Browsing by Author "Cerrada, Maria L."
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- Extraordinary mechanical performance in disentangled UHMWPE films processed by compression moldingPublication . Ferreira, Ana E.; Ribeiro, M. Rosário; Cramail, Henri; Lourenço, João P.; Lorenzo, Vicente; Pérez, Ernesto; Cerrada, Maria L.An approach to obtain disentangled ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) films is proposed using a common compression molding. For that, disentangled UHMWPE nascent powders from reactor are processed at temperatures lower than the main melting peak and at high pressure. Then, disentangled UHMWPE films obtained from homogeneous polymerization powders and from those that incorporate SBA-15 mesoporous silica can be easily achieved by this simple methodology. These disentangled UHMWPE based materials show very high crystallinity and, consequently, outstanding elastic modulus and hardness, both further increasing by presence of mesoporous SBA-15 in the hybrids.
- A novel approach for preparation of nanocomposites with an excellent rigidity/deformability balance based on reinforced HDPE with halloysitePublication . Cecílio, Duarte M.; Cerrada, Maria L.; Pérez, Ernesto; Fernandes, Auguste; Lourenço, João P.; McKenna, Timothy F. L.; Ribeiro, M. RosárioAn innovative approach, designated as supported activator (SA), allows preparation of high density polyethylene (HDPE)-based highly performant hybrid materials. This procedure makes use of a nano-sized supported methylaluminoxane (MAO)-activator, based on halloysite natural nanotubes (HNT), combined with an in situ supporting concept. The new protocol when compared with a more conventional approach gives rise to higher polymerization activities as well as ultimate materials with better morphological features, greater crystallinity, thicker crystals, and highly increased stiffness. Moreover, a remarkable synergy between rigidity and toughness is attained. The Young’s modulus of a film obtained from the nanocomposite with the highest HNT content increases more than 70 % relatively to a pristine HDPE film, while retaining the limit stretching ability of pristine HDPE (more than 800%). A beneficial impact of using a high aspect ratio support such as HNT in the mechanical properties is also observed, when compared to similar HDPE hybrid materials derived from dendrimer-like silica (DS) nanospheres. Interestingly, polymerization activity, polymer features and derived properties found in the ultimate materials are less impacted by support/filler nature than by preparation method. This fact highlights the crucial role of the synthetic methodology used and corroborates the high potential of the SA route for the preparation of high-performance polyethylene-based nanocomposites with an excellent balance between stiffness and deformability.
- Unique stiffness-deformability features of dendrimeric silica reinforced HDPE nanocomposites obtained by an innovative routePublication . Cecílio, Duarte M.; Cerrada, Maria L.; Pérez, Ernesto; Fernandes, Auguste; Lourenço, João P.; McKenna, Timothy F.L.; Ribeiro, M. RosárioA set of dendrimeric silica (DS) reinforced polyethylene-based nanocomposites is prepared using a novel and straightforward in-situ catalyst supporting procedure by means of "in-situ" polymerization technique, labeled DSSA. These materials are characterized with regard to molar masses, filler dispersion, thermal stability, crystalline characteristics, thermal properties and mechanical response and then compared with an equivalent set of samples prepared using a more common method, named DS-MAO, as well as a non-reinforced HDPE reference. The mechanical performance of all these materials is discussed based on the crystalline features and molar masses of the polymeric component together with the dispersion of the DS nanofiller. The results of this study confirm the potential of the DS-SA approach as an innovative and promising technique, with resulting materials achieving superior filler dispersion and significantly higher mechanical performance compared to their DS-MAO analogues at high filler loadings, while retaining the limit stretching ability of HDPE.