Issue 5, 2022

Kinetics of high density functional polymer nanocomposite formation by tuning enthalpic and entropic barriers

Abstract

High density functional polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) with high degree of dispersion have recently emerged as novel materials for various thermo-mechanical, optical and electrical applications. The key challenge is to attain a high loading while maintaining reasonable dispersion to attain maximum possible benefits from the functional nanoparticle additives. Here, we report a facile method to prepare polymer grafted nanoparticle (PGNP)-based high density functional polymer nanocomposites using thermal activation of a high density PGNP monolayer to overcome entropic or enthalpic barriers to insertion of PGNPs into the underlying polymer films. We monitor the temperature-dependent kinetics of penetration of a high density PGNP layer and correlate the penetration time to the effective enthalpic/entropic barriers. The experimental results are corroborated by coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. Repeated application of the methodology to insert nanoparticles by appropriate control over temperature, time and graft-chain properties can lead to enhanced densities of loading in the PNC. Our method can be engineered to produce a wide range of high density polymer nanocomposite membranes for various possible applications including gas separation and water desalination.

Graphical abstract: Kinetics of high density functional polymer nanocomposite formation by tuning enthalpic and entropic barriers

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Лис 2021
Accepted
23 Гру 2021
First published
23 Гру 2021

Soft Matter, 2022,18, 1005-1012

Kinetics of high density functional polymer nanocomposite formation by tuning enthalpic and entropic barriers

A. Swain, N. Das A, S. Chandran and J. K. Basu, Soft Matter, 2022, 18, 1005 DOI: 10.1039/D1SM01681D

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