Nanocomposites & Multifunctional Materials
sNanocomposite materials have a huge potential in future technologies but the creation of optimized nanocomposites with controlled engineering of interfaces has been a challenge. We have worked on different approaches in creating nanocomposites (e.g. carbon nanotube polymer nanocomposites) with good performance and multifunctional attributes. Future of this field will rely on our ability to create complex multifunctional structures with new capabilities such as self-strengthening, self-cleaning, embedded power etc. We are particularly interested in understanding the interphase between matrix and fillers and development of characterization methods to understand the atomic scale structure of the interfaces. We are also interested in optimizing the mechanical (strength, toughness), electrical and optical properties of nanocomposites. In addition to bulk nanocomposites, we are also interested in developing complex, composite (hybrid) building blocks for energy and green electronic applications.
Publications
Other Publications
P. Dong, A. C. Chipara, P. Loya, Y. Yang, L. Ge, S. Lei, B. Li, G. Brunetto, L. D. Machado, L. Hong, Q. Wang, B. Yang, H. Guo, E. Ringe, D. S. Galvao, R. Vajtai, M. Chipara, M. Tang, J. Lou, P. M. Ajayan, “Solid-Liquid Self-Adaptive Polymeric Composite,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 8 (3): 2142-2147 (2016).
Vinod S., Tiwary C. S., Autreto P. A., Taha-Tijerina J., Ozden S., Chipara A. C., Vajtai R., Galvao D. S., Narayanan T. N., Ajayan P.M., “Low Density Foams Using Self-reinforced Hybrid 2D Atomic Layers”, Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Article No. 4541, DOI:10.1038/ncomms5541 (2014).
Ozden S., Tiwary C. S., Hart A. H. C., Chipara A. C., Romero-Aburto R., Rodrigues M. F., Taha-Tijerina J., Vajtai R., Ajayan P. M., “Density Variant Carbon Nanotube Interconnected Solids”, Advanced Materials (2015).
Ozden S., Ge L., Narayanan T. N., Hart A. H. C., Yang H., Sridhar S., Vajtai R., Ajayan P. M., “Anisotropically Functionalized Carbon Nanotube Array Based Hygroscopic Scaffolds”, Applied Materials and Interfaces (2014).
Carey B. J., Patra P. K., Hahm M. G., Ajayan P. M., “Foam-Like Behavior in Compliant, Continuously Reinforced Nanocomposites”, Advanced Functional Materials, n/a-n/a (2013).
Kumar A., Gullapalli H., Balakrishnan K., Botello-Mendez A., Vajtai R., Terrones M., Ajayan P. M., “Flexible Zno-Cellulose Nanocomposite for Multisource Energy Conversion”, Small, 7(15), 2173-2178 (2011).
Ma W. J., Liu L. Q., Zhang Z., Yang R., Liu G., Zhang T. H., An X. F., Yi X. S., Ren Y., Niu Z. Q., Li J. Z., Dong H. B., Zhou W. Y., Ajayan P. M., Xie S. S., “High-Strength Composite Fibers: Realizing True Potential of Carbon Nanotubes in Polymer Matrix through Continuous Reticulate Architecture and Molecular Level Couplings”, Nano Letters, 9(8), 2855-2861 (2009).