The Ohio State University

David Lane Tomasko

L James Lee

Changchun Zeng

Xiangmin Han

Kurt W Koelling

Yong Yang

A method of bonding materials. The method comprises providing a polymer; providing a second material; contacting the polymer and the second material at a low contact pressure in the absence of a solvent or an adhesive; maintaining the polymer at a temperature less than a bulk Tg of the polymer; introducing a gas at low pressure; and bonding the polymer and the second material.

Gas assisted bonding of polymers and polymer composites

Nano-sized particles such as nano-clays can be mixed with polymers through either melt compounding or in-situ polymerization. By modifying the particle surface with various surfactants and controlling processing conditions, we are able to achieve either intercalated (partial dispersion) or exfoliated (full dispersion) nano-clay distribution in polymers with the clay content up to 35% by weight. When a blowing agent is injected into the nanocomposite in an extruder (a continuous mixer) or a batch mixer, polymeric foam can be produced. Supercritical carbon dioxide, an environmentally friendly, low-cost, non-flammable, chemically benign gas is used as the blowing agent. This process forms a microcellular foam with very high cell density (&#x3e;10cells/cc) and small cell size (&#x3c;5 microns) can be achieved by controlling the COcontent, melt and die temperature, and pressure drop rate.

Polymer nanocomposite foams

Nano-sized particles such as nano-clays can be mixed with polymers through either melt compounding or in-situ polymerization. By modifying the particle surface with various surfactants and controlling processing conditions, we are able to achieve either intercalated (partial dispersion) or exfoliated (full dispersion) nano-clay distribution in polymers with the clay content up to 35% by weight. When a blowing agent is injected into the nanocomposite in an extruder (a continuous mixer) or a batch mixer, polymeric foam can be produced. Supercritical carbon dioxide, an environmentally friendly, low-cost, non-flammable, chemically benign gas is used as the blowing agent. This process forms a microcellular foam with very high cell density (>10 cells/cc) and small cell size (<5 microns) can be achieved by controlling the CO content, melt and die temperature, and pressure drop rate.

Growing community of inventors

Columbus, OH, United States of America

David Lane Tomasko