There has been the expectation that polymers filled with small concentrations of nanosized particles will exhibit superior thermomechanical properties. We demonstrate that dispersing parts‐per‐million (ppm) polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanochemicals by melt extrusion with polyolefins increased the tensile Young's modulus, yield stress, and toughness of blow molded and extruded films without penalizing extensibility, which is common to polymers reinforced with nano/microparticles. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the key to mechanical reinforcement is the spatial distribution of POSS at ca. single nanocage thus enabling interspersion of the macromolecular network. The thermal stability, water contact angle, and oxygen transmission of the films were also enhanced enabling a single component food package capable to keep food without decay for two weeks. The physical properties are improved when the nanoparticle size <D> is about the size of the virtual tube diameter d_t, that is, <D>/d_t ≈ 1. The enhancement of physical properties by placing the nanoparticle in the free space of the molecular network is a new paradigm in engineering polymer nanocomposites and opens opportunities for recyclable single component packaging films and tunable lightweight engineering and biomimetic materials.

中文翻译：

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熔融挤出和吹塑零件-百万分之几的POSS散布在大分子网络中，同时增强了聚烯烃薄膜的热机械和阻隔性能

期望填充有小浓度纳米尺寸颗粒的聚合物将表现出优异的热机械性能。我们证明了分散百万分率（ppm）通过与聚烯烃熔融挤出的多面体低聚倍半硅氧烷（POSS）纳米化学品可提高吹塑和挤出薄膜的拉伸杨氏模量，屈服应力和韧性，而不会损害可延展性，这是用纳米/微粒增强的聚合物所共有的。透射电子显微镜显示，机械加固的关键是POSS在约270℃的空间分布。单个纳米笼因此可以分散大分子网络。薄膜的热稳定性，水接触角和氧气透过率也得到增强，从而使单组分食品包装能够将食品保持两周不腐烂。当纳米颗粒尺寸<D>大约为虚拟管直径d的尺寸时，物理性能得到改善。_吨，即，<d> / d_吨 ≈1.物理性质通过将纳米颗粒的分子网络的自由空间中的增强是在工程聚合物纳米复合材料的新范例，并打开机会可回收单组分包装薄膜和可调谐轻型工程和仿生材料。