Effects of crystallization on micro-mechanical behavior of polyethylene nanocomposites using Raman spectroscopy
Recent work has shown that nanoparticles can be ordered in semicrystalline polymers by controlling the crystallization rate, specifically by forcing them to migrate to the amorphous regions of the lamellar morphology. Here, we study the micromechanical behavior of neat polyethylene and silica/polyethylene nanocomposites filled with 15 nm brush-modified silica in the quenched and slow-crystallized organized state. The molecular response to loading in tension was monitored with Raman spectroscopy using the peaks associated with crystalline and amorphous regions. The addition of nanofillers dramatically reduced the shift in the amorphous peaks, indicating that in addition to carrying some load, the brush-modified nanoparticles may be acting as tie molecules that restrict amorphous deformation. The higher degree of lamellar organization and the organization of the nanoparticles also impacted the crystalline peak shifts, but more subtly.
Authors
- Huina Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7379-5313)
- Linda S. Schadler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6406-5247)
- Alejandro J. Müller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7009-7715)
- Sanat K. Kumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6690-2221)
- Richard T. Ly
- Nicholas F. Mendez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2080-3041)
- David Punihaole (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4637-9672)
- Frédéric Sansoz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2782-1832)
- Rusul Mustafa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3175-2427)
- Brian C. Benicewicz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4130-1232)
- Víctor Sebastián (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7386-6484)
- Mason Martell
- George Hurd
- Lauren Aheran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0950-3592)
Institutions
- Ikerbasque (ES)
- University of Vermont (US)
- University of South Carolina (US)
- University of the Basque Country (ES)
- Universidad de Zaragoza (ES)
- Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (ES)
- Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (ES)
- Columbia University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nanocomposites
- Published
- 2025-03-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/20550324.2025.2471679
- Primary Topic
- Polymer crystallization and properties
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Office of Science
- Basic Energy Sciences