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Polymer Grafted Nanoparticle Viscosity Modifiers
Author(s) -
Giovino Marissa,
Buenning Eileen,
Jimenez Andrew,
Kumar Sanat K.,
Schadler Linda
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.201800543
Subject(s) - polymer , nanoparticle , plasticizer , materials science , dewetting , viscosity , polymer chemistry , hydrodynamic radius , chemical engineering , composite material , filler (materials) , intrinsic viscosity , copolymer , nanotechnology , wetting , engineering
It is demonstrated that the addition of nanoparticles can decrease the viscosity of an entangled polymer matrix (plasticization). While there has been considerable effort in understanding the role of bare nanoparticles on viscosity, the corresponding study on grafted particles is nascent. Two nanometer radius zirconia fillers with a bimodal population of grafted PDMS is used. Two fillers are considered: one has grafted chains with a molecular weight, M g , less than the entanglement M, M g < M e (ZrO 2 1k 10k), and the other filler has grafted chains M > M c (the critical M e ) (ZrO 2 1k 36k). The ZrO 2 1k 10k composites exhibit plasticization for large matrix molecular weight M m . The ZrO 2 1k 36k composites, in contrast, have Einstein‐like behavior. The plasticization effects are either due to: the small filler size relative to the tube diameter or an increase in chain mobility at the interface due to autophobic dewetting.