ANNUAL REPORT 2011 - Instituto de Estructura de la Materia

Nanostructure of polymer thin films.Polymer nanocomposites: Structure and physical properties.Confined structure and dynamics in Soft Matter.Conformation of biological Soft Matter: Membrane protein solutions.Microdeformation processes, relation to the nanostructure and optimization of the mechanichal properties.Early stages of polymer crystallization under shear deformation.Nanostructure of multilayer materials by means of Ultra Small Angle X-ray scattering.Structure development and properties of natural polymers and nanocomposites.Recrystallization processes in semirigid systems.Pre-crystallization phenomena, crystallization and phase transitions in synthetic and natural polymers.Synthesis of funcionalized polyolefins.Study of polimerization reaction by quantum mechanical calculation.Hierarchical simulation of molecular dynamics.New polyolefins with controlled architecture: structure and properties.Molecular dynamics and viscoelastic properties.Extrusion and elongational processes in polyolefin blends.Molecular dynamics and dielectric properties.Structure-dynamics -relationships in soft and polymeric condensed matter.Tridimensional electron microscopy: Structural study of biological macromolecules.Hydrodynamics of proteins and biological macromolecular complexes.Biophysics.EMPLOYED TECHNIQUES:ooooooooooooooooooScattering and diffraction of X-rays at Wide (WAXS), Small (SAXS), and Ultra-Small (USAXS) Anglesand with grazing incidente (GISAXS) including micro- and nano-beam with synchrotron radiation.Scanning Diferential Calorimetry.Incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering.Optical microscopy. Scanning electronic microscopy.Raman Spectroscopy.Micro and nano hardness.Neutron Scattering.Broad band dielectric spectroscopy.Shear rheometry in continuous dynamic torsion.Capilar extrusion and elongational rheometry.Dynamic mechanical analysis under flexural deformation.Dynamic mechanical analysis under tensile deformation: elastic modulus.Analysis by crystallization temperature fractionation (CRYSTAF).Scanning/transmision electron (STEM) and atomic force (AFM) microscopies.Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and and tetradetection.Dynamic light scattering (DLS).Nanoimprint lithography (NIL).X Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (XPCS).RESEARCH ACTIVITY:Group of PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND NANOSTRUCTURE OF POLYMERSINFLUENCE OF ADDITIVES ON THE NANOSTRUCTURE OFBENTONITE REINFORCED PVCThe nanostructure of 5% bentonite reinforced polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was investigated by means of wide angle X-ray diffraction measurements and results were correlated to the mechanical properties studied under uniaxial tension.Results showed that the morphology, nanostructure and mechanical properties were influenced by the sort ofadditive added to the nanocomposites (a flame retardant or a pigment dispersant). It was found that the flameretardant additive promoted polymer intercalation and significantly reduced the material roughness. In this case, thenanoplates were arranged parallel to the surface of the molded sheets and this orientation was preserved upon colddrawing.Young’s modulus and yield stress increased significantly for this nanocomposite while strain at failure wasslightly reduced, relative to the neat PVC. On the other hand, the pigment dispersant additive was found to promotenanoclay exfoliation, the polymer matrix showing isotropic orientation. Moreover, the addition of clay did notenhance the tensile mechanical properties with respect to the control PVC; the strain at failure was even significantly72