Microwave‐assisted synthesis and characterization of polyimide/functionalized MWCNT nanocomposites containing quinolyl moiety

Polyimide‐MWCNT nanocomposites were prepared by the reaction of a heterocyclic diamine monomer of bis(4‐amino‐3,5‐dimethylphenyl)‐2‐chloro‐3‐quinolylmethane (BACQM), pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) with unmodified MWCNT (MWCNT), acid‐functionalized MWCNT (acid‐MWCNT) or amine‐functionalized MWCNT (amine‐MWCNT) using microwave irradiation as well as by the conventional method. The structure of the monomer was confirmed by FTIR, ¹H‐NMR, and ¹³C‐NMR spectral techniques. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of the MWCNTs/polyimide nanocomposite was found to be higher than that of the unfilled polyimide system. The T_g's of both systems were higher when prepared with the microwave method than the conventional synthesis. The T_g's of the nanocomposites using acid and amine functionalized MWCNTs are greater than 300°C, in both methods. This is attributed to the presence of hydrogen bond and strong covalent bond in both the acid‐MWCNT/polyimide and amine‐MWCNT/polyimide systems. The morphological studies of the nanocomposites synthesized using microwave irradiation show that a distinct MWCNT nanofibrillar network is formed in the matrix when MWCNT or acid‐MWCNT is used. A homogeneous morphology, without distinct nanotube domains is seen when the amine‐MWCNT is covalently linked to the polymer. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:2417–2424, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Reliable nonfragile tracking control for switched systems with external disturbances

With the assistance of reliable control technique, the nonfragile tracking problem has been proposed in this paper for a class of switched systems with external disturbances under the aegis of modified repetitive controller. Notably, the designed repetitive controller is used to improve the tracking performance of the addressed switched systems. Preciously, the influence of external disturbances are estimated through the improved equivalent-input-disturbance strategy, wherein the effect caused by the external disturbances to the output channel are reduced by the aid of modified repetitive control strategy. The fundamental intention of this control synthesis is that the output of the system precisely tracks the reference signal even in the presence of external disturbances and gain fluctuations. For that cause, Lyapunov stability technique in conjunction with average dwell time approach is implemented to obtain adequate conditions in the shape of linear matrix inequalities which insists the exponential stability for the addressed system. Ultimately, the efficiency and supremacy of the proposed control schemes are justified via two numerical examples, wherein it is exposed to view that the developed control strategy is capable of good tracking performance and also estimates the external disturbances efficiently.