Bipolar electrochemistry in synergy with electrophoresis: electric field-driven electrosynthesis of anisotropic polymeric materials

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (92) ◽  
pp. 14327-14336
Author(s):  
Naoki Shida ◽  
Shinsuke Inagi

The synergistic effect of bipolar electrochemistry and electrophoresis enables facile access to various anisotropic functional materials.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (48) ◽  
pp. 7603-7624
Author(s):  
Ismail Altinbasak ◽  
Mehmet Arslan ◽  
Rana Sanyal ◽  
Amitav Sanyal

This review provides an overview of synthetic approaches utilized to incorporate the thiol-reactive pyridyl-disulfide motif into various polymeric materials, and briefly highlights its utilization to obtain functional materials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Youjing Li ◽  
Fen Li ◽  
Ying Yang ◽  
Baocai Ge ◽  
Fanzhu Meng

Abstract In view of the serious environmental pollution, which is the greatest problem the world is facing, and the continuous consumption of raw materials, it is imminent to search for green and sustainable resources. Lignin is an organic polymer that exists widely in nature, and if it can be transformed from traditional low-value waste product with low range of applications to functional materials with high application prospects, it can be of great significance to alleviate environmental pollution and shortage of fossil resources. One of the functional applications of lignin involves its use to fabricate composite with other polymeric materials, which can then be used to prepare membrane materials. This review summarizes the recent research and application progress of combining lignin with polypropylene, polyvinyl alcohol, starch, cellulose, chitosan, and other polymeric materials to prepare composite membranes; and summarizes the future development direction of lignin-based composite membranes. We hope this review may provide a new perspective to the understanding of lignin-based composite membranes and a useful reference for future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 719-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdeldjalil Zegaoui ◽  
Mehdi Derradji ◽  
Abdul Qadeer Dayo ◽  
Aboubakr Medjahed ◽  
Hui-yan Zhang ◽  
...  

The investigation and design of new polymeric materials with an astonishing combination of properties are nowadays of great importance to facilitate the manufacturing process of high-quality products intended to be utilized in different applications and technical fields. For this intent, novel high-performance blend composites composed of the cyanate ester/benzoxazine resin blend reinforced by different proportions of silane-surface modified Kevlar and glass fibers were successfully fabricated by a compression molding technique and characterized by different experimental tests. The mechanical test results revealed that the bending and impact strength properties were considerably improved when increasing the amount of the hybrid fibers. The studied materials also presented excellent thermal stabilities as compared to the unfilled blend’s properties. With respect to the properties of the reinforcing systems, these improvements seen in either the mechanical or thermal properties could be due to the good dispersion as well as excellent adhesion of the reinforcing fibers inside the resin matrix, which were further evidenced by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy results. Consequently, the improved mechanical and thermal properties promote the use of the fabricated hybrid composites in domestic and industrial applications requiring functional materials with advanced properties for aerospace and military applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Semën Gorfman ◽  
David Spirito ◽  
Netanela Cohen ◽  
Peter Siffalovic ◽  
Peter Nadazdy ◽  
...  

Laboratory X-ray diffractometers play a crucial role in X-ray crystallography and materials science. Such instruments still vastly outnumber synchrotron facilities and are responsible for most of the X-ray characterization of materials around the world. The efforts to enhance the design and performance of in-house X-ray diffraction instruments benefit a broad research community. Here, the realization of a custom-built multipurpose four-circle diffractometer in the laboratory for X-ray crystallography of functional materials at Tel Aviv University, Israel, is reported. The instrument is equipped with a microfocus Cu-based X-ray source, collimating X-ray optics, four-bounce monochromator, four-circle goniometer, large (PILATUS3 R 1M) pixel area detector, analyser crystal and scintillating counter. It is suitable for a broad range of tasks in X-ray crystallography/structure analysis and materials science. All the relevant X-ray beam parameters (total flux, flux density, beam divergence, monochromaticity) are reported and several applications such as determination of the crystal orientation matrix and high-resolution reciprocal-space mapping are demonstrated. The diffractometer is suitable for measuring X-ray diffraction in situ under an external electric field, as demonstrated by the measurement of electric-field-dependent rocking curves of a quartz single crystal. The diffractometer can be used as an independent research instrument, but also as a training platform and for preparation for synchrotron experiments.


2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff W. McCutcheon

Abstract The key to successful multifunctional materials applications for vibration, shock and acoustic control is often the proper selection of materials, geometric design and optimum application. Much work has been done in the areas of geometric designs and optimum application of the multi-functional materials. The next step is improvements in the passive damping materials themselves. The improvement in the passive materials in the past has often focused on the areas of improved damping performance (loss factor, storage modulus), material performance (acrylics, silicones, etc.) and enhanced features (thermally conductive, electrically conductive, etc). One of the newest requirements for passive damping polymers is in the area of ultra-pure viscoelastic damping polymers. This new generation of materials is finding growing use because the sensitive environment where the passive material is used require a material that will not negatively impact the components in that environment. This new generation of passive materials needs to be ultra-pure with respect to organic material outgassing, anions, catalysts and siloxanes. In addition to the viscoelastic damping polymer requirements for high purity, the associated polymeric materials (epoxies, laminating adhesives and tapes) used in the same environment must also be of a similar low outgassing, ultra-pure, ultra-clean, electronics grade or clean room performance designation. If this is not done, the environment could become contaminated and negate a portion of the benefit of using the clean damping material. This also requires an understanding of the test method used to determine each product’s cleanliness performance, as all test methods are not equal and can give significantly different test results. An example is comparing a polymer sample tested for organic outgassing and using a static headspace gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) and a dynamic headspace GC/MS.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Yokoi ◽  
Wai Kian Tan ◽  
Taichi Kuroda ◽  
Go Kawamura ◽  
Atsunori Matsuda ◽  
...  

Micro/nanoscale design of composite materials enables alteration of their properties for advanced functional materials. One of the biggest challenges in material design is the controlled decoration of composite materials with the desired functional additives. This study reports on and demonstrates the homogeneous decoration of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) on poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and vice versa. The formation of the composite materials was conducted via a low environmental load and a low-energy-consuming, electrostatic nano-assembly method which also enabled the efficient usage of nano-sized additives. The hBN/PMMA and PMMA/hBN composites were fabricated in various size combinations that exhibited percolated and layer-oriented structures, respectively. The thermal conductivity behaviors of hBN/PMMA and PMMA/hBN composites that exhibited good microstructure were compared. The results showed that microstructural design of the composites enabled the modification of their heat-conducting property. This novel work demonstrated the feasibility of fabricating heat-conductive PMMA matrix composites with controlled decoration of hBN sheets, which may provide a platform for further development of heat-conductive polymeric materials.


Polymer ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 123208
Author(s):  
Yudi Guo ◽  
Erqing Zhao ◽  
Xijuan Zhao ◽  
Chenyang Zhang ◽  
Lu Yao ◽  
...  

Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilkay Karakurt ◽  
Kadir Ozaltin ◽  
Daniela Vesela ◽  
Marian Lehocky ◽  
Petr Humpolíček ◽  
...  

Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most produced polymeric materials, due to its exceptional chemical and mechanical properties. Some of them, such as biodegradability and biocompatibility, make them attractive for biomedical applications. Conversely, the major drawback of PLA in the biomedical field is their vulnerability to bacterial contamination. This study focuses on the immobilization of saccharides onto the PLA surface by a multistep approach, with the aim of providing antibacterial features and evaluting the synergistic effect of these saccharides. In this approach, after poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) brushes attached non-covalently to the PLA surface via plasma post-irradiation grafting technique, immobilization of glucosamine (GlcN) and chondroitin sulfate (ChS) to the PAA brushes was carried out. To understand the changes in surface properties, such as chemical composition, surface topography and hydrophilicity, the untreated and treated PLA films were analyzed using various characterization techniques (contact angle, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy). In vitro cytotoxicity assays were investigated by the methyl tetrazolium test. The antibacterial activity of the PLA samples was tested against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria strains. Plasma-treated films immobilized with ChS and GlcN, separately and in combination, demonstrated bactericidal effect against the both bacteria strains and also the results revealed that the combination has no synergistic effect on antibacterial action.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gao ◽  
J. Hu ◽  
Y. Wang ◽  
M. Liu ◽  
J. Wang ◽  
...  

AbstractLarge-scale and morphologically controlled self-assembled λ-DNA networks were successfully constructed by the synergistic effect of DC electric field. The effect of DNA concentration, direction and intensity of the electric field, even the modification of the mica surface using Mg2+ on the characteristics of the as-prepared DNA networks were investigated in detail by atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that the horizontal electric field was more advantageous to the formation of DNA networks with more regular structures. At the same concentration, the height of DNA network was not affected significantly by the intensity change of the horizontal electric field. The modification of Mg2+ on mica surface increased the aggregation of DNA molecules, which contributed to the morphological change of the DNA networks. Furthermore, DNA molecules were obviously stretched in both horizontal and vertical electric fields at low DNA concentrations.Statement of significanceThrough the synergistic effect of DC electric field, a series of large-scale and morphologically controlled self-assembled λ-DNA networks were successfully fabricated. We found that the horizontal electric field was more advantageous to the formation of DNA networks with more regular structures. At the same concentration of DNA solution, the height of DNA network was not affected significantly by the intensity change of the horizontal electric field. The modification of Mg2+ on mica surface increased the aggregation of DNA molecules, which contributed to the morphological change of the DNA networks. We suggest this study will promote the understanding on the preparation of controllable self-assembled λ-DNA networks and the application of DNA networks.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Marco Carlotti ◽  
Omar Tricinci ◽  
Frank den Hoed ◽  
Stefano Palagi ◽  
Virgilio Mattoli

Background: The ability to fabricate components capable of performing actuation in a reliable and controlled manner is one of the main research topics in the field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). However, the development of these technologies can be limited in many cases by 2D lithographic techniques employed in the fabrication process. Direct Laser Writing (DLW), a 3D microprinting technique based on two-photon polymerization, can offer novel solutions to prepare, both rapidly and reliably, 3D nano- and microstructures of arbitrary complexity. In addition, the use of functional materials in the printing process can result in the fabrication of smart and responsive devices. Methods: In this study, we present a novel methodology for the printing of 3D actuating microelements comprising Liquid Crystal Elastomers (LCEs) obtained by DLW. The alignment of the mesogens was performed using a static electric field (1.7 V/µm) generated by indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrodes patterned directly on the printing substrates. Results: When exposed to a temperature higher than 50°C, the printed microstructures actuated rapidly and reversibly of about 8% in the direction perpendicular to the director. Conclusions: A novel methodology was developed that allows the printing of directional actuators comprising LCEs via DLW. To impart the necessary alignment of the mesogens, a static electric field was applied before the printing process by making use of flat ITO electrodes present on the printing substrates. The resulting microelements showed a reversible change in shape when heated higher than 50 °C.


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