ABSTRACT ROH, SANGCHUL. Design of Novel Functional
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ABSTRACT ROH, SANGCHUL. Design of Novel Functional Colloidal Suspensions and Gels by Interfacial Engineering of Multiphasic Systems. (Under the direction of Dr. Orlin D. Velev). Polymeric materials are pervasive in many industrial products because of their simple processability, low cost, low density, excellent mechanical properties and decreased environmental impact. The morphology and functionality of polymeric materials need to be engineered for their use in industrial products. This dissertation describes application of the colloids and interface phenomena in multiphase systems to manufacture a few new classes of polymeric materials with unique morphologies and functionalities. Three categories of multiphase systems have been studied: 1) miscible liquid-liquid pair with immiscible solid, 2) immiscible liquid-liquid pair with immiscible solid particles and 3) liquid mixture inclusion in an immiscible and crosslinkable liquid medium. Chapter 2 describes the fabrication of a new class of soft dendritic colloids (SDCs or dendricolloids) on the basis of a miscible liquid-liquid pair with immiscible solid multiphase system. The multiphasic system utilizes polymer precipitation in turbulently sheared nonsolvent medium. In the turbulent medium, the polymer solution is randomly stretched and further templated by phase separation induced by solvent-nonsolvent exchange at the interface. This results in soft dendritic colloids which are hierarchically structured, with a big branched corona of nanofibers spreading out in all directions. The biomimetic similarity of their structure to the gecko lizards’ setae renders SDCs with excellent adhesion and cohesion properties. In Chapter 3, we describe the use of a similar multiphase system for the fabrication of a new class of soft mesoporous polymer nanosheets (MPNs). The MPNs are hypothesized to be fabricated by exfoliating polymer solution skin which is phase-separated followed by rapidly vitrified at the interface between the polymer solution and turbulently sheared nonsolvent medium. The MPNs have mesoscale pores (~ 20 nm) and high surface area (~ 100 g/m2). New porous nonwoven-like materials as well as aerogels made by MPNs are introduced. In chapter 4, we introduce a new 3D-printing ink consisting of silicone materials in a multiphase system, which utilizes immiscible liquid-liquid pair with immiscible solid particles. The ink is a capillary suspension containing PDMS in the form of both pre-cured microbeads and uncured liquid precursor, dispersed in water as the continuous medium. Owing to strong capillary forces resulting from the PDMS liquid precursor, the suspensions behaved like thixotropic pastes, which are extrudable at high shear stress and possess at low shear stress the high storage moduli required for 3D-printing via direct ink writing. The liquid PDMS bridges were thermally crosslinked after the extrusion, resulting in structures that were remarkably elastic and flexible. Finally, by utilizing the multiphase system consisting of liquid-liquid mixture dispersed in an immiscible and crosslinkable liquid medium, a new type of stimuli responsive biphasic composite is introduced in Chapter 5. The dispersed phase is water/glycerol mixture, whose refractive index is matched with the PDMS matrix. The refractive index matching results in highly transparent biphasic composites. Any stimulus changing the refractive index of the water/glycerol phase results in a highly visible change in the transmittance of the composites. One such stimulus is osmotic pressure. We demonstrate how the composites vary their transmittance triggered by osmotic pressure. Thus, this dissertation introduces the principles of fabrication of a broad range of new classes of polymeric materials, which may find applications both in existing and emerging technologies and products. The results also emphasize the vast potential of the new processes for polymer nanomaterials manufacturing in multiphasic liquids. © Copyright 2019 by Sangchul Roh All Rights Reserved Design of Novel Functional Colloidal Suspensions and Gels by Interfacial Engineering of Multiphasic Systems by Sangchul Roh A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Chemical Engineering Raleigh, North Carolina 2019 APPROVED BY: _______________________________ _______________________________ Dr. Orlin D. Velev Dr. Michael Dickey Committee Chair _______________________________ _______________________________ Dr. Saad Khan Dr. Richard Spontak _______________________________ Dr. Joseph B. Tracy DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Hee-Yoon Roh and Jung-Ae Oh for their unconditional support throughout my Ph.D. work. ii BIOGRAPHY Sangchul Roh was born in Incheon, South Korea. He graduated from Nam-Bu elementary school, Sun-In middle school and Song-Do high school. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science from Chung-Ang University. During his undergraduate study, he was captivated with many and diverse research directions with the knowledges from Chemical Engineering core courses such as Thermodynamics, Transport phenomena, Chemical reaction engineering, and Organic chemistry. He pursued the Master of Science in Chemical Engineering at Chung-Ang University under the direction of Dr. Chang Keun Kim. For his Master’s degree, he studied phase behavior of polymer blends as well as polymer interface and adhesion. Sangchul Roh was motivated from Dr. Suk-Tai Chang who graduated from Prof. Orlin D. Velev research group at North Carolina State University. He joined the Ph.D. program in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. His doctoral advisor is Dr. Orlin D. Velev. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my most sincere appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Orlin D. Velev for his guidance through the entire research. His advice and support made this research possible. I am very thankful for his valuable advice not only on research but also on career development which has shaped me to be the researcher that I am. I am always inspired to follow in his footstep to become a great scientist and teacher. I was very fortunate to work with great colleagues in the Velev Research group. Dr. Bhuvnesh Bharti and I worked together to design a new 3D printing ink. Austin Williams worked with me for soft dendritic colloids and mesoporous polymer nanosheet project. Drs. Koohee Han, David Chang and Suk-Tai Chang provided laboratory assistance and constructive advice. My research could not be done without supports from many colleagues in the department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Dr. Dishit P. Parekh from Dr. Dickey group worked on 3D printing silicone materials with me. Dennis T. Lee and Seif Yusuf helped me with measuring surface area of materials. Many thanks to my committee members, Drs. Richard Spontak, Saad Khan, Michael Dickey, and Joseph Tracy. Their constructive advice and comments were very helpful towards the completion of my research. I appreciate Drs. Saad Khan, Michael Dickey and Lilian Hsiao for letting me use their experiment equipment including the 3D printer, the rheometer, the tensile testing machine, and the goniometer. I owe special appreciation to my friends and family from South Korea who have supported me in many ways. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Yaewon Park in College of Textile for her support throughout my doctoral study. Without their support, this research would have never been carried out. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Soft Materials Fabrication by Interfacial Templating and Capillary Engineering in Multiphasic Liquids ........................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction: Multiphasic Liquid Systems for Structured Soft Materials .......................... 2 1.2. Nanomaterials made by polymer precipitation in sheared liquid phases ........................... 4 1.3. Particle structures bound by multiphasic liquids ............................................................. 10 1.4. Novel solid-liquid biphasic composites for stimulus-responsive material design ........... 14 1.5. Layout of this dissertation ................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 2: Soft Dendritic Colloids with Extraordinary Networking, Adhesion and Structuring Properties ............................................................................................................... 19 2.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 20 2.2. Materials and methods ..................................................................................................... 21 2.3. Results .............................................................................................................................. 23 2.4. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 3: Mesoporous Polymer Nanosheets via Continuous Shear-Driven Phase Separation and Exfoliation........................................................................................................ 35 3.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................................