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Dynamics in Polymer Melts and Nanocomposites

Gerald J. Schneider (Louisiana State University)

Intense research has led to substantial progress towards understanding the fundamentals of polymer melts and polymer based nanocomposites. Characterizing polymer dynamics at micro- and mesoscopic scales is particularly interesting. For example, it is essential for modelling the macroscopic material response needed for the target-oriented engineering of new hybrid materials. Furthermore, various experiments raise fundamental questions, difficult to answer without high resolution of scattering experiments. Our holistic approach may lead to optimized materials ranging from classical car tires to battery or fuel cell applications, and are potentially useful for understanding protein and DNA interactions with cells.
The presentation highlights neutron scattering experiments on composites, in which hard impenetrable walls impose constraints on polymer melts, by limiting the accessible regions. Furthermore, due to their small diameters nanoparticles possess a high surface to volume ratio. Therefore, interactions between polymer segments and particle surfaces determine the polymer dynamics, which is crucial for polymer processing and technology. The talk summarizes the research on model nanocomposites well suited to act as interlink between a theoretical understanding and the technical application and sheds light on the influence of hard impenetrable surfaces and interactions between chains and surfaces. Furthermore, it presents the link from the morphology and the dynamics at the microscopic and mesoscopic scales to the material properties, e.g. those measured by rheology experiments.

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