Polymer Chemistry: Self-Strengthening from Piezo-Catalysis
Abstract
Stress-Strengthening Material: We propose to develop a polymeric material that strengthens upon use via piezoelectric catalyzed cross-linking reactions within the material. This novel material could be used for many different applications including structural composites where mechanical activity would adjust adhesion and strengthen by either increasing activity or diminish it or in interfaces with warfighters - where adhesives or components could be tailored to the compliance of each users skin. Currently, self-strengthening materials, generally, rely on changes in physical properties of embedded materials while keeping the polymer chain length and composition the same. Our initial experiments have shown that mechanical energy can be used to mediate chemical reactions via piezoelectricity in solution. We propose to develop self-strengthening materials that use this piezoelectric reactivity to lengthen a polymer chain or increase the cross-linking density (mechano-set). In previous work, we developed a novel process that turns mechanical energy into a method of controlling a growing polymer chain. This is analogous to much of the recent, excellent work in controlling chain length with light, but it uses sono-chemical activation of piezoelectric nanoparticles to control a growing ATRP chain. We propose here to move this concept into solid materials, creating mechanically active cross-links, but there are many challenges to solve to validate this approach.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 11, 2018
- Source ID
- W911NF1710598
Entities
People
- Aaron P Esser-Kahn
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army
- University of Chicago