Mechanical Properties of Single-Layer Diamond Reinforced Poly(vinyl alcohol) Nanocomposites through Atomistic Simulation

Low-dimensional carbon nanostructures are ideal nanofillers to reinforce the mechanical performance of polymer nanocomposites due to their excellent mechanical properties. Through molecular dynamics simulations, the mechanical performance of poly(vinyl alchohol) (PVA) nanocomposites reinforced with a single-layer diamond – diamane is investigated. It is found the PVA/diamane exhibits similar interfacial strengths and pull-out characteristics with the PVA/bilayer-graphene counterpart. Specifically, when the nanofiller is fully embedded in the nanocomposite, it is unable to deform simultaneously with the PVA matrix due to the weak interfacial load transfer efficiency, thus the enhancement effect is not significant. In comparison, diamane can effectively promote the tensile properties of the nanocomposite when it has a laminated structure as it deforms simultaneously with the matrix. With this configuration, the interlayer sp³ bonds endows diamane with a much higher resistance under compression and shear tests, thus the nanocomposite can reach very high compressive and shear stress. Overall, enhancement on the mechanical interlocking at the interface as triggered by surface functionalization is only effective for the fully embedded nanofiller. This work provides a fundamental understanding of the mechanical properties of PVA nanocomposites reinforced by diamane, which can shed lights on the design and preparation of next generation high-performance nanocomposites.     

Effects of interphase on tensile strength of polymer/CNT nanocomposites by Kelly–Tyson theory

The micromechanics models for composites usually underpredict the tensile strength of polymer nanocomposites. This paper establishes a simple model based on Kelly–Tyson theory for tensile strength of polymer/CNT nanocomposites assuming the effect of interphase between polymer and CNT. In addition, Pukanszky model is joined with the suggested model to calculate the interfacial shear strength (τ), interphase strength (σ_i) and critical length of CNT (L_c).The proposed approach is applied to calculate τ, σ_i and L_c for various samples from recent literature. It is revealed that the experimental data are well fitted to calculations by new model which confirm the important effect of interphase on the properties of nanocomposites. Moreover, the derived equations demonstrate that dissimilar correlations are found between τ and B (from Pukanszky model) as well as L_c and B. It is shown that a large B value obtained by strong interfacial adhesion between polymer and CNT is adequate to reduce L_c in polymer/CNT nanocomposites.     

Stability and cytotoxicity study of NiFe2O4 nanocomposites synthesized by co-precipitation and subsequent thermal annealing

In this article, NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by co-precipitation method with subsequent thermal annealing leading to obtainment NPs with average sizes of 78 nm. Structure and magnetic analysis were performed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry techniques. Stability of NiFe₂O₄ NPs was evaluated in PBS solution during 20 days. The toxicity of prepared NPs was evaluated in vitro using different cancer cell lines: HeLa (cervical cancer cell), PC-3 (prostate cancer cell). Fibroblasts like cells of L929 obtained from subcutaneous adipose tissue of mouse were used as normal cells. Results indicate successful synthesis of NiFe₂O₄ NPs that exhibit low cytotoxicity in concentration range from 1 to 100 μg/ml. Presented physical and biological results indicate the possibility of application investigated magnetic nanoparticles in hyperthermia, targeted drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging or cell separation.     

Single chamber Solid Oxide Fuel Cells selective electrodes: A real chance with brownmillerite-based nanocomposites

In this contribution brownmillerite-based nanocomposite cathode for Single-Chamber Solid Oxide Fuel Cells is developed. These cells can be very attractive especially for small and cheap devices because of the absence of seals. The efficiency of SC-SOFCs is strictly connected to the selectivity of anode and cathode, the bottleneck for this technology. The development of a cathode inert in fuel oxidation is particularly challenging. Our strategy is to start from a catalytically un-active support (CFA = Ca₂FeAl_0.95Mg_0.05O₅) and induce the formation of iron oxide based nanoparticles, expected to activate oxygen. Symmetric (CFA + FeO_x/CGO/CFA + FeO_x) and complete cells (CFA + FeO_x/CGO/Ni-CGO) are studied in air and methane/oxygen 2:1 mixture. The Area Specific Resistance of CFA + FeO_x is less than 1/3 that of CFA. The high selectivity allows to reach an efficiency of 25%; power still needs to be increased but we demonstrated the possibility to develop selective low cost electrodes. The effect of air, methane/oxygen exposure and the heat treatments were carefully investigated.     

Properties of poly(ethylene terephthalate)–poly(ethylene naphthalene 2,6‐dicarboxylate) blends with montmorillonite clay

The production and properties of blends of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(ethylene naphthalene 2,6‐dicarboxylate) (PEN) with three modified clays are reported. Octadecylammonium chloride and maleic anhydride (MAH) are used to modify the surface of the montmorillonite–Na⁺ clay particles (clay–Na⁺) to produce clay–C18 and clay–MAH, respectively, before they are mixed with the PET/PEN system. The transesterification degree, hydrophobicity and the effect of the clays on the mechanical, rheological and thermal properties are analysed. The PET–PEN/clay–C18 system does not show any improvements in the mechanical properties, which is attributed to poor exfoliation. On the other hand, in the PET–PEN/clay–MAH blends, the modified clay restricts crystallization of the matrix, as evidenced in the low value of the crystallization enthalpy. The process‐induced PET–PEN transesterification reaction is affected by the clay particles. Clay–C18 induces the largest proportion of naphthalate–ethylene–terephthalate (NET) blocks, as opposed to clay–Na⁺ which renders the lowest proportion. The clay readily incorporates in the bulk polymer, but receding contact‐angle measurements reveal a small influence of the particles on the surface properties of the sample. The clay–Na⁺ blend shows a predominant solid‐like behaviour, as evidenced by the magnitude of the storage modulus in the low‐frequency range, which reflects a high entanglement density and a substantial degree of polymer–particle interactions. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Low Electrical Percolation Threshold of Silver and Copper Nanowires in Polystyrene Composites

Silver and copper nanowires have been synthesized using a scalable method of AC electrodeposition into porous aluminum oxide templates, which produces gram quantities of metal nanowires ca. 25 nm in diameter and up to 5 and 10 μm in length for Ag and Cu, respectively. The nanowires have been used to prepare polystyrene nanocomposites by solution processing. Electrical resistivity measurements performed on polymer nanocomposites containing different volume fractions of metal indicate that low percolation thresholds of nanowires are attained between compositions of 0.25 and 0.75 vol %.     

A method for the preparation of PMMA-SiO2 nanocomposites with high homogeneity

It is possible to optimize the performance of the inorganic-organic composites dispersing the inorganic component in the organic matrix on a nanomiter length scale. If dry the inorganic phase cannot be intimately dispersed during the incorporation in the matrix. When the particle surface is organically modified, and the incorporation is made starting from a liquid dispersion (particles in polymer solution), the resulting composites exhibit an excellent homogeneity. Here, monolithic [poly(methyl methacrylate)/monodisperse silica particles] nanocomposites have been prepared and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), micro-hardness, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).     

新型蓝绿发光材料ZnSe／BeTe超晶格的能带剪裁

由于器件的快速退化，101.5小时似乎成了Znse基蓝绿色半导体激光器难于逾越的寿命极限。分析退化机制，发现在强电流注入的半导体激光器中，热退化具有重要影响。研究表明，用作载流子限制层的宽带Ⅱ-Ⅵ族四元合金（如ZnMgSSe）只能对ZnSe中的电子有效地限制，无法对空穴很好地限制;而对BeTe，却只能对空穴进行有效的限制，无法对电子很好地限制。这导致ZnSe（或BeTe）活性层空穴（或电子）漏电发热，引起退化。本文提出以ZnSe／BeTe超晶格为蓝绿发光层，并用包络函数理论具体计算了阱宽、垒宽对载流子能级的不同影响，考察了ZnSe、BeTe厚度比和超晶格周期对带隙、载流子限制能力的调节。为研制新型长寿命蓝绿色半导体激光器提供了一条新的途径。     

Flammability and thermal stability studies of ABS/Montmorillonite nanocomposite

Acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS)/montmorillonite nanocomposites have been prepared using a direct melt intercalation technique by blending ABS and organophilic clay of two different particle sizes: OMTa (5 µm) and OMTb (38 µm). Their structure and flammability properties were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, high resolution electronic microscopy (HREM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and cone calorimeter experiments. The results of HREM showed that ABS/5 wt% OMTa nanocomposite was a kind of intercalated–delaminated structure, while ABS/5 wt% OMTb nanocomposite was mainly an intercalated structure. The nanocomposites showed a lower heat release rate peak and higher thermal stability than the original ABS by TGA and cone calorimeter experiments. Also, the intercalated nanocomposite was more effective than an exfoliated–intercalated nanocomposite in fire retardancy. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry