Sol Gel Processing of Low Permittivity,Fiber-Reinforced SiO2-Polyimide Substrates

Low permittivity ceramic substrates with a sandwich structure consisting of a porous, fiber-reinforced SiO₂ core and two thin polymer plates were fabricated by sol-gel processing, and polymer infiltration. The rheological behavior of an aqueous colloidal SiO₂ sol, containing short SiO₂ fibers was studied as a function of particle loading, fiber loading and gelation time. Short SiO₂ fibers were introduced to limit drying shrinkage and thus minimize substrate cracking during drying. After the psuedoplastic sol was tape cast and sintered at 1150°C for 2 h, a polyimide solution was infiltrated into the porous SiO₂ core. Permittivities ranging from 1.81 to 3.08 could be obtained by using 32–42% SiO₂, 5–50% polyimide and 63 to 8% porosity. The substrate strength was increased from 1.93 MPa to 3.83 MPa after polyimide infiltration.     

Determination of dopamine in synthetic cerebrospinal fluid by SWV with a graphite–polyurethane composite electrode

This work describes an electroanalytical investigation of dopamine using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and the graphite–polyurethane composite electrode (GPU). In CV studies, well-defined redox peaks characterize the oxidation process at the GPU electrode, which is indicative of electrocatalytic effects associated with active sites on the GPU electrode surface. A new analytical methodology was developed using the GPU electrode and square wave voltammetry (SWV) in BR buffer solution (0.1 mol L^–1; pH 7.4). Analytical curves were constructed under optimized conditions (f=60s^–1, E_a=50 mV, E_I=2 mV) and detection and quantification limits of 6.4×10^–8 mol L^–1 (12.1 g L^–1) and 5.2×10^–6 mol L^–1 (0.9 mg L^–1), respectively, were achieved. The precision of the method was checked by performing ten successive measurements for a 9.9×10^–6 mol L^–1 dopamine solution. For intra-assay and inter-assay precisions, the relative standard deviations were 1.9 and 2.3%, respectively. In order to evaluate the developed methodology, the determination of dopamine was performed with good sensitivity and selectivity, without the interference of ascorbic acid in synthetic cerebrospinal fluid, which indicates that the new methodology enables reliable analysis of dopamine.     

Photocatalytic activity and biodegradation of polyhydroxybutyrate films containing titanium dioxide

This study aims to evaluate the photocatalytic activity and biodegradation of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) films containing titanium dioxide (TiO₂). Nanosized TiO₂ photocatalysts were immobilized onto PHB film to overcome the difficulty of the recovery process. PHB is a suitable base material as it is naturally biodegradable and is produced from renewable resources. The photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds, photocatalytic sterilization activity and biodegradation rate in garden soil of PHB-TiO₂ composite films were investigated. After an hour under solar illumination, 96% of methylene blue solution was decolorized. The antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) using PHB-TiO₂ composite film exhibited enhanced photocatalytic sterilization activity over time. As for the ability to biodegrade, PHB-TiO₂ composite films placed on soil surface with no direct solar illumination showed slower degradation rate compared to those receiving direct solar illumination. Interestingly, the latter composite films showed faster degradation rates compared to pure PHB films indicating that the degradation is mainly due to photocatalytic activity. PHB-TiO₂ composite films buried in soil generally showed slower degradation rates compared to pure PHB films and were dependent on the soil microbial activity.     

负载型TiO2-聚酰亚胺亲水复合膜的制备与分离性能

采用溶解－流涎法，湿相转换法和干湿相转换法制轩了负载型ＴｉＯ２－聚酰亚胺亲水复合膜，采用扫描电镜，红外光谱，压汞和透气性实验等手段对该膜的孔径分布，表面结构及扩散性能进行了表征，并讨论了制备亲水对膜孔结构的影响，实验结果表明，三种膜均具有很好的亲水性能，而干湿相转换膜具有良好的孔径分布和分离性能。     

铂-金交替修饰的铂核纳米颗粒的制备与表征

通过吸附在铂纳米颗粒表面的氢交替还原氯金酸和氯铂酸,得到了复合型纳米颗粒Pt@Au/Pt,用UV-Vis光谱、TEM和XRD对其进行了表征.     

Towards advanced circuit board materials: adhesion of copper foil to ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene composite

Polyethylene based composites are attractive materials for advanced circuit board applications because of their unique combination of properties: low dielectric constant and loss factor, light weight, high flexural modulus and low thermal expansion coefficient controlled in all spatial directions. This investigation describes a process to consolidate chopped fibers of ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene concurrently with its bonding to a copper foil. Bonding is affected by a thin sheet of low‐density polyethylene, incorporating a crosslinking agent with a concentration gradient across the sheets thickness. In this single step process, the composite material is formed and bonded to the metal foil, achieving good adhesion without the use of extraneous glue. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

PEO-LiClO_4-ZSM5 composite polymer electrolyte (IV): Polarized optical microscopy study

All solid-state lithium polymer batteries may be one of the best choices for the future electrochemical power source, characterized by high energy densities, good cyclability, reliability and safety[1,2]. Owing to its potential capability to replace the t…     

Nanocomposite materials from latex and cellulose whiskers

Composite materials were processed by casting a mixture of aqueous suspensions of latex and microfibrils. These microfibrils, or whiskers, are extracted from a sea animal and are monocrystals of cellulose, with an aspect ratio around 100 and an average diameter of 20 nm. It has been found that the mechanical properties (shear modulus) are increased by more than two orders of magnitude in the rubbery state of the polymeric matrix, when the whisker content was 6% (w/w). This very large effect is discussed on the basis of different types of mechanical models and it is concluded that these whiskers form a rigid network, probably linked by hydrogen bonds. The formation of this network is assumed to be governed by a percolation mechanism.     

N-TiO2/ZnO复合纳米管阵列的掺杂机理及其光催化活性

以ZnO纳米柱阵列为模板, 采用溶胶-凝胶法制备出TiO2/ZnO和N掺杂TiO2/ZnO的复合纳米管阵列. 扫描电镜(SEM)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)和紫外-可见漫反射吸收光谱(UV-Vis)的结果表明: 两种阵列的纳米管均为六角形结构, 直径约为100 nm, 壁厚约为20 nm; 在N-TiO2/ZnO复合纳米管阵列中, 掺入的N离子主要是以N-Ox、N-C和N-N的形式化学吸附在纳米管表面, 仅有少量的N离子以取代式掺杂的方式占据TiO2晶格O的位置; 表面N物种形成的表面态能级和取代式掺杂导致带隙的窄化, 增强了纳米管阵列的光吸收效率, 促进了光生载流子的分离. 光催化实验结果表明, N离子的掺杂有利于N-TiO2/ZnO复合纳米管阵列光催化活性的提高.     

Surface and interface characterization of polyester‐based polyurethane/nano‐silica composites

Polyester‐based polyurethane/nanosilica composites were prepared via in situ polymerization and investigated by contact angle measurement, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and peel testing in an Instron testing machine. The contact angle and surface free energy results show that nanosilica tended to enrich at the interface between nanocomposite polymers and the substrates, TEM indicated that nanosilica particles were evenly dispersed in the bulk and AFM demonstrated that nanoparticles were located at both the surfaces and interfaces of nanocomposite polymers and that the roughness of both the surfaces and interfaces had a decreasing tendency as the nanosilica content increased, as did the adhesion strength between the nanocomposite polymers and substrates. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.