The high Scientific Impact and Excellence of THUNDER is proven by its multi-disciplinary nature in the consortium and previously published novel research work by HMU [1] [2] [3] [4] (PI: Assoc. Prof. Lazaros Tzounis, co-PI: Assoc. Prof. Panagiotis Polygerinos), FORTH [5] [6] [7] (PI: Vagelis Harmandaris, co-PI Prof. Dimitris Vlassopoulos), UOP [8] (Prof. Vlasis Mavrantzas), and AUTH[9] [10] (Prof. Kontantinos Papagelis) in: the fields of: i) polymer science & engineering (HMU, FORTH, UOP), ii) 3D printing of neat polymers and multi-functional polymer nanocomposite, as well as Joule-heating printed devices; all with unique 3D and 2D printing facilities at HMU (HMU), iii) computational modelling of polymer-based nanostructured materials, and physical chemistry of polymeric materials and polymer nanocomposites (FORTH, UOP, AUTH), iv) advanced melt-rheology, dynamic mechanical analyses and polymer chain dynamics e.g. for polymer blends, nanocomposites (FORTH, UOP), v) solid state mechanical properties coupled with spectroscopic analyses (in-line/ off-line Raman spectroscopy for strain characterisation, sensing, etc.) of polymer, carbon nanoallotropes and polymer nanocomposites (AUTH, HMU), and vi) soft actuator’s 4DP structures and soft robotics; i.e. design, fabrication, control, and performance characterisation for soft robotics applications (HMU).
Partner-01 (Project Coordinator): Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU) & Composites, Structures & Electronic Devices 3D Printing Laboratory (CSD-3D Lab)
Description: The Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU) has a history of about 40 years and offers high quality undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Engineering Sciences, Health, Agriculture and Food, Economics and Management and Environment. HMU employs around 400 qualified academic and technical staff and serves more than 14.500 students. HMU, through its legacy, is high ranked in Greece’s highest-ranked universities in research publications and records an impact index that exceeds the global average. The above proves HMU’s excellent position in Research and Development (R&D) among Greek higher education institutions. HMU coordinates and participates in THUNDER project through the Composites, Structures & Electronic Devices 3D Printing Laboratory (CSD-3D Lab), which was established in 2019 as part of the Mechanical Engineering dept. Its mission is to conduct contemporary research in three scientific and technological pillars: (i) CAD/ CAM/ CAE systems and reverse engineering, (ii) Additive Manufacturing, and (iii) Materials Engineering, with a high-level research infrastructure in the field of advanced manufacturing, e.g. 3D printing, 3D scanning, structural composite materials, polymer processing, printed electronics, Nanocomposites, Thermoelectrics and device fabrication especially for sensor, energy harvesting and actuators. The lab has several 3D printers of FFF, SLA & SLS technology, equipment for polymer processing e.g. various twin-screw and single screw extruders, fab-lab facilities for polymer composite manufacturing (tow-preg preparation, hand-lay-up, infusion, thermal press, etc.), as well as a fully equipped characterisation lab (tensile and 3-point bending testing machines up to 100kN, electrical characterisation via source measure units and several multimers, morphology characterisation though optical and SEM microscopy infrastructure.
Role: HMU/ CSD-3D Lab in THUNDER will (1) develop polymeric nanocomposite materials by incorporating different carbon nanoallotrope fillers in the polymer matrix via melt-mixing processes, (2) produce structures and the final electrothermal actuator (ETA) devices via 3D Printing (3DP), (3) fabricate the 4DP ETAs and characterise their actuation performance (electrical, power consumption, bending angle, etc.) and (4) interconnect the 4DP ETAs towards final gripper devices towards potential soft robotic applications.
Partner-02: Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH)
https://www.iesl.forth.gr/en/about/institute/forth
Description: The Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) was founded in 1983. It is one of the largest research centers in Greece with well-organized facilities, highly qualified personnel and a reputation as a top-level research institution worldwide. FORTH conducts specialized scientific research in strategic high-added value sectors, focusing on interdisciplinary research and development (R&D) activities in areas of major scientific, societal and economic interest, such as: Lasers and Photonics, Microelectronics, Advanced Materials / Nanotechnology, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Biotechnology, Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Precision Medicine, Systems Biology, Robotics, Telecommunications, Applied and Computational Mathematics, Chemical Engineering Sciences, Energy, Environment, Social Sciences & Humanities, Astrophysics and Astronomy. FORTH comprises ten Research Institutes. Its headquarters and central administration are based in Heraklion, Crete.
Role: FORTH participates in THUNDER through the research groups of Prof. Harmandaris and Prof. Vlassopoulos. Both groups will focus on predicting structure-property relationships of polymer-based nanostructured materials. Specifically, the group of Prof. Harmandaris (IACM/FORTH) will work on the computational modelling of polymers and polymer nanocomposites, focusing on the role of interphases on the rheological behavior of the materials. The group of Prof. Vlassopoulos (IESL/FORTH) will perform advanced rheological studies of polymeric materials, including polymer blends and nanocomposites, and attempt to link the results with the 3D printing performance of these materials.
Partner-03: University of Patras (UPAT), Chemical Engineering department
Description: The University of Patras (UPAT) is the 3rd largest University in Greece, and in its brief history (since 1968) has established itself as one of the leading education and research centers of the country and the wider region of Eastern Mediterranean. Its mission is to create new knowledge through the promotion of fundamental and applied research. The University demonstrates a significant research activity and has built a reputation for quality and innovative research over the years. UPatras is represented in THUNDER with the Laboratory of Statistical Thermodynamics and Macromolecules (LSTM), at the Department of Chemical Engineering (DCEUP). The Lab is internationally recognized for its innovative work on: a) the development of multiple-time step, equilibrium and nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) methods for predicting structural, thermodynamic, and viscoelastic properties, b) the design of state-of-the-art chain connectivity altering Monte Carlo (MC) algorithms for the fast equilibration of complex polymers and the simulation of self-assembly at the nano-scale, c) the development of constitutive equations based on the fundamental principles of nonequilibrium thermodynamics, and d) the design of strategies for mapping the results of molecular simulations to these constitutive rheological models and parameterizing these models.
Role: In THUNDER, the UPatras (UPAT) team will develop and implement new constitutive equations describing the viscoelastic properties of polymeric nanocomposite materials with different carbon nano-allotrope fillers in the polymer matrix. The constitutive modelling will be based on the Hamiltonian formulation of transport phenomena for fluids with a complex microstructure wherein the final governing equations are derived with the help of a generalized (Poisson plus dissipative) bracket. The new models will be partially parametrized on the basis of atomistic simulations, and are expected to be able to provide a faithful description of the rheological data of the polymeric nanocomposites that will be developed in the course of THUNDER.
Partner-04: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Physics department
Description: AUTh is the largest university in Greece, encompassing a comprehensive range of disciplines. Within the Physics Department, Professor Papagelis’s research group boasts extensive expertise in synthesis and manipulation of 2D materials, carbon-based nanostructures, and their model polymer nanocomposites. The group excels in studying the optical, electronic, phonon, and mechanical properties of these materials, utilizing both experimental and theoretical approaches. The research team (http://osng.physics.auth.gr/) is well-equipped with advanced facilities to meet the project objectives. The Physics Department (https://www.physics.auth.gr/) houses state-of-the-art equipment, including among others Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectrometers, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and an optical microscopy suite..
Role: AUTH will contribute towards the following project tasks: i) Raman scattering (RS), conventional and under resonant conditions, of pristine carbon nano-allotrope conductive additives (e. g. SWCNTs, MWCNTs and carbon black), fabricated polymer nanocomposites and the final 4DP soft ETAs. ii) Investigation of orientations/alignment of carbon nanoparticles (SWCNTs and MWCNTs) in 3D printed extruded filaments and/or nanocomposite specimens. iii) At 4DP ETA device level, in-situ Raman experiments under mechanical strain and/or joule heating thermal effects, due to application of DV Vbias during the actuator device operation, will be performed. Intense spatial Raman mapping will provide unique information regarding local strain and thermal fields with lateral spatial resolution of less than a micron. Also, confocal Raman depth scans allow maps of local strain and temperature with depth resolution <1 μm. AUTH has the unique to apply, mechanical strain and temperature in composite specimens in tandem with RS
[1] Tzounis L. et. al. Influence of a cyclic butylene terephthalate oligomer on the processability and thermoelectric properties of polycarbonate/MWCNT nanocomposites. Polymer, Volume 55, Issue 21, 2014, Pages 5381-5388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2014.08.048
[2] Tzounis L. et. al. Fused Filament Fabrication 3D printed polypropylene/ alumina nanocomposites: Effect of filler loading on the mechanical reinforcement. Polymer Testing Volume 109, 2022, 107545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2022.107545
[3] George Karalis, Lazaros Tzounis, et. al. Printed Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube-Based Joule Heating Devices Integrated as Functional Laminae in Advanced Composites. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 13, 33, 39880–39893. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c10001
[4] Bobak Mosadegh, Panagiotis Polygerinos, et. al. Pneumatic Networks for Soft Robotics that Actuate Rapidly. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2014, 24, 2163–2170. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201303288
[5] H. Reda, A. Chazirakis, A.F. Behbahani, N. Savva, V. Harmandaris, “Mechanical properties of glassy polymer nanocomposites via atomistic and continuum models: The role of Interphases”, Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 395, 114905 (2022), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cma.2022.114905
[6] Kapnistos, M., Lang, M., Vlassopoulos, D. et al. Unexpected power-law stress relaxation of entangled ring polymers. Nature Mater 7, 997–1002 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2292
[7] Kapnistos, M., Hinrichs, A., Vlassopoulos, D. et. al. Rheology of a Lower Critical Solution Temperature Binary Polymer Blend in the Homogeneous, Phase-Separated, and Transitional Regimes. Macromolecules 1996, 29, 22, 7155–7163. https://doi.org/10.1021/ma960835n
[8] Emmanuel N. Skountzos, Panagiotis G. Mermigkis, and Vlasis G. Mavrantzas. Molecular Dynamics Study of an Atactic Poly(methyl methacrylate)–Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposite. Phys. Chem. B 2018, 122, 38, 9007–9021. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b06631
[9] Georgia Tsoukleri, John Parthenios, Konstantinos Papagelis, et. al. Subjecting a Graphene Monolayer to Tension and Compression. Small, 2009, 5, 2397-2402. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.200900802
[10] Zdenko Spitalsky, DimitriosTasis, KonstantinosPapagelis, et. al. Carbon nanotube–polymer composites: Chemistry, processing, mechanical and electrical properties. Progress in Polymer Science, Volume 35, Issue 3, March 2010, Pages 357-401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2009.09.003