The goals of our research under AFOSR Grant number F49620-99-0191 (continued under F49620-02-0260) were to explore the preparation, properties and applications of organic matrix resin nanocomposites. The dispersed nanophases selected for this work included: (1) Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane chemicals (POSS macromers) of three types: those with no polymerizable group, those with one reactive function and those with eight reactive functions. At first this included only the T8-POSS family (R8Si8O12), but ...
Vapor grown carbon nanofibers (VGCF) with 60-250nm diameters and 10 to 80 micrometers lengths were blended with the nonpolar organic monomer, dicyclopentadiene, to create liquid dispersions or pastes (based on the wt% fiber used). Ruthenium catalysts were mixed in to cause ring-opening methathesis polymerization, generating tough crosslinked resin matrics reinforced by the nanofibers. In addition to dicyclopentadiene, other liquid resins, including phenolic, epoxies and vinyl esters were also blended with ...
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