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.     

Ionic liquids as electrolytes

Salts having a low melting point are liquid at room temperature, or even below, and form a new class of liquids usually called room temperature ionic liquids (RTIL). Information about RTILs can be found in the literature with such key words as: room temperature molten salt, low-temperature molten salt, ambient-temperature molten salt, liquid organic salt or simply ionic liquid. Their physicochemical properties are the same as high temperature ionic liquids, but the practical aspects of their maintenance or handling are different enough to merit a distinction. The class of ionic liquids, based on tetraalkylammonium cation and chloroaluminate anion, has been extensively studied since late 1970s of the XX century, following the works of Osteryoung. Systematic research on the application of chloroaluminate ionic liquids as solvents was performed in 1980s. However, ionic liquids based on aluminium halides are moisture sensitive. During the last decade an increasing number of new ionic liquids have been prepared and used as solvents. The general aim of this paper was to review the physical and chemical properties of RTILs from the point of view of their possible application as electrolytes in electrochemical processes and devices. The following points are discussed: melting and freezing, conductivity, viscosity, temperature dependence of conductivity, transport and transference numbers, electrochemical stability, possible application in aluminium electroplating, lithium batteries and in electrochemical capacitors.     

拉压变形对B(N)掺杂碳纳米管Al吸附性能的影响

为了研究(5,5)碳纳米管的B(N)环状掺杂效应,以及拉压变形对B(N)环状掺杂碳纳米管Al吸附性能的影响,采用基于密度泛函理论的平面波赝势和广义梯度近似方法,对B(N)环状掺杂碳纳米管Al吸附模型进行了几何优化,计算了B(N)环状掺杂碳纳米管的形成能,并确定了Al原子的最稳定吸附位置.结果表明,B(N)环状掺杂(5,5)碳纳米管的结构较为稳定.B(N)环状掺杂可以增加碳纳米管与Al之间的吸附能;一定范围内的拉伸和压缩变形则会降低碳纳米管与Al之间的大部分吸附能.     

基于纳米材料的电化学生物传感器研究进展

该文主要从纳米尺寸材料电极的构建以及纳米材料作为生物分子指示剂两部分展开讨论,描述了依赖于阵列纳米管排列的生物分子与电极间的直接电子传递,纳米管、纳米颗粒为基质的纳米电极的构建,以及以金纳米颗粒、DNA量子点和蛋白为基础的多路分析技术与负载于CNT的新的纳米生物标记,特别讨论了纳米电化学方法在检测DNA和免疫传感器领域取得的研究进展.     

Fabrication of patterned single-walled carbon nanotube films using electrophoretic deposition

Thin films of chemically functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were fabricated by using a direct current (dc) electrophoretic deposition method. SWNTs were shortened and then functionalized with acid chloride group to combine with the amine group-terminated gold substrate. Silica nanospheres with a diameter of about 190nm were arrayed on gold substrate to pattern a thin SWNT film. Periodically patterned SWNT film was eventually produced and would be used in potential applications like electron emitters and large surface area electrodes.     

Improvement in mechanical properties of recycled GF prepreg with CNT reinforced composites using a spray coating method

Dispersion and shape of nanoparticles, as well as interfacial conditions, add significantly to difficulties in composite manufacture. In the work reported here, an innovative method of recycling composites using out-of-date prepreg was investigated in which the carbon nanotube (CNT) on the prepreg was optimally coated. Nanocomposites utilizing the out-of-date prepreg were coated with CNT and fabricated by a sheet molding method. CNT nanofillers were observed to be uniformly dispersed on epoxy prepreg by spray coating. The mechanical and interfacial properties of these CNT coated nanocomposites were improved over those of more conventionally manufactured carbon fiber/epoxy composites. The CNT nanofillers were embedded at the epoxy and fiber interface, as a result of etching of the epoxy prepreg surface by a CNT dispersion solution which enhanced interfacial reactivity.     

CoNi2S4 Nanoparticle/Carbon Nanotube Sponge Cathode with Ultrahigh Capacitance for Highly Compressible Asymmetric Supercapacitor

Compared with other flexible energy‐storage devices, the design and construction of the compressible energy‐storage devices face more difficulty because they must accommodate large strain and shape deformations. In the present work, CoNi₂S₄ nanoparticles/3D porous carbon nanotube (CNT) sponge cathode with highly compressible property and excellent capacitance is prepared by electrodepositing CoNi₂S₄ on CNT sponge, in which CoNi₂S₄ nanoparticles with size among 10–15 nm are uniformly anchored on CNT, causing the cathode to show a high compression property and gives high specific capacitance of 1530 F g⁻¹. Meanwhile, Fe₂O₃/CNT sponge anode with specific capacitance of 460 F g⁻¹ in a prolonged voltage window is also prepared by electrodepositing Fe₂O₃ nanosheets on CNT sponge. An asymmetric supercapacitor (CoNi₂S₄/CNT//Fe₂O₃/CNT) is assembled by using CoNi₂S₄/CNT sponge as positive electrode and Fe₂O₃/CNT sponge as negative electrode in 2 m KOH solution. It exhibits excellent energy density of up to 50 Wh kg⁻¹ at a power density of 847 W kg⁻¹ and excellent cycling stability at high compression. Even at a strain of 85%, about 75% of the initial capacitance is retained after 10 000 consecutive cycles. The CoNi₂S₄/CNT//Fe₂O₃/CNT device is a promising candidate for flexible energy devices due to its excellent compressibility and high energy density.     

Novel e-nose for the discrimination of volatile organic biomarkers with an array of carbon nanotubes (CNT) conductive polymer nanocomposites (CPC) sensors

We report the original design of a new type of electronic nose (e-nose) consisting of only five sensors made of hierarchically structured conductive polymer nanocomposites (CPC). Each sensor benefits from both the exceptional electrical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNT) used to build the conductive architecture and the spray layer by layer (sLbL) assembly technique, which provides the transducers with a highly specific 3D surface structure. Excellent sensitivity and selectivity were obtained by optimizing the amount of CNT with five different polymer matrices: poly(caprolactone) (PCL), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(carbonate) (PC), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and a biobased polyester (BPR). The ability of the resulting e-nose to detect nine organic solvent vapours (isopropanol, tetrahydrofuran, dichloromethane, n-heptane, cyclohexane, methanol, ethanol, water and toluene), as well as biomarkers for lung cancer detection in breath analysis, has been demonstrated. Principal component analysis (PCA) proved to be an excellent pattern recognition tool to separate vapour clusters.     

中国微米纳米-碳纳米管可控介电泳参数模拟研究

碳纳米管的结构以及微电极的物性参数是微纳器件制备过程中影响介电泳效率与精度的重要因素.微电极形状和电极间距与碳纳米管长度之比(λ)是两个与器件制造成本紧密相关的可控介电泳参数.本文根据有限元方法,研究了这两个参数对于介电泳力的影响规律.通过对3种电极下的碳纳米管介电泳速度进行归一化处理,结果表明碳纳米管在分散液中的介电泳速度受电极形状影响较小.而相比于电极形状,λ对介电泳力的影响更加显著.虽然电极间距越小越有利于碳纳米管的组装,但是考虑微电极加工难度与成本,认为λ在0.5~1.0为碳纳米管组装的优化区间.根据介电泳组装实验需要,给出了溶液阈值浓度修正表达式.本研究对于提高介电泳组装效率和实验精度具有一定的理论指导意义.     

Detecting the electrical conductivity of single walled carbon nano-tubes by a DFM detection system

Rare SWCNT materials contain both metallic SWCNT(m-SWCNT)and semi-conducting SWCNT(s-SWCNT).Since mSWCNT and s-SWCNT have very different applications,it is necessary to differentiate them so as to further separate them for more efficient CNT utilization.To achieve this goal,the authors established a dielectric force microscope(DFM)detection system to differentiate s-SWCNT from m-SWCNT,based on different 2 force decided by SWCNT’s conductivity under AC electric field.The experimental results showed that s-SWCNT can be clearly differentiated from m-SWCNT.The statistics analysis shows that the detected number proportion of s-SWCNT to m-SWCNT matches the well-known proportion 2:1 in the normally prepared CNT materials.The above results strongly verified the effectiveness of the detection system.