9400475 Baer The research consists of creating engineered microstructures of incompatible polymers with up to 8,000 alternating layers of two polymers. The unique advantages that can be achieved with these microlayered and nanolayered composites will be studied. A fundamental study of the interactive microdeformation processes that lead to enhanced mechanical properties in microlayers of thermoplastic polymers will be carried out. The basic physics of crystallization with simultaneous interdiffusion will be investigated with microlayers of two miscible polymers. Controlled interfacial reaction in microlayers will be studied to model interfacial effects of reactive compatibilization. New microlayer and nanolayer composites will be made to explore the feasibility of creating film and sheet materials with multiple functions, including unusual mechanical, optical, and electronic properties. %%% This research on layer-multiplying devices that permit continuous melt processing of two polymers into sheet or film with hundreds or thousands of alternating layers will create new opportunities for coextrusion technology. The unique microlayered and nanolayered structures are used to study fundamental problems in polymer science, and to create new materials with unusual, coupled properties.
