Robert Riggleman, Ph.D. and Karen Winey, Ph.D., both faculty members in the Penn School of Engineering, have been engaged in partnership activities with ExxonMobil since 2017 around a multi-year study of longtime deformation in polymer nanocomposites. By utilizing a combination of theory, simulation, and experimental techniques, this project aims to uncover the structure-property relationship in model nanocomposite systems and to develop an understanding of how nanoparticles affect the longtime deformation response in a polymer matrix. The hope is that this translative research will lead to potential product applications such as enabling the use of polymer nanocomposites as part of improved structural materials.
