Understanding chemical transport in polymer composites is important for optimizing performance in several applications including improved selectivity of mixed matrix membranes for chemical separations and chemical resistance of protective coatings. The transport properties at the particle-polymer interface can differ significantly from those in the polymer bulk, and when the interfacial regions overlap, undesirable fast chemical transport pathways can open up. Improving the performance of composite systems requires a detailed understanding of how the interface can be tuned to improve the interfacial transport properties. Colloidal force spectroscopy using atomic force microscopy (AFM) offers a useful technique to study the details of the polymer-particle interaction ex-situ at the scale of a single particle in the composite system. In this work, the influence of different particle surface modifications, including chemical functionalization and polymer grafting, on the polymer-particle adhesion are assessed and corresponding changes in transport properties are measured using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. We find that modifications to the standard force spectroscopy technique is necessary to ensure that the particle-polymer interface is representative of that in the composite material. Results are presented for adhesion of silica and surface modified silica particles on polyurethane and poly(methyl methacrylate) films in the presence of a vapor penetrant and the changes in adhesion force are correlated to observed changes in penetrant transport rate in the corresponding composite systems.

Influence of particle-polymer interface adhesion on chemical transport in polymer composites

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.