Preparation of polysulfone microspheres with a hollow core/porous shell structure and their application for oil spill cleanup

Polysulfone (PSF) microspheres with a hollow core/porous shell structure were prepared by a water‐in‐oil‐in‐water emulsion solvent evaporation method. The morphology of PSF could be controlled by variation of the surfactants, which included oleic acid, poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), and tween 80. The three kinds of prepared microspheres were developed as sorbents for the selective removal of oil from water. PSF microspheres with a hollow core/porous shell structure exhibited the best separation efficiency, which was 44.8 times higher than that of the pristine PSF powder. The oil‐absorbed microspheres combined with unsinkability, appropriate size, and highly hydrophobic and superoleophilic properties could be quickly distributed and collected in seconds and exhibited recyclability. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Compressive and thermal characterization of syntactic foams containing hollow silicon carbide particles with porous shell

Silicon carbide hollow particle (SiC_HS) reinforced vinyl ester matrix syntactic foams are prepared and characterized for compressive properties and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). Two types of SiC_HS were utilized in 60 vol % to prepare syntactic foams. These SiC_HS had ratio of inner to outer radius of 0.91 and 0.84 for the thin and thick walled particles. The specific compressive strength values were 33.4 and 38.8 kPa/kg/m³ and the specific compressive modulus values were 0.8 MPa/kg/m³ and 0.6 MPa/kg/m³ for the thin and thick walled SiC_HS‐filled syntactic foams, respectively. The shell of the hollow particles contained microporous voids, and the porosity was estimated as 16.6% and 24.8% in the walls of the thin and thick walled particles, respectively. The shell porosity adversely affected the specific compressive strength and the modulus of the syntactic foam. However, the SiC_HS‐filled syntactic foams exhibited low CTE values (26.7 and 15.9 × 10^?6/°C). These CTE values were 65.1% and 79.3% lower than the CTE of the neat resin. Such properties can be useful for applications where syntactic foams are exposed to high temperatures and dimensional stability is important. A theoretical model is used to estimate the porosity level in the SiC shells and estimate the effective mechanical properties of the porous SiC material that forms the particle shell. Such analysis can help in using the models as predictive tools to estimate the mechanical properties of syntactic foams. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40689.     

Optimization of sound absorption property for polyurethane foam using adaptive simulated annealing algorithm

Polyurethane foam is one of the sound absorbing materials because of its advantage in lightweight, sound absorption and low cost. Therefore, it is important to optimize the formulation for better sound absorption performance. In this study, experimental optimization was carried out with a response surface methodology to investigate the effects of different variables including catalyst triethanolamine, catalyst A33, and additive polyethylene fiber. The mathematical model was developed for correlating experimental data. The model parameters were optimized by adaptive simulated annealing algorithm. The maximum acoustic property of the foams was found to be 0.68 by adding 3.2 g triethanolamine, 1.0 g A33, and 0.1 g polyethylene fiber. Then, the polyurethane foam was synthesized according to the optimization results. The sound absorption coefficient of it is within the allowable error of the optimization result. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46426.     

Synthesis of 3D graphene/MnO2 nanocomposites with hierarchically porous structure for water purification

Journal of Porous Materials - In this work, a three-dimensional (3D) graphene/manganese dioxide nanocomposite (PGA/MnO2) with a hierarchically porous structure was prepared by facile steam...     

Uniform macroporous amidoximated polyacrylonitrile monoliths for gallium recovery from Bayer liquor

Efficient recovery of gallium from aqueous solution remains a problem to be solved in industry. Here a novel crosslinked monolith based on polyacrylonitrile/dimethyl sulfoxide (C-PAN) was prepared by thermally induced phase separation and supercritical CO₂ extraction drying technology. The influences of dissolution temperature and exchange solvents with different solubility parameters on the pore structure of C-PAN were systematically studied. It was found that the pore diameter decreased with the decrease of dissolution temperature and the increase of Δδ between exchange solvent and PAN. Meanwhile, the C-PAN with a small and dense pore structure showed better mechanical strength. Thereafter, the Ga³⁺ adsorption ability of amidoximated monolith (C-PAO) in simulated Bayer liquor was determined by batch tests. In the case of using methanol as the exchange solvent, the kinetic and equilibrium inspection study illustrated that both physical and chemical adsorption are present due to the multiscale and interconnected structure and the amidoxime groups. The adsorption capacity of C-PAO monolith toward gallium was 15.8 mg/g, with the equilibrium time as fast as 140 min, which can meet the requirement for the rapid extraction of gallium from Bayer liquor. It is expected that our work can provide some new ideas for fabricating gallium adsorbents.     

Improving iodine adsorption performance of porous organic polymers by rational decoration with nitrogen heterocycle

Four kinds of porous aminal-linked organic polymers (PAOPs) were synthesized via one-step condensation between cheap melamine and respective aldehydes decorated with different nitrogen heterocycle, to evaluate the influence of nitrogen heterocycle on the adsorption performance of target polymer toward iodine. Though having the smallest surface area of 209.9 m²/g, PAOP-4 decorated with pyridine group exhibits an adsorption capacity of 108 wt% (iodine/adsorbent weight%), surpassing other three PAOPs with Brunauer–Emmett–Teller area varying from 305.8 to 533.0 m²/g. Based on Raman spectral analyses, the characteristic band of I₃⁻ and I₅⁻ was used to evaluate the electronic interaction between iodine and the nitrogen heterocycle, giving an order of pyridine > tetrazole > pyrazole > imidazole. This manifests the vital role of chemical interaction playing in the iodine adsorption by PAOP-4, which is much helpful for designing high-performance organic adsorbent toward iodine.     

水在开孔泡沫铜中的池沸腾传热特性

对常温、大气压下水在开孔泡沫铜中池沸腾的传热特性进行了试验研究,观察了开孔泡沫铜中汽泡的生长特性及其变化规律,并与水在光管加热面的池沸腾特性进行了对比。试验结果表明:水在泡沫铜中池沸腾时,汽泡脱离直径和汽泡脱离频率随热通量的增加而不断增大,泡沫铜对水的池沸腾传热具有很好的强化效果。根据试验结果,得到了水在开孔泡沫铜中池沸腾传热的传热系数拟合关联式,为进一步的研究提供了依据。     

Epoxy composite foams with excellent electromagnetic interference shielding and heat‐resistance performance

Epoxy composite foams with improved heat‐resistant property and efficient electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) were fabricated through a two‐step foaming technique. A sort of novel and untraditional expandable microspheres was adopted to reduce the density of prepared materials. A multiscale conductive network system composed of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and nickel‐plated carbon fibers (NiCFs) was introduced in these foams. Benefitting from the synergistic effect between NiCFs and MWCNTs, the multiscale epoxy foam with best comprehensive performance achieved a greatly enhanced T_g at 178.3 °C and an exceptional specific EMI SE ranging from 52.8 to 72.6 dB cm³ g^?1 in X band (8.2–12.4 GHz) at low filler loading. These properties are greatly better than original epoxy foam with a T_g of 157.8 °C and specific EMI SE of 1.0–6.4 dB cm³ g^?1. Their shielding mechanisms were discussed and the results showed that reflection is dominating. The effects of microspheres content, foaming temperature, NiCFs content, and length were investigated. In general, we provided a feasible, convenient and cost‐effective method to fabricate light‐weight, heat‐resistant thermosetting epoxy foams with sufficient EMI shielding performance which has a potential to be applied in aerospace or electronic devices. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46013.     

Preparation and properties of magnesia porous ceramics by particle-stabilized foam casting

In this paper, magnesia porous ceramics were prepared by particle-stabilized foams assisted foam-gel casting. Secondly, the performance of magnesia slurry and magnesia porous ceramics was investigated. The obtained magnesia powder manifested high adsorption amount and excellent hydrophobicity, due to the strong adsorption ability of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) on magnesia particles. When the SDBS concentration is .3 wt%, the surface tension and expansion ratio of the slurry were 45 mN·m⁻¹ and 1.68, respectively. The shape of the pore was sphere cell structure, with uniform distribution of pores in the sample, the average pore size was in the range of 58.7–73.9 μm, and the compressive strength was in the range of 25.3 MPa to 15.5 MPa when porosity varied from 56.7% to 70.2%.     

Preparation of graphite oxide/polyurethane foam material and its removal application of malachite green from aqueous solution

Synthetic dyes are commonly used in textile, paper, leather, food, plastic and cosmetic industries. In this study, a series of novel graphite oxide/polyurethane (GO/PU) polymeric foam materials were prepared by foaming technique. The GO/PU was applied to remove malachite green (MG) from aqueous solution. When static adsorption experiment was carried out with a GO content of 3.0%, a GO/PU dosage of 40 mg/mL, a temperature of 50°C, and a time of 3 h, the highest adsorption efficiency can reach 99.7%. The kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamics of MG adsorption onto GO/PU polymeric foam material were investigated. The results indicated that adsorption behavior was found to follow closely the pseudo‐second order kinetics, equilibrium data were well fitted by Langmuir adsorption model and the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. Prepared GO/PU foam material has potential application for the wastewater treatment containing MG dye. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40988.     

Fabrication and properties of anisotropic polyimide aerogels with aligned tube-like pore structure

Polyimide (PI) aerogels with highly aligned tube-like pores were fabricated by unidirectional ice crystal-induced self-assembly method. During this process, the mold bottom contacted with the freezing medium, the aqueous solution of poly(amic acid) (PAA) ammonium salt in the mold was unidirectionally frozen, the ice crystals grew from the bottom to top of PAA ammonium salt (PAS) solution along the freezing direction, which endowed PI aerogels with aligned tube-like pores after sublimation of ice crystals and thermal imidization of PAS. The obtained aerogels had low densities (0.077–0.222 g cm⁻³) and high porosities (83.8–94.2%) and exhibited anisotropic morphology and properties. Their compression strength in vertical direction (parallel to freezing direction) was higher than that in horizontal direction (perpendicular to freezing direction). Their heat transport in horizontal direction was much slower than that in vertical direction; the aerogels had better thermal insulating property in horizontal direction. This facile approach contributed to prepare new type of PI aerogel materials. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48769.     

Silk fibroin‐chondroitin sulfate‐alginate porous scaffolds: Structural properties and in vitro studies

The development of porous biodegradable scaffolds is of great interest in tissue engineering. In this regard, exploration of novel biocompatible materials is needed. Silk fibroin‐chondroitin sulfate‐sodium alginate (SF‐CHS‐SA) porous hybrid scaffolds were successfully prepared via lyophilization method and crosslinked by 1‐ethyl‐3‐(3‐dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide‐ethanol treatment. According to the scanning electron microscopy studies, mean pore diameters of the scaffolds were in the range of 60–187 μm. The porosity percentage of the scaffold with SF‐CHS‐SA ratio of 70 : 15 : 15 (w/w/w %) was 92.4 ± 3%. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry results confirmed the transition from amorphous random coil to crystalline β‐sheet in treated SF‐CHS‐SA scaffold. Compressive modulus was significantly improved in hybrid scaffold with SF‐CHS‐SA ratio of 70 : 15 : 15 (3.35 ± 0.15 MPa). Cytotoxicity assay showed that the scaffolds have no toxic effects on chondrocytes. Attachment of chondrocytes was much more improved within the SF‐CHS‐SA hybrid scaffold. Real‐time polymerase chain reaction analyses showed a significant increase in gene expression of collagen type II, aggrecan, and SOX9 and decrease in gene expression of collagen type I for SF‐CHS‐SA compared with SF scaffold. This novel hybrid scaffold can be a good candidate to be utilized as an efficient scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 41048.     

Quick-response polymer humidity control composites and application in preservation of fruits and vegetables

A novel intelligent moisture-controlling polymer composite (IMCPC) with fast response humidity control performance, which can be applied in refrigerators for edible fruits and vegetables, was prepared by intercalation polymerization of acrylamide (AM) with sepiolite. The performance of the resulted IMCPCs was investigated. The results show that vacuum freeze-dried polyacrylamide/sepiolite composite has a porous structure and excellent moisture absorption properties. The IMCPC responds quickly within 30 min both in high and low humidity inside the refrigerator, maintaining relative humidity in the higher range (80–87% RH). It can effectively extend the storage of fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator box. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48883.     

A new method of preparing superabsorbent PVF porous foam through the simultaneous acidification of water glass solution–aspect of environmental protection

To reduce the wastewater pollution problem, silica particles that have resulted from simultaneous sulfuric acidification of water glass solution serve as the pore‐forming agent for preparing superabsorbent PVF/SiO₂ foam in this study. This is a departure from the traditional porous PVF/starch foam's manufacture method. The pore structure of PVF/SiO₂ foam is very different from that of PVF/starch foam. The effect of the concentration of these pore‐forming agents on the pore structure, mechanical modulus, and water adsorption capacity of PVF/starch and PVF/SiO₂ foams are investigated in this study. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39894.     

A novel foaming approach to prepare porous superabsorbent poly(sodium acrylic acid) resins

A system composed of surfactant and foam stabilizer is used in preparing porous superabsorbent resins (SARs) of poly(sodium acrylic acid) (PAA‐Na), which is obtained by free‐radical solution polymerization of partially neutralized acrylic acid with mechanical agitation of eggbeater. Different types of surfactant, including anionic surfactant sodium n‐dodecyl benzene sulfate (SDBS), cationic surfactant cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide, and nonionic surfactant alkylphenols poly(oxyethylene) (OP‐10), are used as blowing agent to produce pores by mechanical agitation, and triethanolamine (TEA) is used to act as foam stabilizer agent. The results show that a synergistic effect of SDBS with TEA is obtained and the packing density is decreased, which could be proved by the clearly porous morphology, and the water absorbing capacity of SARs is enhanced. As a result, such method can get PAA‐Na SARs without any organic solvents, which provides an environmentally beneficial way to prepare SARs for hygiene and biomedical products. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41298.     

Ceramic foams with micron/sub-micron sized porous structure for efficient high-temperature particulate matter capture

Constructing high-performance air filters for high-temperature particulate matter (PM) removal is of great importance but remains challenging. Here we demonstrate the ceramic foam-based filters via polyurethane (PU) foaming using diatomite and kaolin powder as the starting materials. Diatomite was grafted by dodecanedioic acid (DA) to improve the dispersity in the PU slurry. The calcined products demonstrated a hierarchical pore structure with multiple well-controlled micron-sized window pores on the cell wall of the sub-micron bubble. The resulting products exhibited a high removal efficiency (96.3%) at a pressure drop of 33 Pa. This research showed that as-prepared ceramic foams can be potentially used as new high-temperature filters for high-temperature PM removal.     

Extrusion foaming behavior of a polypropylene/nanoclay microcellular foam

With maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP‐g‐MAH) as a compatibilizer, composites of block‐copolymerized polypropylene (B‐PP)/nanoclay were prepared. The effects of the PP‐g‐MAH and nanoclay content on the crystallization and rheological properties of B‐PP were investigated. The microcellular foaming behavior of the B‐PP/nanoclay composite material was studied with a single‐screw extruder foaming system with supercritical (SC) carbon dioxide (CO₂) as the foaming agent. The experimental results show that the addition of nanoclay and PP‐g‐MAH decreased the melt strength and complex viscosity of B‐PP. When 3 wt % SC CO₂ was injected as the foaming agent for the extrusion foaming process, the introduction of nanoclay and PP‐g‐MAH significantly increased the expansion ratio of the obtained foamed samples as compared with that of the pure B‐PP matrix, lowered the die pressure, and increased the cell population density of the foamed samples to some extent. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 44094.     

Halloysite nanotube-based superhydrophobic foam for highly efficient oil/water separation

Oil/water separation is a worldwide concern because of the emissions of oil contaminated wastewater and increasing number of oil spill accidents in recent years. Materials with superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity provide a new strategy to solve such problems, which allow organic solvents to pass through freely while repelling water. Herein, the porous foams with superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity were prepared successfully through a facile low-temperature sintering method, in which the halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and sodium chloride were used as the raw materials. Among them, HNTs constructed the rough surface in micro-/nano-scale and sodium chloride served as the sacrifice template. The superhydrophobic surface was achieved via the synergistic effect between the rough surface and PVDF with the low surface energy. The foam showed good water repellency (water contact angle, CA: 156.0 ± 0.1°) and superoleophilic properties, which could selectively absorb organic solvents from the mixture solution with water. Moreover, the foam exhibited high separation efficiencies for a variety of oil/water mixed solutions with excellent cycling stability, which make it a promising material for practical oil/water separation.     

3D-Printed thermoplastic polyurethane/graphene composite with porous segregated structure: Toward ultralow percolation threshold and great strain sensitivity

Low-percolation threshold and large deformation capacity are two critical attributes of the strain sensor, which determine its sensitivity and stability respectively. However, endowing these two attributes to the strain sensor simultaneously is still a great challenge in this field. In this work, the strain sensor with the three-dimensional porous segregated structure constructed by graphene wrapped thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) particles was fabricated successfully through the selective laser sintering technology. Results demonstrated that the percolation threshold of the composite is only 0.2 wt% and the strain gage factor can reach as high as 668.3, which represents the excellent sensitivity of the strain sensor. Furthermore, after 10 circles of stretching at the 15% strain, resistance-strain behavior of the strain sensor shows great repeatable, which represents the remarkable stability. Therefore, the highly sensible and stable strain sensor was fabricated successfully, which will provide the guidance for the manufacture of the high-performance strain sensor.     

Rheology,morphology, and mechanical properties of HMSPP/POE blends and its alternate layered foam

In this article, the multilayered foaming sheet with alternate layered structure was successfully prepared through multilayer co‐extrusion. The high melt strength polypropylene (HMSPP)/poly (ethylene‐co‐octene) (POE) blend and POE were designed as foaming layers and film layers, respectively. POE was added into HMSPP to reduce the crystalline degree and improve the processing performance. The rheological results indicated that the addition of POE had a little effect on relaxation process and the strain hardening behavior of HMSPP when the POE content was lower than 50%. The results of the foam morphology showed that the cell size and its distribution of the multilayered foaming sheet with alternate layers were better than that with single layer. In addition, the cell size reduced and the cell density increased with increasing the number of layers from 4 to 32. The mechanical properties of the multilayered foaming sheet with alternate layers also could be improved through assembling of foaming layers and film layers. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41339.