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20232026
most citedOn the origin of heating-induced softening and enthalpic reinforcement in elastomeric nanocomposites

2 citations · 2 across the 4 of their papers we have counts for

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Showing cond-mat.softShow all

5 papers · 1 filter

cond-mat.soft2026

Anisotropic Nanoparticle Rejamming Triggers Thermodynamic Cavitation in Elastomer Nanocomposites

Harshad Bhapkar, Pierre Kawak, David S. Simmons

Nanoparticles can dramatically reinforce elastomers while paradoxically causing cavitation at lower strains. Despite decades of research, the microscopic origin of this behavior ha…

cond-mat.soft2025

Reaction/Diffusion Competition Drives Anomalous Relaxation of Vitrimers

Makayla R. Branham-Ferrari, Shinian Cheng, Alexei P. Sokolov +1

Since their discovery in 2011, vitrimers - covalent associative network polymers - have challenged the traditional understanding of soft matter relaxation dynamics: unlike in typic…

cond-mat.soft2025

Glassy interphases reinforce elastomeric nanocomposites by enhancing percolation-driven volume expansion under strain

Pierre Kawak, Harshad Bhapkar, David S. Simmons

For nearly a century, introduction of nanoparticles to elastomers has yielded extraordinarily tough nanocomposites that are critical to technologies from actuators to tires. The me…

cond-mat.soft20252 cited

On the origin of heating-induced softening and enthalpic reinforcement in elastomeric nanocomposites

Pierre Kawak, Harshad Bhapkar, David S. Simmons

Despite a century of use, the mechanism of nanoparticle-driven mechanical reinforcement of elastomers is unresolved. A major hypothesis attributes it to glassy interparticle bridge…

cond-mat.soft2023

Central role of filler-polymer interplay in nonlinear reinforcement of elastomeric nanocomposites

Pierre Kawak, Harshad Bhapkar, David S. Simmons

Nanoparticles can greatly enhance the mechanical response of elastomeric polymers essential to a wide range of applications, yet their precise molecular mechanisms of high-strain r…