activity
20232026
most citedCentral role of filler-polymer interplay in nonlinear reinforcement of elastomeric nanocomposites

12 citations · 15 across the 4 of their papers we have counts for

collaborators

5 papers

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.mtrl-sci2026★ 1 cited

AMDAT: An Open-Source Molecular Dynamics Analysis Toolkit for Supercooled Liquids, Glass-Forming Materials, and Complex Fluids

Pierre Kawak, William F. Drayer, Bao Khanh Ma +1

AMDAT (Amorphous Molecular Dynamics Analysis Toolkit) is an open-source C++ toolkit for post-processing molecular dynamics trajectories, focused on high-performance static and dyna…

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.soft2025★ 2 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★ 12 cited

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…