Advanced polymer materials

聚合物纳米复合材料是指至少一维结构小于100 nm的材料。它们为克服传统微尺度复合材料的局限性提供了一种新的途径。我们研究小组研究的纳米复合材料类别包括粘土(蒙脱石)和纳米粉末(纳米氧化铝、纳米二氧化钛和纳米二氧化硅)。挑战在于发现在商业上可行的新方法，以实现这些纳米颗粒在纳米级的适当分散，并在用聚合物处理后在纳米级稳定分散。由于纳米粒子如此之小，与微粒子相比，其表面积与体积的比率相当高。这大大增加了控制纳米粒子与聚合物之间界面相互作用的重要性；否则，纳米复合材料的最终性能将不会更好。聚合物纳米复合材料具有新颖而诱人的性能，与汽车、建筑、包装和能源部门相关。例如，我们之前的研究已经开发出用聚合物纳米复合材料制备的涂层，这种涂层具有更好的耐划伤性和硬度，可以是透明的和自清洁的，并且更耐用。我们以前已经研究并开发了利用原位聚合来稳定聚合物基质中的纳米颗粒的有效方法，其中聚合物链连接到纳米颗粒上。这项研究拨款将研究制造新型聚合物纳米复合材料的方法。在如何通过原位聚合将不同类型的聚合物结合到纳米颗粒表面来控制最终纳米复合材料的结构方面做出了贡献。连接到纳米颗粒表面的不同性质的聚合物链将允许自组装和更好地控制纳米结构。在这一研究领域对HQP进行培训将有助于工业上对纳米颗粒的加工和化学修饰、制造聚合物纳米复合材料以及了解此类新材料的结构和性能方面的专业知识的需求。

Polymer nanocomposites are materials for which at least one dimension of the structure is less than 100 nm. They provide a new way to overcome the limitations of traditional microscale composites. The categories of nanocomposites that our research group has worked on include clays (montmorillonite) and nanopowders (nano-alumina, nano-titania and nano-silica). The challenge is in the discovery of new methods, which are commercially viable, to achieve the proper dispersion of those nanoparticles at the nanoscale level and to stabilize that dispersion at the nanoscale level after processing with a polymers. Because the nanoparticles are so small, the surface-to-volume ratio is considerable high as when compared to microparticles. This significantly increases the importance of controlling the interfacial interaction between nanoparticles and polymers; otherwise the final properties of the nanocomposites will not be better. Polymer nanocomposites have novel and attractive properties that are relevant to the automotive, building, packaging and energy sectors. For example, our previous research has developed coatings prepared with polymer nanocomposites that have improved scratch resistance and hardness, can be transparent and self-cleaning, and be more durable. We have previously investigated and developed effective methods for stabilizing nanoparticles within a polymer matrix using in-situ polymerization where the polymer chains are bonded to the nanoparticles. This research grant will investigate methodologies for manufacturing novel polymer nanocomposites. Contributions will be made on how to control the structure of the final nanocomposites by combining different types of polymers bonded to the surface of the nanoparticles using in situ polymerization. Polymer chains of distinct nature bonded to the surface of nanoparticles will allow self assembling and better control of the nanostructures. Training HQP in this research area will contribute to the industrial needs for expertise in processing and chemical modification of nanoparticles, manufacturing polymer nanocomposites and understanding the structure and properties of such novel materials.