Microlayer Polymeric Composites

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In this award, co-funded by The Polymers Program of the Division of Materials Research and the Mechanics & Structures of Materials Program of the Division for Civil and Mechanical Systems, novel layer-multiplying technology will be used to coextrude polymer sheet or film with hundreds or thousands of alternating layers of two or more materials. Layer thicknesses from the macroscale (tens of microns) to the microscale (several microns) and finally to the nanoscale (tens of nanometers) will be created. Motivated by the need for new processing technologies to develop the engineered microstructures of the future, a microlayer facility was created at CWRU. This facility includes a two-component process that produces sheet or film with alternating layers of polymer A and polymer B. A second system adds a third "tie" layer (polymer C) at the interface between each layer of A and B. A research program to explore the possibilities for new materials systems that can be realized with this versatile process is proposed. The proposed research intends to build on the most promising aspects of prior research and to innovate in new areas of opportunity. The specific aims focus on: (1) expanding the flexibility of the coextrusion process to create new anisotropic structures, (2) incorporating an inorganic component in novel ways to produce materials with designed electronic properties, (3) creating microlayered and nanolayered materials having enhanced barrier properties, and (4) probing the nature of polymer adhesion as related to fundamental aspects of polymer blending and alloying.%%%Ultimately, "microprocessing", as exemplified by microlayer and nanolayer coextrusion, can be the basis for creating "smart skins", film and sheet materials with radiation of specific wavelengths and additionally possess barrier characteristics or unusual electronic properties seems possible. The graduate and undergraduate students who participate in the research will have the opportunity to use a unique coextrusion process to design and realize materials systems that were not possible previously. Through written and oral communications, the results of this versatile technology will be translated to the field-at-large including the industrial sector.