Date Available
11-27-2013
Year of Publication
2013
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Chemical Engineering (MChE)
College
Engineering
Department/School/Program
Chemical and Materials Engineering
Faculty
Dr. Eric A. Grulke
Faculty
Dr. Tom Dziubla
Abstract
Ultrathin film nanocomposites are becoming increasingly important for specialized performance of commercial coatings. Critical challenges for ultrathin film nanocomposites include their synthesis and characterization as well as their performance properties, including surface roughness, optical properties (haze, refractive index as examples), and mechanical properties. The objective of this work is to control the surface roughness of ultrathin film nanocomposites by changing the average particle size and the particle volume fraction (loading) of monomodal particle size distributions. This work evaluated one-layer and two-layer films for their surface properties. Monodispersed colloidal silica nanoparticles were incorporated into an acrylate-based monomer system as the model system. Ultrathin nanocomposites were prepared with three different size colloidal silica (13, 45, and 120 nm nominal diameters) at three different particle loadings (20, 40, and 50 vol. % inorganic solids). Silica particles were characterized using DLS and TEM. AFM was used to measure the root mean square roughness (Rq), ΔZ, and location-to-location uniformity of one-layer and two-layer nanocomposite coatings. Developing an understanding about the properties affected by the type and amount of particles used in a nanocomposite can be used as a tool with nanocharacterization techniques to quickly modify and synthesize desired ultrathin film coatings.
Recommended Citation
Laine, Guy C., "CHARACTERIZATION OF AND CONTROLLING MORPHOLOGY OF ULTRA-THIN NANOCOMPOSITES" (2013). Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering. 23.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cme_etds/23
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Other Chemical Engineering Commons, Polymer and Organic Materials Commons, Polymer Science Commons, Semiconductor and Optical Materials Commons, Structural Materials Commons
