CAREER: Rheology and Microstructure of Polymer-Clay Nanocomposites

摘要CTS-0134275 J。Oberhauser，University of Pennsylvania提出的研究目标是研究聚合物-粘土纳米复合材料的流变学和微观结构，这是一类新型材料，其性质结合了悬浮流变学和非牛顿流体力学的联合收割机元素。 该研究计划有三个部分：（1）了解一个良好的表征纳米复合流体的基本流变学作为一个功能的一些材料性能，（2）评估的能力，粘土血小板作为成核网站定向晶体生长通过使用微型挤出设备，和（3）开发本构理论的基础上的实验结果。 教育计划包括改进现有课程，包括采用各种媒体和采用一些较新的教学技术，开设新课程，并让本科生参与研究。

ABSTRACTCTS-0134275J. Oberhauser, University of VirginiaThe objective the proposed research is to study the rheology and microstructure of polymer-clay nanocomposites, a novel class of material whose properties combine elements of suspension rheology and non-Newtonian fluid mechanics. The research plan has three parts: (1) to understand the basic rheology of a well-characterized nanocomposite fluid as a function of a number of material properties, (2) to assess the ability of the clay platelets to function as nucleating sites for oriented crystal growth by using a mini-extrusion device, and (3) to develop constitutive theory based on the experimental results. The education plan consists of improving existing courses by including various media and implementing some newer pedagogical techniques, to introduce new courses, and to include undergraduates in research.