Thermal,mechanical and morphological properties of multicomponent blends based on acrylic and styrenic polymers

Multicomponent polymer blends afford polymeric materials with specific properties for many applications. The effect of different chemical structures on the miscibility and compatibility of polymer blends composed of multicomponent acrylic and styrenic polymers was studied in this research. The influence of each component on the thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties, as well as optical transparency, was analyzed in poly (methyl methacrylate), homopolymer (PMMAh), or copolymer (PMMAe) blends where the minority constituents formed by polystyrene (PS), styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN) or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer (ABS). The results showed significant changes in the properties of these mixtures due to the effect of the type of chemical structure and different elastomeric domains of the majority and minority components of polymer blends.     

Determination of tensile strength of UHMWPE fiber-reinforced polymer composites

Quasi-static tensile test of UHMWPE fiber-reinforced composite laminate is challenging to perform due to low interlaminar shear strength and low coefficient of friction. Tensile tests proposed in the literature were conducted and limitations associated with each method led to the evolution of a new method. Tensile test of single-ply was realized as the best representative of tensile strength of a composite than tensile test of UHMWPE laminate. A fixture was developed for single-ply tests which increased friction and provided the mechanical constraint to slipping. The fixture is easy to fabricate and has provided repeatable results for eight grades of UHMWPE fiber-based (0/90) fabrics. Reported tensile strengths are in quite high range of 900–1500 MPa.     

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.     

Experimental and molecular simulating study on promoting electrolyte-immersed mechanical properties of cellulose/lignin separator for lithium-ion battery

Lithium-ion batteries have been developing intensively and earn an unprecedented reputation, yet advanced performance and safety issue still require considerable investigation. Separator is vital to comprehensive properties of batteries, where the mechanical properties are key to breaking through of new-type separator. Unfortunately, electrolyte submersion has caused damage to strength of cellulose separator. Whereupon, in this work, cellulose separator is optimized by introducing lignin particles to promote electrolyte-immersed mechanical strength. Experiments are conducted concerning surface morphology, contact angle, porosity, electrolyte uptake, mechanical properties and electrochemical performance. Molecular simulation is implemented to explore the mechanism of tensile behavior of cellulose and lignin subjected to electrolyte solvents. Experimental results confirm positive effect of lignin addition in improving mechanical properties and simultaneously maintaining impressive electrochemical performance of the cellulose/lignin composites separators. Besides, lignin addition amount of 2.5% and 5% is recommended to achieve promising overall properties. Molecular simulation has successfully unveiled that weakening of cellulose separator submerged in electrolyte is resulted by the deformed cellulose amorphous region and the promoting effect of adding lignin is contributed from the new hydrogen bonds generated between cellulose and lignin molecules. Hopefully, this work provides novel insight on preparing remarkable separator and mechanism of materials behavior.     

Nonexistence of global solutions for generalized Tricomi equations with combined nonlinearity

In the present paper, we investigate the blow-up dynamics for local solutions to the semilinear generalized Tricomi equation with combined nonlinearity. As a result, we enlarge the blow-up region in comparison to the ones for the corresponding semilinear models with either power nonlinearity or nonlinearity of derivative type. Our approach is based on an iteration argument to establish lower bound estimates for the space average of local solutions. Finally, we obtain upper bound estimates for the lifespan of local solutions as byproduct of our iteration argument.     

Insights into MWCNTs/polyimide nanocomposites: from synthesis to application as free-standing flexible electrodes in low-cost micro-supercapacitors

In the pursuit to enlarge the library of polyimide materials for energy applications, new polyimide/MWCNTs composite films have been developed by MWCNTs-assisted polycondensation reaction of a hydroxyl and triphenylmethane-containing diamine with benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride targeting to highlight their electrical storage capability as flexible electrodes in micro-supercapacitors (mSCs). The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, UV–vis, fluorescence, and Raman spectroscopies were used to demonstrate the evolution of interfacial interactions between MWCNTs and the precursors (diamine monomer and intermediate polyamidic acid) and polyimide matrix that proved to be the origin of MWCNTs homogeneous dispersion. Thus, composite films incorporating 1, 3, 5, and 10 w.t.% MWCNTs were obtained and thoroughly investigated with regard to their morphology, mechanical behavior, thermal stability, and electrical conductivity. The electrochemical performance of these composites was first analyzed in a classical three-electrode cell by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge in both aqueous and organic electrolyte systems. By far, the best electrical storage capacity was obtained with the composite polyimide film containing 10% MWCNTs that was further used as both active material and current collector in a flexible symmetric mSC realized by a straightforward and low-cost procedure. In the attempt to better exploit the advantages of this composite film, it was layered with a graphite-containing paint and tested as an electrode in a flexible mSC, which provided satisfactory results. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the electrical charge storage capability of a polyimide/MWCNTs free-standing film as a flexible electrode in mSCs, which do not require time- and resource-consuming processing steps.     

机械剥离石墨烯修饰电极检测食品接触材料中双酚A的迁移量

采用机械剥离石墨烯修饰电极快速检测食品接触材料中双酚A的迁移量。X射线电子衍射表征显示机械剥离石墨烯表面不存在含氧官能团,与化学还原石墨烯相比,机械剥离石墨烯对双酚A具有更好的电催化性能,降低了双酚A的氧化过电位,提高了电流响应。在优化的试验条件下,双酚A的浓度在1.0×10-7~1.5×10-5mol·L-1范围内与氧化峰电流呈线性关系,检出限(3S/N)为3.0×10-8mol·L-1。采用该电极对食品模拟物中的双酚A进行检测,加标回收率在85.1%~104%之间,测定值的相对标准偏差(n=6)在2.7%~5.9%之间。     

聚丙烯酰胺纳米复合水凝胶研究进展

传统化学交联的聚丙烯酰胺(PAM)水凝胶由于力学性能较弱,其应用范围受到很大限制。与之相比,采用纳米复合技术制备的PAM纳米复合(NC)水凝胶,不仅大幅提高了力学性能,而且在溶胀率等方面也有明显的提高。本文结合该领域近年来的研究进展,将PAM NC水凝胶分为纯物理交联和化学物理交联相结合两类,重点讨论了NC水凝胶在力学性能方面的研究结果,对溶胀率等其它方面的性能也进行了综合论述。     

二氧化碳/环氧丙烷/马来酸酐三元共聚物对PPC/PHB共混物力学性能的影响

采用稀土三元催化剂制备了二氧化碳-环氧丙烷-马来酸酐三元共聚物(PPCMA).用红外和核磁谱图确定了PPCMA的结构及马来酸酐单元的含量,3 wt％马来酸酐投料量的PPCMA(共聚物中马来酸酐单元含量4.1％)的玻璃化转变温度(Tg)和起始热分解温度(Td-5％)分别为13.4℃和217℃,拉伸强度为2.88 MPa,断裂伸长率为1669％,与二氧化碳-环氧丙烷共聚物(PPC)相比,引入少量马来酸酐的PPCMA有望成为一种韧性材料,并可对PPC和聚3-羟基丁酸酯(PHB)共混体系进行改性.当在PPC/PHB共混体系中添加10 wt％的PPCMA时,所得共混材料的拉伸强度为18.2 MPa,断裂伸长率则提高到85％,较没有添加PPCMA的样品提高了4.25倍,因此PPCMA的加入能有效提高PPC/PHB共混体系的韧性,改善PPC/PHB共混体系的力学性能.偏光显微镜的研究表明PPC/PHB共混体系加入PPCMA后,很快形成大量尺寸小的PHB球晶,且结晶速度大幅度提高,因此PPCMA在一定意义上可视为一种特殊的“成核剂”.