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It is generally believed that the strength of the polymer-nanoparticle interaction controls the modification of near-interface segmental mobility in polymer nanocomposites (PNCs). However, little is known about the effect of covalent bonding on the segmental dynamics and glass transition of matrix-free polymer-grafted nanoparticles (PGNs), especially when compared to PNCs. In this article, we directly compare the static and dynamic properties of poly(2-vinylpyridine)/silica-based nanocomposites with polymer chains either physically adsorbed (PNCs) or covalently bonded (PGNs) to identical silica nanoparticles (RNP = 12.5 nm) for three different molecular weight (MW) systems. Interestingly, when the MW of the matrix is as low as 6 kg/mol (RNP/Rg = 5.4) or as high as 140 kg/mol (RNP/Rg= 1.13), both small-angle X-ray scattering and broadband dielectric spectroscopy show similar static and dynamic properties for PNCs and PGNs. However, for the intermediate MW of 18 kg/mol (RNP/Rg = 3.16), the difference between physical adsorption and covalent bonding can be clearly identified in the static and dynamic properties of the interfacial layer. We ascribe the differences in the interfacial properties of PNCs and PGNs to changes in chain stretching, as quantified by self-consistent field theory calculations. These results demonstrate that the dynamic suppression at the interface is affected by the chain stretching; that is, it depends on the anisotropy of the segmental conformations, more so than the strength of the interaction, which suggests that the interfacial dynamics can be effectively tuned by the degree of stretching-a parameter accessible from the MW or grafting density.

DEs especially exhibit potential for mimicking human muscles due to their high strain capacity and work density. [6] Polymers used for DEs often include siloxanes or acrylic elastomers, and the optimal DE actuators (DEA) in literature are surprisingly comprised of a commercial acrylic adhesive from 3 M. [7] However, these DEs require prestretching and large driving voltages to achieve large actuation strains, which limit their impact. The past decade has seen a plethora of research dedicated to finding materials to circumvent these limitations.Nafion has long served as the benchmark material for IPMCs due to its commercial availability and superior actuation performance at low voltages. Nafion actuators, however, have several drawbacks such as: low bending performance at low humidity, processing difficulties, and back relaxation. Due to these limitations, interest in new ionic polymers for IPMCs continues to grow in the literature. [8] This review aims to summarize the progress made in materials for EAP actuators over the past decade, focusing on IPMCs and DEAs, which comprise a significant fraction of the recent advances.

Vat photopolymerization of a trimethylammonium ethyl acrylate chloride solution (TMAEA) resulted in a well-defined, fully soluble, 3D printed rook.

With a growing variety of nanoparticles available, research probing the influence of particle deformability, morphology, and topology on the behavior of all polymer nanocomposites is also increasing. In particular, the behavior of soft polymeric nanoparticles in polymer nanocomposites has displayed unique behavior, but their precise performance depends intimately on the internal structure and morphology of the nanoparticle. With the goal of providing guidelines to control the structure and morphology of soft polymeric nanoparticles, we have examined monomer starved semi-batch nano-emulsion polymerizations that form organic, soft nanoparticles, to correlate the precise structure of the nanoparticle to the rate of monomer addition and crosslinking density. The synthesis method produces 5-20 nm radii polystyrene nanoparticles with tunable morphologies. We report small angle neutron scattering (SANS) results that correlate synthetic conditions to the structural characteristics of soft polystyrene nanoparticles. These results show that the measured molecular weight of the nanoparticles is controlled by the monomer addition rate, the total nanoparticle radius is controlled by the excess surfactant concentration, and the crosslinking density has a direct effect on the topology of each nanoparticle. These studies thus provide pathways to control these 3 structural characteristics of the nanoparticle. This research, therefore provides a conduit to thoroughly investigate the effect of structural features of soft nanoparticles on their individual properties and those of their polymer nanocomposites.

We present the synthesis and characterization of a new class of high temperature thermoplastic elastomers composed of polybenzofulvene–polyisoprene–polybenzofulvene (FIF) triblock copolymers. All copolymers were prepared by living anionic polymerization in benzene at room temperature. Homopolymerization and effects of additives on the glass transition temperature (T g) of polybenzofulvene (PBF) were also investigated. Among all triblock copolymers studied, FIF with 14 vol % of PBF exhibited a maximum stress of 14.3 ± 1.3 MPa and strain at break of 1390 ± 66% from tensile tests. The stress–strain curves of FIF-10 and 14 were analyzed by a statistical molecular approach using a nonaffine tube model to estimate the thermoplastic elastomer behavior. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed that the softening temperature of PBF in FIF was 145 °C, much higher than that of thermoplastic elastomers with polystyrene hard blocks. Microphase separation of FIF triblock copolymers was observed by small-angle X-ray scattering, even though long-range order was not achieved under the annealing conditions employed. In addition, the microphase separation of the resulting triblock copolymers was examined by atomic force microscopy.

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Polyurea elastomers derived in part from a bio-sourced feedstock and synthesized using an isocyanate-, solvent-, and catalyst-free approach exhibit elastomeric properties while maintaining melt-processibility.