In Situ Self Assembly of Nanocomposites: Competition of Chaotic Advection and Interfacial Effects as Observed by X-Ray Diffreaction

Nanomaterials

Dilru R. Ratnaweera¹  Chaitra Mahesha²  David A. Zumbrunnen²  Dvora Perahia¹ 

[1] Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0973, USA; E-Mail:;Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0921, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: assembly;    nanocomposites;    chaotic advection;    nylon;    smart blending;    X-ray diffraction;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nano5010351

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The effects of chaotic advection on the in situ assembly of a hierarchal nanocomposite of Poly Amide 6, (nylon 6 or PA6) and platelet shape nanoparticles (NPs) were studied. The assemblies were formed by chaotic advection, where melts of pristine PA6 and a mixture of PA6 with NPs were segregated into discrete layers and extruded into film in a continuous process. The process assembles the nanocomposite into alternating pristine-polymer and oriented NP/polymer layers. The structure of these hierarchal assemblies was probed by X-rays as a processing parameter, N, was varied. This parameter provides a measure of the extent of in situ structuring by chaotic advection. We found that all assemblies are semi-crystalline at room temperature. Increasing N impacts the ratio of α to γ crystalline forms. The effects of the chaotic advection vary with the concentration of the NPs. For nanocomposites with lower NP concentrations the amount of the γ crystalline form increased with N. However, at higher NP concentrations, interfacial effects of the NP play a significant role in determining the structure, where the NPs oriented along the melt flow direction and the polymer chains oriented perpendicular to the NP surfaces.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.