Objective By appropriately adding nanoparticles to a polymer matrix can lead to materials with dramatically improved properties, especially under conditions of good dispersion. From a rheological point of view, polymer nanocomposites are typically considered to be soft colloidal dispersions, with an intrinsically disordered structure that greatly affects their viscoelastic or mechanical properties. Despite that the rheological properties of nanocomposites in the melt can be predicted or explained via entanglement network simulations based on multiscale simulation strategies, large-scale macroscopic calculations of their processing flows requires reliable constitutive (viscoelastic) equations which are currently missing. Our objective in the proposed project is to develop such constitutive models guided by principles of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. In particular, we propose to develop a new family of differential models capable of describing the complicated rheologicalbehavior of polymer nanocomposites as a function of the viscoelastic properties of the native polymer matrix and a few parameters describing polymer-filler interactions. The new models will be thermodynamically admissible and will be validated against experimentally measured data for the linear and non-linear viscoelastic properties of selected systems. They will also be employed in large scale finite- or spectral-element calculations in flows such as extrusion and calendering. The outcome of our work will be new differential constitutive equations capable of explaining or describing a number of intricate phenomena typically observed in the preparation and processing of polymer-matrixnanocomposites: filler alignment for anisotropic fillers, particle clustering, network formation, jamming etc., and their effect on the observed rheological properties (yield stress, stress overshoot, etc.) Fields of science natural sciencesphysical sciencesthermodynamicsnatural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciencesengineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materialsnatural sciencescomputer and information sciencescomputational sciencemultiphysicsengineering and technologymaterials engineeringnanocomposites Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG - Marie-Curie Action: "Career Integration Grants" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-CIG - Support for training and career development of researcher (CIG) Coordinator UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS EU contribution € 75 000,00 Address AVENUE PANEPISTIMIOU 2109 AGLANTZI 1678 Nicosia Cyprus See on map Region Κύπρος Κύπρος Κύπρος Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Georgios Georgiou (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data