Modeling of polyethylene, poly(<smcaps>l</smcaps>-lactide), and CNT composites: a dissipative particle dynamics study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), a mesoscopic simulation approach, is used to investigate the effect of volume fraction of polyethylene (PE) and poly(<smcaps>l</smcaps>-lactide) (PLLA) on the structural property of the immiscible PE/PLLA/carbon na...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Huang Tien Jung, Wang Yao-Chun, Ju Shin-Pon, Wang Hung-Hsiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2011-01-01
Series:Nanoscale Research Letters
Online Access:http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/6/1/433
Description
Summary:<p>Abstract</p> <p>Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), a mesoscopic simulation approach, is used to investigate the effect of volume fraction of polyethylene (PE) and poly(<smcaps>l</smcaps>-lactide) (PLLA) on the structural property of the immiscible PE/PLLA/carbon nanotube in a system. In this work, the interaction parameter in DPD simulation, related to the Flory-Huggins interaction parameter <it>&#967;</it>, is estimated by the calculation of mixing energy for each pair of components in molecular dynamics simulation. Volume fraction and mixing methods clearly affect the equilibrated structure. Even if the volume fraction is different, micro-structures are similar when the equilibrated structures are different. Unlike the blend system, where no relationship exists between the micro-structure and the equilibrated structure, in the di-block copolymer system, the micro-structure and equilibrated structure have specific relationships.</p>
ISSN:1931-7573
1556-276X