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Quantification of the Dispersion of Reinforcing Fillers in Polymer Nanocomposite Materials

McGlasson, Alex M

Abstract Details

2019, MS, University of Cincinnati, Engineering and Applied Science: Materials Science.
The dispersion of nanofillers in viscous polymers is dictated by kinetics; interaction potentials between particles; and interfacial compatibility between the matrix phase and the dispersed phase, sedimentation, and flocculation. The extent of reinforcement of these nanofillers is strongly dependent on the degree and quality of dispersion. It was previously proposed that an analogy between thermally dispersed colloids and kinetically dispersed nanoparticles in viscous media can be made for cases where only weak interactions exist between particles allowing for a mean field description such as for carbon black dispersed in polybutadiene elastomer. For these cases the second virial coefficient can be used to quantify the quality of dispersion; additionally, the nanoscale network mesh size can be calculated which is related to dynamic properties. However, this approach fails for nanoparticles with surface charges or other specific interactions that lead to correlations. Here, these correlated systems are investigated in the context of the meanfield systems to gain a comparative description of dispersion using the network mesh size and a derived virial coefficient. A comparison is made between precipitated silica and carbon black in polybutadiene rubber. It is found that the two systems display similar mesh size and state of dispersion. Using these two models to describe the quality of dispersion, the effect of processing conditions is also studied. This thesis looks at controlling the mixing schedule in order to improve the quality of the dispersed state. The simplest case of mixing schedule involves timed filler additions into an elastomer, for instance in a single stage or two-stages. It was found that single stage mixing yields optimal nano-dispersion for carbon coated silica and carbon black in polybutadiene using an internal mixer.
Gregory Beaucage, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Jude Iroh, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Jonathan Nickels, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
56 p.

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Citations

  • McGlasson, A. M. (2019). Quantification of the Dispersion of Reinforcing Fillers in Polymer Nanocomposite Materials [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1554475356053017

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McGlasson, Alex. Quantification of the Dispersion of Reinforcing Fillers in Polymer Nanocomposite Materials. 2019. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1554475356053017.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McGlasson, Alex. "Quantification of the Dispersion of Reinforcing Fillers in Polymer Nanocomposite Materials." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1554475356053017

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)