Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 9: Nanoparticles and Composite Materials II (joint session CPP, BP)

CPP 9.1: Talk

Monday, March 16, 2015, 15:00–15:15, C 243

Do Macroscopic Properties of Nanocomposites Require Glassy Layers? — Klaus Nusser and •Gerald J. Schneider — Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich Centre for Neutron Science & Institute of Complex Systems, 52425 Jülich, Germany

Inorganic/organic hybrid materials receive steadily growing interest due to their capability to show unprecedented properties. Most likely, at the length-scale of single chains, many different phenomena add and form the final material. Due to the small diameters, their specific surface area is very high, and thus may contribute significantly. To predict the material properties, many concepts have been developed to understand the influence of those chains close to surfaces. For example, a very common picture is the assumption of an immobilized or glassy layer when the polymer is very close to solid substrates.

In our contribution, we present macroscopic properties and show that these can be explained perfectly by the concept of a glassy layer. However, for these examples, our microscopic information by neutron scattering experiments evidence that the underlying assumptions are wrong, but our experiments permit a different explanation.

Based on our toolbox of hybrid materials, we used a well-defined system. As a consequence it allows us to formulate a theorem under which conditions new materials can be designed on the computer based on our results. Therefore, we believe that our achievements represent a major progress toward the prediction of macroscopic properties of nanocomposites based on information at the length-scale of a single chain.