J.

Structural modularity of polymer frameworks is a key advantage of covalent organic polymers, however, only C, N, O, Si, and S have found their way into their building blocks so far. Here, the toolbox available to polymer and materials chemists is expanded by one additional nonmetal, phosphorus. Starting with a…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
5 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialPolymer researchSAXSTechniqueWAXS

Mechanistic understanding of monovalent cation transport in eumelanin pigments

Tian, Zhen; Hwang, Wonseok; Kim, Young Jo

Recent research advances in charge-conducting materials have enabled the transformation of the naturally-occurring materials into crucial components in many technologies, including renewable energy storage devices or bioelectronics. Among various candidates, eumelanins are promising charge storage materials, exhibiting hybrid electronic ionic conductivity in a hydrated environment. The chemical…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
5 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialPolymer researchSAXSTechnique

Mutually-complementary structure design towards highly stretchable elastomers with robust strength and autonomous self-healing property

Wu, Bo; Liu, Zhimeng; Lei, Yuan; Wang, Yi; Liu, Qinfeng; Yuan, Anqian; Zhao, Yuanyang; Zhang, Xi; Lei, Jingxin

Achieving good transparency, high strength and superior extensibility simultaneously in autonomic self-healing elastomers remains challenging and fascinating. Herein, a complementary design strategy of combining densely distributed multiple hydrogen bonds (H bonds) and loosely packed spacer units in supramolecular elastomer was reported to address the inherent contradiction of robust strength and…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
5 March 2021
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsLiquid crystalsMaterialPhase analysisPolymer researchSAXSSelf-assembled materialTechniqueTemperature

Self-assembly of a silicon-containing side-chain liquid crystalline block copolymer in bulk and in thin films: kinetic pathway of a cylinder to sphere transition

Liao, Fen; Shi, Ling-Ying; Cheng, Li-Chen; Lee, Sangho; Ran, Rong; Yager, Kevin G.; Ross, Caroline A.

The self-assembly of a high-? silicon-containing side-chain liquid crystalline block copolymer (LC BCP) in bulk and in thin films is reported, and the structural transition process from the hexagonally packed cylinder (HEX) to the body-centered cubic structure (BCC) in thin films was examined by both reciprocal and real space experimental…
sergio.rodrigues@xenocs.com
5 March 2021