Session L42: Industry Day Plenary Session

Antithetical Polymers: Performance Through Structured Incompatible Elements

Modern coating technology is often limited by a complex trade space that leaves many applications poorly served. Next generation coatings able to successfully meet these application challenges typically require multiple and often contradictory properties not easily met with traditional homogenous compositions. This presentation describes our efforts to combine highly incompatible coating elements capable of organizing into discrete regions at mesoscopic length scales (0.1-10 $\mu$m) in order to express multiple undiluted physical properties of individual components at the macroscopic scale. Such a strategy requires understanding and controlling the interactions between composition and processing that ultimately drive microstructure and performance. Specific examples presented will include anti-fouling coatings where we have combined a low surface energy component with a lubricating region or anti-freeze element to mitigate accumulation of insect debris or delay freezing, respectively.\\ \\In collaboration with the following: A.F. Gross, A.R. Rodriguez, E. Sherman, C. Ro, S. Yang, M. Behroozi, and B. Fong, HRL Laboratories, 3011 Malibu Canyon Rd, Malibu, CA   

Predicting the In-Service Lifetime of Polymers: A multi-scale modeling approach.

Recent advances in theoretical chemistry have enabled a predictive approach to assessing polymer behaviors without lifetime testing. We report on progress in this area.\\ \\In collaboration with the following: Priya Parandekar and Nishant Sinha, Boeing Research & Technology – India Centre, Bangalore 560016, India   

Understanding network forming reactions and properties through combining computational and experimental methods

Poly(hexahydrotriazine)s (PHTs) represent a class of synthetically tunable and dynamic materials that exhibits broad scope in thermal and mechanical properties. Depending on monomer choice, these thermosets can range from elastomeric and self-healing to strong and brittle. Highly crosslinked thermosetting networks such as these have limited solubility in organic solvents; thus, solid-state analysis was coupled with~\textit{in silico}~methods to characterize structure-property relationships. Density functional theory (DFT) on small-molecule model systems and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on network-formation provided a rationale for observed properties and guided ensuing experiments. This talk will focus on the combination of experimental efforts with computational analysis to develop and design new polymeric materials with targeted properties.