Soft X-ray spectromicroscopic evidence for site-specific nanoscale phase segregation of polyurethane onto a confined surface

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c06052

Authors: Kavita Sharma (Amity University) , Debi Garai (Amity University) , Ajay Gupta (Amity University; University of Petroleum & Energy Studies) , Debmalya Roy (DMSRDE) , N. Eswara Prasad (DMSRDE)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: The Journal Of Physical Chemistry C

State: Published (Approved)
Published: September 2021
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 24782

Abstract: Synchrotron-based small-angle X-ray scattering and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectromicroscopy have been used to study the phase separation of thermoplastic polyurethane in a confined thin-film geometry. The functional nanomaterials were introduced in a polymer matrix, where the shape and nature of the functional surface were varied to gain insight into the mechanism of aggregation of polyurethane segments enriched with functional moieties. Using soft X-ray scattering it has been established that the two-dimensional flat functional surface displayed higher phase-segregated geometries with a wider distribution of interdomain spacing in comparison to the one-dimensional contour shaped nanofillers. A strong chemical environment dependence has been observed for π–π or electrostatic interactions during the nanoscale phase separation of the polyurethane matrix by X-ray absorption spectromicroscopy. Our results support the fact that soft X-ray-based spectromicroscopy can be exclusively used as a powerful noninvasive technique for the structure–property analysis of polymer nanocomposites.

Journal Keywords: Carbon; Two dimensional materials; Nanocomposites; Carbon nanotubes; Mathematical methods

Subject Areas: Materials, Chemistry


Instruments: I08-Scanning X-ray Microscopy beamline (SXM)

Other Facilities: P08, P03 at PETRA-III

Added On: 27/09/2021 09:32

Discipline Tags:

Surfaces Physics Physical Chemistry Chemistry Materials Science Nanoscience/Nanotechnology Polymer Science

Technical Tags:

Spectroscopy X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES)