Incorporation of silica into baroplastic core-shell nanoparticles

Core-shell baroplastics are nanophase materials that exhibit pressure-induced flow at low temperatures and high pressures. Core-shell baroplastics used in this work are comprised of a low Tg poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA) core and a high Tg polystyrene (PS) shell. These novel polymer systems can be molded into fully formed, 3-D shapes with the application of high pressure at room temperature. While the mechanical properties are equivalent to or better than those of commercial thermoplastic elastomers, more can be done to improve upon individual aspects of the mechanical properties, such as elastic modulus. This work looks at creating baroplastic nanocomposites with the goal of improving upon the mechanical properties. To accomplish this goal, two incorporation strategies for introducing silica nanoparticles were developed. The pre-emulsion strategy incorporated hydrophobized silica nanoparticles inside the core-shell nanoparticles to create core-shell-shell nanoparticles. The post-emulsion strategy incorporated charged silica nanoparticles after core-shell emulsion, with the intention of creating crystalline structures with silica and core-shell nanoparticles.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Hewlett, Sheldon A

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Anne M. Mayes.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35067

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/35067