Loading ...One of the biggest criticisms of composite materials is its heterogeneous nature (being comprised of two different kinds of materials). This characteristic can cause conflicts such as cracking and impact resistance within a product. Now, one professor is conducting research to address this negative computation.
Jeffery White, chemistry professor at Oklahoma State University, has been named a Fulbright scholar and will conduct research on complex macromolecules and how their organization controls their behavior when mixed and form composite materials. The Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the United States and other countries, with representatives from both ends working on the same research.
White will try to make a molecularly intimate composite, such that each phase (hard and soft, organic and inorganic) is formed with one another in an intimate homogenous mixture. “By controlling the relative fractions of either of the two, in theory you can tune the final properties,” he explains.
One of the main objectives of his research will be to find applications that are both biocompatible and biodegradable. He states that immediate opportunities exist in such areas as tissue growth materials and bone joints. As for mechanical applications, White concedes that the technology can’t immediately be applied there, but he thinks the scenario is quite possible down the road. “So far, the only polymers we’ve looked at have relatively low glass transitions, thus not really engineering polymers. But if we’re able to make this mixture work for those engineering polymers, in theory you could use it within mechanical applications,” he says.
White will conduct the Fulbright-funded research for approximately six months in Poland, where White has previously done collaborative research. He says he’ll conduct mostly standard mechanical testing procedures such as elongation, tensile strength, straw testing and water diffusion. The biggest challenge, he says, will be making the materials truly unique. “I would like to find materials that you can’t get another way. Potentially, using these self-molecular concepts could lead to a broader strategy and wide usage range in applications,” he states.
Once the Fulbright period has ended, research will continue at Oklahoma State, but at the very least, he believes the effort will help strengthen international efforts for composites. “You really do internationalize science and make long-standing collaborations with opportunities like winning a Fulbright,” he says.
