title: Highly ordered self-assembling polymer/clay nanocomposite barrier film.
abstract: Efforts to mimic complex-structured biologically based materials such as abalone shell have occupied substantial research time and effort in science and engineering. The majority of the efforts involve tedious and expensive techniques and processes. Layer-by-layer (LBL) is one such technique that can produce materials with quite unique physical properties, approaching, and in some cases surpassing, those seen in nature. The LBL technique, however, is quite tedious and difficult to implement commercially. We report here the discovery of an organic/inorganic spontaneous self-assembling system that forms a highly structured nanocomposite. The driving force behind this self-assembly appears to be entropy. This discovery should open up completely new avenues to designing hierarchical composites and structures. The films have been studied by X-ray diffraction and the barrier properties for oxygen diffusion measured.
authors.affiliation: †Materials Science, Engineering and Commercialization Program, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas 78666, United States.
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: †Materials Science, Engineering and Commercialization Program, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas 78666, United States.
authors.forename: Yihong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: †Materials Science, Engineering and Commercialization Program, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas 78666, United States.|‡Physics Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Gary W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Beall
mesh_terms: D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000737:chemistry*; D060105:Animal Shells / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D000077215:Clay; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods; D008422:Materials Testing; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D011108:Polymers; D010100:Oxygen; D000077215:Clay
keywords: biomimetic; gas barrier; highly ordered; nanocomposite; self-assembly