Processing of polymer nanocomposites

聚合物，由于其特性和易于加工成复杂形状，是当今最重要的材料之一，聚合物工业对英国经济做出了重大贡献（每年180亿英镑）。聚合物纳米复合材料（NCs）是一种令人兴奋的新材料，其纳米级颗粒分散在聚合物中。nc的好处主要来自于少量添加的颗粒（例如重量的5%）可以获得非常大的颗粒表面积。因此，它们显著改善了材料性能，显著提高了机械和气体阻隔性能。因此，使用这种材料的用户可以得到更有效的产品（或含有更少材料的产品）。众所周知，纳米粒子-聚合物界面/化学性质是决定纳米复合材料中粒子分散程度的关键参数，界面性质对纳米复合材料的性能有重要影响。然而，近年来，纳米颗粒-聚合物混合物形成最终产品的加工路线显然是数控制造的一个同样重要的方面，这是我们将在本提案中关注的领域。因此，拟议项目的主要目的是实现对材料配方，加工和聚合物纳米复合材料性能之间相互作用的基本理解，并将其应用于概念验证应用的开发，为工业界和学术界提供通用的加工信息。这项工作将包括统计设计的实验研究，使用中试规模的聚合物加工设备和工业规模设备的验证试验。要研究的参数包括挤出机剪切和温度分布、螺杆设计、添加剂（如抗氧化剂）、挤出后变形（如双轴延伸）和冷却速率。我们将在结构、机械、热和阻隔性能方面描述材料的特征，以便将工艺与结构和结构与性能联系起来。我们将利用贝尔法斯特女王大学（QUB）和布拉德福德大学（UoB）现有的综合处理、表征和分析技能和设施，这两个合作伙伴过去和现在都在大型合作项目上成功合作，并在聚合物加工研究方面拥有出色的国内和国际记录。

Polymers, because of their properties and ease of processing into complex shapes are among the most important materials available to us today and the polymer industry makes a major contribution to the UK economy (18 billion per year). An exciting new family of materials are polymer nanocomposites (NCs), in which particles with nanoscale dimensions are dispersed in the polymer. The benefits of NCs derive primarily from the exceptionally large amounts of particle surface area that can be achieved for a small addition of particles (e.g. 5% by weight). Thus they offer dramatic improvement in material performance with significant increases in mechanical and gas barrier properties. The user of such a material therefore gets a more effective product (or one containing less material for the same effectiveness). It is well recognised that the nanoparticle-polymer interface/chemistry is a critical parameter in determining the degree of dispersion of particles in a nanocomposite and that the interfacial properties have a significant influence on nanocomposite performance. In recent times, however it has become apparent that the processing route by which the nanoparticle-polymer mixture is formed into a final product is an equally important aspect of NC manufacture and this is the area on which we will focus in this proposal.The principal aim of the proposed project is therefore to achieve a fundamental understanding of the interactions between material formulation, processing and properties of polymer nanocomposites and to apply this to the development of proof of concept applications which provide generic processing information for industry and academia alike. The work will include statistically designed experimental studies using pilot scale polymer processing equipment and validation trials on industrial scale equipment. Parameters to be studied include extruder shear and temperature profiles, screw design, additives such as anti-oxidant, post extrusion deformation such as biaxial extension and cooling rates. We will characterise the materials in terms of structure, mechanical, thermal and barrier performance in order to link process to structure and structure to performance.We will utilise the combined processing, characterisation and analytical skills and facilities existing in Queen's University Belfast (QUB) and the University of Bradford (UoB), partners who have worked together successfully on large collaborative projects, in the past and currently, and have an excellent national and international track record in polymer processing research.