Dynamic light scattering study of the ultrasonication of P(VDF-TrFE): A new model

Archive ouverte

Thevenot, Camille | Vincent, Brice | Hage-Ali, Sami | Thomas, Sabu | Rouxel, Didier

Edité par CCSD ; Taylor & Francis -

International audience. The purpose of this paper is to understand the mechanisms occurring during the ultrasonication of the copolymer P(VDF-TrFE). In these experimental conditions, the polymer adopts a core-shell structure and its hydrodynamic diameter is measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS). The results show that, without covalent bonds breakage, the hydrodynamic diameter decreases with ultrasonication time and a smaller size population appears. This evolution is reversible in a matter of days. A new two-step mechanism is proposed to describe this phenomenon: firstly the erosion of a core-shell structure and secondly the contraction of the core. Beyond shedding a new light on the phenomena occurring during the sonication of polymers used in nanocomposites elaboration, this work also strongly questions the traditional techniques used to study the degradation of polymers, which uses the hydrodynamic diameter measurement to determine the molecular weight.

• Description
• Sujet/Public
• Outil
• Outil d'anticipation
• Mémoire et thèse
• Gestion