Jute fiber-reinforced chemically functionalized high density polyethylene (JF/CF-HDPE) composites with in situ fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion by Palsule Process

Jute fiber-reinforced chemically functionalized polyethylene high density (JF/CF-HDPE) composites have been processed, by Palsule process without using any compatibilizer and without any fiber modification, by using chemically functionalized maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MAPE) as matrix, in place of polyethylene. Fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion generated in situ, due to interactions between jute fiber and the maleic anhydride of the CF-HDPE matrix, has been established by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope micrographs. Mechanical properties of the JF/CF-HDPE composites developed with in situ fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion in this study have been found to be higher than those of the CF-HDPE matrix and increase with increasing amounts of jute fibers in the JF/CF-HDPE composites, and are better than properties of literature reported and laboratory processed jute fiber/polyethylene composites with and without MAPE compatibilizer. Measured tensile modulus of JF/CF-HDPE composites compares well with values predicted by rule of mixtures, inverse rule of mixture, Hrisch Model, Halpin-Tsai equations, Nielsen equations, and with Palsule equation. The feasibility of developing natural fiber/maleic anhydride grafted polyolefin composites by Palsule process without using any compatibilizer and without any fiber treatment is demonstrated.     

Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of alkyl-functionalized graphene oxide/high-density polyethylene nanocomposites

Dodecyl amine-functionalized graphene oxide (DA-GO) was obtained via an amidation reaction. The results of X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy verified that long alkyl chains of DA were successfully grafted on the GO sheets. Transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope techniques illustrated that homogeneously dispersed DA-GO/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) nanocomposites were obtained. The effects of DA-GO on the non-isothermal crystallization of HDPE were then investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at various cooling rates (2, 5, 10, and 20?°C/min). Significant increase in the onset crystalline temperature (T_o) and the peak crystallization temperature (T_p) of HDPE incorporating DA-GO indicated the strong nucleating ability of DA-GO. The investigation of half-time crystallization time (t_1/2) demonstrated that crystallization rate of HDPE consisting of DA-GO is faster than that of pure HDPE at a given cooling rate. Ozawa, Avrami, and the combined Avrami–Ozawa methods (Mo) were used for analyzing experimental data. The Mo approach was successful in describing the non-isothermal crystallization process of DA-GO/HDPE nanocomposites. The results indicated that low DA-GO content accelerates the crystallization of HDPE, while higher content hinders the crystallization of HDPE.     

Banana fiber/chemically functionalized polypropylene composites with in-situ fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion by Palsule process

Chemically functionalized maleic anhydride (MAH)-grafted polypropylene matrix has been used (in place of polypropylene as matrix with compatibilizer) to process banana fiber/chemically functionalized polypropylene (BF/CFPP) composites, without using any compatibilizer and without any fiber modification by Palsule process. Fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion generated, in-situ, due to interactions between BF and the MAH of the CFPP matrix has been established by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Mechanical properties of the BF/CFPP composites developed by Palsule process with in-situ fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion in this study have been found to be higher than those of the matrix and it increases with increasing amounts of fibers in composites, and are better than properties of literature reported BF/polypropylene composites processed with compatibilizers. Measured modulus of BF/CFPP composites compares well with values predicted by rule of mixtures, Hrisch model, Halpin-Tsai equations and its modified Nielsen version, and with Palsule equation. The feasibility of developing natural fiber/MAH grafted polyolefin composites by Palsule process without using any compatibilizer and without any fiber treatment is demonstrated.     

石墨烯/柔性基底复合结构双向界面切应力传递问题的理论研究

界面力学性能是影响石墨烯/柔性基底复合结构整体力学性能的关键因素,因此对该结构界面切应力传递机理的研究十分必要.考虑了石墨烯和基底泊松效应的影响,本文提出了二维非线性剪滞模型.对于基底泊松比相比石墨烯较大的情况,利用该模型理论研究了受单轴拉伸石墨烯/柔性基底结构的双向界面切应力传递问题.在弹性粘结阶段,导出了石墨烯双向正应变和双向界面切应力的半解析表达式,分析了不同位置处石墨烯正应变和界面切应力的分布规律.导出了石墨烯/柔性基底结构发生界面滑移的临界应变,结果表明该临界应变低于利用经典一维非线性剪滞模型得到的滑移临界应变,并且明显受到石墨烯宽度尺寸以及基底泊松比大小的影响.基于二维非线性剪滞模型建立有限元模型(FEM),研究了界面滑移阶段石墨烯双向正应变和双向界面切应力的分布规律.与一维非线性剪滞模型的结果对比表明,当石墨烯宽度较大时,二维模型和一维模型对石墨烯正应变、界面切应力以及滑移临界应变的计算结果均存在较大差别,但石墨烯宽度很小时,二维模型可近似被一维模型代替.最后,通过与拉曼实验结果的对比,验证了二维非线性剪滞模型的可靠性,并得到了石墨烯/聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯(PET)基底结构的界面刚度(100 TPa/m)和界面剪切强度(0.295 MPa).     

Tailoring the optical and hydrophobic property of zinc oxide nanorod by coating with amorphous graphene

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods were synthesized at room temperature on potassium permanganate activated silicon and glass substrate by simple chemical method using zinc acetate as precursor.To modify the surface energy of the as prepared ZnO thin films the samples were coated with amorphous graphene (a-G) synthesized by un-zipping of chemically synthesized amorphous carbon nanotubes (a-CNTs). All the pure and coated samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscope, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. The roughness analysis of the as prepared samples was done by atomic force microscopic analysis. The detail optical properties of all the samples were studied with the help of a UV-Visible spectrophotometer.The surface energy of the as prepared pure and coated samples was calculated by measuring the contact angle of two different liquids. It is seen that the water repellence of ZnO nanorods got increased after they are being coated with a-Gs. Also even after UV irradiation the contact angle remain same unlike the case for the uncoated sample where the contact angle gets decreased significantly after UV irradiation. Existing Cassie-Wenzel model has been employed along with the Owen's approach to determine the different components of surface energy.     

小分子吸附调控Ti掺杂石墨烯电子结构和磁性的密度泛函理论研究

本文采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法,研究了气体分子CO、NO、NO_2和SO_2吸附对Ti掺杂石墨烯(Ti G)电子结构和磁性的调制.研究表明:Ti G对CO、NO、NO_2和SO_2分子的吸附作用较强,各分子与Ti原子键合并形成Ti-X键(X代表C、O、N原子);各分子的吸附可导致Gas@Ti G体系电磁性质明显改变:CO分子吸附基底后,虽未能引起CO@Ti G体系电子性质改变和磁性的产生,却能够有效调控该体系的带隙宽度;不同于CO分子,NO、NO_2和SO_2分子的吸附使得半导体性的Ti G基底转变为金属特性,但各体系磁性表征不同:NO@Ti G发生完全自旋极化,即NO分子与基底上均有自旋分布,且二者的自旋方向相同;顺磁性的NO_2分子吸附于Ti G基底时磁性消失;SO_2分子吸附于Ti G基底后自身产生磁性,但基底几乎未发生自旋极化,SO_2@Ti G呈现自旋极化的局域分布特征.由此,依据分子吸附后体系电磁性质特征的不同,可辨识被测气体分子.此项研究结果为高灵敏度和高选择性的石墨烯基气体传感器的设计提供理论参考.     

气体吸附对V掺杂石墨烯电子结构与光学性质的影响

基于密度泛函理论(DFT)的广义梯度近似(GGA),采用第一性原理方法研究了气体分子吸附对V掺杂石墨烯的吸附能、电子结构与光学性质的影响．能带结构计算表明:吸附NO₂分子的V掺杂石墨烯的带隙显著增加,从0 e V变为0.368 e V,由金属性转变为半导体特性,而吸附CO与NH₃分子的V掺杂石墨烯的带隙则变化很小．三种吸附构型(NO₂,CO,NH₃)的吸附能分别为-8.499 e V、-2.05 e V和-2.01e V,说明V掺杂石墨烯对NO₂气体分子吸附最强．进而计算了本征、V掺杂石墨烯及其吸附NO₂分子的光学性质,结果表明:随着V掺杂与吸附NO₂气体,石墨烯介电吸收峰值有所增大,介电峰位向低能量区域移动;本征石墨烯仅吸收紫外光,V掺杂石墨烯吸附NO₂分子可以明显拓宽光吸收的光谱范围;掺杂与吸附使得石墨烯光电导率显著增强,能在红外与可见光区产生光电流．上述结果表明V掺杂石墨烯吸附NO₂后...     

Investigation on thermal conductivity and physical properties of polythiophene/p-phenylenediamine-graphene oxide and polythiophene-co-poly(methyl methacrylate)/p-phenylenediamine graphene oxide composites

An efficient approach was employed to simultaneously functionalize and reduce the graphene oxide (GO) with p-phenylene diamine (PPD) using simple refluxing. There was a possibility of nucleophilic substitution of amino moieties of PPD with the epoxy groups of GO. The polythiophene (PTh) and polythiophene-co-poly(methylmethacrylate) (PTh-co-PMMA) nanocomposites with chemically modified GO were prepared using in situ polymerization technique. Two series of nanocomposites that is PTh/PPD-GO and PTh-co-PMMA/PPD-GO were designed. The nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity measurement. The FTIR spectra depicted the characteristic absorption peaks for the formation of copolymer and their composites with PPD-GO. The SEM micrographs showed that the PPD-GO nanosheets were homogeneously dispersed in copolymer matrix forming nano-granular morphology. The nanofluids were prepared by suspending modified GO particles inside the basefluid of polythiophene and PTh-co-PMMA. The thermal conductivity of nanocomposites was significantly improved even with low PPD-GO loading. The thermal conductivity of PTh-co-PMMA/PPD-GO with 1.5 wt.% filler was increased to 1.42 W/mK at a higher temperature. The XRD patterns confirmed the presence of chemical interactions between the copolymer and filler particles. The electrical conductivity of PTh-co-PMMA/PPD-GO was also found to increase in the range of 6.1 × 10^?3–2.5 × 10^?2 S/cm. Novel PTh-co-PMMA/PPD-GO-based nanocomposite is potentially significant in high-performance thermal systems.