Papers by Author: Elodie Bourgeat-Lami

Abstract: Ethyl cellulose was hybridized with methyl methacrylate and butyl acrylate via mini-polymerization. The polymerization process was traced to obtain a stable reaction system. The effects of the EC content and viscosity on the monomer droplet size, the particle size and the monomer conversion were investigated. It was showed that the stability of the latex dispersion was strongly dependent of the EC content and viscosity. With investigation on ethyl cellulose series, initiator and crosslinker, the stable mini-emulsion with 10% ethyl cellulose was obtained under conditions of crosslinker and LPO as initiator.

Abstract: Nanocomposite films containing up to 50 wt. % laponite have been prepared from emulsion polymerized polystyrene (PS)/laponite latexes with the laponite attached to the PS particle surfaces. Below Tg, the observed stiffness increases are accounted for by classical models for mechanical reinforcement, but these severely underestimate the stiffness above Tg. An alternative model has therefore been proposed, in which the laponite and PS with reduced mobility form a cellular network, consistent with TEM observations. This cellular network is also argued to play an important role in the decrease in fracture resistance at high laponite contents, through decreases in matrix ductility and breakdown of the laponite stacks.