Description:

Understanding Nanoconfinement and Nanoscale Interfaces in Polymer Nanocomposites

By: Sinan Keten

Abstract: Natural and engineered structural (load-bearing) polymer nanocomposites often try to exploit microphases that are confined in nanoscale dimensions to achieve remarkable mechanical properties. However, the dynamic properties of these materials depend strongly on both the chemistry of the interfaces and the microstructure of the material system, which complicates their design. In this talk, a new computational materials-by-design approach based on coarse-grained molecular simulations for understanding physical phenomena occurring at such disparate scales. I will discuss several cases where the coupling between nanostructure and chemical structure will lead to intriguing features, such as polymers with similar bulk properties exhibiting contrasting glass-formation behavior under nanoconfinement in thin films. Drawing an analogy between thin films and nanocomposites, I will illustrate how understanding thin film simulations help us design better load-bearing nanocomposites with multi-layer graphene and nanocellulose fillers. I will conclude with an outlook on impact tolerant polymer nanocomposites and tough interfaces inspired from biological systems.

Bio: Sinan Keten is an Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University. He joined Northwestern University faculty in 2010 after obtaining his Ph.D. from MIT. His research expertise is on computational materials science and mechanics with an emphasis on polymer nanocomposites and biomolecular materials. He has 73 publications in reputable interdisciplinary journals including Nature Materials, Nature Communications, ACS Nano and Nano Letters. He has received the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award in 2015 and ONR Director of Research Early Career Award in 2016. He became a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2016 and has received other recognitions from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Materials Research Society (MRS).