TY - JOUR A1 - Eckert, Alexander A1 - Abbasi, Mozhdeh A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Saalwächter, Kay A1 - Walther, Andreas T1 - Structure, Mechanical Properties, and Dynamics of Polyethylenoxide/Nanoclay Nacre-Mimetic Nanocomposites JF - Macromolecules N2 - Nacre-mimetic nanocomposites based on high fractions of synthetic high-aspect-ratio nanoclays in combination with polymers are continuously pushing boundaries for advanced material properties, such as high barrier against oxygen, extraordinary mechanical behavior, fire shielding, and glass-like transparency. Additionally, they provide interesting model systems to study polymers under nanoconfinement due to the well-defined layered nanocomposite arrangement. Although the general behavior in terms of forming such layered nanocomposite materials using evaporative self-assembly and controlling the nanoclay gallery spacing by the nanoclay/polymer ratio is understood, some combinations of polymer matrices and nanoclay reinforcement do not comply with the established models. Here, we demonstrate a thorough characterization and analysis of such an unusual polymer/nanoclay pair that falls outside of the general behavior. Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and sodium fluorohectorite form nacre-mimetic, lamellar nanocomposites that are completely transparent and show high mechanical stiffness and high gas barrier, but there is only limited expansion of the nanoclay gallery spacing when adding increasing amounts of polymer. This behavior is maintained for molecular weights of PEO varied over four orders of magnitude and can be traced back to depletion forces. By careful investigation via X-ray diffraction and proton low-resolution solid-state NMR, we are able to quantify the amount of mobile and immobilized polymer species in between the nanoclay galleries and around proposed tactoid stacks embedded in a PEO matrix. We further elucidate the unusual confined polymer dynamics, indicating a relevant role of specific surface interactions. Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01931 SN - 1520-5835 VL - 53 IS - 5 SP - 1716 EP - 1725 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington, DC ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eckert, Alexander A1 - Rudolph, Tobias A1 - Guo, Jiaqi A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Walther, Andreas T1 - Exceptionally Ductile and Tough Biomimetic Artificial Nacre with Gas Barrier Function JF - Advanced Materials N2 - Synthetic mimics of natural high-performance structural materials have shown great and partly unforeseen opportunities for the design of multifunctional materials. For nacre-mimetic nanocomposites, it has remained extraordinarily challenging to make ductile materials with high stretchability at high fractions of reinforcements, which is however of crucial importance for flexible barrier materials. Here, highly ductile and tough nacre-mimetic nanocomposites are presented, by implementing weak, but many hydrogen bonds in a ternary nacre-mimetic system consisting of two polymers (poly(vinyl amine) and poly(vinyl alcohol)) and natural nanoclay (montmorillonite) to provide efficient energy dissipation and slippage at high nanoclay content (50 wt%). Tailored interactions enable exceptional combinations of ductility (close to 50% strain) and toughness (up to 27.5 MJ m⁻³). Extensive stress whitening, a clear sign of high internal dynamics at high internal cohesion, can be observed during mechanical deformation, and the materials can be folded like paper into origami planes without fracture. Overall, the new levels of ductility and toughness are unprecedented in highly reinforced bioinspired nanocomposites and are of critical importance to future applications, e.g., as barrier materials needed for encapsulation and as a printing substrate for flexible organic electronics. Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201802477 VL - 30 IS - 32 SP - Article number 1802477 PB - Wiley-VCH ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Breuer, Lars A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef A1 - Thoelen, Ronald A1 - Wagner, Torsten T1 - Investigation of the spatial resolution of a laser-based stimulation process for light-addressable hydrogels with incorporated graphene oxide by means of IR thermography JF - Sensors and Actuators A: Physical Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2017.11.031 SN - 0924-4247 VL - 268 SP - 126 EP - 132 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Sauerborn, Markus A1 - Liebenstund, Lena A1 - Raue, Markus A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Herrmann, Ulf A1 - Dueing, Andreas T1 - Analytic method for material aging and quality analyzing to forecast long time stability of plastic micro heliostat components T2 - AIP Conference Proceedings Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4984388 VL - 1850 IS - 1 SP - 030045-1 EP - 030045-8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Breuer, Lars A1 - Raue, Markus A1 - Strobel, M. A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef A1 - Thoelen, R. A1 - Wagner, Torsten T1 - Hydrogels with incorporated graphene oxide as light-addressable actuator materials for cell culture environments in lab-on-chip systems JF - Physica status solidi (a) N2 - Abstractauthoren Graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles were incorporated in temperature-sensitive Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) hydrogels. The nanoparticles increase the light absorption and convert light energy into heat efficiently. Thus, the hydrogels with GO can be stimulated spatially resolved by illumination as it was demonstrated by IR thermography. The temporal progression of the temperature maximum was detected for different concentrations of GO within the polymer network. Furthermore, the compatibility of PNIPAAm hydrogels with GO and cell cultures was investigated. For this purpose, culture medium was incubated with hydrogels containing GO and the viability and morphology of chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells was examined after several days of culturing in presence of this medium. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201533056 SN - 1862-6300 VL - 213 IS - 6 SP - 1520 EP - 1525 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinze, D. A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Popescu, C. A1 - Weichold, O. T1 - Effect of side chain length and degree of polymerization on the decomposition and crystallization behaviour of chlorinated poly(vinyl ester) oligomers JF - Thermochimica Acta N2 - Four members of a homologous series of chlorinated poly(vinyl ester) oligomers CCl₃–(CH₂CH (OCO(CH₂)ₘCH₃))ₙ–Cl with degrees of polymerization of 10 and 20 were prepared by telomerisation using carbon tetrachloride. The number of side chain carbon atoms ranges from 2 (poly(vinyl acetate) to 18 (poly(vinyl stearate)). The effect of the n-alkyl side chain length and of the degree of polymerization on the thermal stability and crystallization behaviour of the synthesized compounds was investigated. All oligomers degrade in two major steps by first losing HCl and side chains with subsequent breakdown of the backbone. The members with short side chains, up to poly(vinyl octanoate), are amorphous and show internal plasticization, whereas those with high number of side chain carbon atoms are semi-crystalline due to side-chain crystallization. A better packing for poly(vinyl stearate) is also noticeable. The glass transition and melting temperatures as well as the onset temperature of decomposition are influenced to a larger extent by the side chain length than by the degree of polymerization. Thermal stability is improved if both the size and number of side chains increase, but only a long side chain causes a significant increase of the resistance to degradation. This results in a stabilization of PVAc so that oligomers from poly(vinyl octanoate) on are stable under atmospheric conditions. Thus, the way to design stable, chlorinated PVEs oligomers is to use a long n-alkyl side chain. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tca.2016.05.015 SN - 0040-6031 (electronic) VL - 637 SP - 143 EP - 153 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kusch, Peter A1 - Rieser, Claudia A1 - Knupp, Gerd A1 - Mang, Thomas T1 - Characterization of copolymers of methacrylic acid with poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate macromonomers by analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) JF - Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2015.03.003 SN - 0165-2370 VL - Vol. 113 SP - 412 EP - 418 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Breuer, Lars A1 - Raue, Markus A1 - Kirschbaum, M. A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef A1 - Thoelen, R. A1 - Wagner, Torsten T1 - Light-controllable polymeric material based on temperature-sensitive hydrogels with incorporated graphene oxide JF - Physica status solidi (a) N2 - Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) hydrogel films with incorporated graphene oxide (GO) were developed and tested as light-stimulated actuators. GO dispersions were synthesized via Hummers method and characterized toward their optical properties and photothermal energy conversion. The hydrogels were prepared by means of photopolymerization. In addition, the influence of GO within the hydrogel network on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The optical absorbance and the response to illumination were determined as a function of GO concentration for thin hydrogel films. A proof of principle for the stimulation with light was performed. Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201431944 SN - 1862-6319 VL - 212 IS - 6 SP - 1368 EP - 1374 PB - Wiley CY - Weinheim ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Breuer, Lars A1 - Raue, Markus A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef A1 - Thoelen, Ronald A1 - Wagner, Torsten T1 - Light-stimulated hydrogel actuators with incorporated graphene oxide for microfluidic applications T2 - 12. Dresdner Sensor-Symposium 2015 Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.5162/12dss2015/P5.8 SP - 206 EP - 209 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinze, Daniel A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Peter, Karin A1 - Möller, Martin A1 - Weichold, Oliver T1 - Synthesis of low molecular weight poly(vinyl acetate) and its application as plasticizer JF - Journal of applied polymer science N2 - Poly(vinyl acetate), PVAc, with a degree of polymerization Xn = 10 was prepared by chain-transfer radical polymerization using carbon tetrachloride and used as oligomeric plasticizer for commercial PVAc. However, the chlorinated chain ends cause a low thermal stability requiring mild Cl/H substitution. The product exhibits high thermal stability and excellent melt-compounding properties. Blends of oligomeric and commercial PVAc show single glass transition temperatures which decrease with higher oligomer content and exhibit small negative deviations from Fox' linear additivity rule. This indicates plasticization and miscibility being mainly due to entropic effects. Injection-moulded thick specimens show ductile behaviour at oligomer contents >10 wt %, while sheets with a thickness of 0.2–0.5 mm appear flexible already at 7.5 wt %. The oxygen permeability coefficients are an order of magnitude lower than those of low-density polyethylene. Due to the sum of their properties, the plasticized sheets present a promising alternative in the preparation of barrier materials. Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/app.40226 SN - 1097-4628 (E-Journal); 0021-8995 (Print) VL - 131 IS - 9 SP - Article No. 40226 PB - Wiley CY - New York ER -