Direct small angle neutron scattering observation of stretched chain conformation in nanocomposites: more insight of polymer contributions in mechanical reinforcement

Nicolas Jouault (1, 2) , Florent Dalmas (3) , Sylvère Said (2) , Emanuela Di Cola (4) , Ralf Schweins (5) , Jacques Jestin (1) , François Boué (1)

1 LLB - UMR 12 - Laboratoire Léon Brillouin
2 LIMATB - Laboratoire d'Ingénierie des Matériaux de Bretagne
3 ICMPE - Institut de Chimie et des Matériaux Paris-Est
4 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
5 ILL - Institut Laue-Langevin

In this paper we present a direct measurement of stretched chain conformation in polymer nanocomposites in a large range of deformation using a specific contrast-matched SANS method. Whatever the filler structure and the chain length the results show a clear identity of chain deformation in pure and reinforced polymer and offer a new insight of the polymer chain contribution in the mechanical reinforcement. It suggests that glassy layer or glassy paths, recently proposed, should involve only a small fraction of chains. As a result, the remaining filler contribution appears strikingly constant with deformation as explained by continuous locking-unlocking rearrangement process of the particles.

Mots clés: Nanocomposites; Small Angle Neutron Scattering; Mechanical reinforcement; Conformation

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]; Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Polymères; Matériaux

Nicolas Jouault, Florent Dalmas, Sylvère Said, Emanuela Di Cola, Ralf Schweins, et al.. Direct small angle neutron scattering observation of stretched chain conformation in nanocomposites: more insight of polymer contributions in mechanical reinforcement. Physical Review E : Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 2010, 82, pp.031801. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevE.82.031801⟩. ⟨hal-00560076⟩