Lignocellulosic fibre mediated rubber composites: An overview

The rising concern towards the reduction in the use of petroleum-based, non-renewable resources and the need for more versatile polymer-based composite materials have led to increasing interests on natural polymer composites filled with natural organic fillers, i.e. coming from renewable and biodegradable sources. This paper reviews wood flour and other lignocellulosic fibres filled rubber composites, including cellulosic rubber composites, cellulosic thermoplastic elastomers, nanocellulose based rubber nanocomposites, with the aims at providing the most state of the art information for directing further scientific research, possible commercialization and design of cellulosic rubber composites. It has been found that 1) the surface properties of natural cellulose, hence the compatibility and interface of the natural cellulose and matrix rubber/plastics, are crucial for the successful development of the composites, such, physical and chemical modification and additives have been widely attempted to improve the incompatibility and poor interfacial adhesion between the filler and matrix; 2) the curing characteristics, mechanical properties, thermal stability and morphologies of the composites are complex but closely related to not only the interfacial properties, but also the compositions (e.g. the concentration of cellulosic materials) and other processing parameters; 3) the nature of hydrophilic cellulosic and hydrophobic matrix rubber and/or plastics requires an accurate introduction of coupling agent, one end of its structure shall be compatible to hydrophilic and the other to hydrophobic. The reviews on the main paths and results of study on the advanced nanocellulose reinforced rubber nanocomposites and sandwiches indicate much potentials and needs for further in-depth studies.     

An overview of the powder processing of soft magnetic composites

The technique of powder metallurgy is becoming increasingly common in the electrical manufacturing industry. It not only eliminates a number of steps in the manufacturing process, but uses less energy and gives near-net shape results which require few, or no finishing steps. The process is suitable for soft magnetic composites, and appropriate heat treatments can further tailor properties to a specific application. This article gives an overview of the technology and makes reference to some advances in the materials used and the processes involved     

高性能钛酸钡/聚合物复合材料的研究进展

具有高介电常数(k)的钛酸钡/聚合物复合材料,兼有钛酸钡陶瓷和聚合物的各自优势,是一种有广泛应用前景的电子材料,因而备受关注。综合给出了近5年来高性能钛酸钡/聚合物复合材料的研究进展,分析指出了原材料选择、制备工艺及其对复合材料介电性能的影响,概括介绍了这类复合材料的主要应用,预测展望了其未来的发展趋势。     

Chemical treatments on plant-based natural fibre reinforced polymer composites: An overview

This paper provides a comprehensive overview on different surface treatments applied to natural fibres for advanced composites applications. In practice, the major drawbacks of using natural fibres are their high degree of moisture absorption and poor dimensional stability. The primary objective of surface treatments on natural fibres is to maximize the bonding strength so as the stress transferability in the composites. The overall mechanical properties of natural fibre reinforced polymer composites are highly dependent on the morphology, aspect ratio, hydrophilic tendency and dimensional stability of the fibres used. The effects of different chemical treatments on cellulosic fibres that are used as reinforcements for thermoset and thermoplastics are studied. The chemical sources for the treatments include alkali, silane, acetylation, benzoylation, acrylation and acrylonitrile grafting, maleated coupling agents, permanganate, peroxide, isocyanate, stearic acid, sodium chlorite, triazine, fatty acid derivate (oleoyl chloride) and fungal. The significance of chemically-treated natural fibres is seen through the improvement of mechanical strength and dimensional stability of resultant composites as compared with a pristine sample.     

Interfaces in discontinuously reinforced metal matrix composites: An overview

The fundamental and engineering aspects pertaining to the matrix-reinforcement interfaces in discontinuously reinforced metal matrix composites are presented in this overview. The interfaces play a key role in determining mechanical properties, namely Young’s modulus, yield strength, elongation, creep and fracture behaviour, as well as physical properties like coefficient of thermal expansion, thermal conductivity and damping characteristics of metal matrix composites; these are discussed in detail. The ratio of the experimental value of the Young’s modulus to that predicted from the rule of mixtures has been used as a measure of interfacial bond strength. Various issues such as the nature of the interfacial bond, chemical reaction at the interfaces, and effect of alloying and processing on the structure of the interfaces and the properties of the composite are examined. In order to exploit the full potential of reinforcing the metallic matrix, the suggested strategies include creation of metallic bonding at the interface, use ofin situ processing, choice of right type of alloying elements, and heat treatments and engineering of interfaces.     

Reactive processing of textile fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites – An overview

Thermoplastic composites offer some interesting advantages over their thermoset counterparts like a higher toughness, faster manufacturing and their recyclable nature. Traditional melt processing, however, limits thermoplastic composite parts in size and thickness. As an alternative, reactive processing of textile fiber-reinforced thermoplastics is discussed in this paper: a low viscosity mono- or oligomeric precursor is used to impregnate the fibers, followed by in situ polymerization. Processes that are currently associated to manufacturing of thermoset composites like resin transfer molding, vacuum infusion and resin film infusion, might be used for manufacturing of thermoplastic composite parts in near future. This paper gives an overview of engineering and high-performance plastic materials that are suitable for reactive processing and discusses fundamental differences between reactive processing of thermoplastic and thermoset resins.     

Fabrication and characterization of biodegradable composites based on microfibrillated cellulose and polyvinyl alcohol

Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) based thin membrane-like fully biodegradable composites were produced by blending MFC suspension with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Desired MFC content in the composites could be easily obtained by varying the PVA solution concentration. Chemical crosslinking of PVA was carried out using glyoxal to increase the mechanical and thermal properties of the composites as well as to make the PVA partially water-insoluble. Examination of composite surfaces and fracture topographies indicated that the MFC fibrils were well bonded to PVA and uniformly distributed. Infrared spectroscopy showed that acetal linkages could be formed in the MFC–PVA composites by a glyoxal crosslinking reaction. Sol–gel and swelling results indicated that crosslinking reaction made PVA partially insoluble and reduced its swelling ability. The MFC–PVA composites had excellent tensile properties which were further enhanced by crosslinking. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed higher thermal stability for MFC–PVA composites compared to PVA. The crosslinked MFC–PVA composites showed even higher thermal stability. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated that crosslinking increased the glass transition temperature and reduced melting temperature and crystallinity of PVA in MFC–PVA composites. Results also indicated that nano- and micro-fibrils in MFC inhibit the crystallization of PVA. These composites could be good candidates for replacing today’s traditional non-biodegradable plastics.     

An overview of biorefinery-derived platform chemicals from a cellulose and hemicellulose biorefinery

Until recently, most of energy and industrially produced chemicals were derived from fossil fuel-based resources. This along with the continued depletion of finite fossil resources and their attributed adverse environmental impacts, alternatively sourced and more sustainable resources are being pursued as feedstock replacements. Thus, biomass has been identified as an alternate renewable and more sustainable resource as a means to reduce this sector’s dependence on fossil fuel-based resources and to alleviate their environmental impacts. As such, lignocellulosic biomass has been further identified and demonstrated as an abundant renewable resource for the production of biofuels, platform chemicals, and their respective value-added products. This review article provides an overview of the techniques developed for the valorization of biomass in the production of platform chemicals within a biorefinery and the status for commercialization.     

Natural and man-made cellulose fibre-reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composites: An overview about mechanical characteristics and application areas

The paper describes the production and the mechanical characteristics of composites made completely of renewable raw materials. Composites of different kinds of natural fibres like cotton, hemp, kenaf and man-made cellulose fibres (Lyocell) with various characteristics were processed with a fibre mass proportion of 40% and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) by compression moulding. Additionally, composites were made of fibre mixtures (hemp/kenaf, hemp/Lyocell). The composites were tested for tensile strength, elongation at break, Young’s modulus and Charpy impact strength. Their characteristics varied markedly depending on the characteristics of the raw fibres and fibre bundles and fibre mixtures used. While kenaf and hemp/PLA composites showed very high tensile strength and Young’s modulus values, cotton/PLA showed good impact characteristics. Lyocell/PLA composites combined both, high tensile strength and Young’s modulus with high impact strength. Thus, the composites could be applied in various fields, each meeting different requirements.     

Thermally conducting aluminum nitride polymer-matrix composites

Thermally conducting, but electrically insulating, polymer-matrix composites that exhibit low values of the dielectric constant and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) are needed for electronic packaging. For developing such composites, this work used aluminum nitride whiskers (and/or particles) and/or silicon carbide whiskers as fillers(s) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or epoxy as matrix. The highest thermal conductivity of 11.5 W/(m K) was attained by using PVDF, AlN whiskers and AlN particles (7 μm), such that the total filler volume fraction was 60% and the AlN whisker–particle ratio was 1:25.7. When AlN particles were used as the sole filler, the thermal conductivity was highest for the largest AlN particle size (115 μm), but the porosity increased with increasing AlN particle size. The thermal conductivity of AlN particle epoxy-matrix composite was increased by up to 97% by silane surface treatment of the particles prior to composite fabrication. The increase in thermal conductivity is due to decrease in the filler–matrix thermal contact resistance through the improvement of the interface between matrix and particles. At 60 vol.% silane-treated AlN particles only, the thermal conductivity of epoxy-matrix composite reached 11.0 W/(m K). The dielectric constant was quite high (up to 10 at 2 MHz) for the PVDF composites. The change of the filler from AlN to SiC greatly increased the dielectric constant. Combined use of whiskers and particles in an appropriate ratio gave composites with higher thermal conductivity and low CTE than the use of whiskers alone or particles alone. However, AlN addition caused the tensile strength, modulus and ductility to decrease from the values of the neat polymer, and caused degradation after water immersion.     

聚合物基导电复合材料的电阻机械效应(RME)

综述了聚合物基导电复合材料的电阻机械效应(resistancce-mechanical effect,RME),列举了砌RME的各种表现及其可能的内在机制,介绍了改善RME循环稳定性的方法。RME取决于导电填料和基体性质两方面因素,包括填料种类和形态分布、填料体积分数、基体粘弹性、基体与填料的相五作用。其次,应力或应变大小、加栽方式和加栽速率、加工方法以及环境温度和湿度等也是影响RME的重要因素。对于纤维填充复合体系,影响因素还包括纤维取向与长径比、外力方向等。     

Electrothermal stress in conducting particulate composites

Electrothermal–mechanical interaction plays an important role in controlling the performance of electromechanical structures and field-assisted processes. The understanding of electrothermal–mechanical behavior of a material requires the analyses of Joule heating and thermomechanical deformation. In this study, we analyze the current-induced thermal stress in a conducting composite consisting of conducting spherical inclusions at dilute concentration. Assuming that there is no interaction among conducting inclusions, we obtain closed-form solutions of local temperature and thermal stress. The thermal stress created by Joule heating is proportional to the square of electric current density (electric field intensity) and the von-Mises stress reaches the maximum value at the interface between the spherical inclusion and the matrix. Large electric current will likely cause local delamination along the interface.     

Influence of thermal expansion on the conductivity of polymer conducting composites

The temperature dependence of conductivity in systems that undergo a metal-dielectric phase transition is investigated. A quantitative theory is developed that makes it possible to calculate electrical conductivity as a function of temperature for these systems with allowance made for thermal expansion of a polymer and a filler.Deceased.Tashkent State University. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 66, No. 3, pp. 335–337, March, 1994.     

聚吡咯及其复合材料导电稳定性的研究

对聚吡咯/二氧化硅(PPy/SiO2)、聚吡咯/蒙脱土(PPy/MMT)复合材料的电导率及其导电稳定性进行了研究.通过对材料进行定期和不同条件下的测试发现对PPy/SiO2复合材料而言,导电稳定性随时间延长而下降.对PPy与不同百分含量偶联剂处理过的SiO2的复合材料(PPy/APS-SiO2)而言,聚吡咯导电稳定性提高很多.PPy/MMT复合材料在室温具有较好的导电稳定性,而且合成温度越低,所得产物的稳定性越好.在0℃下合成的PPy/MMT复合物在空气中放置50天,电导率仅降低10%.     

Electromagnetic shielding behaviour of conducting polyaniline composites

The paper reports the designing and development of conducting polyaniline composites which show a shielding effectiveness of 4–58 dB against electromagnetic interference at 101 GHz range, depending upon the loading of the conducting polyaniline in polystyrene and polymethylmethaacrylate matrix. The composites can be used for the dissipation of static charge. A static decay time of the order of 0.11–0.02 s for the conducting polyaniline composites is observed when the charge is reduced from 5000 to 500 V.     

Thermal behaviour of high performance conducting composites

Abstracts are not published in this journal This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Charge dynamics in conducting polyaniline-metal oxalate composites

Polyaniline (Pani) and its metal oxalate composites (∼10 wt.%) of trivalent metal ions of Cr, Fe, Mn, Co and Al were synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization technique with potassium perdisulphate oxidant in aqueous sulphuric acid medium. These materials were characterized by UV-VIS and EPR spectral techniques. Their d.c. electrical conductivities at room temperature and also as a function of temperature (307-453 K) were measured by four- probe technique. Presence of radical cation/polaron transition was indicated by UV- VIS absorption peak and EPR signals. Further, a close correlation existed between the conductivities and EPR parameters such as line width and peak ratio, which demonstrated that both mobile and fixed spins are involved in these composites. The dependence of conductivity on temperature, when analysed graphically by VRH, GB and TC mechanisms, pointed out that VRH is the predominant charge transport mechanism in these materials.     

Micromechanics of TEMPO-oxidized fibrillated cellulose composites

Composites of poly(lactic) acid (PLA) reinforced with TEMPO-oxidized fibrillated cellulose (TOFC) were prepared to 15, 20, 25, and 30% fiber weight fractions. To aid dispersion and to improve stress transfer, we acetylated the TOFC prior to the fabrication of TOFC-PLA composite films. Raman spectroscopy was employed to study the deformation micromechanics in these systems. Microtensile specimens were prepared from the films and deformed in tension with Raman spectra being collected simultaneously during deformation. A shift in a Raman peak initially located at ~1095 cm(-1), assigned to C-O-C stretching of the cellulose backbone, was observed upon deformation, indicating stress transfer from the matrix to the TOFC reinforcement. The highest band shift rate, with respect to strain, was observed in composites having a 30% weight fraction of TOFC. These composites also displayed a significantly higher strain to failure compared to pure acetylated TOFC film, and to the composites having lower weight fractions of TOFC. The stress-transfer processes that occur in microfibrillated cellulose composites are discussed with reference to the micromechanical data presented. It is shown that these TOFC-based composite materials are progressively dominated by the mechanics of the networks, and a shear-lag type stress transfer between fibers.