Whether used as structural components in design or matrix materials for composites, the mechanical properties of polymers are increasingly important. The compressive response of extruded polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) rod with aligned polymer chains and Al-Ni-PMMA particulate composites are investigated across a range of strain rates and temperatures. The particulate composites were prepared us...

Porosity loss, also known as physical aging, in glassy polymers hampers their long term use in gas separations. Unprecedented interactions of porous aromatic frameworks (PAFs) with these polymers offer the potential to control and exploit physical aging for drastically enhanced separation efficiency. PAF-1 is used in the archetypal polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM), PIM-1, to achieve thr...

When a thin glassy film is strained uniaxially, a shear deformation zone (SDZ) can be observed. The ratio of the thickness of the SDZ to that of the undeformed film is related to the maximum extension ratio, lambda, which depends on the entanglement molecular weight, M(e). We have measured lambda as a function of film thickness in strained freestanding films of polystyrene as a probe of M(e) in...

We present results of an ab initio molecular-dynamics study of glassy GeSe2 using a 216 atom model. The network topology of our model is analyzed through partial pair correlations, angle distributions, partial static structure factors, and ring structures. The total static structure factor and first sharp diffraction peak are in good agreement with experiment. The vibrational density of states ...

This review present a critical comparison of the electrochemical behavior and analytical performance of glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) modified with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) dispersed in different polymers: polyethylenimine (PEI), PEI functionalized with dopamine (PEI-Do), polyhistidine (Polyhis), polylysine (Polylys), glucose oxidase (GOx) and double stranded calf-thymus DNA (dsDNA). The compar...

We study a model for the dynamics of vortices in type II superconductors. In particular, we discuss glassy properties and “aging” in magnetic creep. At low temperatures a crossover point is found, Tg, where relaxation times seem to diverge á la Vogel-Tamman-Fulcher. Magnetic creep changes by crossing Tg: above Tg power law creep is found asymptotically followed by stretched exponential saturati...