Mun Fu Tse

Structure and dynamics of carbon black-filled elastomers

The linear and nonlinear melt viscoelastic properties for a series of carbon black-filled polymer composites were studied. Complementary tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies were used to examine the dispersion and structural correlations of the filler particles in these composites. The low-frequency dependence of the linear viscoelastic moduli gradually changes from liquidlike behavior for the unfilled polymer to pseudosolid character for composites with more than 9 vol % carbon black filler. The plateau modulus, inferred from the linear viscoelastic response, exhibits a somewhat discontinuous change at about 9 vol % filler. On the basis of the linear viscoelastic response, we postulate that the carbon black filler forms a continuous percolated network structure beyond 9 vol % filler, considerably lower than that expected from theoretical calculations for overlapping spheres and ellipsoids. We suggest that the lower threshold for percolation is due to the polymer mediation of the filler structure, resulting from the low functionality of the polymer and, consequently, few strong polymer–filler interactions, allowing for long loops and tails that can either bridge filler particles or entangle with one another. Furthermore, the strain amplitude for the transition from linear behavior to nonlinear behavior of the modulus for the composites with greater than 9 vol % filler is independent of frequency, and this critical strain amplitude decreases with increasing filler concentration. Complementary AFM measurements suggest a well-dispersed carbon black structure with the nearest neighbor distance showing a discontinuous decrease at about 9 vol % filler, again consistent with the formation of a filler network structure beyond 9 vol % carbon black.

Templating of cylindrical and spherical block copolymer microdomains by layered silicates

The influence of a highly anisotropic layered silicate (organically modified montmorillonite) in directing the mesoscopic self-assembly of a block copolymer blend is studied as a model for the development and tailoring of templated inorganic–organic hybrid materials. The potential for nanometer thick layers to induce large-scale mesoscopic ordering of cylindrical and spherical microdomains in asymmetric block copolymers is studied using a combination of rheology, electron microscopy, and small angle neutron scattering. Spherical microdomains arranged on a bcc lattice are templated by the anisotropic layered silicate and the kinetics of their growth are dramatically accelerated by the presence of even 0.1 wt.% (0.04 vol.%) of the filler. However, for cylindrical microdomain ordering, the kinetics are essentially unaffected by the addition of layered silicates and the development of three-dimensional mesoscopic order is possibly even disrupted. These results suggest that for the development of three-dimensi...