JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
Crystallization and unusual rheological behavior in poly(ethylene oxide)-clay nanocomposites

Author
Kelarakis, A.; Giannelis, E.P.
Abstract
We report a systematic study of the crystallization and theological behavior of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-clay nanocomposites. To that end a series of nanocomposites based on PEOs of different molecular weight (10(3) < MW < 10(5) g/mol) and clay surface modifier was synthesized and characterized. Incorporation of organoclays with polar (MMT-OH) or aromatic groups (MMT-Ar) suppresses the crystallization of polymer chains in low MW PEO, but does not significantly affect the crystallization of high MW matrices. In addition, the relative complex viscosity of the nanocomposites based on low MW PEO increases significantly, but the effect is less pronounced at higher MWs. The viscosity increases in the series MMT-Alk < MMT-OH < MMT-Ar. In contrast to the neat PEO which exhibits a monotonic decrease of viscosity with temperature, all nanocomposites show an increase after a certain temperature. This is the first report of such dramatic enhancements in the viscoelasticity of nanocomposites, which are reversible, are based on a simple polymer matrix and are true in a wide temperature range. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sponsorship
This material is based on work supported as part of the Energy
Materials Center at Cornell, an Energy Frontier Research Center
funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of
Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC0001086. This
publication is based on work supported in part by Award No. KUSC1-
018-02, made by King Abdullah University of Science and
Technology (KAUST).
Date Issued
2011-05-04Publisher
Elsevier
Subject
Organoclays; Poly(ethylene oxide); LAYERED SILICATE NANOCOMPOSITES; POLYMER-CLAY NANOCOMPOSITES; MELT INTERCALATION; COMPUTER-SIMULATION; LITHIUM BATTERIES; CARBON NANOTUBES; MONTMORILLONITE; MORPHOLOGY; ORGANOCLAY; ELECTROLYTES
Related Version
http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0032386111002370/1-s2.0-S0032386111002370-main.pdf?_tid=5ae5894c-124e-11e2-8d0d-00000aacb362&acdnat=1349814031_e7754bcdfac14dff3048867e8aff9e65
Previously Published As
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2011.03.031
ISSN
0032-3861
Type
article