Investigation of different liquid media and ablation times on pulsed laser ablation synthesis of aluminum nanoparticles

Aluminum nanoparticles were synthesized by pulsed laser ablation of Al targets in ethanol, acetone, and ethylene glycol. Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images, Particle size distribution diagram from Laser Particle Size Analyzer (LPSA), UV-visible absorption spectra, and weight changes of targets were used for the characterization and comparison of products. The experiments demonstrated that ablation efficiency in ethylene glycol is too low, in ethanol is higher, and in acetone is highest. Comparison between ethanol and acetone clarified that acetone medium leads to finer nanoparticles (mean diameter of 30 nm) with narrower size distribution (from 10 to 100 nm). However, thin carbon layer coats some of them, which was not observed in ethanol medium. It was also revealed that higher ablation time resulted in higher ablated mass, but lower ablation rate. Finer nanoparticles, moreover, were synthesized in higher ablation times.     

Polymer-Nanoparticle Composites Composed of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) and Coated Silver Nanoparticles

The effects of addition of synthesized organic-suspension silver nanoparticles on the crystallization and thermal stability of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, polarized optical microscopy (POM), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The TEM images showed the average primary size of the as-synthesized silver nanoparticles, coated with a monolayer of the surfactants consisting of oleic acid and an alkylamine, was about 5 nm with narrow distribution, and that they were uniformly dispersed in n-heptane. PHBV/silver nanocomposites were prepared by melt mixing in an internal mixer and then injection molded into rectangle-shaped specimens by a labscale injection molding device. The coated silver nanoparticles showed a homogenuous dispersion in the PHBV matrix when the content of coated silver nanoparticles was about 1%. Both the DSC and POM data showed the efficient heterogeneous nucleation by the coated silver nanoparticles for facilitating PHBV crystallization. The thermal stability of the PHBV/silver nanocomposites improved with the increase in the content of the coated silver nanoparticles.     

A novel route to prepare highly surface active nanogel particles based on nonaqueous emulsion polymerization

The motivation of the current work has stemmed from the fact that the selection of suitable stabilizers for nonaqueous emulsions is still challenging because of lack of general knowledge about the underlying stabilization mechanisms. The preparation and surface activity of new amphiphilic gel nanoparticles in organic solvents were investigated. A new bifunctional surfmer was prepared by reacting polyoxyethylene 4‐nonyl‐2‐propylene‐phenol nonionic reactive surfactant with maleic anhydride followed by esterification with poly(ethylene glycol). This surfmer was used as stabilizer to prepare amphiphilic crosslinked N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) and 2‐acrylamido‐2‐methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) copolymer nanogel on the basis of nonaqueous radical copolymerization temperature modified method in the presence of toluene and formamide (FA) as solvents and N, N‐methylene bisacrylamide as a crosslinker. The chemical structure of the prepared nanogels was determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses. The morphologies of the prepared nanogels were detected by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The surface tension of colloidal NIPAm/AMPS dispersions was measured in FA as functions of surface age (time), temperature, and the morphology of the NIPAm/AMPS nanogels. The NIPAm/AMPS nanogels reduced the surface tension of FA from 58.2 to about 30.2 mN/m at 25°C, and a little increase in the surface tension was observed at 40°C. The prepared nanogels show great reduction in interfacial tension values between FA and styrene. The NIPAm/AMPS dispersions exhibited high surface activity and used as stabilizers to prepare crosslinked styrene‐co‐AMPS microgel in the presence of divinylbenzene and FA as organic solvents based on nonaqueous emulsion crosslinking polymerization technique. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis Optimization of Quaternized Chitosan and its Action as Reducing and Stabilizing Agent for Gold Nanoparticles

The optimal conditions for synthesizing quaternized chitosan (QCS) via microwave irradiation were explored. The microwave temperature, time, power, mole ratio between chitosan and 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (ETA), volume ratio between isopropanol and water, and pH value of the reaction system were studied to evaluate the effect on the degree of substitution (DS). The structure of QCS was characterized by means of FT-IR, NMR, XPS and XRD. TGA and DTG were used to measure its thermal stability. At last, QCS acted as a reducing and stabilizing agent to greenly synthesize gold nanoparticles without adding any other chemical reagent.     

Synthesis of Sub-100 nm Nanoparticles by Emulsifier-free Emulsion Polymerization of α-Methylstyrene,Methyl Methacrylate and Acrylic Acid

The emulsifier-free emulsion copolymerization of α-methylstyrene (AMS) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of functional monomer acrylic acid (AA) was carried out in batch process, giving birth to sub-100 nm nanoparticles. The kinetics of polymerization was investigated. The morphology and size of particles were monitored by TEM. The influences of the functional monomer AA concentration, initiator ammonium persulfate (APS) concentration, and polymerization temperature were studied. It was found that AMS caused a drastic decrease in both the rate of polymerization and the average degree of polymerization. The activation energy calculated from Arrhenius plot turned out to be 83.6 kJ/mol.