Fast solvent induced switchable phase-states of binary polymer-grafted nanoparticle blends

ORAL

Abstract

Polymer-grafted nanoparticles (PGNPs) have potential applications in nanoelectronics, photonic devices, and as tough materials with tunable enhanced mechanical properties. However, these applications require the particles to form well-controlled structures. We hypothesize that these can be achieved through liquid-enabled phase-separation as a facile approach. To this end, we developed a method to switch the state of phase-separated structures in a binary blend film of PGNPs, poly (methyl methacrylate) silica (PMMA-SiO2) and poly(styrene) silica (PS-SiO2), by using a direct solvent immersion annealing (DIA) method. Our results show that by varying the solvents in the DIA solution, interchangeable phase-separated and homogeneous morphologies are formed in the PMMA-SiO2/PS-SiO2 blends within 1 minute. Such homopolymer matrix free PGNP only blend systems are novel, and these switchable transitions are not readily obtainable by thermal annealing due to the large masses and the athermal property of PGNPs involved.

*DOE GRANT #: DE-SC0018854

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Presenters

  • Wenjie Wu

    • Univ of Houston
    • Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston

Authors

  • Wenjie Wu

    • Univ of Houston
    • Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston

  • Maninderjeet Singh

    • Univ of Houston
    • Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston

  • Xiaoteng Wang

    • Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron

  • Yue Zhai

    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
    • Carnegie Mellon Univ

  • Zongyu Wang

    • Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University

  • Tanguy Terlier

    • Rice University
    • Shared Equipment Authority, SIMS laboratory, Rice University

  • Krzysztof Matyjaszewski

    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
    • Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University
    • Carnegie Mellon Univ

  • Michael Bockstaller

    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
    • Carnegie Mellon Univ

  • Alamgir Karim

    • Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston
    • Univ of Houston
    • University of Houston
    • Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston
    • Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Univ of Houston
    • University of Houston-Main Campus