Université de Fribourg

Stimuli-responsive mechanically adaptive polymer nanocomposites

Shanmuganathan, Kadhiravan ; Capadona, Jeffrey R. ; Rowan, Stuart J. ; Weder, Christoph

In: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2009, vol. 2, no. 1, p. 165–174

A new series of biomimetic stimuli-responsive nanocomposites, which change their mechanical properties upon exposure to physiological conditions, was prepared and investigated. The materials were produced by introducing percolating networks of cellulose nanofibers or “whiskers” derived from tunicates into poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA), and blends of these...