Development of Ordered Nanocomposites through the use of Block Copolymer Self-Assembly and Additive Manufacturing
Abstract
Polymer nanocomposites hold promise for their ability to not only provide mechanicalimprovements over the polymer matrix, but they could also provide additional functionality suchas novel optical, electrical or thermal properties. However, one of the challenges that remain is thecreation of a well-ordered nanocomposite in which the properties are consistent throughout thematerial. One potential path to achieving this is to use the concept of self-assembly to ordernanoparticles in the matrix. One of the most successful classes of self-assembled materials hasbeen block copolymers. Block copolymers have been studied for decades and are able to producea large range of ordered structures. Additionally, there has been a lot of progress in selectivelyincorporating nanoparticles into these block copolymer domains. However, self-assembly alonecannot order nanoparticles on the macroscale. Therefore, we propose to use a combination of self-assembly and 3D printing to create nanocomposites with long range order. By using 3D printing,specifically direct ink writing, material will be deposited in beads as low as 10 ?m in diameter andthereby significantly reducing the area over which the particles need to self-assemble. Additionally, the previously printed layers could serve as templates for additional layers, similar to the use of directed assembly of block copolymers to produce relatively long range order for semiconductor production. Lastly, thermal annealing of the self-assembled domains during the epoxy curing process will further increase the extent of ordering. By using a combination of selfassemblyand 3D printing, this research will work towards producing improved, multifunctional polymer nanocomposites with long range ordering.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 02, 2017
- Source ID
- FA95501710128
Entities
People
- Daniel V Krogstad
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign