Issue 2, 2022

Controlling toughness of polymer-grafted nanoparticle composites for impact mitigation

Abstract

Toughness in an entangled polymer network is typically controlled by the number of load-bearing topological constraints per unit volume. In this work, we demonstrate a new paradigm for controlling toughness at high deformation rates in a polymer-grafted nanoparticle composite system where the entanglement density increases with the molecular mass of the graft. An unexpected peak in the toughness is observed right before the system reaches full entanglement that cannot be described through the entanglement concept alone. Quasi-elastic neutron scattering reveals enhanced segmental fluctuations of the grafts on the picosecond time scale, which propagate out to nanoparticle fluctuations on the time scale 100s of seconds as evidenced by X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. This surprising multi-scale dissipation process suggests a nanoparticle jamming–unjamming transition. The realization that segmental dynamics can be coupled with the entanglement concept for enhanced toughness at high rates of deformation is a novel insight with relevance to the design of composite materials.

Graphical abstract: Controlling toughness of polymer-grafted nanoparticle composites for impact mitigation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
28 صفر 1443
Accepted
06 جمادى الأولى 1443
First published
09 جمادى الأولى 1443

Soft Matter, 2022,18, 256-261

Author version available

Controlling toughness of polymer-grafted nanoparticle composites for impact mitigation

S. H. Chen, A. J. Souna, S. J. Stranick, M. Jhalaria, S. K. Kumar, C. L. Soles and E. P. Chan, Soft Matter, 2022, 18, 256 DOI: 10.1039/D1SM01432C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements