Persistence of Surface-Induced Alignment in Block Copolymers upon Large-Amplitude Oscillatory Shear Processing

Modulating interfacial attraction of polymer-grafted nanoparticles in melts under shear

The mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites are significantly affected by spatial ordering of nanoparticles (NPs) which can be modified under shear flow fields. Polymer-grafted iron oxide NPs form strings, well-dispersed, and percolated anisotropic nanostructures depending on grafting density, and herein their mechanical properties under large oscillatory shear flows are reported. We show that flow-induced alignment of NPs is achieved with string-like structures at low particle loadings (5 wt%). Further, entropic surface tension between grafted and free chains decreases by facilitating the penetration of long matrix chains into the grafts with oscillatory shear flow. Consequently, the degree of entanglements at large strain amplitudes is enhanced which is reflected in elastic properties. These results indicate that the matrix polymer plays an effective role in the reinforcement of polymer-grafted NPs under large shear flow fields.

Local probe and conduction distribution of proton exchange membranes

Proton exchange membranes (Nafion) have been studied using current sensing atomic force microscopy to examine the correlation between the surface morphology and the ionic domains, and to probe the local ionic conduction distribution in the membranes. It is found that the local ionic conduction generated from the current sensing images follows a Gaussian-like distribution, with the peak value and the width of the distribution increasing with the relative humidity in the sample chamber and, thus, the water content in the membranes. Two types of Nafion membranes, Nafion 112 and Nafion 117, were studied using the method. The implications of the distribution in relation to the ionic conducting channels in the membranes are discussed.

Influence of initial order on the microscopic mechanism of electric field induced alignment of block copolymer microdomains

We investigate the mechanism of microdomain orientation in concentrated block copolymer solutions exposed to a dc electric field by in situ synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). As a model system, we use concentrated solutions of a lamellar polystyrene-b-polyisoprene block copolymer in toluene. We find that both the microscopic mechanism of reorientation and the kinetics of the process strongly depend on the initial degree of order in the system. In a highly ordered lamellar system with the lamellae being aligned perpendicular to the electric field vector, only nucleation and growth of domains is possible as a pathway to reorientation and the process proceeds rather slowly. In less ordered samples, grain rotation becomes possible as an alternative pathway, and the process proceeds considerably faster. The interpretation of our finding is strongly corroborated by dynamic self-consistent field simulations.

Spatially correlated metallic nanostructures on self-assembled diblock copolymer templates

Polymeric complexes based on diblock copolymers (polystyrene-block-4-vinylpyridine) hydrogen bonded with pentadecylphenol self-assemble under oscillatory shear flow into a highly ordered lamellar structure (Ikkala et al. Science 2002). Microtomed films of the lamellar structure form an array of "nanosheets"following immersion in methanol. We have exploited this nanosheet array as an extremely effective template to direct the spatial organisation of metallic (Pd) nanoclusters. The electroless deposition metal on the nanotemplates leads to morphologically complex nanostructured metallic films which were observed using atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

Shear-induced undulation of smectic-A: Molecular Dynamics simulations vs. analytical theory

Experiments on a variety of systems have shown that layered liquids are unstable under shear even if the liquid layers are planes of constant velocity. We investigate the stability of smectic- A like liquids under shear using Molecular Dynamics simulations and a macroscopic hydrodynamic theory (including the layer normal and the director as independent variables). Both methods show an instability of the layers, which sets in above a critical shear rate. We find a remarkable qualitative and reasonable quantitative agreement between both methods for the spatial homogeneous state and the onset of the instability.

Shear-induced instabilities in layered liquids

Motivated by the experimentally observed shear-induced destabilization and reorientation of smectic-A-like systems, we consider an extended formulation of smectic-A hydrodynamics. We include both, the smectic layering (via the layer displacement u and the layer normal p(circ)) and the director n(circ) of the underlying nematic order in our macroscopic hydrodynamic description and allow both directions to differ in nonequilibrium situations. In an homeotropically aligned sample the nematic director does couple to an applied simple shear, whereas the smectic layering stays unchanged. This difference leads to a finite (but usually small) angle between n(circ) and p(circ), which we find to be equivalent to an effective dilatation of the layers. This effective dilatation leads, above a certain threshold, to an undulation instability of the layers. We generalize our earlier approach [G. K. Auernhammer, H. R. Brand, and H. Pleiner, Rheol. Acta 39, 215 (2000)] and include the cross couplings with the velocity field and the order parameters for orientational and positional order and show how the order parameters interact with the undulation instability. We explore the influence of various material parameters on the instability. Comparing our results to recent experiments and molecular dynamic simulations, we find a good qualitative agreement.

Orientations of the lamellar phase of block copolymer melts under oscillatory shear flow

We develop a theory to describe the reorientation phenomena in the lamellar phase of block copolymer melts under reciprocating shear flow. We show that, similar to the steady shear, the oscillating flow anisotropically suppresses fluctuations and gives rise to the [parallel]--> [perpendicular] transition. The experimentally observed high-frequency reverse transition is explained in terms of interaction between the melt and the shear-cell walls.

Influence of confinement on the orientational phase transitions in the lamellar phase of a block-copolymer melt under shear flow

In this paper, we incorporate some real-system effects into the theory of orientational phase transitions under shear flow [M. E. Cates and S. T. Milner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 62 1856 (1989) and G. H. Fredrickson, J. Rheol. 38, 1045 (1994)]. In particular, we study the influence of the shear-cell boundaries on the orientation of the lamellar phase. We predict that at low shear rates, the parallel orientation appears to be stable. We show that there is a critical value of the shear rate at which the parallel orientation loses its stability and the perpendicular one appears immediately below the spinodal. We associate this transition with a crossover from the fluctuation to the mean-field behavior. At lower temperatures, the stability of the parallel orientation is restored. We find that the region of stability of the perpendicular orientation rapidly decreases as shear rate increases. This behavior might be misinterpreted as an additional perpendicular to parallel transition recently discussed in literature.