Melt-Processable Nacre-Mimetic Hydrocarbon Composites via Polymer 1D Nanostructure Formation (original) (raw)

Macromolecules, 2019

Abstract

Nacre-mimicking layered organic/inorganic hybrid materials exhibiting ultrahigh stiffness and strength frequently require multistep processing that is restricted to polar and even water-soluble polymers. Herein, nacre-mimetic hydrocarbon composites were fabricated by single-step injection molding. The key intermediates are organophilic ultrathin γ-Al(OH)3 (O-gibbsite) single-crystal nanoplatelets and all-hydrocarbon composites (All-PE) containing aligned, extended-chain ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) as one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures embedded in a polyethylene (PE) matrix. This formation of flow-induced UHMWPE 1D nanostructures mimics chitin nanofibers in nacre and drives the alignment of O-gibbsite nanoplatelets to assemble bricks. Unprecedented high contents of up to 70 wt % O-gibbsite nanoplatelets are tolerated in injection molding. As verified by focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), the resulting brick-and-mortar architectures contain aligned O-gibbsite as b...

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