Robust synthesis of mono-dispersed spherical silica nanoparticle from rice husk for high definition latent fingermark development

Silica is one of the most functional metalloid oxides with a widespread application as semiconductor, fillers, silicone and ceramic primarily due to its structural versatility. In this work, a robust step-wise thermochemical treatment was successfully formulated for the controlled fabrication of high-purity mono-dispersed spherical silica nanoparticle from rice husk. The silica nanoparticle with the desired morphology was formed in two stages; thermal-assisted seed particle formation followed by particle growth through acidification of the solvent modified sodium silicate solution. The obtained powder was characterised, and the effectiveness of the powder for latent fingermark development across varied donors and surfaces was tested at the introductory level. The formed spherical particles were in the range of 200 to 400 nm, as confirmed by FESEM and HRTEM analysis. Minimising the degree of silica nanoparticle agglomeration notably affected their selectivity to fingermark residue. There was a striking improvement in the selectivity of the silica nanoparticle to fingermark residue. The improvement was attributed to the strong interaction between the silica nanoparticle and the lipid components in the fingermark residue, as compared to the commercial white powder that works solely based on mechanical adherence. Additionally, the size and morphology of the fabricated silica nanoparticle were optimised to enhance the clarity of the developed fingermark. Findings of this study could improve quality of fingermarks obtained in a crime scene due to considerably lower background interference without compromising the effectiveness of fingermark development.     

Development of an O-ring from NR/EPDM filled silica/CB hybrid filler for use in a solid oxide fuel cell testing system

This research presents the effects of oxygen pressure and ambient temperatures on the crack behavior of O-rings from a semi-EV of NR/EPDM rubber with silica/CB filler, exposed to the inlet flow and outflow oxygen pressure in a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) environment. Blends of NR/EPDM were prepared with various ratios of silica/CB filler at 00/60, 10/50, 20/40, 30/30, 40/20, 50/10, and 60/00 phr. The fabricated O-ring complied with the standard for O-rings (TIS 2728-2559), with a minimum hardness of 65–75 Shore A, minimum tensile strength of 9 MPa, minimum elongation at break of 200%, and a minimum 100% modulus of 2.7 MPa. The mechanical properties of the compounds were tested, and the appropriate compound was chosen to make the O-rings to test in SOFC. The crack morphology of the fabricated O-rings was investigated and compared with a commercial O-ring after testing in the SOFC. As a result, the compound with silica/CB of 40:20 ratio provided the optimum mechanical properties, and passed the criteria standard of TIS 2728-2559. The mechanical properties of the prepared and commercial O-rings were similar (P-value of commercial with 60/00 = 0.273, 50/10 = 0.273, 40/20 = 0.144, 30/30 = 0.465, 20/40 = 0.465, 10/50 = 1.000 and 00/60 = 0.273; all > 0.05) and and both could still be continued to be used in SOFC despite some inner cracks after 24 h. The price of the prepared O-ring is cheaper than the commercial O-rings due to the low price of NR used in its formulation. Therefore, a prepared O-ring can be used in a SOFC, or other applications due to their mechanical properties and their reasonable price.     

Fabrication of flame-retardant and smoke-suppressant isocyanate-based polyimide foam modified by silica aerogel thermal insulation and flame protection layers

Because of containing urea groups, flame resistance and smoke releasing behaviors of isocyanate-based polyimide foam (IBPIF) produced using free foaming technology require further improvement. In this work, silica aerogel layers were incorporated into cells of IBPIF through an in situ growth process of silica sol (SS). Compared with silica aerogel particles directly mixed into the foaming slurry, the silica aerogel layers that firmly attached to the pores and surfaces of cells not only provided exceptional thermal insulation and flame protection, but also kept original cellular structure. With increase in ratio of SS mass to IBPIF volume, silica aerogel incorporation dosage was gradually increased. Accompanied by flame resistance was obviously improved and smoke releasing behavior was effectively suppressed. Those were indicated by the improved limiting oxygen index (LOI), decreased heat release rate (HRR), peak of HRR, and specific optical density of smoke (Ds) in trials with pilot flames. Compared with pure IBPIF, when the ratio reached to 5/15 g/cm³, it resulted in LOI increasing from 22.0% to 33.0%, peak of HRR, total smoke production (TSP), and maximum value of Ds decreasing from 174 to 72 kW/m², 1.11 to 0.37 m²/m², 45.90 to 17.45, respectively.     

Surface modification of silica nanoparticles by a polyoxyethylene sorbitan and silane coupling agent to prepare high-performance rubber composites

The interfacial interaction between nano-silica and rubber matrix is very important for the preparation of high-performance rubber composites. In this paper, we first proposed the use of TWEEN-20 as a new silica modifier, it has four long arms consisting of three polyether chains with terminal hydroxyl group and a fatty chain. The oxygen on the polyether can form a hydrogen bond with the silanol groups on silica surface, and the terminal hydroxyl groups can chemically react with the silanol groups without any VOCs. Moreover, the long fatty chain can weaken silica polarity to obtain a better compatibility with rubber, so that silica modified by TWEEN-20 with chemical reaction and physical absorption can homogeneously disperses in rubber matrix. Nextly, we prepared high-performance natural rubber (NR) composites by adjusting the ratio of TWEEN-20 to TESPT to adjust the physical and chemical interaction between nano-silica and rubber molecular chains. The results indicated that the performances, including the filler dispersion, static mechanical properties, and dynamic heating (viscoelastic self-heating), were optimal when the ratio of TESPT to TWEEN-20 was 2:1. In addition, one-third of TESPT was replaced by TWEEN-20 to prepare silica/rubber composites, which can reduce one-third of VOCs, improve “scorchy”, and achieve high dispersion of silica.     

Fabrication linalool-functionalized hollow mesoporous silica spheres nanoparticles for efficiently enhance bactericidal activity

To develop a novel food preservation technology for efficiently enhance bactericidal activity in a long term, hollow mesoporous silica spheres (HMSS) with regular nanostructures were applied to encapsulate natural organic antimicrobial agents. The chemical structures, morphologies and thermal stabilities of linalool, HMSS and linalool-functionalized hollow mesoporous silica spheres (L-HMSS) nanoparticles were evaluated by polarimeter, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA), nitrogen adsorption-desorption, zeta potential and small angle X-ray diffraction (SXRD). The results show that the linalool was successfully introduced into the cavities of HMSS, and the inorganic host exhibited a high loading capacity of about 1500 mg/g. In addition, after 48 h of incubation, the minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) of L-HMSS against Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella enterica (S. enterica) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) were decreased to be 4 (< 5) mg/mL and 8 (< 10) mg/mL, respectively. These results revealed linalool-functionalized hollow mesoporous spheres could efficiently improve the bactericidal activities of the organic component. Furthermore, SEM images clearly showed that L-HMSS indeed had an extremely inhibitory effect against gram-negative (E. coli) and gram-positive (S. aureus) by breaking the structure of the cell membrane. This research is of great significance in the application of linalool in nano-delivery system as well as food industry.     

Superhydrophobicity of silica nanoparticles modified with polystyrene

Polystyrene/silica nanoparticles were prepared by radical polymerization of silica nanoparticles possessing vinyl groups and styrene with benzoyl peroxide. The resulting vinyl silica nanoparticles, polystyrene/silica nanoparticles were characterized by means of Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. The results indicated that polystyrene had been successfully grafted onto vinyl silica nanoparticles via covalent bond. The morphological structure of polystyrene/silica nanoparticles film, investigated by scanning electron microscopy, showed a characteristic rough structure. Surface wetting properties of the polystyrene/silica nanoparticles film were evaluated by measuring water contact angle and the sliding angle using a contact angle goniometer, which were measured to be 159° and 2°, respectively. The excellent superhydrophobic property enlarges potential applications of the superhydrophobic surfaces.     

Influence of adhesion of silica and ceria abrasive nanoparticles on Chemical-Mechanical Planarization of silica surfaces

We report on a direct measurement of adhesion between abrasive nanoparticles of irregular shape, which are used in semiconductor industry in the process of Chemical-Mechanical Planarization (CMP), and silica surface. The adhesion of ceria and silica nanoparticles to silica surface is measured in multiple chemistries of different CMP slurries using a specially developed atomic force microscopy (AFM) method. Using this method, we study the influence of adhesion on the main parameters of CMP, removal rate and defectivity, scratches. While being plausible to expect correlation between these parameters and adhesion, it has not been systematically studied as of yet. We observed direct correlation between adhesion and removal rate. Comparing the measured defectivity and adhesion, we observe the presence of some correlation between these parameters. We conclude that both adhesion and shape of abrasive particles influence defectivity, micro-scratches. Direct measurements of the adhesion between abrasive nano-particles and surface can be used in the screening of new slurries as well as various modeling related to wearing of the surfaces.     

特殊的电像法研究多个导体球的相互作用

推广了一般导体和点电荷电像,用迭代电像法计算了两个导体球之间的作用力与电容,并做了推广以及精确性分析.进一步给出了多个导体球的一般计算方式.作为多导体球问题的例子给出了第三个无静电荷的导体球对两导体球体系的影响.给出了导体作用数值计箅的具体方式,并且为导体相互作用实质提供了清晰的物理图像.     

疏水介孔SiO2的制备与性能表征

以廉价的工业级正硅酸乙酯为原料,经过酸碱两步催化制备二氧化硅凝胶,以三甲基氯硅烷/六甲基二硅氧烷混合液对凝胶进行直接表面改性,常压干燥下得到高比表面积疏水性二氧化硅气凝胶.用SEM、IR、N2吸脱附、TG-DTA、接触角的测定等分析方法对二氧化硅化学成分、结构形貌、比表面积、热稳定性和疏水性能进行了研究.结果表明,经改...     

硅胶表面修饰添加剂选择性降低卷烟烟气中的苯酚

分别以聚乙烯亚胺（PEI）、十六烷基三甲基溴化铵（CTMAB）对硅胶（SiO2）表面进行修饰,并以苯酚为模板,合成硅胶表面修饰分子印迹聚合物（MIP-SiO2）,制备获得功能添加剂PEI-SiO2、CTMAB-SiO2、MIP-SiO2。按不同剂量分别将功能添加剂加入到卷烟滤嘴中,考察对卷烟主流烟气中苯酚的截留效率。结果表明,各添加剂均可有效降低卷烟烟气中的苯酚释放量。当添加量达到20mg/支时,各功能材料对苯酚的截留效率均超过39%。且添加剂对烟气中苯酚的截留能力大于对烟气中焦油的吸附能力,表明功能添加剂具有选择性降低卷烟烟气中苯酚的作用。