Polymer Mechanochemistry: From Destructive to Productive

When one brings "polymeric materials" and "mechanical action" into the same conversation, the topic of this discussion might naturally focus on everyday circumstances such as failure of fibers, fatigue of composites, abrasion of coatings, etc. This intuitive viewpoint reflects the historic consensus in both academia and industry that mechanically induced chemical changes are destructive, leading to polymer degradation that limits materials lifetime on both macroscopic and molecular levels. In the 1930s, Staudinger observed mechanical degradation of polymers, and Melville later discovered that polymer chain scission caused the degradation. Inspired by these historical observations, we sought to redirect the…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• DO
  Division of Materials Research

  Award: DMR 13-07354
• DO
  Division of Chemistry

  Award: CHE 13-00313
• AR
  Army Research Office

  Award: W911NF-07-1-0409