Mechanical characterization of a new Kevlar/Flax/epoxy hybrid composite in a sandwich structure

Natural fibers are inexpensive, biodegradable, and have similar specific properties to some synthetic fibers. Hardly any previous investigations exist of a composite made of multiple layers of pure Kevlar fiber fabric and pure Flax fiber fabric in a “sandwich structure”, but it only measured impact properties. The composite was made of 12 Flax/epoxy layers at the core in 3 possible configurations (i.e. [0]_12F, [0/90]_6F, or [±45]_6F) that were sandwiched by 2 Kevlar/epoxy layers (i.e. plain weave) on each side. This study showed maximum change in the mechanical properties with respect to Flax/Epoxy for tension (+137.85% in E_T, and +171.22% in σ_UT), compression (+171.22% in E_c, and −10.6% in σ_UC), 3-point bending (−11.54% in E_B, and +2.19 in σ_UB), torsion (−5.31% in G, and 395.82% in τ), and water absorption (60.04%). This novel hybrid composite may be useful for research and industry applications.     

A comprehensive review on surface modification,structure interface and bonding mechanism of plant cellulose fiber reinforced polymer based composites

Abstract

Plant cellulose fiber polymer composites are readily applied in wide range of applications due to ecological and economical alternative to traditional materials. The considerable amount of residues and organic wastes from agricultural process are still employed as lower energy resource. Organic materials are generally disposed in composting, landfilling or anaerobic digestion. The utilization of these wastes in plant fiber composites shows significant alternative and environmental friendly in nature. The production of plant cellulose fiber composite with higher structural properties is optimized by interfacial bonding between polymer and reinforced fiber. The interface plays a vital role in regulating mechanical properties by distributing bonds and stress transferring, which is one of least understood element of composites. This paper presents the comprehensive review of fiber structures, different modification techniques to reduce the incompatibility between matrix and fiber, assessment of structure interface and bonding, clarifies the interfacial adhesion of cellulose fiber composites.     

Improving waterproof/breathable performance of electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) fibrous membranes by thermo‐pressing

Facing the ever‐increasing demand for waterproof/breathable materials, a rapid and efficient fabrication method of these functional materials with excellent performance as well as robust mechanical properties remains challenging. Herein, a simple and scalable strategy referred to as thermo‐pressing is introduced to improve the waterproof/breathable performance and mechanical properties of electrospun PVDF fibrous membranes. The synergistic effect of temperature and pressure acted on the electrospun PVDF membranes on the fiber morphology and crystal structure was investigated, which can be able to effectively enhance waterproof performance and mechanical properties, endowing the as‐prepared membranes with a modest breathability. The membranes thermo‐pressed at 150 °C with a pressure of 8.27 MPa exhibit robust tensile strength of 40.65 MPa, which is superior to those of the previous reports (below 32.8 MPa). Notably, the optimized membranes enable to show a high hydrostatic pressure of 102 kPa, good WVTR of 10.87 kg m⁻² d⁻¹ and excellent abrasion resistance, which implies that the thermo‐pressing is an efficient and facile way to steer the fiber morphology and crystal structure of electrospun membranes to improve their application performance. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 36–45     

Carbon Fibers: Precursor Systems,Processing, Structure,and Properties

This Review gives an overview of precursor systems, their processing, and the final precursor‐dependent structure of carbon fibers (CFs) including new developments in precursor systems for low‐cost CFs. The following CF precursor systems are discussed: poly(acrylonitrile)‐based copolymers, pitch, cellulose, lignin, poly(ethylene), and new synthetic polymeric precursors for high‐end CFs. In addition, structure–property relationships and the different models for describing both the structure and morphology of CFs will be presented.     

Effect of permodified β‐cyclodextrin on the photophysical properties of poly[2,7‐(9,9‐dioctylfluorene)‐alt‐(5,5′‐bithiophene)] main chain polyrotaxanes

The photophysical properties of two polyrotaxanes ( PFBTh?PSβCD and PFBTh?PMeβCD ) composed of fluorene and bithiophene encapsulated into permodified β‐cyclodextrin cavities have been investigated and compared with those of the reference PFBTh . Rotaxane formation results in improvements of the thermal stability, solubility in common organic solvents, as well as better film forming ability combined with a high transparency. As expected PFBTh and its encapsulated forms absorb at wavelengths beyond 510 nm, and time‐resolved photoluminescence (PL) in solution shows a well‐define vibronic structures with a predominance of the 0‐0 transitions and an energy difference of 0.16 eV. The fluorescence lifetimes follow a monoexponential decay with a value τ = 630 ± 30 ps. Atomic force microscopy, AFM, indicated a tendency of polyrotaxanes to organize into fibers. The advancing contact angles indicated higher surface hydrophobicity and lower surface free‐energy values for polyrotaxanes compared with their unthreaded analogues. The device based on PFBTh?PSβCD: PCBM in a 1/1 w/w ratio under simulated AM 1.5G illumination at 100 mW cm^?2 exhibited improved photovoltaic parameters of cells, resulted in high V_oc (0.68 V), J_sc (1.65 mA cm^?2), FF (31.6%), and PCE (0.35) values, compared with PFBTh or PFBTh?PMeβCD , respectively. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 460–471     

Prediction of High Performance Fibers Strength Using Back Propagation Neural Network

Nowadays, quantification of the effects of basic parameters such as precursor, temperature oxidation, residence time, low temperature carbonization (LTC) and high temperature carbonization (HTC) on production process polyacrylonitrile based carbon fibers is not completely understood. In this way, there is not a completely theoretical model that accomplishes to quantitatively describe production process carbon fibers very accurately which needs to be used by engineers in design, simulation and operation of that process. This paper presents the development of a back propagation neural network model for the prediction of carbon fibers produced from PAN fibers. The model is based on experimental data. The precursors, temperature oxidation, residence time, LTC and HTC have been considered as the input parameters and the strength as output parameter to develop the model. The developed model is then compared with experimental results and it is found that the results obtained from the neural network model are accurate in predicting the strength of carbon fibers.     

硫酸铜掺杂TiO2涂层对碳纤维抗氧化性能的影响

采用溶胶-浸渍法,以CuSO₄为烧结助剂在碳纤维表面制得TiO₂涂层。利用XRD、SEM和TEM分析了涂层相组成及形貌,通过静态等温氧化实验考察了涂层碳纤维抗氧化性能。结果表明：掺杂CuSO₄制备TiO₂涂层均匀完整致密,涂层相组成均为锐钛矿型TiO₂,且涂层厚度从45 nm提高至185 nm;与普通TiO₂涂层碳纤维相比,完全氧化温度从667 ℃上升到800 ℃,氧化活化能从118.390 kJ·mol^-1提高到152.562 kJ·mol^-1,CuSO₄的掺杂大大提高了TiO₂涂层碳纤维的抗氧化性能。     

Novel Methods for Obtaining High Modulus Aliphatic Polyamide Fibers

Super high modulus polyethylene fibers can be created by converting high molecular weight flexible PE chains into highly oriented and extended chain conformations. However, unlike polyethylene, aliphatic polyamides have very high cohesive energy and therefore cannot be easily drawn and highly oriented. This review addresses this fundamental problem by analyzing various novel approaches that can be used to suppress hydrogen bonding in these types of polyamides. Plasticization of such polymers with ammonia, iodine, salts, and Lewis acids, as well as dry spinning, wet spinning, and gel spinning, are discussed. Specialized techniques that involve vibrational zone drawing and annealing as well as laser heating zone drawing and annealing are also reviewed. Some of these methods definitely lead to remarkable improvements in initial modulus and other mechanical properties. The development of recombinant spider silk proteins as well progress in spinning these materials is also reported. The advantages and disadvantages of all of these processes are then summarized.     

Preparation and evaluation of a novel molecularly imprinted SPE monolithic capillary column for the determination of auramine O in shrimp

A novel method combining molecular imprinting and SPE was developed in a capillary column for the determination of auramine O in shrimp. The capillary monolithic column was prepared by UV‐initiated in situ polymerization, using auramine O as template and methacrylic acid and ethylene dimethacrylate as functional monomer and cross‐linker, respectively. The properties of the prepared capillary monolithic column were investigated under the optimized conditions coupled with HPLC, and then the morphologies of the inner polymers were characterized by SEM. The calibration curve was expressed as A = 103C + 19.8 (r = 0.9992) with a linear range of 0.25–25.0 μg/mL, and the recoveries of auramine O at different concentrations in shrimp ranged from 90.5 to 92.4% with RSDs ranging from 2.1 to 4.4%. The capacities of the molecularly imprinted polymer and nonimprinted polymer columns were 0.722 and 0.147 μg/mg, respectively, and the LOD (S/N = 3) of auramine O in shrimp was 17.85 μg/kg. Under the selected conditions, the enrichment factors obtained were higher than 70‐fold. The results indicate that the prepared molecularly imprinted capillary monolithic column was reliable and applicable to the analysis of auramine O in shrimp.