The static equilibrium phase behavior of polymer-grafted nanoparticles (so called �hairy nanoparticles� or hNPs) in polymeric nanocomposites has been the subject of intense study within the last decade, allowing for the lab-scale fabrication of stable hNP-based nanocomposites.  However, large-scale manufacturing processes will impose significant shear forces on the system, and thus there is a critical need to characterize the dynamic behavior of hNP suspensions. Custom designed hNPs were synthesized using established polymer synthesis methods. Model hNP suspensions were created and investigated by shear rheometry in order to mimic shear-based manufacturing conditions. A specialized rheophysical technique able to measure the shear-induced formation of flow instabilities was employed. The deposition behavior of hNP suspensions was measured in situ using a quartz crystal microbalance technique in which the suspension will be flowing in shear across a designed substrate. The physicochemical structural characteristics of hNPs and the nanostructure of the deposited thin films can be correlated with the applied processing conditions to reveal key structure-processing relationshipsrequired for the scalable shear processing of hNP-based nanocomposites.

Rheology and deposition dynamics of hairy nanoparticle suspensions for processing of polymer nanocomposite materials

248th National Meeting (2014)

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