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NaPolyNet
The Polymer Science Centre is a member of this programme
The project work plan has the following
specific objectives:
i.To network at European level with
Partners/Labs experts on characterization of polymer nanostructured materials,
facilitating transnational access to important and unique equipment for academic
researchers and SMEs technologists.
The key issues of the project are networking of European research on issues
related to characterization methodologies for polymer nanostructures, to
stimulate research in this field that is essential for gaining leadership in the
competitive global nanotechnology market. Only with appropriate tools and
competences to characterize and investigate matter at nanoscale level it becomes
possible not only to image a surface with atomic resolution but also to
manipulate matter to atomic or molecular level and to understand the
relationships among structure and properties. The design of nanostructured
polymers with desired properties, tailored to specific technological
applications, is a big challenge for scientists. These properties are more
significant, and often counterintuitive, in comparison to conventional
macroscopic composites, result from collective intermolecular interactions and
processes, and cannot be predicted a priori. To master polymer nanotechnology
physics and chemistry numerous and complementary methodologies are required.
Moreover, in the field of nanoscience where the body of knowledge increases
continuously, the characterization methodologies and the relative competence, to
be in step, must constantly up-grade. The access to advanced and up-graded
characterization methods constitutes an important barrier for scientists and
SMEs technologists for the development and industrial application of these
materials. NaPolyNet will demolish this barrier by creating a coordination of
advanced equipment and expertise for nanomaterials characterization at European
level, setting up of a European Open Laboratory networking the best and novel
characterization methodologies and expertises that the partners will provide to
others for access. The Laboratory, open to outside the consortium partners, will
be the base of the mobility and training activities planned in this project with
the final aim to develop novel methodologies for design and characterization of
polymeric nanocomposites taking mainly into consideration the
processing-structure, the structure-dynamics-properties relationships and the
role of interface behavior for nanocomposites. It will also facilitate the
access to important and unique equipment during the project life and after its
closure. To make the EOL practically accessible to a wider public, in the web
site of the project a portal will be dedicated to EOL, with practical
information about equipment available, their potentiality and the modalities to
access them and the relative experts. The researchers belonging to the
consortium have large and well-recognized skills at international level in all
field of analysis and characterization of structural, morphological physical,
thermal, mechanical and processing properties of polymer nanomaterials. With
these competencies the nanopolymeric materials can be studied at all
hierarchical scales of organization, mastering the phenomena involved in phase
transitions and structural development (e.g. solidification, vitrification
and/or crystallization, formation of nanostructured phases, gelation) as well as
the interfacial interactions including orientation effects of the nanodomains
according to preferred patterns due to the processing conditions imposed.
ii. To bridge the gap between
scientific and engineering approaches towards improved understanding of the
structure-performance correlation in polymer devices.
It is generally accepted that a better understanding of the
structure-property relationships, i.e. of the relationships between composition,
processing, structure/morphology, dynamics and properties, is a necessary
condition for optimizing the design of polymer nanostructured materials with
predicted properties. Moreover many new characterization techniques are not well
known or are not affordable for SMEs. There is a lack of knowledge transfer from
the scientific community to the SMEs and a need of tailored interfaces to
translate quickly the research results on characterization methods into usable
tools adequate to be used by industries and especially by SMEs. NaPolyNet with
the specific activities planned (the Round Table dedicated to SMEs, the
Technological Seminars, as well as the setting of EOL that will facilitate
access to unique equipments) will serve as instrument to bridge the gap between
scientific and industrial world. This will allow nanomaterial producers to be
aware of the state of art in characterization tools for polymer nanostructured
materials with the verification and validation of new methods of
characterization and exploration of standardization needs in the field of
membranes, packaging and textiles that cover almost the 80% of all polymer
nanomaterials. One of the specific requirement of SMEs involved in the project
is to determine standard conditions of testing and characterization of polymer
nanostructures and then to define the best possible lab practice. The
participation of 5 partners, from the industrial world, demonstrates the
interests of the industry in the project. The new instrument, research and
development phase standardization developed by partner 14, which allows
developing standardization services and products rapidly available to
researchers and producers will give a great contribution to achieve this
objective. Also the dissemination plan of project activities and results,
assured by all partners through the publications of scientific articles in
appropriate journals, communications during conference and the proceedings of
the training courses, technological seminars and the international workshops and
through the project website, will contribute to achieve the objectives.
iii. To make available the latest
experimental and theoretical strategies and routines to produce reliable data on
nanostructured materials and to correctly interpret them.
Access to several traditional characterization methods is commonly
possible for academic and industrial researchers. Nevertheless the intensive
research in the field of polymer nanostructured materials of the last years has
open new questions and new tasks; in particular there is a lack of information
to allow researchers to become aware of the newest development of
characterization tool. With the presence of nanoparticles the already complex
behaviour of polymer materials becomes even more complex and not only the
composition and the kind of nanoparticles must be taken into account, but also
the spatial arrangement of the nanofillers and the induced orientation of the
crystals and nanofillers as function also of processing condition and finally
the influence of these nanoparticles on the polymer matrix. These
characteristics determine the final properties of the material. In the case of
crystallisable polymers nanomaterials, for example, crystal nucleation of the
matrix crystals is crucial because of the nucleation ability of some
nanoparticles on one hand and of the reduced number of heterogeneous nuclei in
nanosized phase separated materials on the other hand. The later may result in
homogeneous nucleation yielding different materials compared to heterogeneous
nucleated ones. In order to overcome this limitation and also on the base of the
report of needs of the industrial partners involved, the project will make
available, where possible, the required measurement strategies and routines
including the ones that are at the moment in a developing stage. This will allow
average trained users of characterization equipment to produce reliable data on
nanostructured polymer materials and correctly interpret them with the final aim
to monitor and control the material final properties. For the calorimetric
characterization the project will focus on making available the developing
methodologies for determination of quantitative heat capacity and heat of fusion
data which, for example, can be used for a more detailed characterization of
polymer inorganic nanocomposites as shown in (22). Moreover methods based on
fast [11] and ultrafast [24] calorimetry will be developed and made available to
study polymer crystallization under conditions, e.g. processing conditions by
heterogeneous as well as homogeneous nucleation. Practical data listing the
needed cooling rates to reach homogeneous nucleation for different
technologically important polymers and their nanocomposites obtained at the
partner lab will be placed on the web page together with the instruction to how
determine fractions of different mobility in nanostructured polymer materials.
For the structural, morphological and spectroscopic characterization it will be
show how to combine and complement the DSC data with data obtained using X-ray
diffraction techniques in the small and wide angle (SAXS-WAXS), microscopic
techniques (TEM, SEM, AFM, OM) and broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS).
This will provide to obtain information concerning the nature of crystalline
entities present in the samples, the crystal size dimension, the lamellar stack
periodicity (if present), and in industrial manufactures nanocomposites, the
kind of preferred orientation of the crystal and nanofillers as a function of
processing conditions, polymer dynamics, and its temperature dependence in the
interfacial layer, quantified in terms of (1) the thickness of the interfacial
layer and (2) the glass transition temperature or distribution of glass
transition temperatures in the interfacial layer. For the mechanical
characterization a crucial issue still remains, namely the accurate measurement
of deformation that is not distributed homogeneously along the specimen gauge
length. The non-contact method in a developing stage likely will permit accurate
deformation measurement in specific zones of 1 mm long, along the total gauge
length. Apart from this, accurate measurement of the lateral strain based on a
laser-extensometer technique, leading to the calculation of Poisson's ratio, is
also available. Effects such as necking, often appearing in polymeric materials
and polymer nanocomposites, can be then faced with this method, which permits
the calculation of the real cross-section of the specimen, and therefore leads
to the calculation of the true stress-strain curves. Moreover, the method can be
applied to creep testing, which is widely used for nanostructured polymers,
whose creep behavior may be strongly affected by the presence of nanosized
fillers. In this frame, a detailed procedure for the most reliable determination
of the time evolution of strain, construction of true stress-strain curves, and
quantitative determination of all material elastic parameters will be provided.
The project will make available instructions on how to model the response of
polymer nanocomposites to the different tests and to obtain prevision on the
material performances using various theories and models. For example in the case
of polymer nanomaterials to be used in the membranes field, molecular modelling
used to obtain a deeper understanding on the relations between molecular
structure-transport/barrier properties and to get a detailed insight in
transport and other (e.g. mechanical, biocompatibility, controlled release)
properties for polymer and block-copolymers will be provided. The presence in
the consortium of partner 14 working in contact with all the academic and
industrial partners will favorite the submission of proposals for standard
reference materials for the determination of fractions of different mobility in
complex nanostructured materials by calorimetry and BDS for a correct and
complete interpretation of diffraction data from standard SAXS-WAXS measurements
and for experimental stabilization of universal criteria for membrane.
iv. To provide practical demonstrations of the new methodologies for
scientists, technologists and SMEs producers. Characterization of polymer
nanostructure requires a high degree of interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary
co-operation and communication. This is due to the fact that at nanoscale level
the expertise of researchers in physics, chemistry, biology and engineering is
complementary. Its multidisciplinary nature makes a challenging field for
recruiting and training the technical force that is needed and for educating the
public as to its significance for the increase of attractiveness of research
careers for young scientists offering also better job opportunities. The
multidisciplinarity of the project and the training ambitions clearly
necessitate the broad inter-disciplinarity network of the project by gathering
specialists from different domains. Young scientists and technologists will be
trained to be skilled in all the possible aspects of polymer nanostructures and
thus correctly judge the advantages of polymer nanostructures for a given
problem and subsequently to implement them. A Demonstration Course and Short
Demonstration Visits are planned. The courses will be centred on the theoretical
and practical concepts on characterization of polymer nanostructures for
packaging, membranes and textiles. Internationally-recognized top-researchers,
specialized in a specific field will be invited. The lectures will include where
possible practical demonstration. The course is followed by a round table
dedicated to SMEs. The participants will receive also complementary information
including introduction to ethics, social aspects concerning the implications of
polymer nanostructure in health and environment, managerial skills, intellectual
properties aspects and technological exploitations.The project will promote
educational opportunities in Europe in this field also through the Short
Demonstration visits (SDV) that will be held at EOL locations. The Demo visit
aims at giving an overview of a range of methods and their limitations for
structural, chemical and physical characterisation techniques, providing an
insight into the practical aspects and allow hands-on experience. The grantees
will learn the underlying principles of the characterization procedure and
instruments, understand their power and limitations on the nanometre scale.
These visits will therefore enable scientists and SMEs engineers to update and
develop the skill going deeper into processing-structure-property relationships
of polymer nanostructured materials and to combine science with technology. They
will also enable transnational access to advanced equipment for study and
characterization of nanomaterials.
v. To harmonise work for new standards
in the field of characterization of polymer nanostructures and to manage the
health and safety implications of polymer nanostructures.
Standardization of nanotechnology is of significant importance for policy
makers developing regulatory frameworks in government departments as well as for
nanotechnology industries/enterprises. Unique and especially valuable is the
multidisciplinary methodology for testing all materials on the nanoscale to
evaluate the potential for human exposure. It is the latest objective of the
project to stimulate research that is essential for gaining leadership in the
competitive global nanotechnology market. The scope of the proposed
collaboration/network embraces all agreed aspects of science and technology
concerned with advanced materials, including materials technology, test methods,
design methods and materials databases. Consequently, we expect that this
collaboration between research groups, and nanocomposites producers and experts
in issues on standardization and ethics can lead to the identification of
specific areas which need new, validated test methods and design methods adapted
to the capabilities of the industry. This input would stimulate our research
efforts towards the contribution in the development of standardized
characterization methods providing experimental data, up-to-date measurement
techniques, test methods and reference materials. Appropriate standardization of
characterization methods can vitally contribute to effective dissemination of
new knowledge, turning scientific curiosities into industrial powerhouses. With
the rapid development of nanotechnology and its applications, a wide variety of
nanostructured materials are now used in several commodities. While nanoscale
materials possess more novel and unique physicochemical properties than bulk
materials, they also have an unpredictable impact on human health. The unique
feature of this project is the focus on translating research into interim
guidance for exposure assessment, exposure minimization, and other fundamental
practices, while research progresses. The project aims at addressing all those
points in the field of polymer nanostructured materials and, thus, fills the
knowledge gap concerning risks from nanotechnology, the impact of nanomaterials
on the human body, their interactions with biological systems, providing
up-to-date information on the potential toxicological effects and safety
evaluation of polymer nanostructured materials on human health for a wide
audience and their risk assessments.
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