Breaking the Nanoparticle Loading-Dispersion Dichotomy in Polymer Nanocomposites with the Art of Croissant-Making

Overview

Journal ACS Nano

Publisher American Chemical Society

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2018 Sep 5

PMID 30179514

Citations 7

Authors

Giovanni Santagiuliana

Olivier T Picot

Maria Crespo

Harshit Porwal

Han Zhang

Yan Li

Luca Rubini

Samuele Colonna

Alberto Fina

Ettore Barbieri

Anne B Spoelstra

Giulia Mirabello

Joseph P Patterson

Lorenzo Botto

Nicola M Pugno

Ton Peijs

Emiliano Bilotti

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The intrinsic properties of nanomaterials offer promise for technological revolutions in many fields, including transportation, soft robotics, and energy. Unfortunately, the exploitation of such properties in polymer nanocomposites is extremely challenging due to the lack of viable dispersion routes when the filler content is high. We usually face a dichotomy between the degree of nanofiller loading and the degree of dispersion (and, thus, performance) because dispersion quality decreases with loading. Here, we demonstrate a potentially scalable pressing-and-folding method (P & F), inspired by the art of croissant-making, to efficiently disperse ultrahigh loadings of nanofillers in polymer matrices. A desired nanofiller dispersion can be achieved simply by selecting a sufficient number of P & F cycles. Because of the fine microstructural control enabled by P & F, mechanical reinforcements close to the theoretical maximum and independent of nanofiller loading (up to 74 vol %) were obtained. We propose a universal model for the P & F dispersion process that is parametrized on an experimentally quantifiable " D factor". The model represents a general guideline for the optimization of nanocomposites with enhanced functionalities including sensing, heat management, and energy storage.

Citing Articles

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