Supercritical Fluid Assisted Processing of SWNT/Polymer Composites
| Category | Publications |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Supercritical carbon dioxide assisted processing is being used to disperse and distribute single walled carbon nanotubes in polymers. As part of this scientific effort, nucleation of supercritical carbon dioxide was investigated using spherical silica nanofillers of uniform size. The effects of both the filler size and the filler surface chemistry on nucleation of supercritical carbon dioxide were investigated using dynamic light scattering, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and statistical analysis. Results indicate that supercritical carbon dioxide saturation pressure, silica size, and silica surface chemistry all play important role in the nucleation and final pore morphology. Modifying the surfaces of silica with fluoroalkanes proved to be more effective in increasing pore density and decreasing pore size compared to reducing (bare) silica size from 150 nm to 15 nm. Processing and experimental analysis were performed in collaboration with Profs. Juan Baselga and Juan Carlos Cabanelas of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain. |
| Contributor | Mourad Ouzzani
|
| Bio | Rahmi Ozisik received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Bogazici University of Istanbul, Turkey, in 1990. He received his M.S. degree in Polymer Engineering and his Ph.D. degree in Polymer Science from the University of Akron in 1996 and 1999, respectively. Following his Ph.D., he worked as a post-doctoral researcher with Prof. Ulrich W. Suter at the Institute of Polymers, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland. He worked as a research associate at the University of Akron in 2001. He joined Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in 2002. He has been promoted to Associate Professorship in 2007. Research interests include polymers, polymer nanocomposites, plastic deformation in polymeric glasses, glass transition and dynamics, and supercritical fluid assisted processing.
Ryan Schneider received his B.S. in Physics from Clark University in 2006. He received his M.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Rensselaer Polythecnic Institute in 2007. He is currently a Materials Engineer at the Z Corporation in Massachusetts. Katelyn A. Parker received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University in 2007. She currently is a graduate student at the Materials Science and Engineering Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. |
| Cite this work | Researchers should cite this work as follows: R. Ozisik and L. S. Schadler, "Supercritical Fluid Assisted Processing of SWNT/Polymer Composites", Trip report presented at the NSF IREE 2008 Grantees Conference, May 2008, Washington, D.C. |
| Tags |