SYNTHETIC NANO-ENHANCED POLYMERS AND NATURAL

The development of hierarchical structure in synthetic materials is a new approach to enhancing multifunctional properties in a manner that is similar to natural materials. One means for achieving hierarchical structure is to add nanoscale ingredients to polymers that can either self-assemble in a “bottom-up ” approach or can be added to polymer with microscale reinforcement through engineered-assembly in a “top-down ” approach. In order to better understand synthetic hierarchical structures developed through the nano-enhancement of polymers and those occurring in natural materials, multi-scale characterization techniques and models are developed to elucidate the structure-property relationship due to hierarchical structure, and the control of this relationship through processing in synthetic materials. A combinatorial approach is applied for rapid characterization of the processing-structure-property relationships that develop in nano-enhanced thermoplastic polymers associated with the hierarchical structure that forms from a combination of dispersed, agglomerated, and percolated nanoscale ingredients. A ne