MOLECULAR MODELING OF THERMAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF ELASTOMERS: A REVIEW

2013 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kshitij C. Jha ◽  
Mesfin Tsige

ABSTRACT Elastomers have varied applications from adhesives, sealants, encapsulants, and coatings to specialty usage in electronics, aviation, optical, and communications industries due to their high structural stability. In addition, more and more biological applications of elastomeric compounds are gaining ground, particularly in mimetic architecture. Modeling and simulation provide tools by which the interactions leading to various structure–property relationships can be explored at the micro level. An understanding of these processes could cut down on the extensive and expensive trial-and-error experiments as well as provide a benchmark for material design. This review article explores the work done by different groups, especially at the molecular level, to model the properties of both thermoplastic and thermoset elastomers. Each presents its own challenges and solutions: from microphase separation to network building and force field parameterization. The results of these modeling efforts along with the challenges are presented in this review work.

2021 ◽  
Vol 206 ◽  
pp. 116619
Author(s):  
Danial Khatamsaz ◽  
Abhilash Molkeri ◽  
Richard Couperthwaite ◽  
Jaylen James ◽  
Raymundo Arróyave ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangyang Wan ◽  
Fernando Ramirez ◽  
Xu Zhang ◽  
Thuc-Quyen Nguyen ◽  
Guillermo C. Bazan ◽  
...  

AbstractConjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs), comprised of conjugated backbones and pendant ionic functionalities, are versatile organic materials with diverse applications. However, the myriad of possible molecular structures of CPEs render traditional, trial-and-error materials discovery strategy impractical. Here, we tackle this problem using a data-centric approach by incorporating machine learning with high-throughput first-principles calculations. We systematically examine how key materials properties depend on individual structural components of CPEs and from which the structure–property relationships are established. By means of machine learning, we uncover structural features crucial to the CPE properties, and these features are then used as descriptors in the machine learning to predict the properties of unknown CPEs. Lastly, we discover promising CPEs as hole transport materials in halide perovskite-based optoelectronic devices and as photocatalysts for water splitting. Our work could accelerate the discovery of CPEs for optoelectronic and photocatalytic applications.


Author(s):  
J. Petermann ◽  
G. Broza ◽  
U. Rieck ◽  
A. Jaballah ◽  
A. Kawaguchi

Oriented overgrowth of polymer materials onto ionic crystals is well known and recently it was demonstrated that this epitaxial crystallisation can also occur in polymer/polymer systems, under certain conditions. The morphologies and the resulting physical properties of such systems will be presented, especially the influence of epitaxial interfaces on the adhesion of polymer laminates and the mechanical properties of epitaxially crystallized sandwiched layers.Materials used were polyethylene, PE, Lupolen 6021 DX (HDPE) and 1810 D (LDPE) from BASF AG; polypropylene, PP, (PPN) provided by Höchst AG and polybutene-1, PB-1, Vestolen BT from Chemische Werke Hüls. Thin oriented films were prepared according to the method of Petermann and Gohil, by winding up two different polymer films from two separately heated glass-plates simultaneously with the help of a motor driven cylinder. One double layer was used for TEM investigations, while about 1000 sandwiched layers were taken for mechanical tests.


Author(s):  
Barbara A. Wood

A controversial topic in the study of structure-property relationships of toughened polymer systems is the internal cavitation of toughener particles resulting from damage on impact or tensile deformation.Detailed observations of the influence of morphological characteristics such as particle size distribution on deformation mechanisms such as shear yield and cavitation could provide valuable guidance for selection of processing conditions, but TEM observation of damaged zones presents some experimental difficulties.Previously published TEM images of impact fractured toughened nylon show holes but contrast between matrix and toughener is lacking; other systems investigated have clearly shown cavitated impact modifier particles. In rubber toughened nylon, the physical characteristics of cavitated material differ from undamaged material to the extent that sectioning of heavily damaged regions by cryoultramicrotomy with a diamond knife results in sections of greater than optimum thickness (Figure 1). The detailed morphology is obscured despite selective staining of the rubber phase using the ruthenium trichloride route to ruthenium tetroxide.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Stafford ◽  
Dowon Ahn ◽  
Emily Raulerson ◽  
Kun-You Chung ◽  
Kaihong Sun ◽  
...  

Driving rapid polymerizations with visible to near-infrared (NIR) light will enable nascent technologies in the emerging fields of bio- and composite-printing. However, current photopolymerization strategies are limited by long reaction times, high light intensities, and/or large catalyst loadings. Improving efficiency remains elusive without a comprehensive, mechanistic evaluation of photocatalysis to better understand how composition relates to polymerization metrics. With this objective in mind, a series of methine- and aza-bridged boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) derivatives were synthesized and systematically characterized to elucidate key structure-property relationships that facilitate efficient photopolymerization driven by visible to NIR light. For both BODIPY scaffolds, halogenation was shown as a general method to increase polymerization rate, quantitatively characterized using a custom real-time infrared spectroscopy setup. Furthermore, a combination of steady-state emission quenching experiments, electronic structure calculations, and ultrafast transient absorption revealed that efficient intersystem crossing to the lowest excited triplet state upon halogenation was a key mechanistic step to achieving rapid photopolymerization reactions. Unprecedented polymerization rates were achieved with extremely low light intensities (< 1 mW/cm<sup>2</sup>) and catalyst loadings (< 50 μM), exemplified by reaction completion within 60 seconds of irradiation using green, red, and NIR light-emitting diodes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 1796-1814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sk. Abdul Amin ◽  
Nilanjan Adhikari ◽  
Tarun Jha ◽  
Shovanlal Gayen

Camptothecin (CPT), obtained from Camptotheca acuminata (Nyssaceae), is a quinoline type of alkaloid. Apart from various traditional uses, it is mainly used as a potential cytotoxic agent acting against a variety of cancer cell lines. Though searches have been continued for last six decades, still it is a demanding task to design potent and cytotoxic CPTs. Different CPT analogs are synthesized to enhance the cytotoxic potential as well as to increase the pharmacokinetic properties of these analogs. Some of these analogs were proven to be clinically effective in different cancer cell lines. In this article, different CPT analogs have been highlighted extensively to get a detail insight about the structure-property relationships as well as different quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) modeling of these analogs are also discussed. This study may be beneficial for designing newer CPT analogs in future.


1990 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1527-1540 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. V. Edmonds ◽  
R. C. Cochrane

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (15) ◽  
pp. 4705
Author(s):  
Boer Liu ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Glenn A. Spiering ◽  
Robert B. Moore ◽  
Timothy E. Long

This work reveals the influence of pendant hydrogen bonding strength and distribution on self-assembly and the resulting thermomechanical properties of A-AB-A triblock copolymers. Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization afforded a library of A-AB-A acrylic triblock copolymers, wherein the A unit contained cytosine acrylate (CyA) or post-functionalized ureido cytosine acrylate (UCyA) and the B unit consisted of n-butyl acrylate (nBA). Differential scanning calorimetry revealed two glass transition temperatures, suggesting microphase-separation in the A-AB-A triblock copolymers. Thermomechanical and morphological analysis revealed the effects of hydrogen bonding distribution and strength on the self-assembly and microphase-separated morphology. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed multiple tan delta (δ) transitions that correlated to chain relaxation and hydrogen bonding dissociation, further confirming the microphase-separated structure. In addition, UCyA triblock copolymers possessed an extended modulus plateau versus temperature compared to the CyA analogs due to the stronger association of quadruple hydrogen bonding. CyA triblock copolymers exhibited a cylindrical microphase-separated morphology according to small-angle X-ray scattering. In contrast, UCyA triblock copolymers lacked long-range ordering due to hydrogen bonding induced phase mixing. The incorporation of UCyA into the soft central block resulted in improved tensile strength, extensibility, and toughness compared to the AB random copolymer and A-B-A triblock copolymer comparisons. This study provides insight into the structure-property relationships of A-AB-A supramolecular triblock copolymers that result from tunable association strengths.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document