Minus Awarded $1.25M AFOSR Grant
MIE Associate Professor Marilyn Minus was awarded a five-year $1.25M Air Force Office of Scientific Research Grant for "Forming True Blends: Developing New Processing Routes for Polymer-Based Nano-Composites."
Abstract:
The overarching research goal for this proposed work is to develop a new approach for nano-composite materials possessing. To date, all processing approaches follow traditional composite processing methods. This proposed work provides an important opportunity to solve several key unresolved fundamental scientific issues pertaining to understanding (i) the inherent polymer-1D filler interactions, (ii) the solvation of 1D nano-fillers using a polymer molecule, (iii) the parameters and limits associated with forming these blends, and (iv) control of properties by tuning nano to meso to macro-scale structures. To this end, the two (2) research objectives are: (1) To understand the fundamental scientific mechanisms for phase separation and its behavior in facilitating the formation of polymer-1D filler blends. (2) To build a new tunable processing route for fabrication of blended polymer-1D filler materials and composites.