A comparison between the SBR vulcanizates reinforced by magnesium methacrylate added directly or prepared in situ

The styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) cured by dicumyl peroxide was reinforced by magnesium methacrylate [Mg(MAA)₂], which was added into SBR directly or prepared in situ in SBR through the neutralization of magnesium oxide (MgO) and methacrylic acid (MAA). The experimental results show that the SBR vulcanizates reinforced by Mg(MAA)₂ prepared in situ have better mechanical properties than those reinforced by Mg(MAA)₂ added directly. The SBR vulcanizates with Mg(MAA)₂ prepared in situ are semi-transparent, but those with Mg(MAA)₂ added directly are opaque. The Fourier transform infrared analysis shows that the polymerization conversion of Mg(MAA)₂ in the SBR vulcanizates with Mg(MAA)₂ prepared in situ is much higher than that in the SBR vulcanizates with Mg(MAA)₂ added directly. The scan probe microscopy photographs show that the particles in the SBR vulcanizates with Mg(MAA)₂ prepared in situ are much finer and disperse more evenly than that in the SBR vulcanizates with Mg(MAA)₂ added directly.     

黄麻塑料复合材料

本文介绍了国外黄麻塑料复合材料研究开发的历史和现状。说明利用各式黄麻纤维产物作为塑料增强剂以生产低成本、轻重量复合材料方面已取得成功,其发展前景具有很大吸引力。     

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OF POLYMERS BY THE ADDITION OF GRAFTED NANO-INORGANIC PARTICLES

An irradiation grafting method was applied for the modification of nanoparticles so that the latter can be added topolymeric materials for improving their mechanical performance using existing compounding techniques. The followingitems are discussed in this paper: (a) chemical interaction between the grafting monomers and the nanoparticles duringirradiation, (b) properties including modulus, yield strength, impact strength and fracture toughness of the resultantcomposites, and (c) possible morphological changes induced by the addition of nanoparticles. Though irradiation graftingpolymerization, nanoparticle agglomerates turn into a nano-composite microstructure (comprised of the nanoparticles and thegrafted, homopolymerized secondary polymer), which in turn builds up a strong interfacial interaction with the surrounding,primary polymeric matrix during the subsequent mixing procedure. Due to the fact that different grafting polymers broughtabout different nanoparticle/matrix interfacial features, microstructures and properties of the ultimate composites could thusbe tailored. It was found that the reinforcing and toughening effects of the nanoparticles on the polymer matrix can be fullybrought into play at a rather low filler loading in comparison to conventional particulate filled composites.     

An investigation of the properties of poly(dimethylsiloxane)-bioinspired silica hybrids

Elastomers typically require the incorporation of reinforcing fillers in order to improve their mechanical properties. For commercial silicone systems silica and titania are typically used as fillers. Fumed and precipitated silica are made on an industrial scale for many applications; however, we have shown recently that biological and synthetic macromolecules can generate new silica structures using a bioinspired route. Herein we have incorporated bioinspired silica fillers into poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) elastomers and investigated their mechanical, morphological and thermal properties as a function of filler loading. The equilibrium stress-strain characteristics of the PDMS-bioinspired silica hybrids were determined as a function of bioinspired filler loading and the Mooney-Rivlin constants (2C₁ and 2C₂) were calculated. The thermal characteristics, in particular glass transition temperatures (T_g) and melting points (T_m), of the PDMS-bioinspired silica hybrids were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The thermal stability of these hybrid materials were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphology of the samples was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the filler dispersion was characterized using ultra small angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Although spherical silica particles were used here, we have demonstrated elsewhere that this bioinspired synthetic route also enables highly asymmetric silica structures to be prepared such as fibres and sheets. This methodology therefore offers the interesting possibility of preparing new hybrid systems where the properties are highly anisotropic.     

Reinforcement of Self‐Healing Polyacrylic Acid Hydrogel with Acrylamide Modified Microcrystalline Cellulose†

Self‐healing hydrogel such as polyacrylic acid (PAA) hydrogel has attracted increasing attention based on its promising potential applications. However, it usually suffers from low strength especially as mechanical device. Herein, a commercial microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was modified with acrylamide to graft polyacrylamide (PAM) chains on the particle surface. The acrylamide‐modified MCC (AM‐MCC) was then dispersed in monomer solution of acrylic acid to prepare composite hydrogel. The mechanical properties of the obtained composite hydrogels and the self‐healed hydrogels were carefully measured by compressive and tensile tests, and by dynamic mechanical analysis. Our results demonstrate that introduction of a small amount of AM‐MCC such as 3 wt% can not only reinforce the original hydrogel and the healed hydrogel markedly, but also improve self‐healing efficiency obviously. The analyses indicate that in addition to the reversible multi‐interactions such as hydrogen bonding and ionic interactions, the entanglements between the PAA chains of the hydrogel matrix and the PAM chains grafted on the MCC particles have also played an important role on the improvement in mechanical performances and the healing ability of the hydrogel. Moreover, the responsiveness to exterior ion has been tested to indicate potential application of the composite hydrogel as self‐healable sensor.     

Boride-based nano-laminates with MAX-phase-like behaviour

MAX-phases being usually composed of transition metals, group A elements and carbon/nitrogen are considered interesting materials for many applications because of their tremendous bulk modulus, “reversible” plasticity, and machinability. This is mainly due to their unique kind of bonding comprising covalent, ionic as well as metallic bonds providing “easy” planes of rupture and deformability due to the layered crystal structures.In transition metal boride systems, similar types of bonding are available. In particular the W₂B₅-structure type and its stacking variations allow the synthesis of strongly layered crystal structures exhibiting unique delamination phenomena.The paper presents ab initio calculations showing the similarities of bonding between the ternary carbides and the corresponding ternary or quaternary borides. Formation of boride-based nano-laminates from auxiliary liquid phases, from the melt as well as during sintering and precipitation from supersaturated solid solutions will be discussed by means of SEM and TEM studies. The role of impurities weakening the interlayer bonding will be addressed in particular. The pronounced cleavage parallel to the basal plane gives rise for crack deflection and pull-out mechanisms if the laminates are dispersed in brittle matrices such as boron carbide, silicon carbide or other transition metal borides.     

Belief functions contextual discounting and canonical decompositions

In this article, the contextual discounting of a belief function, a classical discounting generalization, is extended and its particular link with the canonical disjunctive decomposition is highlighted. A general family of correction mechanisms allowing one to weaken the information provided by a source is then introduced, as well as the dual of this family allowing one to strengthen a belief function.     

Preparation and Characterization of trans‐1,4‐Polybutadiene Nanocomposites Containing in situ Generated Silica

Abstract

trans‐1,4‐Polybutadiene (tPBD) networks crosslinked free radically with dicumyl peroxide (DCP) were reinforced by in situ silica formed in a two‐step sol–gel technique. Changing the degree of crosslinking by changing the amount of DCP, or changing the amounts of the sol–gel components [tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and dibutyltin diacetate (DBTDA)], changed the silica generated with regard to the amount precipitated, particle size, and degree of dispersion. Stress–strain measurements in continuous extension indicated good reinforcement, even at relatively low amounts of silica. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated decreases in heat of crystallization with increases in the amounts of silica, but thermogravimetric analysis showed initial decomposition temperatures (IDT) remained relatively constant. Suggestions are made regarding interpretation of these properties in terms of the composite morphologies.     

A finite element method based comparative fracture assessment of carbon black and silica filled elastomers: Reinforcing efficacy of carbonaceous fillers in flexible composites

This study is focused on numerical investigation on fracture behaviors of carbon black (CB) and silica filled elastomeric composites. Finite element analysis (FEA) in compliance with multi-specimen method is used to calculate J-integral and geometry factor of the rubber composites up to a displacement of 20 mm for single edge notch in tension (SENT) and double edge notch in tension (DENT) specimens. An empirical relationship between crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and crack advancement is established depending on notch to width ratio (NWR). The stress contours across the notches for SENT and DENT specimens is discussed briefly. It is found that fracture propagation resistance of CB filled elastomer is 125% more than that of silica filled elastomer. Although, Silica filled elastomer have good tensile strength and crosslink density but it fails to replace carbon black in terms of fracture properties. The critical J-integral for CB filled elastomer is 18.7% and 32.2% more than silica filled elastomer for SENT and DENT specimens respectively. The effect of specimen type on various fracture properties is also explored. The factor of safety is found to be significantly more in case of CB filled elastomers making them less vulnerable to crack propagation and catastrophic failure.     

Accelerating autonomous learning by using heuristic selection of actions

This paper investigates how to make improved action selection for online policy learning in robotic scenarios using reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms. Since finding control policies using any RL algorithm can be very time consuming, we propose to combine RL algorithms with heuristic functions for selecting promising actions during the learning process. With this aim, we investigate the use of heuristics for increasing the rate of convergence of RL algorithms and contribute with a new learning algorithm, Heuristically Accelerated Q-learning (HAQL), which incorporates heuristics for action selection to the Q-Learning algorithm. Experimental results on robot navigation show that the use of even very simple heuristic functions results in significant performance enhancement of the learning rate.