Regio‐Selective Mechanical Enhancement of Polymer‐Grafted Nanoparticle Composites via Light‐Mediated Crosslinking
Name
Advanced Materials - 2025 - Kim - Regio‐Selective Mechanical Enhancement of Polymer‐Grafted Nanoparticle Composites via.pdf
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4.02 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Kim, Kyungtae
Grummon, Benjamin C.
Thrasher, Carl J.
Macfarlane, Robert J.
Date Issued
January 28, 2025
Journal
Advanced Materials
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
K. Kim, B. C. Grummon, C. J. Thrasher, R. J. Macfarlane, Regio-Selective Mechanical Enhancement of Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticle Composites via Light-Mediated Crosslinking. Adv. Mater. 2025, 37, 2410493.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Polymer-brush-grafted nanoparticles (PGNPs) that can be covalentlycrosslinked post-processing enable the fabrication of mechanically robust andchemically stable polymer nanocomposites with high inorganic filler content.Modifying PGNP brushes to append UV-activated crosslinkers along the poly-mer chains would permit a modular crosslinking strategy applicable to a diverserange of nanocomposite compositions. Further, light-activated crosslinkingreactions enable spatial control of crosslink density to program intentionallyinhomogeneous mechanical responses. Here, a method of synthesizingcomposites using UV-crosslinkable brush-coated nanoparticles (referred to asUV-XNPs) is introduced that can be applied to various monomer compositionsby incorporating photoinitiators into the polymer brushes. UV crosslinking ofprocessed UV-XNP structures can increase their tensile modulus up to 15-foldwithout any noticeable alteration to their appearance or shape. By usingphotomasks to alter UV intensity across a sample, intentionally designedinhomogeneities in crosslink density result in predetermined anisotropic shapechanges under strain. This unique capability of UV-XNP materials is applied tostiffness-patterned flexible electronic substrates that prevent the delaminationof rigid components under deformation. The potential of UV-XNPsas functional, soft device components is further demonstrated by wearabledevices that can be modified post-fabrication to customize their performance,permitting the ability to add functionality to existing device architectures.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202410493
