Polymer-particle interactions can be effectively utilized to produce composites that possess physicochemical properties superior to that of neat polymer. The incorporation of fillers with dimensions comparable to polymer chain size produces composites with extra-ordinary properties owing to very high surface to volume ratio. The dispersion of nanoparticles is achieved by inducing steric repulsi...

An in situ composite synthesis technique has been developed by grafting polystyrene chains onto single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) via a single-step debundling/polymerization scheme. The method, based on established anionic polymerization techniques, eliminates the need for nanotube pretreatment prior to functionalization and allows attachment of polymer molecules to pristine tubes without al...

Polystyrene grafted with acrylonitrile using gamma-irradiation technique was successfully synthesized. This process was carried out at various gamma dose (0.2-1.5 Mrad). The new grafted polymer was characterized and its properties were investigated. The results indicate that best grafting percentage ratio could be revealed when the concentration of the catalyst Ferrous Ammonium Sulphate (FAS) i...

The optical properties of polymers attract considerable attention because of their potential optoelectronic applications, such as in polymer-based light-emitting diodes, light electrochemical cells, and solar cells. To optimize the performance of optoelectronic and photonic devices, some polymers are modified through the introduction of specific end groups, copolymerization, grafting, crosslink...

Poly(methyl methacrylate) in the brush form is grown from the surface of magnetite nanoparticles by ambient temperature atom transfer radical polymerization (ATATRP) using a phosphonic acid based initiator. The surface initiator was prepared by the reaction of ethylene glycol with 2-bromoisobutyrl bromide, followed by the reaction with phosphorus oxychloride and hydrolysis. This initiator is an...

Here, we present a new method to model lateral phase separation in mixed polymer brushes physisorbed to a planar surface with mobile grafting points. The model is based on a local mean field theory that combines a Flory-Huggins approximation for interaction enthalpies with an Alexander-de Gennes brush entropy contribution. Using Monte Carlo sampling, the application of these two interactions to...

This study demonstrates the preparation, structure, and properties of polymer-impregnated wood (PIW) based on novel Muchelia macclurei wood through the in-situ polymerization of vinyl and functional monomers. Mixed monomers of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) (2:1 molar ratio) were effectively vacuum/pressure impregnated into the cellular structure of the f...

The shear response of polymer brushes is explored as a function of grafting surface curvature using the Alexander-deGennes ansatz, where the free ends of the chains are localized at the tip of the brush and all tethered chains in the brush are stretched equally. Brushes adsorbed onto the concave and convex surfaces of a cylinder are found to swell to a maximum of 35% of their nonsheared brush h...

Homogeneous graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) onto cellulose was carried out in N, N – dimethyl acetamide/LiCl (DMAc/LiCl) and dimethyl sulfoxide/ paraformaldehyde (DMSO/PF) solvent system taking ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN), benzoyl peroxide (BPO) and tin (II)-2ethyl hexanoate [Sn(Oct)2] as initiators. Different grafting parameters like graft yield (GY), grafting efficiency (...

The modification of polymers has received much attention recently. Among the methods of modification of polymers, grafting is one of the promising methods. In principle, graft co-polymerization is an attractive method to impart a variety of functional groups to a polymer. Graft co-polymerization initiated by chemical treatment, photo-irradiation, high-energy radiation technique, etc. is documen...