Enhanced mechanical toughness of carbon nanofibrous-coated surface modified Kevlar reinforced polyurethane/epoxy matrix hybrid composites

High-performance Kevlar fiber had extensively been explored to upgraded mechanical properties of the advanced composites. Therefore, this study aimed a challenging work to grow carbon nanofibers onto the Kevlar fiber to improve its fiber-matrix interaction properties. It was successfully done through inexpensive flame deposition as well as modification of matrix with hybrid resin using polyurethane-epoxy mixture. A hand-layup method had been adopted to manufacture the composite laminates. The chemical and surface structures of the prepared laminae were examined by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and the composite's properties were evaluated tensile test, compact tension (CT) fracture test, fractography, and differential scanning calorimetry. The surface modified Kevlar laminae with CNF were used as reinforcing layer in the epoxy and PU/epoxy hybrid resin matrices. CNF-coated heated Kevlar reinforced laminated PU/epoxy hybrid composites (CNF-Kev/PU-Epoxy) showed highest elongation 47% and fracture toughness (11.7 MPa√m) along with good UTS 139 MPa. Therefore, these hybrid nanocomposites developed by simple inexpensive method would be the potential candidates for several advanced applications particularly in defense, automobile, aerospace, and spacecraft applications. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48802.     

Reversible,repeatable and low phase transition behaviour of spin coated nanostructured vanadium oxide thin films with superior mechanical properties

Smooth, uniform and crystalline vanadium oxide thin films were deposited on quartz by spin coating technique with four different rpm i.e., 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 and subsequently post annealed at 350, 450 and 550?°C in vacuum. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were utilized for microstructural characterizations and phase analysis, respectively, for vanadium oxide powder and deposited film. Nanorods were observed to be grown after vacuum annealing. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique was utilized to study the elemental oxidation state of deposited vanadium oxide films. Thermo-optical and electrical properties such as solar transmittance (τ_s), reflectance (ρ_s), absorptance (α_s), infrared (IR) emittance (ε_ir) and sheet resistance (R_s) of different thin films were evaluated. Based on the optical characteristics the optimized condition of the film processing was identified to be spin coated at 3000?rpm. Subsequently, the nanoindentation technique was utilized to measure hardness and Young's modulus of the optimized film. The measured nanomechanical properties were found to be superior to those reported for sputtered vanadium oxide films. Finally, temperature dependent phase transition characteristics of optimized vanadium oxide films were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique. Reversible and repeatable phase transition was found to occur in the range of 44–48?°C which was significantly lower than the phase transition temperature (i.e., 68?°C) of bulk VO₂.     

Assessment of the effect of residual stresses in elastic-plastic fracture of dissimilar welded components

Residual stresses in welds pose a significant threat to the structural integrity of a component, especially in the presence of defects and are required to be accounted for in assessing component safety. Although the R6 assessment procedure suggests various approximate methods for incorporating these effects in defect assessment, most of them are overly conservative and not very cost-effective. A more reliable approach is to characterise the weld residual stresses around a defect and study how they interact with primary load. The current paper analyses the effects of weld residual stresses on the fracture of a dissimilar weld in the presence of defect. The weld is made between modified 9Cr–1Mo steel and 316LN stainless steel using autogenous electron beam welding. A C(T) specimen was extracted from the centre of the weld and a crack introduced in the fusion zone using electro-discharge machining. The residual stresses around the crack were measured on a grid of measurement points at mid-thickness of the C(T) specimen using neutron diffraction on the strain diffractometer SALSA at ILL, Grenoble. The measured residual stresses around the crack-tip were incorporated into a finite element model and the interaction of these with applied load was predicted under fracture.     

Phorbol 12-Myristate 13-Acetate Induced Toxicity Study and the Role of Tangeretin in Abrogating HIF-1α-NF-κB Crosstalk In Vitro and In Vivo

Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) is a potent tumor promoter and highly inflammatory in nature. Here, we investigated the toxic effects of PMA on different model system. PMA (10 μg) caused chromosomal aberrations on the Allium cepa root tip and induced mitotic dysfunction. Similarly, PMA caused embryonic and larval deformities and a plummeted survivability rate on zebrafish embryo in a dose-dependent manner. Persistently, PMA treatment on immortalized human keratinocyte human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells caused massive inflammatory rush at 4 h and a drop in cell survivability at 24 h. Concomitantly, we replicated a cutaneous inflammation similar to human psoriasis induced by PMA. Herein, we used tangeretin (TAN), as an antagonist to counteract the inflammatory response. Results from an in vivo experiment indicated that TAN (10 and 30 mg/kg) significantly inhibited PMA stimulated epidermal hyperplasia and intra-epidermal neutrophilic abscesses. In addition, its treatment effectively neutralized PMA induced elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation on in vitro and in vivo systems, promoting antioxidant response. The association of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α)-nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated b cells (NF-κB) crosstalk triggered by PMA enhanced PKCα-ERK1/2-NF-κB pathway; its activation was also significantly counteracted after TAN treatment. Conclusively, we demonstrated TAN inhibited the nuclear translocation of HIF-1α and NF-κB p65. Collectively, TAN treatment ameliorated PMA incited malignant inflammatory response by remodeling the cutaneous microenvironment.     

Theoretical Prediction of Chiral 3D Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskites

Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOIPs), in particular 3D HOIPs, have demonstrated remarkable properties, including ultralong charge‐carrier diffusion lengths, high dielectric constants, low trap densities, tunable absorption and emission wavelengths, strong spin–orbit coupling, and large Rashba splitting. These superior properties have generated intensive research interest in HOIPs for high‐performance optoelectronics and spintronics. Here, 3D hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites that implant chirality through introducing the chiral methylammonium cation are demonstrated. Based on structural optimization, phonon spectra, formation energy, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, it is found that the chirality of the chiral cations can be successfully transferred to the framework of 3D HOIPs, and the resulting 3D chiral HOIPs are both kinetically and thermodynamically stable. Combining chirality with the impressive optical, electrical, and spintronic properties of 3D perovskites, 3D chiral perovskites is of great interest in the fields of piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity, ferroelectricity, topological quantum engineering, circularly polarized optoelectronics, and spintronics.     

Photochemical Reactions in Supramolecular Assemblies of Gels: Dimerizations and Polymerizations via Pericyclic Reactions

Gel state reactions offer new direction for the reactivity of the organic molecules or metal‐organic materials upon photoirradiation with shorter reaction times and high yields compared to solid and solution states. The restricted molecular movement among the molecules in the soft solids control the stereoselectivity of the photoproducts in the gel state reactions. To date, most of the strategies based on self‐assembly have been demonstrated in the solid state, in particular for [2+2] reactions of olefins and polymerization reactions of diacetylenes via 1,4 addition. The soft materials are of emerging materials in recent days given their many applicative day‐to‐day aspects. This review gives a glimpse of recent reports on pericyclic reactions in the gel state that are designed based on the self‐assembly concept. Also it highlights how such reactions accompany the physical changes in the structure of the gels and stereo controlled products with high yields.     

Possibility to Use Hydrothermally Synthesized CuFeS<Subscript>2</Subscript> Nanocomposite as an Acceptor in Hybrid Solar Cell

Here we have approached the plausible use of CuFeS₂ nanocomposite as an acceptor in organic–inorganic hybrid solar cell. To produce CuFeS₂ nanocomposite, hydrothermal strategy was employed. The room-temperature XRD pattern approves the synthesized material as CuFeS₂ with no phase impurity (JCPDS Card no: 37-0471). The elemental composition of the material was analyzed from the TEM-EDX data. The obtained selected area electron diffraction (SAED) planes harmonized with the XRD pattern of the synthesized product. Optical band gap (4.14 eV) of the composite from UV–Vis analysis depicts that the synthesized material is belonging to wide band gap semiconductor family. The HOMO (? 6.97 eV) and LUMO (? 2.93 eV) positions from electrochemical study reveal that there is a possibility of electron transfer from MEH-PPV to CuFeS₂. The optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra of MEH-PPV:CuFeS₂ (donor:acceptor) composite were recorded sequentially by varying weight ratios. The monotonic blue shifting of the absorption peak position indicated the interaction between donor and acceptor materials. The possibility of electron transfer from donor (MEH-PPV) to acceptor (CuFeS₂) was approved with photoluminescence analysis. Subsequently, we have fabricated a hybrid solar cell by incorporating CuFeS₂ nanocomposite with MEH-PPV in open atmosphere and obtained 0.3% power conversion efficiency.