Acknowledgements

1. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering • September 26, 2013 Sri Kalluru, Lee Trask, JaceDendor, Nacú Hernández, Eric Cochran Layered Silicate material like MMT is used as filler in a thermoplastic elastomeric polymer matrix to form nanocomsposites. Below is the schematic of the reaction procedure: Thermoplastic Elastomers via polyolefin/layered silicate Nano composites • Ring strain in monomers drives ROMP • Living polymers are required to form block copolymers • Catalyst contains a transition metal center and a ligand system • Given the high reactivity, ROMP has several side reactions • Minimizing these reactions is vital to get monodisperse polymers • Twoor more distinctpolymerchainscovalentlybondedtooneanother. • Macrophase separation not possible • Microphase separation occurs ( Self-assembly) • Chemical incompatibilities • Creation of ordered structures • Physical, mechanical and thermal properties will be enhanced with very little amount of filler addition • ROMP has very fast reaction rate, hence rate control is vital • Rate of mass transfer rate of monomer into inter-gallery space and rate of polymerization determines extent of exfoliation in nanocomposites Intercalated vs Exfoliated • Adding excess of ligand helps in controlling polymerization rate • Increases inactive species concentration, hence slow rate Organic modification of MMT surface to compatibilize it with the polymer • Various thermal and mechanical tests showed increased stability for 7-9 wt% filler addition • This increase is mainly because of entanglement of polymer chains around the dispersed MMT platelets • Norbornene (left), canonical monomer for ROMP, commercially available and its alkyl derivatives upon hydrogenation give rubbery soft blocks. • Cyclopentene (right), commercially available monomer, gives glassy hard linear polyethylene block upon hydrogenation Grubbs catalyst for ROMP, robust with different functional groups TEM micrographs showing sections of block copolymer nanocomposites Mathematical Modeling • Material physics are transformed in governing equations. • Propagator equations describe how polymers Computer Simulation • Efficient numerical methods are required to reduce runtime of simulations. • High-performance computing options allow large calculations to proceed simultaneously. New material physics are identified from mathematical identities and manipulation. Equations are solved using numerical method. • Gaussian Coils describe the behavior of flexible polymers • Rigid rods characterize cylindrical polymers Block copolymers Smart step-sizes improve properties of existing methods Polymer Self-Consistent Field Theory Right) Professor Luecke next to ISU’s Lightning supercomputer. Left) Our program provides some functionality to run on NVidia video cards. • Polymer nanocomposites consists of particles added to the polymer solution. Physical Systems of Interest • Rod-coil block copolymers consist of a rigid polymer connected to a flexible polymer. Calculated Properties • Density fields describe where a particular monomer type resides. • Other properties can be calculated from mathematical relationships. This obviates the need for expensive laboratory experiments that are difficult to characterize. Material properties are matched with simulation parameters. With this cycle, novel materials are produced based on simulation results. • Use of block copolymers (BCPs) • Reduce dependency on oil • Design and development of new nanomaterialsthat can be used in energy producing • devices that can provide “green” substitutes to petroleum based products • Our two main areas of interest are: • Alternative power sources, more specifically cathode catalyst layers (CCLs) for Hydrogen fuel cells. • Bioseparation of compounds otherwise inseparable using normal separation techniques Density fields from a 2D rod-coil diblock copolymer simulation with coil homopolymer. Left) Rod specie density. Middle) Total coil specie density. Right) Coil block density. Diagram of AB diblock copolymer lamellar phase containing a nanoparticle. The domain of the phase is surrounded by walls . Acknowledgements

2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering • September 26, 2013 Mengguo Yan, Michael Forrester, Austin Hohmann, Nacú Hernández, Eric Cochran Biopolymers are partially or entirely produced from renewable natural resources other than petroleum. What are they? Our group is interested in using vegetable oils and their derivatives and transforming them into higher value products (polymers). Their raw materials used are readily available, higher biodegradability and recyclability, lower process energy requirements, thus having a less negative environmental impact. Benefits Biopolymers Vegetable oils are composed of triglycerides, which posses an average of 4.6 double bonds that with some chemical modification we are able to synthesize polymers using different polymerization techniques. Such as Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) or Reversible Addition Fragmentation Chain Transfer. (RAFT). Applications Howwe do it? • As a substitute of butadiene or most commonly know as “rubber” • Thermoplastic elastomers • Asphalt modification • Adhesives • Paints and coatings • Clothing and textiles • As an additive to soils • Glycerol is a biodegradable substance and has excellent adhesive properties, it is believed that it can be used to help give extra structural stability to structures built on soil modified with poly acrylated glycerol (PAG). • Given the fact that it is bio-degradable as well as bio-renewable it has excellent potential to have positive industrial applications and many of these are still being explored. Hard = Hard = Soft =AESO