On the Origin of Foam Stability: Understanding from Viscoelasticity of Foaming Solutions and Liquid Films

The foam stability (drainage half-life) of α-olefin sulfonate (AOS) with partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) or xanthan gum (XG) solution was evaluated by the Warring Blender method. With the increase of polymer (HPAM or XG) concentration, foam stability of the surfactant–polymer complexes increased, and the drainage half-life of AOS-XG foam was higher than that of AOS-HPAM foam at the same polymer and surfactant concentration. With the addition of polymer (HPAM or XG), the viscoelasticity of bulk solution and the liquid film were enhanced. The viscoelasticity of AOS-XG bulk solution and liquid film were both higher than that of AOS-HPAM counterparts.      

A Single Molecular Diels–Alder Crosslinker for Achieving Recyclable Cross‐Linked Polymers

A triol‐functional crosslinker combining the thermoreversible properties of Diels–Alder (DA) adducts in one molecule is designed, synthesized, and used as an ideal substitute of a traditional crosslinker to prepare thermal recyclable cross‐linked polyurethanes with excellent mechanical properties and recyclability in a very simple and efficient way. The recycle property of these materials achieved by the DA/retro‐DA reaction at a suitable temperature is verified by differential scanning calorimetry and in situ variable temperature solid‐state NMR experiments during the cyclic heating and cooling processes. The thermal recyclability and remending ability of the bulk polyurethanes is demonstrated by three polymer processing methods, including hot‐press molding, injection molding, and solution casting. It is notable that all the recycled cross‐linked polymers display nearly invariable elongation/stress at break compared to the as‐synthesized samples. Further end‐group functionalization of this single molecular DA crosslinker provides the potential in preparing a wide range of recyclable cross‐linked polymers.

     

磷杂菲改性腰果酚多元醇的合成及阻燃聚氨酯硬泡性能

采用生物质原料腰果酚和9,10-二氢-9-氧杂-10-膦杂菲-10-氧化物(DOPO)为原料, 合成了一种磷杂菲改性腰果酚多元醇(P-Cardanol-Polyol), 并利用核磁共振氢谱和磷谱对其结构进行了表征. 利用P-Cardanol-Polyol对聚氨酯硬泡(RPUF)进行阻燃改性, 得到一系列阻燃聚氨酯硬泡. 考察了P-Cardanol-Polyol的用量对阻燃聚氨酯硬泡的形貌、 密度、 热导率、 压缩性能、 热稳定性以及阻燃性能的影响. 研究结果表明, P-Cardanol-Polyol对聚氨酯硬泡的密度影响可以忽略不计; 随着P-Cardanol-Polyol的加入, 阻燃聚氨酯硬泡的平均孔径逐渐减小, 热导率也逐渐降低. 未改性聚氨酯硬泡的最大热释放速率和总放热量分别为390 kW/m²和31.9 MJ/m², 阻燃聚氨酯硬泡则降低至340 kW/m²和24.6 MJ/m². 此外, 阻燃聚氨酯硬泡的压缩强度比未改性聚氨酯硬泡提升了约13%. 炭层分析结果表明, P-Cardanol-Polyol能够促进聚氨酯硬泡形成连续致密且具有良好抗热氧化性能的炭层, 有利于减少燃烧过程中可燃性气体的逸出, 从而提升阻燃性能.     

Fire retarded polyurethane foam composites based on steel slag/ammonium polyphosphate system: A novel strategy for utilization of metallurgical solid waste

A series of FR-RPUF composites were prepared by a one-step water foaming process with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and steel slag (SS) as flame retardants. Thermogravimetric analysis (TG), limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL-94 vertical combustion test, microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC), TG-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (TG-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectra and FTIR were used to investigate the thermal stability, flame retardancy, combustion performance, gas phase products, and char residue morphology of FR-RPUF composites. TG test results showed that the initial decomposition temperature (T_-5wt%) and char residue rate at 700°C of RPUF/APP/SS composites were significantly enhanced by the addition of APP and SS, and the thermal stability of the composites was improved. Flame retardant test results confirmed the significantly increased LOI values of RPUF/APP/SS composites with V-0 rating. TG-FTIR also confirmed the obviously decreased release of toxic gases and flammable gases in the combustion of RPUF/APP/SS composites. SEM and Raman spectra of char residues for the composites suggested that APP/SS system improved the compactness and graphitization degree of char layer for RPUF/APP/SS composite. The above researches provide a new strategy for the utilization of SS in fire safety engineering.     

Facile Fabrication of PBS/CNTs Nanocomposite Foam for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

In order to reduce the pollutants of environment and electromagnetic waves, environment friendly polymer foams with outstanding electromagnetic interference shielding are imminently required. In this paper, a kind of electromagnetic shielding, biodegradable nanocomposite foam was fabricated by blending poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) followed by foaming with supercritical CO₂. The crystallization temperature and melting temperature of PBS/CNTs nanocomposites with 4 wt % of CNTs increased remarkably by 6 °C and 3.1 °C compared with that of pure PBS and a double crystal melting peak of various PBS samples appeared in DSC curves. Increasing the CNT content from 0 to 4 wt % leads to an increase of approximately 3 orders of magnitude in storage modulus and nearly 9 orders of magnitude in enhancement of electrical properties. Furthermore, CNTs endowed PBS nanocomposite foam with adjustable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding property, giving a specific EMI shielding effectiveness of 28.5 dB cm³/g. This study provides a promising methodology for preparing biodegradable, lightweight PBS/CNTs foam with outstanding electromagnetic shielding properties.     

定量的复合金属锂作为三维泡沫锂电极用于锂电池的研究

金属锂作为电池的负极材料具有极高的比容量和极低的氧化还原电位,能够显著提升电池的能量密度。然而,金属锂负极在实际应用中所面临的主要问题是锂枝晶、界面副反应和电极体积变化大的难题。在本文中,我们提出了一种通过将定量的金属锂与三维骨架进行复合形成三维泡沫锂负极的策略,并利用三维泡沫锂来抑制锂枝晶的生长和缓解电极的体积变化。因此,三维泡沫锂电极有利于金属锂负极的高效利用,并能借助其与平面锂箔相比更高的比表面积和更多的反应位点来提升电池的倍率性能。因此,通过采用三维泡沫锂,对称电池的循环寿命和倍率性能都得到了有效的提升。EIS数据结果表明,三维泡沫锂能够减小对称电池的电荷转移阻抗。而且,将三维泡沫锂作为负极组装的LTO全电池,与锂箔作为负极相比,循环1000周平均放电比容量从65 mAh·g^-1提升至121 mAh·g^-1。     

基于离子液体的超级电容在3 V及65 oC老化条件下的铝碳界面效应

相比于传统乙腈电解液体系的超级电容器,离子液体基超级电容器具有工作窗口电压高,能量密度大,不可燃等优点,适用于碳中和时代清洁但不稳定电力领域的大规模储能。然而,目前的工作主要集中在对纽扣型离子液体-超级电容器的研究上,有关软包式离子液体-超级电容器的长循环寿命评测的报道较少。构建可靠的超级电容器用于长时间测试或在高温下开展加速老化测试,应考虑集流体/电极界面的良好接触,以最小化电荷转移电阻。本文以包覆不同碳层的泡沫铝为集流体,研究了超级电容器新系统中的碳-铝界面效应。通过环氧树脂薄膜碳化得到的均匀无定形碳层,相比通过PVDF粘附石墨烯碳层,赋予了铝相和碳相更强的相互作用。此外,为了充分挖掘大离子尺寸的离子液体电解液的潜力,本文采用介孔碳电极实现离子在介孔间的快速扩散。因此,本工作首次制备了由介孔碳电极、离子液体电解液和覆碳三维泡沫铝集流体组成的新结构软包式超级电容器。以自制的容量为37 F的不同软包式超级电容器件,通过3 V、65 ^oC、500 h加速老化试验,研究了其时间依赖性的电化学性能,包括CV测试、恒流充放电测试、电容值、接触电阻、电化学阻抗谱等。相比石墨烯包覆的泡沫铝基器件,无定形碳层包覆的泡沫铝基器件表现出更高的电容保持率。此外,我们还对ESR进行了等效电路拟合,并深入分析了接触电阻、电荷转移电阻、韦伯电阻,研究了C-Al界面对高能量密度超级电容器的高性能和稳定性的影响。500小时老化测试前后的极片表征证实了上述结果。高温、高压条件使粘附石墨烯碳层的泡沫铝界面结构不可靠。而泡沫铝表面原位包覆的碳层在老化过程中表现出较强的相互作用和稳定的结构。这些坚实的数据为面向高能量密度、高功率密度和长循环寿命,进一步优化高窗口电压超级电容器提供了充足的信息。     

Synthesis of activated carbon foams with high specific surface area using polyurethane elastomer templates for effective removal of methylene blue

Carbon foams have gained significant attention due to their tuneable properties that enable a wide range of applications including catalysis, energy storage and wastewater treatment. Novel synthesis pathways enable novel applications via yielding complex, hierarchical material structure. In this work, activated carbon foams (ACFs) were produced from waste polyurethane elastomer templates using different synthesis pathways, including a novel one-step method. Uniquely, the produced foams exhibited complex structure and contained carbon microspheres. The ACFs were synthesized by impregnating the elastomers in an acidified sucrose solution followed by direct activation using CO₂ at 1000 ℃. Different pyrolysis and activation conditions were investigated. The ACFs were characterized by a high specific surface area (S_BET) of 2172 m²/g and an enhanced pore volume of 1.08 cm³/g. Computer tomography and morphological studies revealed an inhomogeneous porous structure and the presence of numerous carbon spheres of varying sizes embedded in the porous network of the three-dimensional carbon foam. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy indicated that the obtained carbon foam was amorphous and of turbostratic structure. Moreover, the activation process enhanced the surface of the carbon foam, making it more hydrophilic via altering pore size distribution and introducing oxygen functional groups. In equilibrium, the adsorption of methylene blue on ACF followed the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 592 mg/g. Based on these results, the produced ACFs have potential applications as adsorbents, catalyst support and electrode material in energy storage systems.     

Lignin as a Partial Polyol Replacement in Polyurethane Flexible Foam

This study was focused on evaluating the suitability of a wide range of lignins, a natural polymer isolated from different plant sources and chemical extractions, in replacing 20 wt.% of petroleum-based polyol in the formulation of PU flexible foams. The main goal was to investigate the effect of unmodified lignin incorporation on the foam’s structural, mechanical, and thermal properties. The hydroxyl contents of the commercial lignins were measured using phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance (³¹P NMR) spectroscopy, molar mass distributions with gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and thermal properties with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. The results showed that incorporating 20 wt.% lignin increased tensile, compression, tear propagation strengths, thermal stability, and the support factor of the developed PU flexible foams. Additionally, statistical analysis of the results showed that foam properties such as density and compression force deflection were positively correlated with lignin’s total hydroxyl content. Studying correlations between lignin properties and the performance of the developed lignin-based PU foams showed that lignins with low hydroxyl content, high flexibility (low T_g), and high solubility in the co-polyol are better candidates for partially substituting petroleum-based polyols in the formulation of flexible PU foams intended for the automotive applications.     

Effect of Aluminum Alloy Surface Modification on Adhesion of the Modified Polyurethane Coating and Its Corrosion Protective Performance北大核心CSCD

The ordinary organic coatings on aluminum alloy usually encounter a problem of low adhesion to the substrate, which results in destruction and failure of the long-term protective performance of the anticorrosion systems. The surface modification of aluminum alloy is able to enhance the adhesion of organic coating on aluminum alloys, and to improve their protective performance. In this work, a combined surface modification of anodic oxidation and mussel adhesion protein/CeO2/3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane composite film (MCA) was developed on the aluminum alloy. The adhesion of modified polyurethane coated on the treated aluminum alloy and its corrosion protective performance were evaluated comprehensively by using contact angle, adhesion strength, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and scanning reference electrode technique (SRET). The measurements of EIS and SRET demonstrated that the MCA composite film on anodic oxidized Al possessed self-healing function and provided effective protection against early corrosion of aluminum alloy. The pull-off test showed that both anodic oxidation treatment and MCA composite film modification were able to increase the adhesion of modified polyurethane coating on aluminum alloy, and their combined action were supposed to remarkably enhance the adhesion strength up to 17.1 MPa. The reason for the improvement of adhesion was that the anodic oxidation treatment and MCA composite film modification could improve the surface roughness of aluminum alloy, and enhance the surface wettability and surface polarity, which is beneficent to enhance the bonding of the modified polyurethane coating to aluminum alloy surface. The EIS results showed that no any corrosion occurred for the modified polyurethane coating on the treated aluminum alloy during 65 d immersion in 3.5wt.% NaCl solution. The impedance value in low frequency range of the modified polyurethane coating always maintained at a high order of magnitude on the aluminum alloy treated by anodic oxidation and MCA composite film modification, showing an excellent protective performance of the coating system. The evaluation of Neutral Salt Spray (NSS) indicated that the modified polyurethane coating on the treated aluminum alloy owned superior corrosion protection performance, and the adhesion strength remained 13.1 MPa and no any corrosion was found at the scratch locations even after 1200 h of salt spray testing. It was concluded that combination of anodic oxidation and MCA composite film were capable of significantly improving the adhesion of modified polyurethane coating on aluminum alloy and providing long-term effective corrosion protection for aluminum alloy. © 2021 Authors. All rights reserved.