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PMSE Best Poster Awards at 2018 New Orleans ACS National Meeting

PMSE Best Poster Award

The American Chemical Society Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) is please to announce the winners of the PMSE Best Poster Awards presented at the 2018 New Orleans ACS National Meeting.

PMSE 366: Exploring “click” chemistry to synthesize and characterize cyclic polyethers
Farihah Maryam Haque, Scott M Grayson

Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Cyclic polymers exhibit many enhanced physical properties due to the loss of end groups resulting in a unique ring-like topology. Unlike linear counterparts, the cyclic topology leads to many enhanced solution-based properties, including reduced rates of hydrolytic degradation and the formation of block copolymeric micelles of increased stability. Consequently, biocompatible polymers like poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) are of synthetic interest for potential biomedical applications. The work herein describes a synthetic protocol for the formation of linear and cyclic PEG analogs. The research intends to characterize the synthesis of high purity biocompatible polyethers, and determine the effect of architecture on rheological, solution, and thermal properties.

PMSE 379: Synthesis, mechanical, and structural properties of piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride doped with barium titanate nanoparticles
Akinwunmi Joaquim, Omari Paul, Robert Turner, Ranganathan Parthasarathy, Lizhi Ouyang, Yuri Barnakov, Frances Williams

Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Strain engineering is an innovative and prominent concept in the field of materials science. The coupling of materials’ strain/stress with their functional properties leads to a number of unprecedented phenomena ranging from Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) enhancement in corrugated plasmonic structures to modification of the energy landscape in catalytic systems, from improving of nano-scale ferroelectricity in coherent epitaxial films to an increase of energy harvesting efficiency in photovoltaic devices. Herein, we report on preliminary results of our work related to modification and improvement of piezoelectric properties of PVDF nanocomposites by employing strain technology. Two experimental approaches are utilized to produce polymer nanocomposites: (i) mechanical stretching of PVDF matrix with doped ferroelectric BaTiO3 (barium titanate) nanoparticles and (ii) doping of PVDF with mechanochemically synthesized BaTiO3 nanoparticles. The overall goal is to improve elasticity of polymer composites in order to enhance their piezoelectric functionalities. The mechanical, structural and electrical properties of the synthesized materials will also be discussed.

PMSE 444: Effect of phase separation on water barrier properties in epoxy/amine thermosetting polymers
John Vergara2, Ian Donahue2, John J La Scala1, Joshua M Sadler1, Santosh Kumar Yadav2, Giuseppe Palmese2

1 Army Research Lab, RDECOM, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, United States
2 Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, United States

Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol a (DGEBA) is a very common epoxy resin used in coatings and composites due to its excellent thermal properties, mechanical properties, and adhesion. Previous work has shown that aliphatic amido amine crosslinkers used with epoxies increase the diffusivity, while lowering the solubility of water in epoxy/amine thermosets. This work aims to show the effect of phase separation of alkyl domains on the water barrier properties of epoxy/amine thermosetting polymers. Epoxidized soybean oil ESO is blended with Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) cured with DETA and PACM as a way of adding aliphatic content to an epoxy/amine thermosetting polymer. These different epoxy/amine systems were investigated to elucidate the effect of phase separation on water barrier properties, as well as density, glass transition temperature, and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of these networks.

Farihah Haque (center) with PMSE Chair, Prof. Melissa A. Grunlan (left) and Vice-Chair, Prof. Eva Harth (right)
Akinwunmi Joaquim (center) with PMSE Chair, Prof. Melissa A. Grunlan (left) and Vice-Chair, Prof. Eva Harth (right)
John Vergara (center) with PMSE Chair, Prof. Melissa A. Grunlan (left) and Vice-Chair, Prof. Eva Harth (right)