Methods for probing the long-range dynamic of confined polymers in nanoparticles using small-angle neutron scattering

Abstract

Motivated by the recent advances in new technologies, a lot of effort has been dedicated to developing methods for quantifying the dynamic of nanoconfined polymers. Particularly, polymers confined in nanoparticles are an important system for several environment-friendly applications such as waterborne coatings and nanoblends. In this work, we discuss two methods to probe the large scale dynamic of nanoconfined polymers in nanoparticles in two situations: (i) nanoblends and (ii) the close-packed structure. In the methods we apply stress at the nanoscopic level around the polystyrene particles and we probe their deformation in real time using small-angle neutron scattering. These methods give new possibilities to probe, in a nonintrusive manner, the dynamic of confined polymers in nanoparticles, which could ultimately bring conclusive insight to this field.