Use of gold nanorods for fine tunable strain strengthening of synthetic poly-isoprene
Abstract
The proposed effort seeks to study the fundamental interactions between polymer matrices and nanostructured metallic fillers in order to understand how the properties of the fillers and their interactions with the polymer chain can be leveraged to achieve tunable strain strengthening of the composite material. This effort particularly seeks to understand the mechanisms of strain-strengthening in poly-isoprene matrices loaded with polystyrene-coated gold nanorods. Specifically, hybrid materials will be prepared with varying nanorod morphology, molecular weight of grafted polystyrene, molecular weight of matrix polyisoprene, amount of polyisoprene crosslinks, and presence/absence of a polystyrene-polyisoprene-polystyrene block to explore how tuning the strength of the polyisoprene-polystyrene interactions and how nanorod alignment within the polyisoprene matrix impacts strain strengthening behavior. These materials will be characterized for their morphology via helium ion microscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and wide angle x-ray diffraction, and for their optical properties via surface enhanced Raman scattering microscopy. Mechanical properties will be accessed under cyclic loading and dynamic mechanical analysis will be employed to study stiffening and viscoelastic properties. Rheological analysis will be used to study the linear and non-linear viscoelasic properties.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 12, 2017
- Source ID
- W911NF1510132
Entities
People
- Laura Fabris
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Rutgers University
- United States Army