Search results for "surface"

Friction between Polymer Brushes in Good Solvent Conditions:  Steady-State Sliding versus Transient Behavior

2003

Previous molecular dynamics simulations of friction between polymer brushes in relative sliding motion [Kreer, T.; Muser, M. H.; Binder, K.; Klein, J. Langmuir 2001, 17, 7804] are extended beyond steady-state conditions. We study two different protocols:  (i) stop and return and (ii) stop and go. In protocol (i), the relative, lateral motion between the two surfaces is stopped abruptly and reimposed opposite to the initial direction after the system could relax for some time. Protocol (ii) is similar except that the sliding direction is maintained. In the constant-velocity steady state, the average lateral extension lc of the polymers is found to be a power law of the sliding velocity v, na…

Stimuli-Responsive Y-Shaped Polymer Brushes Based on Junction-Point-Reactive Block Copolymers

2012

Reversibly responsive, thin or ultrathin polymer fi lms, often referred to as “smart surfaces”, can alter their properties upon application of external stimuli. [ 1 , 2 ] One particular application fi eld represents the engineering of nanostructured fi lms mimicking cell membranes. [ 3 , 4 ] Such materials offer application potential for sensors, textiles, construction materials, and smart coatings due to a rapid change in surface energy and morphology. [ 5–7 ] The surface response can be triggered by various external stimuli such as light, temperature, electrical potential, mechanical force, magnetic fi eld, pH change, or selective solvent treatment. [ 1 , 8–12 ] A variety of different thi…

Colloidal stability and self-assembling behavior of nanoclays

2020

Abstract Currently, nanoclays are attracting the attention of a wide part of the scientific community, due to some of their most peculiar features that make them good candidates for applications in different fields. In light of this, some strategies can be pursued in order to obtain stable colloidal dispersions of nanoclays with the aim to improve their features and to expand their use. Hence, this chapter presents an overview on the structural and morphological characteristics, the physico-chemical properties and the main approaches that are taken into account for the preparation of homogeneous suspensions of Halloysite, Imogolite and Laponite in both aqueous and apolar solvent media. In p…

Supramolecular isomerism in spin crossover networks with aurophilic interactions

2004

Assembly of FeII, 3-cyanopyridine and [Au(CN)2]– affords, in one-pot reaction, three coordination polymers that represent a genuine example of supramolecular isomerism with strong influence in the spin crossover regime of the FeII ions. Real Cabezos, Jose Antonio, Jose.A.Real@uv.es

Competitive Adsorption of Functionalized Polymers

1996

The adsorption and desorption of functionalized polystyrene-block-polybutadiene diblock copolymers from dilute solutions in toluene onto silicon wafers are investigated by means of null ellipsometry. The short polybutadiene block is functionalized by a reaction with 4-(3,5-dioxo-1,2,4-triazolidin-4-yl)benzoic acid. On the average there are six functional groups per chain. The polystyrene block does not adsorb on the surface. The adsorption depends on the length of the polystyrene block, and chains with short polystyrene blocks yield higher surface coverage than larger ones. When short and long chains are put together, the short chains displace the long ones in equilibrium conditions nearly …

Coil-Globule Collapse of Polystyrene Chains in Tetrahydrofuran-Water Mixtures.

2018

We study the coil and globule states of a single polymer chain in solution by performing molecular dynamics simulations with a united atom model. Specifically, we characterize the structural properties of atactic polystyrene chains with N = 20–150 monomers in tetrahydrofuran–water mixtures at varying mixing ratios. We find that the hydrophobic polymers form rather open coils when the mole fraction of water, XW, is roughly below 0.25, whereas the chains collapse into globules when XW ≳ 0.75. We confirm the theoretically expected scaling laws for the radius of gyration, Rg, in these regimes, i.e., Rg ∝ N3/5 and Rg ∝ N1/3 for good and poor solvent conditions, respectively. For poor solvent con…

Electrospun rubber/thermoplastic hybrid nanofibers for localized toughening effects in epoxy resins

2020

Synthetic rubber/thermoplastic blends were electrospun from their solutions. The rubber was a solid acrylonitrile/butadiene/acrylic acid copolymer and the thermoplastic was polyacrylonitrile. The aims of this study were to identify suitable systems and processing conditions for obtaining rubber-based electrospun nanofibers, to investigate the ability of an epoxy resin system to impregnate and swell selected hybrid rubber/thermoplastic mats, and to assess the impact of the nanofibers on the resin morphology and curing behavior. In particular, electrospinning trials were carried out varying the composition of the feed solution and process parameters, such as the applied voltage, the flow rate…

Functionalization of Porous Polymers from High‐Internal‐Phase Emulsions and Their Applications

2012

Optical Field-Induced Mass Transport in Soft Materials

2013

Abstract The dependence of the surface relief formation in amorphous chalcogenide (As 2 S 3 and As-S-Se) and Disperse Red 1 dye grafted polyurethane polymer films on the polarization state of holographic recording light beams was studied. It is shown that the direction of lateral mass transport on the film surface is determined by the direction of light electric vector and photoinduced anisotropy in the film. We propose a photoinduced dielectropfhoretic model to explain the photoinduced mass transport in amorphous films. Model is based on the photoinduced softening of the matrix, formation of defects with enhanced or decreased polarizability, and their drift under the electrical field gradi…

Functional 3D Photonic Films from Polymer Beads

2007

This paper describes synthesis and properties of polymer opals with a special emphasis on functional opals. Polymer opals are formed from monodisperse polymer colloids by self-assembly. Their potential applications range from coloring pigments, 3D bicontinuous supports for catalysis to photonic materials. This latter application requires especially the controlled creation of defects and the incorporation of fluorescent materials. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)