Ni(OH)2修饰的三聚氰胺泡沫用于可压缩超级电容器电极

通过化学镀和电化学镀的方法制备了一种Ni(OH)₂电化学活性材料修饰三聚氰胺泡沫(MF)可压缩骨架的超级电容器电极材料MF/Ni(OH)₂。MF/Ni(OH)₂可压缩电极材料表现出最佳的电容性能,例如循环稳定性(即使在40 mA/cm^-3的电流密度下经过2000次充放电循环后,可压缩电极仍能保持90.63%的初始电容)和可压缩稳定性(即使在压缩率为50%时,仍具有97.88%的电容保持率)。层状可压缩超级电容器由MF/Ni(OH)₂弹性材料作为阳极,镍/碳(Ni/C)为阴极以及实验室中常用的滤纸作隔膜材料组成。这种超级电容器装置在不同的压缩下表现出良好的电化学性能和优异的压缩稳定性。最后,使用可压缩的超级电容器来点亮LED灯,以展示其在柔性电子设备中的应用。这些优化的电化学和机械性能表明MF/Ni(OH)₂可作为可压缩超级电容器的应用中的候选电极。     

高性能NiCoP基超级电容器电化学性能

采用水热和低温磷化反应两步法,在无添加沉淀剂条件下成功在泡沫镍上合成纳米花状镍钴磷化物(NiCoP/NF)。研究结果表明,镍/钴元素物质的量之比为1∶1时,在1 A·g~(-1)电流密度下,Ni_(1/2)Co_(1/2)P/NF的比容量高达1 276.36 F·g~(-1),在10 A·g~(-1)电流密度下充放电循环3 000次后,比容量保持率为78.23%。此外,以Ni_(1/2)Co_(1/2)P/NF为正极,活性炭(AC)为负极组装的非对称超级电容器(Ni_(1/2)Co_(1/2)P/NF//AC/NF)在725 W·kg~(-1)的功率密度下,能量密度高达36.25 Wh·kg~(-1)。     

Synthesis of activated carbon foams with high specific surface area using polyurethane elastomer templates for effective removal of methylene blue

Carbon foams have gained significant attention due to their tuneable properties that enable a wide range of applications including catalysis, energy storage and wastewater treatment. Novel synthesis pathways enable novel applications via yielding complex, hierarchical material structure. In this work, activated carbon foams (ACFs) were produced from waste polyurethane elastomer templates using different synthesis pathways, including a novel one-step method. Uniquely, the produced foams exhibited complex structure and contained carbon microspheres. The ACFs were synthesized by impregnating the elastomers in an acidified sucrose solution followed by direct activation using CO₂ at 1000 ℃. Different pyrolysis and activation conditions were investigated. The ACFs were characterized by a high specific surface area (S_BET) of 2172 m²/g and an enhanced pore volume of 1.08 cm³/g. Computer tomography and morphological studies revealed an inhomogeneous porous structure and the presence of numerous carbon spheres of varying sizes embedded in the porous network of the three-dimensional carbon foam. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy indicated that the obtained carbon foam was amorphous and of turbostratic structure. Moreover, the activation process enhanced the surface of the carbon foam, making it more hydrophilic via altering pore size distribution and introducing oxygen functional groups. In equilibrium, the adsorption of methylene blue on ACF followed the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 592 mg/g. Based on these results, the produced ACFs have potential applications as adsorbents, catalyst support and electrode material in energy storage systems.     

Lignin as a Partial Polyol Replacement in Polyurethane Flexible Foam

This study was focused on evaluating the suitability of a wide range of lignins, a natural polymer isolated from different plant sources and chemical extractions, in replacing 20 wt.% of petroleum-based polyol in the formulation of PU flexible foams. The main goal was to investigate the effect of unmodified lignin incorporation on the foam’s structural, mechanical, and thermal properties. The hydroxyl contents of the commercial lignins were measured using phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance (³¹P NMR) spectroscopy, molar mass distributions with gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and thermal properties with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. The results showed that incorporating 20 wt.% lignin increased tensile, compression, tear propagation strengths, thermal stability, and the support factor of the developed PU flexible foams. Additionally, statistical analysis of the results showed that foam properties such as density and compression force deflection were positively correlated with lignin’s total hydroxyl content. Studying correlations between lignin properties and the performance of the developed lignin-based PU foams showed that lignins with low hydroxyl content, high flexibility (low T_g), and high solubility in the co-polyol are better candidates for partially substituting petroleum-based polyols in the formulation of flexible PU foams intended for the automotive applications.     

Molecularly engineered graphene surfaces for sensing applications: A review

Graphene is scientifically and commercially important because of its unique molecular structure which is monoatomic in thickness, rigorously two-dimensional and highly conjugated. Consequently, graphene exhibits exceptional electrical, optical, thermal and mechanical properties. Herein, we critically discuss the surface modification of graphene, the specific advantages that graphene-based materials can provide over other materials in sensor research and their related chemical and electrochemical properties. Furthermore, we describe the latest developments in the use of these materials for sensing technology, including chemical sensors and biosensors and their applications in security, environmental safety and diseases detection and diagnosis.     

Surfactant Concentration and End Effects on Foam Flow in Porous Media

Foaming injected gas is a useful and promising technique for achieving mobility control in porous media. Typically, such foams are aqueous. In the presence of foam, gas and liquid flow behavior is determined by bubble size or foam texture. The thin-liquid films that separate foam into bubbles must be relatively stable for a foam to be finely textured and thereby be effective as a displacing or blocking agent. Film stability is a strong function of surfactant concentration and type. This work studies foam flow behavior at a variety of surfactant concentrations using experiments and a numerical model. Thus, the foam behavior examined spans from strong to weak.Specifically, a suite of foam displacements over a range of surfactant concentrations in a roughly 7m², one-dimensional sandpack are monitored using X-ray computed tomography (CT). Sequential pressure taps are employed to measure flow resistance. Nitrogen is the gas and an alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS 1416) in brine is the foamer. Surfactant concentrations studied vary from 0.005 to 1wt%. Because foam mobility depends strongly upon its texture, a bubble population balance model is both useful and necessary to describe the experimental results thoroughly and self consistently. Excellent agreement is found between experiment and theory.     

Modeling and prediction of bulk properties of open-cell carbon foam

The emerging ultralightweight material, carbon foam, was modeled with three-dimensional microstructures to develop a basic understanding in correlating microstructural configuration with bulk performance of open-cell foam materials. Because of the randomness and complexity of the microstructure of the carbon foam, representative cell ligaments were first characterized in detail at the microstructural level. The salient microstructural characteristics (or properties) were then correlated with the bulk properties through the present model. In order to implement the varying anisotropic nature of material properties in the foam ligaments, we made an attempt to use a finite element method to implement such variation along the ligaments as well as at a nodal point where the ligaments meet. The model was expected to provide a basis for establishing a process-property relationship and optimizing foam properties.The present model yielded a fairly reasonable prediction of the effective bulk properties of the foams. We observed that the effective elastic properties of the foams were dominated by the bending mode associated with shear deformation. The effective Young's modulus of the foam was strongly influenced by the ligament moduli, but was not influenced by the ligament Poisson's ratio. The effective Poisson's ratio of the foam was practically independent of the ligament Young's modulus, but dependent on the ligament Poisson's ratio. The effective Young's modulus of the carbon foam was dependent more on the transverse Young's modulus and the shear moduli of the foam ligaments, but less significantly on the ligament longitudinal Young's modulus. A parametric study indicated that the effective Young's modulus was significantly improved by increasing the solid modulus in the middle of the foam ligaments, but nearly invariant with that at the nodal point where the ligaments meet. Therefore, appropriate processing schemes toward improving the transverse and shear properties of the foam ligaments in the middle section of the ligaments rather than at the nodal points are highly desirable for enhancing the bulk moduli of the carbon foam.     

生物矿化法制备HgS/聚氨酯复合薄膜及其对Ba2+的传感性能

通过生物矿化法制备出HgS/聚氨酯纳米复合材料并用FTIR、SEM等对材料进行了表征. 研究发现聚氨酯分子可以控制HgS的成核和晶体生长. 聚氨酯的量子限域效应已通过紫外-可见光谱证实,在约291 nm处有明显的特征吸收峰. 荧光性能研究结果表明HgS/聚氨酯纳米粒子复合薄膜对Ba²⁺的存在十分敏感,少量的Ba²⁺会使荧光强度明显上升,水中常见离子几乎对此没有影响.     

Properties of Absorbent Acrylic Foam Prepared Based on the Method of High Internal Phase Emulsion

Acrylate and methacrylate monomers absorbent acrylate foams were prepared based on the method of high internal phase emulsion (HIPE). The influence of reaction conditions on liquid absorption by acrylate foams was studied. The reaction conditions included monomer ratio, cross-linker amount, initiator amount, emulsifier amount, emulsion concentration, emulsification temperature, and the curing time. The reaction conditions were determined to achieve the best liquid absorption by acrylate foams. Acrylate foams were analyzed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that when the monomer ratio was 9:1, cross-linking agent was 30% of monomer amount, initiator amount was 4% of the reactants amount, emulsifier amount was 8% of the reactants amount, the ratio of aqueous phase to oil phase was 32:1, emulsification temperature was 75°C, and curing time was 1.5 h, we could prepare the acrylate foam material with the best liquid absorption. Reaction of monomer and cross-linking agent was confirmed by FTIR analysis. The pore sizes of acrylate foam were between 1 μm and 8 μm according to SEM analysis. This material was very suitable to absorb aqueous fluids.     

Dynamic and Quasi-Static Propagation of Compaction Waves in a Low-Density Epoxy Foam

We conducted dynamic and quasi-static compression experiments with low-density (ρ = 120 kg/m³) epoxy foam specimens. The specimens had a 10.0-mm-square cross-section and a length of 19.3 mm. Dynamic experiments were conducted with a modified split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB), and the quasi-static experiments were conducted with a hydraulic load frame device (MTS-810). In both cases, the specimens were loaded from one end at a constant velocity. Equally spaced grid lines were marked on the specimens to monitor the deformation history. Digital images taken at equally spaced time intervals gave the positions of each grid line. These images showed that a constant end-face velocity V produced a compaction wave front that traveled at a constant velocity C in both dynamic and quasi-static experiments. We described these results with a shockwave analysis that used a locking solid material model.