Abstract:

Polymer nanocomposites are very promising for various engineering applications. (i). nanosilica/ epoxy composites were in situ formed via a special sol-gel technique, in which nanoparticles in an average diameter of 25 nm were almost perfectly dispersed in the matrix. Significant improvements in stiffness and toughness of nanocomposites were observed when the interparticle distance became smaller than the nanoparticle diameter at a rather high filler content up to 15 vol.%. Under this condition, the interphase may construct a three dimensional physical network, which will finally dominate the performances of these nanocomposites. (ii). Polymer with highly filled nanosilica particles was applied for UV coating on various substrates, e.g. PC. Super scratch resistant nano-coating was achieved. Micro-tribological tester and nano-indentation were applied to quantify the nano-effect, and to understand the mechanisms.

Biography:

Dr. Zhong Zhang obtained his BS, MS, and PhD degrees from the University of Science of Technology of China (Hefei) in 1990, 1996, and 1999, respectively. In 1997 and 1998, He worked at Karlsruhe Research Centre (Germany) and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK) focusing on low-temperature properties of polymer composites. Since 2000, he started to work at the Institute for Composite Materials (IVW), University of Kaiserslautern (Germany), as an Alexander von Humboldt research fellow. From 2001 to 2006, as a Humboldt Sofja Kovalevskaja Awardee, he established an independent research team at IVW, concentrating on polymer nanocomposites.

As a full professor, Dr. Zhang joined the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, China in 2005. His current research activities are sponsored by key research programs on nanotechnology of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and key projects within the knowledge innovation program of the Chinese Academic of Sciences. Several industrial collaborations with leading international companies are conducted in his group as well.