Abstract
Chain behavior has been determined in polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) comprised of well-dispersed 12 nm diameter silica nanoparticles (NPs) in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrices by Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) measurements under the Zero Average Contrast (ZAC) condition. In particular, we directly characterize the bound polymer layer surrounding the NPs, revealing the bound layer profile. The SANS spectra in the high-q region also show no significant change in the bulk polymer radius of gyration on the addition of the NPs. We thus suggest that the bulk polymer conformation in PNCs should generally be determined using the high q region of SANS data.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 523-527 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | ACS Macro Letters |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 19 2016 |
Funding
N.J. and S.K.K. acknowledge financial support from National Science Foundation (DMR-1408323). A portion of this research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. DND-CAT is supported by Northwestern University, E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and The Dow Chemical Company. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DEAC02-06CH11357.
Funders | Funder number |
---|---|
DOE Office of Science | |
E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. | |
Office of Basic Energy Sciences | |
Scientific User Facilities Division | |
National Science Foundation | 1408323, DMR-1408323 |
U.S. Department of Energy | |
Dow Chemical Company | |
Office of Science | |
Argonne National Laboratory | DEAC02-06CH11357 |
Oak Ridge National Laboratory | |
Northwestern University |