Related papers: Cross-linking of polyesters based on fatty acids
MXenes, a family of 2D transition metal compounds, have emerged as promising materials due to their unique electronic properties and tunable surface chemistry. However, the translation of these nanoscale properties into macroscopic devices…
In this thesis the formation and properties of a polymer gel on and at a surface are investigated. The gel under investigation is defined as a three-dimensional network of "phantom" macromolecules that form permanent links with one another…
Contractility in animal cells is often generated by molecular motors such as myosin, which require polar substrates for their function. Motivated by recent experimental evidence of motor-independent contractility, we propose a robust…
Motivated by recent experiments showing that stiff biopolymer gels exhibit highly unusual negative normal elastic stresses, we develop a computational model for stiff polymer networks subject to large strains. In all cases, we find that…
Two series of uniaxial tensile tests are performed on isotactic polypropylene with the strain rates ranging from 5 to 200 mm/min. In the first series, injection-molded specimens are used without thermal pre-treatment, whereas in the other…
We predict the thermodynamic and structural behavior of solutions of long cross-linked filaments. We find that at the mean field level, the entropy of self-assembled junctions induces an effective attraction between the filaments that can…
Accumulation of plastic waste is a major environmental problem. Enzymes, particularly esterases, play an important role in the biodegradation of polyesters. These enzymes are usually only active on aliphatic polyesters, but a few have…
Higher efficiency, lower cost refrigeration is needed for both large and small scale cooling. Refrigerators using entropy changes during cycles of stretching or hydrostatically compression of a solid are possible alternatives to the…
We study a thermo-poroelasticity model which describes the interaction between the deformation of an elastic porous material and fluid flow under non-isothermal conditions. The model involves several parameters that can vary significantly…
The design of hydrogels that combine mechanical robustness with dynamic reconfigurability remains a fundamental challenge, as increasing crosslink dissociation rates compromise network integrity. This limitation is addressed through the…
Elastocaloric cooling has been identified as a promising alternative to high global warming potential vapor compression cooling. Two key bottlenecks to adoption are the need for bulky/expensive actuators to provide sufficient uniaxial…
In this paper, the resistive switching and neuromorphic behavior of memristive devices based on parylene, a polymer both low-cost and safe for the human body, is comprehensively studied. The Metal/Parylene/ITO sandwich structures were…
The quasi-equilibrium evolution of the helical fraction occurring in a biopolymer network (gelatin gel) under an applied stress has been investigated by observing modulation in its optical activity. Its variation with the imposed chain…
Microgels made of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) are the prototype of soft, thermoresponsive particles widely used to study fundamental problems in condensed matter physics. However, their internal structure is far from homogeneous, and…
Liquid crystal elastomers are special cross-linked polymer materials combining the large elastic deformability of elastomers with the orientational orders of liquid crystals. This model exhibits markedly different phenomena than the liquid…
Vitrimers - a class of polymer networks which are covalently crosslinked and insoluble like thermosets, but flow when heated like thermoplastics - contain dynamic links and/or crosslinks that undergo an associative exchange reaction. These…
We investigate the dynamics of alginate gels, an important class of biopolymer-based viscoelastic materials, by combining mechanical tests and non-conventional, time-resolved light scattering methods. Two relaxation modes are observed upon…
Polymer composite materials require softening to reduce their glass transition temperature and improve processability. To this end, plasticizers, which are small organic molecules, are added to the polymer matrix. The miscibility of these…
In many industrial processes, pieces of the same polymer material are brought into contact at a temperature above the glass transition. Interdiffusion then takes place across the interface and leads to a strengthening of the junction.…
Multifunctional capability, flexible design, rugged lightweight construction, and self-powered operation are desired attributes for electronics that directly interface with the human body or with advanced robotic systems. For these and…