The effect of nanoparticle shape on polymer‐nanocomposite rheology and tensile strength

Nanoparticles can influence the properties of polymer materials by a variety of mechanisms. With fullerene, carbon nanotube, and clay or graphene sheet nanocomposites in mind, we investigate how particle shape influences the melt shear viscosity η and the tensile strength τ, which we determine via molecular dynamics simulations. Our simulations of compact (icosahedral), tube or rod‐like, and sheet‐like model nanoparticles, all at a volume fraction ? ≈ 0.05, indicate an order of magnitude increase in the viscosity η relative to the pure melt. This finding evidently can not be explained by continuum hydrodynamics and we provide evidence that the η increase in our model nanocomposites has its origin in chain bridging between the nanoparticles. We find that this increase is the largest for the rod‐like nanoparticles and least for the sheet‐like nanoparticles. Curiously, the enhancements of η and τ exhibit opposite trends with increasing chain length N and with particle shape anisotropy. Evidently, the concept of bridging chains alone cannot account for the increase in τ and we suggest that the deformability or flexibility of the sheet nanoparticles contributes to nanocomposite strength and toughness by reducing the relative value of the Poisson ratio of the composite. The molecular dynamics simulations in the present work focus on the reference case where the modification of the melt structure associated with glass‐formation and entanglement interactions should not be an issue. Since many applications require good particle dispersion, we also focus on the case where the polymer‐particle interactions favor nanoparticle dispersion. Our simulations point to a substantial contribution of nanoparticle shape to both mechanical and processing properties of polymer nanocomposites. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1882–1897, 2007     

Graphitic nanofillers in PMMA nanocomposites—An investigation of particle size and dispersion and their influence on nanocomposite properties

Mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of graphite/PMMA composites have been evaluated as functions of particle size and dispersion of the graphitic nanofiller components via the use of three different graphitic nanofillers: “as received graphite” (ARG), “expanded graphite,” (EG) and “graphite nanoplatelets” (GNPs) EG, a graphitic materials with much lower density than ARG, was prepared from ARG flakes via an acid intercalation and thermal expansion. Subsequent sonication of EG in a liquid yielded GNPs as thin stacks of graphitic platelets with thicknesses of ～10 nm. Solution‐based processing was used to prepare PMMA composites with these three fillers. Dynamic mechanical analysis, thermal analysis, and electrical impedance measurements were carried out on the resulting composites, demonstrating that reduced particle size, high surface area, and increased surface roughness can significantly alter the graphite/polymer interface and enhance the mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of the polymer matrix. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2097–2112, 2007     

Decompositions of continuity and complete continuity

We introduce the notions of δ-t-sets, δ_β-t-sets, δ-B-continuity and δ_β -B-continuity and obtain decompositions of continuity and complete continuity.     

Extraction of strontium using an irradiated extraction agent of crown structure

The partition coefficient of strontium upon its extraction from the aqueous solutions of picric acid into chloroform containing DC-18-crown-6, B-15-crown-5 after their exposition to gamma radiation has been studied. A significant decrease of the partition coefficient in the studied range of doses 10–70 kGy was observed. This effect can be attributed to the radiolytic products of chloroform. The radiation destruction as well as dehydrogenation of crown ethers were not observed.     

The infrared spectra of the halogen isocyanate and thiocyanate vapor molecules

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy has been used to investigate the IR spectra of the XNCO (X = Cl, Br, I, CN), the XSCN (X = Cl, Br, I) and the NCNCS vapor molecules from 4800 to 400 cm⁻¹. Vibrational frequencies have been determined for each normal mode of vibration in each molecule in this region.     

Voltage ‐ Current Study of an Atmospheric Dielectric Barrier Discharge

The discharge behaviour of an atmospheric dielectric barrier parallel plate discharge, used for surface treatment, is studied. Since an uniform plasma is preferable for surface treatment, filaments must be avoided in the discharge. The occurrence of filaments can be detected by measuring the current flowing through the discharge. Current and voltage measurements give an indication of the power consumption by the plasma. The power consumption of the plasma as function of the applied frequency is examined. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The high-T c superconductor Sr0.2Lai1.8CuO4: A direct and inverse-photoemission study

We have measured ultraviolet and inverse-photoemission spectra of the novel superconductor Sr₀₂La_1.8CuO₄. Our results compare favorably with recent band-structure calculations for La₂CuO₄.A full account of this work will be published elsewhere [1]     

Detection of silent temporal gaps in sinusoidal markers

Gap detection thresholds were measured by forced-choice procedure for conditions where the duration of a silent gap was varied adaptively between pairs of sinusoidal markers of the same or different frequency. Frequencies of the first sinusoid in a pair of markers ranged from F1 = 500 to 4000 Hz. Second-sinusoid marker frequencies F2 included F1 = F2, and usually frequencies 2%, 5%, 24%, and 50% higher than F1. In preliminary studies the role of presentation level (E/N0) on gap detection was considered. Preliminary data revealed confounding extraneous factors arising from gating transients and from overall stimulus (i.e., markers + gap) and/or masker duration cues. In the main experiments, the contributions of these extraneous cues were evaluated with experimental designs aimed at identifying and minimizing the confounding roles of these cues in gap detection. For conditions where extraneous gating transient cues were minimized (by presenting the sinusoidal markers in a continuous noise masker with random onset phase for the second sinusoid in every pair of markers) and overall stimulus duration cues were diminished (by randomizing the duration of each marker independently), gap detection thresholds increased from 5 to 90 ms as the frequency separation between F1 and F2 was increased by half an octave. When the gap detection thresholds were treated as filter attenuation values by normalizing and converting the data into decibels, the data were closely fit by the roex filter model. On average, the listeners' performances were modeled well by a constant-percentage (7%) bandwidth filter centered on F1.