Michigan State University

Muhammad Naveed

Muhammad Rabnawaz

The disclosure relates to a thermoset omniphobic composition with favorable dirt repellency and water resistance properties. The composition can be used as a protective coating on a substrate. Such coatings, when contacted with soil, dirt, dust, etc., remain clean and transparent. The omniphobic composition generally includes a thermoset polymer, an omniphobic polymer, and a filler or nanofiller. The thermoset polymer can be a crosslinked acrylate or other vinyl polymer. The omniphobic polymer can include fluorocarbon and/or siloxane groups for improving water resistance. The nanofiller can include nanosilica and/or nanoclay. The thermoset polymer and the omniphobic polymer together form a matrix for the filler as a dispersed phase throughout the matrix. A coated substrate with the thermoset omniphobic composition thereon exhibits favorable water contact and sliding angles as well as favorable transparency values in dirt accumulation tests.

Omniphobic compositions with nanofiller additives, related articles, and related methods

The disclosure relates to thermally reversibly crosslinked polyolefins (TRC-PO) and methods for making the same. A TRC-PO can be formed by reactive melt-processing a mixture including (i) a polyolefin, (ii) an initiator, and (iii) a reversible crosslinker. The reversible crosslinker includes (A) a grafting agent moiety selected from unsaturated cyclic anhydrides, unsaturated cyclic imides, cyclic nitroxides, and ring-opened analogs thereof, and (B) a crosslinking moiety bound to the cyclic grafting agent moiety. This reactive melt-processing, for example including reactive extrusion, forms a thermally reversibly crosslinked (TRC) polyolefin with polyolefin chains reversibly crosslinked via the reversible crosslinkers, which provide dynamic covalent bonds, such as siloxanes and esters, that are amenable to melt re-processing to re-from or otherwise re-use the TRC-PO while still retaining the reversible crosslinks after re-processing. Catalysts and additives such as rheology modifiers can be added to the melt-processing mixture.

Thermally reversibile crosslinked polyolefins and related polymers, and related methods

The disclosure generally relates to omniphobic compatibilizers, which include a polymerization reaction product between a first vinyl monomer, optionally a second vinyl crosslinking monomer, and a functionalized omniphobic polymer. The functionalized omniphobic polymer can include two or more vinyl functional groups or at least one free radical initiator functional group such that the reaction product forming the omniphobic compatibilizer can be a vinyl or free-radical polymerization product. The omniphobic compatibilizer can be incorporated into a UV-curable or a non-UV-curable thermoset omniphobic composition. The UV-curable composition can be a crosslinked polymerization reaction product between the omniphobic compatibilizer, a third vinyl monomer, and a fourth polyvinyl crosslinking monomer. The non-UV-curable composition can be a crosslinked polymerization reaction product between the omniphobic compatibilizer, a first thermosetting component, and a second thermosetting component. The thermoset omniphobic composition can be a coating on a substrate in a corresponding coated article.

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East Lansing, MI, United States of America

Muhammad Naveed