Synergistic Effects of Polybenzimidazole and Aramide on Enhancing Flame-Retardancy and Solubility

Aromatic and functional polymers with processibility derived from biobased starting materials are prerequisite considering sustainable society. Poly(2,5-benzimidazole)s are rigid-rod polymers to show ultrahigh thermal stability such as flame retardance, while usually suffer from poor solubility. Here, poly(benzimidazole-co-amide)s are synthesized from two biobased monomers, 3,4-diaminobenzoic acid and a semirigid comonomer, 4-aminohydrocinnamic acid. The copolymers with an amide composition of 80 mol% and higher are soluble in widely used polar solvents to fabricate the films keeping high flame retardance, which is comparable with popular high-performance polymers such as aromatic polyimides, polyetheretherketone, polyphenylene sulfide, etc.     

Preparation and antifouling performance of thin inorganic ultrafiltration membrane via assisted sol-gel method with different composition of dual additives

A novel TiO₂ thin film was prepared on the ceramic hollow fiber by the sol-gel method using poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as additives. SEM images verified the formation of TiO₂ layer with various thickness using different composition of titania sols. The effect of the PVP and PVA contents on the TiO₂ sol properties, the separation and the antifouling performance of the ultrafiltration membranes were investigated thoroughly. When the contents of PVP and PVA were 1.0 wt% and 0.8 wt%, respectively, the resultant membrane showed a thickness of 0.55 μm with a pure water flux of 255 L m^?2 h^?1. In addition, the adherent foulant bovine serum albumin was applied to evaluate the antifouling performance. During the three fouling-recovery cycles, the flux recovery ratio and the flux decay ratio maintained about 99% and 30%. The BSA flux and rejection were still 169 L m^?2 h^?1 and 96.9% after the cycles, indicating a superior antifouling property.     

Blends of Bio-Based Poly(Limonene Carbonate) with Commodity Polymers

In this study, blends of the bio-based poly(limonene carbonate) (PLimC) with different commodity polymers are investigated in order to explore the potential of PLimC toward generating more sustainable polymer materials by reducing the amount of petro- or food-based polymers. PLimC is employed as minority component in the blends. Next to the morphology and thermal properties of the blends the impact of PLimC on the mechanical properties of the matrix polymers is studied. The interplay of incompatibility and zero-shear melt viscosity contrast determines the blend morphology, leading for all blends to a dispersed droplet morphology for PLimC. Blends with polymers of similar structure to PLimC (i.e., aliphatic/aromatic polyester) show the best performance with respect to mechanical properties, whereas blends with polystyrene or poly(methyl methacrylate) are too brittle and polyamide 12 blends show very low elongations at break. In blends with Ecoflex (poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)) and Arnitel EM400 (copoly(ether ester)) with poly(butylene terephthalate) hard and polytetrahydrofuran soft segments) a threefold increase in E-modulus can be achieved, while keeping the elongation at break at reasonable high values of ≈200%, making these blends highly interesting for applications.     

基于蜻蜓翅脉结构的连续碳纤维增强树脂基复合材料仿生设计与增材制造

以具有轻质高强优异性能的蜻蜓翅脉结构为设计灵感，在分析翅脉网格结构抗冲击原理的基础上，设计了传统和仿生两类对比结构。采用熔融挤出3D打印机成功制备了具有不同结构的连续碳纤维增强聚乳酸复合材料试样，并对不同结构复合材料试样的拉伸性能和抗冲击性能进行了测试和对比分析。研究分析结果表明：由于拉伸力方向上的连续碳纤维含量相对较少，限制了仿生结构复合材料抗拉强度的提高，但仿生结构的平均抗拉强度为传统结构的1.18倍；当仿生结构复合材料试样受到冲击力时，其内部六边形结构的连接角度会发生变化，从而极大消耗冲击能量，同时具有六边形网格结构的连续碳纤维可以有效阻碍裂纹的扩展，因此仿生结构的平均冲击韧性可以达到传统结构的2.46倍；仿生蜻蜓翅脉结构可以显著提高增材制造复合材料的综合力学性能，且对于抗冲击性能的提高具体突出效果。连续碳纤维增强树脂基复合材料的有效可行的仿生蜻蜓翅脉结构设计和增材制造，可极大扩展其在高冲击载荷领域中的相应应用。     

Piezoresistive in-situ strain sensing of composite laminate structures

Various methods have been developed to monitor the health and strain state of carbon fiber reinforced polymers, each with a unique set of pros and cons. This research assesses the use of piezoresistive sensors for in situ strain measurement of carbon fiber and other composite structures in multidirectional laminates. The piezoresistive sensor material and the embedded circuitry are both evaluated. For the piezoresistive sensor, a conductive nickel nanocomposite sensor is compared with the piezoresistivity of the carbon fiber itself. For the circuit, the use of carbon fibers already present in the structure is compared with the use of nickel coated carbon fiber. Successful localized strain sensing is demonstrated for several sensor and circuitry configurations. Numerous engineering applications are possible in the ever-growing field of carbon-composites.     

Physical characteristics of AFEX-pretreated and densified switchgrass,prairie cord grass,and corn stover

The goal of the study was to evaluate and compare the physical properties of control, pretreated and densified corn stover, switchgrass, and prairie cord grass samples. Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX) pretreated switchgrass, corn stover, and prairie cord grass samples were densified by using the comPAKco device developed by Federal Machine Company of Fargo, ND. The densified biomass were referred as “PAKs” in this study. All feedstocks were ground into three different grind size of 2, 4 and 8 mm prior to AFEX pretreatment and the impact of grinding on pellet properties was studied. The results showed that the physical properties of AFEX-PAKed material were not influenced by the initial grind size of the feedstocks. The bulk density of the AFEX-PAKed biomass increased by 1.2–6 fold as compared to untreated and AFEX-pretreated materials. The durability of the AFEX-PAKed materials were between 78.25 and 95.2%, indicating that the AFEX-PAKed biomass can be transported easily. To understand the effect of storage on the physical properties of these materials, samples were stored in the ambient condition (20 ± 2 °C and 70 ± 5% relative humidity) for six months. After storage, thermal properties of the biomass did not change but glass transition temperature decreased. The water absorption index and water solubility index of AFEX-treated and AFEX-PAKed biomass showed mixed trends after storage. Moisture content decreased and durability increased upon storage.     

生物质纤维和改性木质素对聚乳酸结晶性能的影响

采用改性木质素(MZS)作为成核剂,生物质纤维(BF)作为增强剂,通过双螺杆挤出机制备了生物降解的聚乳酸(PLA)/BF/MZS材料。采用差式扫量热仪(DSC)、电子万能试验机和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)分析了BF和MZS对PLA材料性能的影响。结果表明,BF和MZS有效提高了PLA的结晶能力和力学性能。当BF和MZS的含量分别为15%和1%时,PLA材料结晶度提高至67.1%,在50℃/min降温速率下仍具有较高的结晶能力。105℃等温结晶时,15%BF和1%MZS的PLA材料半结晶时间降低至9.0 s,比纯PLA缩短了72.2%。当PLA含有3%BF和1%MZS时,拉伸强度和冲击强度分别为70.1 MPa和7.4 kJ/m^2,比纯PLA分别提高了7.8%和10.4%,根据SEM显示,当BF含量为3%时,在PLA材料中分布较均匀。     

A novel combination of precursor pyrolysis assisted sintering and rapid sintering for construction of multi-composition coatings to improve ablation resistance of SiOC ceramic modified carbon fiber needled felt preform composites

A double-layer coating composed of MoSi₂–SiO₂–SiC/ZrB₂–MoSi₂–SiC was designed and successfully constructed by a novel combination of precursor pyrolysis assisted sintering and rapid sintering to improve the ablation resistance of SiOC ceramic modified carbon fiber needled felt preform composites (CSs). The ZrB₂–MoSi₂–SiC inner layer coating was in relatively uniform distribution in the zone of 0–3 mm from the surface of CSs through the slurry/precursor infiltration in vacuum and SiOC precursor pyrolysis assisted sintering, which played a predominant role in improving oxidation and ablation resistance and maintaining the morphology of CSs. The MoSi₂–SiO₂–SiC outer layer coating was prepared by the spray and rapid sintering to further protect CSs from high-temperature oxidation. The ablation resistance of CSs coated with double-layer coating was evaluated by an oxygen-acetylene ablation test under the temperature of 1600–1800 °C with different ablation time of 1000 and 1500 s. The results revealed that the mass recession rates increased with the rise of ablation temperature and extension of ablation time, ranging from 0.47 g/(m²·s) to 0.98 g/(m²·s) at 1600–1800 °C for 1000 s and from 0.72 g/(m²·s) to 0.86 g/(m²·s) for 1000–1500 s at 1700 °C, while the linear recession rates showed negative values at 1700 °C due to the formation of oxides, such as SiO₂ and ZrO₂. The ablation mechanism of the double-layer coating was analyzed and found that a SiO₂–ZrO₂–Mo_4.8Si₃C_0.6 oxidation protection barrier would be formed during the ablation process to prevent the oxygen diffusion into the interior CSs, and this study provided a novel and effective way to fabricate high-temperature oxidation protective and ablation resistant coating.