Revealing microscale bulk structures in polymer–carbon nanocomposites using spin-echo SANS

Tiihonen, L. V.; Weir, M. P.; Parnell, A. J.; Boothroyd, S. C.; Johnson, D. W.; Dalgliesh, R. M.; Bleuel, M.; Duif, C. P.; Bouwman, W. G.; Thompson, R. L.; Coleman, K. S.; Clarke, N.; Hamilton, W. A.; Washington, A. L.; Parnell, S. R.

doi:10.1039/d4sm00578c

Revealing microscale bulk structures in polymer–carbon nanocomposites using spin-echo SANS

Tiihonen, L. V.; Weir, M. P.; Parnell, A. J.; Boothroyd, S. C.; Johnson, D. W.; Dalgliesh, R. M.; Bleuel, M.; Duif, C. P.; Bouwman, W. G.; Thompson, R. L.; Coleman, K. S.; Clarke, N.; Hamilton, W. A.; Washington, A. L.; Parnell, S. R.

Authors

L. V. Tiihonen

M. P. Weir

A. J. Parnell

S. C. Boothroyd

D. W. Johnson

R. M. Dalgliesh

M. Bleuel

C. P. Duif

W. G. Bouwman

Dr Richard Thompson r.l.thompson@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Professor Karl Coleman k.s.coleman@durham.ac.uk
Academic Visitor

N. Clarke

W. A. Hamilton

A. L. Washington

S. R. Parnell

Abstract

We have used spin-echo small-angle neutron scattering (SESANS) to probe the hierarchy of structures present in polymer–carbon nanocomposites, with length scales spanning over three orders of magnitude, from 10 nm to 16 μm. The data processing and reduction show a unified approach across two SESANS instruments (TU Delft and Larmor at the ISIS neutron source) and yield consistent data that are able to be modelled using well-established hierarchical models in freely available software such as SasView. Using this approach, we are able to extend the measured length scales by over an order of magnitude compared to traditional scattering methods. This yields information about the structure in the bulk that is inaccessible with conventional scattering techniques (SANS/SAXS) and points to a way for interrogating and investigating polymer nanocomposites routinely across multiple length scales.

Citation

Tiihonen, L. V., Weir, M. P., Parnell, A. J., Boothroyd, S. C., Johnson, D. W., Dalgliesh, R. M., Bleuel, M., Duif, C. P., Bouwman, W. G., Thompson, R. L., Coleman, K. S., Clarke, N., Hamilton, W. A., Washington, A. L., & Parnell, S. R. (2024). Revealing microscale bulk structures in polymer–carbon nanocomposites using spin-echo SANS. Soft Matter, 20(43), 8663-8674. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sm00578c

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Aug 20, 2024
Online Publication Date	Oct 1, 2024
Publication Date	Nov 21, 2024
Deposit Date	Oct 31, 2024
Publicly Available Date	Oct 31, 2024
Journal	Soft Matter
Print ISSN	1744-683X
Electronic ISSN	1744-6848
Publisher	Royal Society of Chemistry
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	20
Issue	43
Pages	8663-8674
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sm00578c
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2988898