Molecular Origins of Shock Dissipation in Polymer-Based Nanocomposites

To explain the molecular origin of shock dissipation in polymer-based composites, a new method is proposed by absolutely quantifying the relative position between molecular chains, which directly reflects the shock dissipation energy between molecular chains and at the interfaces with nanofillers during mechanical deformation. The effects of nanofiller content and system temperature on energy dissipation were examined based on this newly proposed method, and the differences in energy dissipation between the thermosetting polymer (polydimethylsiloxane) and thermoplastic polymer (polyether-ether-ketone) under identical physical conditions were both studied to validate the reliability of the quantification method proposed in this paper. The present study offers a tool that provides theoretical insights to understand the molecular origins of shock dissipation in polymer composites as well as to facilitate the optimal design of composites with outstanding damping characteristics.