Sustainable auto-structurated liquid crystal biobased thermosets and their (nano)composites for high performance applications
Abstract
Can LC thermosets based on renewable synthons and sustainable products be used to produce high performance reinforced composites for aerospace materials for extreme environments. Can these new materials allow to enable new paradigm in the composite manufacturing chain increasing sustainability, improving performances, processing flexibility and lowering cost. This proposal aims at several objectives which are- 1. the benign synthesis of sustainable LC resins, 2. the design of thermosets with recyclability potential. 3. to reach the crosslinking conditions in the domain of LC arrangement to produce high ordered cholesteric or smectic thermosets. 4. to produce thermosets with high Tg, strength, stiffness, etc. 5. to produce reinforced (nano)composites by combining LC alignment with intrinsic properties of POSS, graphene, etc.. 6. to reinforce the synthesized thermosets with CF. An inverse engineering strategy will be applied to reach the targeted performances of the LC resins that will be synthesized. Synthons from natural resources will be used in the synthesis of series of LC monomers. To produce LC thermosets the synthesized monomers will be crosslinked using hardeners able to increase theirs mesogeneity. The polymerization will be done by respecting green chemistry rules. Crosslinking reactions will be done applying structuring electrical or magnetic field in order to induce an alignment of the mesogenic units, therefore, to increase the order inside the 3D structure. The obtained LC resins will be tested to verify the aerospace materials performances for extreme environments. The structures accomplishing the targeted properties- high Tg, strength, stiffness, recyclability, will be selected to produce composites and a scale-lab demonstrator. 2D or 3D nanoscaled reinforcements as graphene or POSS will be tested to produce materials with atomic oxygen resistance. The produced CFRCs should be stable at high and low temperatures, to have resistance to radiation and capability to function in a vacuum with no outgassing. Additional properties for thermosets and CFRCs as self-healing, recyclability, reprocessing and repairing will be targeted.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 22, 2024
- Source ID
- FA86552317024
Entities
People
- Alice Mija
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force