LBL assembled laminates with hierarchical organization from nano- to microscale: high-toughness nanomaterials and deformation imaging.
Layer-by-layer assembly (LBL) can generate unique materials with high degrees of nanoscale organization and excellent mechanical, electrical, and optical properties. The typical nanometer scale thicknesses restrict their utility to thin films and coatings. Preparation of macroscale nanocomposites will indicate a paradigm change in the practice of LBL, materials manufacturing, and multiscale organization of nanocomponents. Such materials were made in this study via consolidation of individual LBL sheets from polyurethane. Substantial enhancement of mechanical properties after consolidation was observed. The resulting laminates are homogeneous, transparent, and highly ductile and display nearly 3x higher strength and toughness than their components. Hierarchically organized composites combining structural features from 1 to 1 000 000 nm at six different levels of dimensionality with a high degree of structural control at every level can be obtained. The functionality of the resulting fluorescent sandwiches of different colors makes possible mechanical deformation imaging with submicrometer resolution in real time and 3D capabilities.
Podsiadlo
Paul
P
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2136, USA.
Arruda
Ellen M
EM
Kheng
Eugene
E
Waas
Anthony M
AM
Lee
Jungwoo
J
Critchley
Kevin
K
Qin
Ming
M
Chuang
Eric
E
Kaushik
Amit K
AK
Kim
Hyoung-Sug
HS
Qi
Ying
Y
Noh
Si-Tae
ST
Kotov
Nicholas A
NA