Synergic influence of a surfactant and ultrasonication on the preparation of soluble,conducting polydiphenylamine/silica‐nanoparticle composites

Conducting polydiphenylamine was used to encapsulate silica nanoparticles through the oxidative polymerization of diphenylamine in the presence of ultrasonic irradiation. The polymerization was performed in the presence of sodium lauryl sulfate as a surfactant. Experiments performed in the absence of ultrasound clearly demonstrated that the application of ultrasonication played multiple roles in the preparation of a composite of polydiphenylamine with silica nanoparticles. Ultrasonication dispersed the silica nanoparticles, converted sodium lauryl sulfate to lauryl alcohol, and augmented the dispersion of the silica‐nanoparticle/polydiphenylamine composite in an organic medium. Silica‐nanoparticle/polydiphenylamine composites were also prepared in the absence of ultrasound and/or sodium lauryl sulfate. The silica‐nanoparticle/polydiphenylamine composites were characterized with Fourier trans form infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible/near‐infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 3912–3918, 2006     

热处理条件对硅酸盐玻璃中原位形成银纳米颗粒的影响

用离子交换结合热处理法制备银(Ag)纳米颗粒-玻璃复合材料.用透射电镜、高分辨透射电子显微镜、Ruthefford背散射谱和紫外-可见光吸收光谱研究了热处理条件对玻璃中原位形成Ag纳米颗粒的影响.结果显示:随着热处理温度升高,玻璃表面的Ag原子逐渐向玻璃内部扩散,其表面摩尔浓度逐渐降低.提高热处理温度和延长热处理时间都有利于提高玻璃中Ag纳米颗粒的体积分数.空气中,高温热处理高掺Ag量的白玻璃样品时发生二次成核,因此,Ag纳米颗粒尺寸呈双峰分布.Ag纳米颗粒尺寸的双峰分布导致其等离子体共振吸收峰出现双峰.在氢气气氛中,在250℃热处理2min,即可在玻璃中形成大量Ag纳米颗粒,颗粒尺寸小于空气中高温热处理样品的尺寸,从而引起表面等离子体共振吸收峰发生蓝移.     

草酸镁分解法制备纳米氧化镁

以草酸和氯化镁为原料，采用固液法制备了纳米级氧化镁粉体。优化了试验条件，并用TEM和XRD对纳米氧化镁的粒子结构和形貌进行了研究。结果表明，在600℃焙烧，得到的纳米氧化镁粒度分布均匀，平均粒径为15nm。并对固液法生成纳米氧化镁的机理进行了初步探讨。     

Electrochemistry at capped platinum nanoparticle Langmuir Blodgett films: A study of the influence of platinum amount and of number of LB layers

Platinum nanoparticles (n-Pt), over-grafted with 2-thiophenecarbonyl chloride are assembled on gold electrodes, by the Langmuir Blodgett (LB) technique using behenic acid (BHA) as promoting agent. These layers are electrochemically active without any preliminary activation. The [Fe(CN)₆]^3−/4− redox couple was used as electrochemical probe. This paper reports on the influence of the number of deposited LB layers, and the n-Pt density on the electrochemical response. n-Pt density was modified by the change of the “BHA/n-Pt” ratio. Cyclic voltammograms of “[Fe(CN)₆]^3−/4−” were observed whatever the coating conditions. As soon as the first layer was deposited the electrochemical response was associated to the n-Pt coverage, its response slightly increased up to a steady state for five or seven layers. As expected, the increase of the Pt density favored the increase of the current density. XPS analysis performed before and after electrochemical cycling showed that 4-mercaptoaniline capped platinum nanoparticles, and their over grafting were chemically and electrochemically stable. Analysis of influence of the number or the n-Pt density of the layers showed that the electrochemically active part of LB electrodes was provided by the last layer plus a part of the underlying one.     

Influence of ZnO nanoparticles on the cure characteristics and mechanical properties of carboxylated nitrile rubber

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles assembled in one dimension to give rod‐shaped morphology were synthesized. The effect of these ZnO nanoparticles (average particle size ～ 50 nm) as the curing agent for carboxylated nitrile rubber was studied with special attention to cure characteristics, mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical properties, and swelling. These results were compared with those of the conventional rubber grade ZnO. The study confirmed that the ZnO nanoparticles gave a better state of cure and higher maximum torque with a marginal decrease in optimum cure time and scorch time. The mechanical properties also showed an improvement. There was an increase in tensile strength by ～ 120%, elongation at break by ～ 20%, and modulus at 300% elongation by ～ 30% for the vulcanizate cured with ZnO nanoparticles, as compared with the one containing rubber grade ZnO. Dynamic mechanical analysis revealed that the vulcanizates exhibited two transitions—one occurring at lower temperature due to the T_g of the polymer, while the second at higher temperature corresponding to the hard phase arising due to the ionic structures. The second transition showed a peak broadening because of an increase in the points of interaction of ZnO nanoparticles with the matrix. The tan δ peak showed a shift towards higher T_g in the case of ZnO nanoparticle‐cured vulcanizate, indicating higher crosslinking density. This was further confirmed by volume fraction of rubber in the swollen gel and infrared spectroscopic studies. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Molecular design and characterization of catalysts for NO x selective reduction by hydrocarbons in the oxygen excess based upon ultramicroporous zirconia pillared clays

Approaches to design of zirconia pillared clays via control of the properties of pillaring species in solutions were elaborated. Structural features of pillars and Pt + Cu active components fixed at these nanoparticles were shown to determine catalytic properties of pillared clays in NO_x selective reduction by hydrocarbons in the oxygen excess.     

Modern Applications of Electron Microscopy to Catalysis

The active sites of ultra-dispersed Pt/-Al₂O₃ catalysts are studied using high-resolution electron microscopy, Z-contrast and dark field. In addition we have calculated using a method based in density functional theory the electrostatic potential and charge distribution of the active sites. It is conclude that the most likely Pt clusters that are formed correspond to Pt₁₃ and Pt with icosahedral and decahedral structure. It is shown that this is consistent with the electron microscopy data.     

Preparation and properties of deep dye fibers from poly(ethylene terephthalate)/SiO2 nanocomposites by in situ polymerization

In this study, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/SiO₂ nanocomposites were synthesized by in situ polymerization and melt‐spun to fibers. The superfine structure and properties of PET/SiO₂ fibers were studied in detail by means of TEM, DSC, SEM, and a universal tensile machine. According to the TEM, SiO₂ nanoparticles were well dispersed in the PET matrix at a size level of 10–20 nm. The DSC results indicated that the SiO₂ nanoparticles might act as a marked nucleating agent promoting the crystallization of the PET matrix from melt but which inhibited the crystallization from the glassy state, owing to the “crosslink” interaction between the PET and SiO₂ nanoparticles. The tensile strength of 5.73 MPa was obtained for the fiber from PET/0.1 wt % SiO₂, which was 17% higher than that of the pure PET. The fibers were treated with aqueous NaOH. SEM photographs showed that more and deeper pits were introduced onto PET fibers, which provided shortcuts for disperse dye and diffused the reflection to a great extent. According to the K/S values, the color strength of the dyeing increased with increasing SiO₂ content. It is found that the deep dyeability of PET fibers was improved greatly. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

One-step synthesis and characterization of polyelectrolyte-protected gold nanoparticles through a thermal process

Polyelectrolyte-protected gold nanoparticles have been facilely obtained by heating an amine-containing polyelectrolyte/HAuCl₄ aqueous solution without the additional step of introducing other reducing agents. All experimental data indicate that different initial molar ratio of polyelectrolyte to gold can lead to the formation of dispersed nanoparticles, quasi one-dimensional aggregates of nanoparticles or bulk metal deposits. More importantly, the growth kinetics of gold particles thus formed can be tuned by changing the initial molar ratio of polyelectrolyte to gold.     

Synthesis of the Silver Nanofluid by ASNSS Process

Arc Spray Nanoparticle Synthesis System (ASNSS) has been used to prepare the silver nanofluids in this study. The metal electrodes under the electrical discharge will melt and evaporate rapidly and condense to form the nanoparticles in the dielectric fluid at lower temperature and produce the suspended nanoparticle fluid. Thus, the mechanism of the ASNSS process is superheating the electrodes by plasma to form metallic nuclei and supercooling these nuclei by dielectric liquid to produce nanofluid. This study considers the different controlling parameters such as discharge current,discharge voltage, pulse-duration time, electrode diameter, and the temperature of dielectric liquid. The optimally operated parameters can be obtained to produce the finer particle size in nanofluid. The results indicate the silver electrodes in alcohol fluid will produce the spherical nanosilver particles. The mean particle size of silver in different dielectric liquid temperatures of-40, -20, 0, and 10℃ is about13.4, 15.8, 17.5, and 21.6 nm, respectively. This indicates that the well suspended fluid can be obtained by controlling the lower dielectric fluid temperature.