Composites of hydrophilic polymers and organic nanocrystals enable enhanced robustness

Sounak Dutta, XiaoMeng Sui, Haim Weissman, Vyacheslav Kalchenko, Hanoch Daniel Wagner, Boris Rybtchinski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We describe a new family of composite materials, polymer/organic nanocrystal (ONC) hybrids. These were prepared from soluble ONCs based on perylene diimides (PDI) and water-soluble polymers (sodium alginate and polyvinyl alcohol). Polymer/ONC films were characterized by optical spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and tensile strength studies. The films show enhanced chemical and mechanical stability due to synergy between the constituents. The hybrid films are stable in both water and organic solvents, unlike the individual components. The ONCs we employed possess nonlinear optical activity (second harmonic generation, SHG); they showed improved photostability (stable SHG under laser light) in the hybrids. Tensile strength enhancement (as high as twofold in the film having just 2.4% ONCs by weight) was observed as revealed by mechanical measurements. Hybrids with aligned ONCs were also prepared using simple extrusion via syringe needle followed by gelation. Employing ONCs in polymeric hybrid materials enables facile fabrication in aqueous media, synergy, chemical, mechanical, and photostability as well as useful photofunction (SHG), introducing a versatile class of composite materials.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2549-2557
Number of pages9
JournalPolymers for Advanced Technologies
Volume30
Issue number10
Early online date12 Aug 2019
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Polymers and Plastics

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