title: Enhanced Glassy State Mechanical Properties of Polymer Nanocomposites via Supramolecular Interactions.
abstract: It is now well accepted that the addition of nanoparticles (NPs) can strongly affect the thermomechanical properties of the polymers into which they are incorporated. In the solid (glassy) state, previous work has implied that optimal mechanical properties are achieved when the NPs are well dispersed in the matrix and when there is strong interfacial binding between the grafted NPs and the polymer matrix. Here we provide strong evidence supporting the importance of intermolecular interactions through the use of NPs grafted with polymers that can hydrogen bond with the matrix, yielding to significant improvements in the measured mechanical properties. Our finding thus supports the previously implied central role of strong interfacial binding in optimizing the mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites.
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 500 W. 120th Street, New York, New York 10027, United States.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 500 W. 120th Street, New York, New York 10027, United States.|‡Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, Laboratoire PHENIX, Case 51, 4 place Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jouault
authors.affiliation: §Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, United States.
authors.forename: Gregory A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 500 W. 120th Street, New York, New York 10027, United States.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: §Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, United States.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: ∥Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, 500 W. 120th Street, New York, New York 10027, United States.
authors.forename: Jeffrey W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kysar
authors.affiliation: §Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, United States.
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 500 W. 120th Street, New York, New York 10027, United States.
authors.forename: Sanat K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kumar
keywords: Nanocomposites; hydrogen bonding; mechanical properties; reinforcement; supramolecular interactions