ELECTRICAL, THERMAL AND MASS TRANSPORT IN POLYMER
NANOCOMPOSITES
2015 Spring - 249th NATIONAL ACS MEETING
Denver, CO, March 22-26, 2015
Jaime Grunlan, Lead organizer
Professor
Texas A&M University
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering &
Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
College Station, TX 77843-3123
Phone: (979) 845-3027
Email: jgrunlan@tamu.edu
Lars Wagberg
School of Chemical Science and Engineering
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
SE-100 44
Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46-8790 82 94
Email: wagberg@kth.se
Morgan Priolo
Senior Research Engineer
3M Corporate Research Materials Laboratory
3M Center, Building 201-4N-01
St. Paul, MN 55144
Phone: (651) 736-6270
Cell: (979) 492-8954
Email: mapriolo@mmm.com
Synopsis:
Polymer composites are most commonly thought of in the context of mechanical properties and their
associated structural applications, but the transport behavior (electrical, thermal, mass, etc.) of these
composites, especially those containing nanoparticles, is becoming increasingly exploited for flexible
electrodes, protective barriers, chemical sensors, battery electrolytes and gas separation membranes.
Electrically conductive composites can now exhibit truly metallic behavior, which is allowing them to
displace higher density and less flexible metals and ceramics. A variety of assembly techniques
(electrostatic, covalent, magnetic, H-bonding, etc.) are being used to induce and enhance both isotropic and
anisotropic electrical and thermal conductivity in nanocomposites. The same is true of composites used to
promote or prevent mass transport. For example, ionic conductivity has been improved in solid battery
electrolytes by adding nanoparticles, such as carbon nanotubes, and gas permeability has been reduced in
melt processed films by incorporating phosphate glass droplets. Predictive and phenomenological
modeling has also helped to move this field forward in recent years, including explaining piezo-resistive
behavior and predicting electrical conductivity of multi-filler composites. The goal of this symposium will
be to capture the latest developments in this important field of polymeric materials research.
Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
 Electrical and/or thermal conductivity in polymer nanocomposites
 Nanocomposites for energy generation and/or storage
 Gas barrier and/or separation behavior in polymer nanocomposites
 Ion conduction in bulk or thin film polymer nanocomposites
 Self-assembly of thin film nanocomposites (e.g., layer-by-layer assembly)
 Hybrid, synergistic, multi-nanoparticle systems (e.g., carbon nanotubes with clay platelets)
 Nanocomposite strain, chemical and temperature sensors
 Electrospun nanocomposites with unique transport behaviors
 Effects of filler size and shape on nanocomposite transport behavior
 Processing induced microstructures for improved transport properties
 Modeling and simulation of electrical, ionic, thermal or mass transport in polymer nanocomposites