Unraveling the mechanism of nanoscale mechanical reinforcement in glassy polymer nanocomposites

Shiwang Cheng; Vera Bocharova; Alex Belianinov; Shaomin Xiong; Alexander Kisliuk; Suhas Somnath; Adam P. Holt; Olga S. Ovchinnikova; Stephen Jesse; Halie Martin; Thusitha Etampawala; Mark Dadmun; Alexei P. Sokolov

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00766

Unraveling the mechanism of nanoscale mechanical reinforcement in glassy polymer nanocomposites

Shiwang Cheng, Vera Bocharova, Alex Belianinov, Shaomin Xiong, Alexander Kisliuk, Suhas Somnath, Adam P. Holt, Olga S. Ovchinnikova, Stephen Jesse, Halie Martin, Thusitha Etampawala, Mark Dadmun, Alexei P. Sokolov

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

151 Scopus citations

Abstract

The mechanical reinforcement of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) above the glass transition temperature, T_g, has been extensively studied. However, not much is known about the origin of this effect below T_g. In this Letter, we unravel the mechanism of PNC reinforcement within the glassy state by directly probing nanoscale mechanical properties with atomic force microscopy and macroscopic properties with Brillouin light scattering. Our results unambiguously show that the "glassy" Young's modulus in the interfacial polymer layer of PNCs is two-times higher than in the bulk polymer, which results in significant reinforcement below T_g. We ascribe this phenomenon to a high stretching of the chains within the interfacial layer. Since the interfacial chain packing is essentially temperature independent, these findings provide a new insight into the mechanical reinforcement of PNCs also above T_g.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3630-3637
Number of pages	8
Journal	Nano Letters
Volume	16
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00766
State	Published - Jun 8 2016

Funding

We thank Dr. Ken Schweizer for many helpful discussions and suggestions, and Dr. John Dunlap for the help with the TEM measurements. We thank Prof. Zawodzinski for permission to use the gas pycnometer. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. A.B., S.S., S.J., and O.S.O. thank the support from the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.

Funders	Funder number
Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
DOE Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Science
Basic Energy Sciences
Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering

Keywords

Brillouin light scattering
Polymer nanocomposites
band excited atomic force microscopy
interfacial layer
mechanical reinforcement

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10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00766

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title = "Unraveling the mechanism of nanoscale mechanical reinforcement in glassy polymer nanocomposites",

abstract = "The mechanical reinforcement of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) above the glass transition temperature, Tg, has been extensively studied. However, not much is known about the origin of this effect below Tg. In this Letter, we unravel the mechanism of PNC reinforcement within the glassy state by directly probing nanoscale mechanical properties with atomic force microscopy and macroscopic properties with Brillouin light scattering. Our results unambiguously show that the {"}glassy{"} Young's modulus in the interfacial polymer layer of PNCs is two-times higher than in the bulk polymer, which results in significant reinforcement below Tg. We ascribe this phenomenon to a high stretching of the chains within the interfacial layer. Since the interfacial chain packing is essentially temperature independent, these findings provide a new insight into the mechanical reinforcement of PNCs also above Tg.",

keywords = "Brillouin light scattering, Polymer nanocomposites, band excited atomic force microscopy, interfacial layer, mechanical reinforcement",

author = "Shiwang Cheng and Vera Bocharova and Alex Belianinov and Shaomin Xiong and Alexander Kisliuk and Suhas Somnath and Holt, {Adam P.} and Ovchinnikova, {Olga S.} and Stephen Jesse and Halie Martin and Thusitha Etampawala and Mark Dadmun and Sokolov, {Alexei P.}",

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AU - Cheng, Shiwang

AU - Bocharova, Vera

AU - Belianinov, Alex

AU - Xiong, Shaomin

AU - Kisliuk, Alexander

AU - Somnath, Suhas

AU - Holt, Adam P.

AU - Ovchinnikova, Olga S.

AU - Jesse, Stephen

AU - Martin, Halie

AU - Etampawala, Thusitha

AU - Dadmun, Mark

AU - Sokolov, Alexei P.

PY - 2016/6/8

Y1 - 2016/6/8

N2 - The mechanical reinforcement of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) above the glass transition temperature, Tg, has been extensively studied. However, not much is known about the origin of this effect below Tg. In this Letter, we unravel the mechanism of PNC reinforcement within the glassy state by directly probing nanoscale mechanical properties with atomic force microscopy and macroscopic properties with Brillouin light scattering. Our results unambiguously show that the "glassy" Young's modulus in the interfacial polymer layer of PNCs is two-times higher than in the bulk polymer, which results in significant reinforcement below Tg. We ascribe this phenomenon to a high stretching of the chains within the interfacial layer. Since the interfacial chain packing is essentially temperature independent, these findings provide a new insight into the mechanical reinforcement of PNCs also above Tg.

AB - The mechanical reinforcement of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) above the glass transition temperature, Tg, has been extensively studied. However, not much is known about the origin of this effect below Tg. In this Letter, we unravel the mechanism of PNC reinforcement within the glassy state by directly probing nanoscale mechanical properties with atomic force microscopy and macroscopic properties with Brillouin light scattering. Our results unambiguously show that the "glassy" Young's modulus in the interfacial polymer layer of PNCs is two-times higher than in the bulk polymer, which results in significant reinforcement below Tg. We ascribe this phenomenon to a high stretching of the chains within the interfacial layer. Since the interfacial chain packing is essentially temperature independent, these findings provide a new insight into the mechanical reinforcement of PNCs also above Tg.

KW - Brillouin light scattering

KW - Polymer nanocomposites

KW - band excited atomic force microscopy

KW - interfacial layer

KW - mechanical reinforcement

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ER -

Unraveling the mechanism of nanoscale mechanical reinforcement in glassy polymer nanocomposites

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Keywords

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