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Advanced Compositional Analysis of Nanoparticle-polymer Composites Using Direct Fluorescence Imaging
Published on: July 19, 2016
Enabling nanoparticle networking in semicrystalline polymer matrices
Jasmeet Kaur1, Ji Hoon Lee, David G Bucknall
1School of Polymer, Textile, and Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , 801 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|June 19, 2012
Summary
Polymer crystallization can assemble calcium phosphate nanoparticles into networks within a matrix. This controlled nanoparticle arrangement is useful for designing advanced nanocomposites for biomedical and electronic applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Polymer Science
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Nanoparticle arrangement significantly impacts nanocomposite properties.
- Previous research often focused on individually dispersed nanoparticles.
- This study investigates nanoparticle networks formed via phase segregation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To understand how polymer crystallization influences nanoparticle network formation.
- To explore the role of nanoparticle shape in this process.
- To establish structure-property relationships in polymer nanocomposites.
Main Methods:
- Synthesized calcium phosphate nanoparticles (near-spherical and nanofiber shapes).
- Fabricated poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) matrix nanocomposites.
- Characterized nanocomposite structure and viscoelastic properties.
Main Results:
- Polymer crystallization can act as a forced assembly method for nanoparticle networks when interactions are weak.
- Nanoparticle shape influences network formation.
- Structure-property relationships were defined based on nanoparticle shape and concentration.
Conclusions:
- Polymer crystallization offers a pathway to engineer nanoparticle network morphologies.
- This approach is applicable to functional nanocomposites like biomedical implants and organic photovoltaics.
- Control over polymer crystallization allows tuning of phase segregation length scales.
