Publications by Nicolas Candau

Supramolecular modification of sustainable high-molar-mass polymers for improved processing and performance

Holger Frauenrath, Daniel Görl, Nicolas Candau, Yevhen Hryshunin, Oguzhan Oguz, Marianne Liebi

The plastic waste crisis is among humanity’s most urgent challenges. However, widespread adoption of sustainable plastics is hindered by their often inadequate processing characteristics and performance. Here, we introduce a bio-inspired strategy for the m ...

Nature Research2025

All-polyamide nanofibrillar composites by in situ fibrillation of aramid fibers

John Christopher Plummer, Holger Frauenrath, Sylvain Cyril Claude Galland, Pascal Alexander Schouwink, Nicolas Candau, Oguzhan Oguz

All-polyamide composites containing up to 30 vol% highly dispersed PPTA nanofibrils with diameters in the range 50-500 nm were prepared by melt-compounding polyamide 6,10 (PA610) with chopped poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA) fibers in the temperatu ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2023

Enhanced ductility in high performance polyamides due to strain-induced phase transitions

John Christopher Plummer, Véronique Michaud, Holger Frauenrath, Pascal Alexander Schouwink, Nicolas Candau

Copolymerizing poly(hexamethylene terephthalamide-co-isophthalamide) (PA6TI) with 40 wt% polyamide 66 (PA66) results in only minor decreases in modulus and yield stress owing to isomorphous substitution of PA6TI units by PA66 units in the PA6TI alpha phase ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2022

Spontaneous formation of a self-healing carbon nanoskin at the liquid-liquid interface

Holger Frauenrath, Paul Grandgeorge, Enzo Jean Raymond Bomal, Nicolas Candau, Reuben Yeo Jueyuan, Pedro Miguel Nunes Pereira de Almeida Reis

Biological membranes exhibit the ability to self-repair and dynamically change their shape while remaining impermeable. Yet, these defining features are difficult to reconcile with mechanical robustness. Here, we report on the spontaneous formation of a ca ...

Nature Research2022

Mechanical reinforcement and memory effect of strain-induced soft segment crystals in thermoplastic polyurethane-urea elastomers

Nicolas Candau, Adrien Julien Demongeot, Oguzhan Oguz

An amorphous poly(urethane-urea) copolymer composed of 70 wt% poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) soft segments (SS) (Mw = 2000 g mol−1) and 30 wt% cycloaliphatic hard segments (HS) was subjected to in-situ X-Rays during tensile deformation. Mechanical hardening at ...

2021

Stiff, Strong, Tough, and Highly Stretchable Hydrogels Based on Dual Stimuli-Responsive Semicrystalline Poly(urethane–urea) Copolymers

Pascal Alexander Schouwink, Nicolas Candau, Adrien Julien Demongeot, Oguzhan Oguz

There has been a considerable interest in developing stiff, strong, tough, and highly stretchable hydrogels in various fields of science and technology including biomedical and sensing applications. However, simultaneous optimization of stiffness, strength ...

2021

Poly(lactide)/cellulose nanocrystal nanocomposites by high-shear mixing

Véronique Michaud, Nicolas Candau, Adrien Julien Demongeot, Oguzhan Oguz, Mehmet Kerem Citak, Fatma Nalan Cetin

There is currently considerable interest in developing stiff, strong, tough, and heat resistant poly(lactide) (PLA) based materials with improved melt elasticity in response to the increasing demand for sustainable plastics. However, simultaneous optimizat ...

WILEY2021

High-performance polyamides with engineered disorder

John Christopher Plummer, Véronique Michaud, Julien Philippe Cretenoud, Holger Frauenrath, Sylvain Cyril Claude Galland, Nicolas Candau

The extraordinary property profiles of many biological materials derive from their hierarchical structure and control of order and disorder at different length scales. Application of these concepts to the design of synthetic polymers may provide new routes ...

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY2021

Semiaromatic polyamides with enhanced charge carrier mobility

John Christopher Plummer, Holger Frauenrath, Nicolas Candau

The control of local order in polymer semiconductors using non-covalent interactions may be used to engineer materials with interesting combinations of mechanical and optoelectronic properties. To investigate the possibility of preparing n-type polymer sem ...

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY2021

Strain and filler ratio transitions from chains network to filler network damage in EPDM during single and cyclic loadings

Nicolas Candau, Oguzhan Oguz

Chains and filler network damage were investigated during single and multiple cycles on a series of vulcanized EPDM containing various filler contents. In both series of experiments, a strain and a filler ratio transitions for damage mechanisms were identi ...

2020

Heat source and voiding signatures of Mullins damage in filled EPDM

Nicolas Candau, Oguzhan Oguz

The thermomechanical coupling of Mullins damage in filled EPDM has been investigated by analysing the self-heating via Infrared thermography (IR) and the voiding fraction by Digital Image Correlation (DIC). The volumetric strain measured during the rubber ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2020

Engineering polymers with improved charge transport properties from bithiophene-containing polyamides

John Christopher Plummer, Rosario Scopelliti, Holger Frauenrath, Farzaneh Fadaei Tirani, Bilal Özen, Nicolas Candau

Polymer semiconductors show unique combinations of mechanical and optoelectronic properties that strongly depend on their microstructure and morphology. Here, we have used a model pi-conjugated bithiophene repeat unit to incorporate optoelectronic function ...

Royal Society of Chemistry2020

A Sustainable Approach to Produce Stiff, Super-Tough, and Heat-Resistant Poly(lactic acid)-Based Green Materials

Nicolas Candau, Oguzhan Oguz, Mehmet Kerem Citak, Fatma Nalan Cetin

Circumventing inherent embrittlement, poor heat resistance, and melt elasticity of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) without compromising its remarkable stiffness and strength has become a particular challenge in polymer science due to increasing demand for green ma ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2019

Strain-induced network chains damage in carbon black filled EPDM

Nicolas Candau, Oguzhan Oguz

This paper presents an experimental method to follow in-situ the chains network alteration of filled vulcanized rubbers induced by deformation. Macroscopic damage is first investigated on a series of EPDM by quantifying void fraction via Digital Image Corr ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2019

Effect of surface modification of colloidal silica nanoparticles on the rigid amorphous fraction and mechanical properties of amorphous polyurethane-urea-silica nanocomposites

John Christopher Plummer, Stéphane Henri Florian Bernhard, Nicolas Candau, Oguzhan Oguz

Colloidal silica nanoparticles (NPs) modified with eight different silane coupling agents were incorporated into an amorphous poly(tetramethylene oxide)-based polyurethane-urea copolymer matrix at a concentration of 10 wt % (4.4 vol %) in order to investig ...

2019

Polyamide material

John Christopher Plummer, Holger Frauenrath, Sylvain Cyril Claude Galland, Nicolas Candau

The invention relates to a polyamide material containing a polyamide as the matrix polyamide and fibrillar polyamide particles, wherein at least 10 vol.% of the fibrillar polyamide particles, based on the total volume of the fibrillar polyamide particles, ...

2018