An electrically conducting polymer/graphene composite with a very low percolation threshold

A graphene nanosheet/ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene composite with a segregated structure has been fabricated using water/ethanol solvent-assisted dispersion and hot compression at 200 °C. A percolation threshold as low as 0.070 vol.% has been achieved because of the formation of a two-dimensional conductive network.     

Novel electrically conducting polyheteroarylene azines

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

Magnetotemperature waves in electrically conducting media

A new type of temperature waves that appear in an electrically conducting medium placed in a magnetostatic field is discovered. The velocity of these magnetotemperature waves is determined by the coefficient of electrical conductivity λ of the conductor and greatly exceeds the velocity of temperature propagation by thermal conduction.     

Investigation of long electrically conducting utility lines

An algorithm for differential measurements of the parameters of information signals induced by the electromagnetic field of the investigated object in a receiving system consisting of three induction coils is described. The block diagram of a microcomputer-based device for search and inspection of the insulation coating quality of long underground utility lines is given. Translated from Izmeritel'nay Tekhnika, No. 3, pp. 56–58,March, 1996.     

Solitary cylindrical layer of electrically conducting magnetic fluid

The possibility of the existence and stability conditions for a solitary layer of electrically conducting magnetic fluid not resting on solid walls is studied.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 48, No. 5, pp. 838–843, May, 1985.     

Measurement of thermal activity in electrically conducting solutions

The article describes a method for the determination of thermal activity of electrically conducting solutions based on pulsed heating of a thin dielectric film in contact with the solution.Translated from lnzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol.21, No.5, pp.807–810, November, 1971.     

Inherently conducting polymer nanostructures

Inherently conducting polymers (ICPs) have been an area of intense interest over the past 30 years, culminating with the award of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to MacDiarmid, Heeger and Shirakawa. More recently the unique properties of these materials (e.g., higher conductivity, more rapid discrete electrochemical switching processes) apparent at the nanodimension have become accessible. Significant breakthroughs in synthesis and fabrication of inherently conducting polymers with nanodimensional control have made this possible. This review aims to discuss some of the synthetic approaches researchers have made in an attempt to probe the nano domain as well as some of the property enhancements afforded to these structures.     

Heat transfer through solid disperse systems

Heat transfer through different model solid disperse systems is examined. Functional relations permitting calculation of the effective heat conductivity of the system are established.     

Heat transfer in a disperse insulator

Results of investigations of the thermophysical properties of disperse materials under vacuum conditions and at normal atmospheric pressure are presented. The role of different heat transfer processes and the effective heat conductivity of the disperse bodies investigated is examined.     

Heating of disperse polymer materials in gas-thermal spraying

The article presents the results of a comparison of the effectiveness of heating disperse polymers in gas-flame and in plasma streams.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 379–385, March, 1986.     

Static and pulsed pressures measured using electrically conducting rubbers

A method of measuring static and pulsed pressures using electrically conducting rubber sensors is proposed. The method is based on a change in the volume resistivity of a filled rubber under the action of external pressure. The pressure-induced change in resistance of the rubber sensor is proportional to the applied pressure and can be measured by a bridge circuit. Using this method, it is possible to evaluate the degree of homogeneity of the pressure distribution over a solid surface. This is achieved by distributing rubber sensors over the given surface.     

Axially aligned electrically conducting biodegradable nanofibers for neural regeneration

In this study, electrically conducting axially aligned nanofibers have developed to provide both electrical and structural cues. Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) with poly(3-hexylthiophene) (PHT) was electrospun into 2D random (196 ± 98 nm) and 3D axially aligned nanofibers (200 ± 80 nm). Electrospun random and aligned PLGA–PHT fibers were characterized for surface morphology, mechanical property, porosity, degradability, and electrical conductivity. The pore size of random PLGA–PHT nanofibers (6.0 ± 3.3 μm) were significantly higher than the aligned (1.9 ± 0.4 μm) (P < 0.05) and the Young’s modulus of aligned scaffold was significantly lower than the random. Aligned nanofibers showed significantly lesser degradation rate and higher electrical conductivity (0.1 × 10^?5 S/cm) than random nanofibers (P < 0.05). Results of in vitro cell studies indicate that aligned PLGA–PHT nanofibers have a significant influence on the adhesion and proliferation of Schwann cells and could be potentially used as scaffold for neural regeneration.     

Thermal conductivity of filled polymer compositions

An equation for calculating the thermal conductivity of filled polymer compositions is derived and confirmed experimentally.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 483–490, September, 1981.     

Preparation and characterization of porous and electrically conducting carbon-clay composites

Porous and electrically conducting carbon-clay composites were prepared by firing mixtures of carbon powder (0 to 20 wt%) and clay minerals. They showed porosity of 50 to 65% and had high mechanical strength (compressive strength = 130 to 400 kg cm^–2) as well as high resistance against thermal oxidation in air. Their electrical conductivity, , increased with increasing carbon content levelling off at about 20 wt% of carbon content to give a value of about 2 S cm^–1. Formation of carbon chains is considered to be responsible for the electrical conduction in the composite, and a model to correlate the electrical conductivity with the carbon content has been proposed by modifying a model previously proposed by Scarisbrick.     

Flash welding of conducting polymer nanofibres

The absorption of light by a material generates heat through non-radiative energy dissipation and exothermic photochemical reactions. In nanostructured materials, the heat generated through photothermal processes will be confined within the individual nanostructures when heat transfer to neighbouring nanostructures and the environment is slow. This leads to unprecedented photothermal effects that cannot be observed in bulk materials, especially when a strong, pulsed light source is used. Here we demonstrate an enhanced photothermal phenomenon with conducting polymer nanofibres in which a camera flash causes instantaneous welding. Under flash irradiation, polyaniline nanofibres 'melt' to form a smooth and continuous film from an originally random network of nanofibres. This photothermal effect can be used to form asymmetric nanofibre films, to melt-blend polymer-polymer nanocomposites rapidly and to photo-pattern polymer nanofibre films.