scholarly journals Preparation of Multicomponent Biocomposites and Characterization of Their Physicochemical and Mechanical Properties

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Yuriy A. Anisimov ◽  
Duncan E. Cree ◽  
Lee D. Wilson

This work focused on a mutual comparison and characterization of the physicochemical properties of three-component polymer composites. Binary polyaniline–chitosan (PANI–CHT) composites were synthesized by in situ polymerization of PANI onto CHT. Ternary composites were prepared by blending with a third component, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Composites with variable PANI:CHT (25:75, 50:50 and 75:25) weight ratios were prepared whilst fixing the composition of PVA. The structure and physicochemical properties of the composites were evaluated using thermal analysis (thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)) and spectroscopic methods (infrared (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)). The equilibrium and dynamic adsorption properties of composites were evaluated by solvent swelling in water, water vapour adsorption and dye adsorption isotherms. The electrical conductivity was estimated using current–voltage curves. The mechanical properties of the samples were evaluated using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and correlated with the structural parameters of the composites. The adsorption and swelling properties paralleled the change in the electrical and mechanical properties of the materials. In most cases, samples with higher content of chitosan exhibit higher adsorption and mechanical properties, and lower conductivity. Acid-doped samples showed much higher adsorption, swelling, and electrical conductivity than their undoped analogues.

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-143
Author(s):  
S. A. Awad

Abstract This paper aims to describe the thermal, mechanical, and surface properties of a PVA/HPP blend whereby the film was prepared using a solution casting method. The improvements in thermal and mechanical properties of HPP-based PVA composites were investigated. The characterization of pure PVA and PVA composite films included tensile tests, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results of TGA and DSC indicated that the addition of HPP increased the thermal decomposition temperature of the composites. Mechanical properties are significantly improved in PVA/HPP composites. The thermal stability of the PVA composite increased with the increase of HPP filler content. The tensile strength increased from 15.74 ± 0.72 MPa to 27.54 ± 0.45 MPa and the Young’s modulus increased from 282.51 ± 20.56 MPa to 988.69 ± 42.64 MPa for the 12 wt% HPP doped sample. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) revealed that at elevated temperatures, enhanced mechanical properties because of the presence of HPP was even more noticeable. Morphological observations displayed no signs of agglomeration of HPP fillers even in composites with high HPP loading.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (23) ◽  
pp. 3209-3217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo H Backes ◽  
Fabio R Passador ◽  
Christian Leopold ◽  
Bodo Fiedler ◽  
Luiz A Pessan

Epoxy/multi-wall carbon nanotubes and epoxy/multi-wall carbon nanotubes/mineral fillers nanocomposites were produced via in situ polymerization assisted by three-roll-milling. Epoxy/multi-wall carbon nanotubes nanocomposites presented very low electrical percolation threshold, near to 0.05 wt %. In this study, we used different mineral fillers, with different aspect ratios: calcium carbonate, montmorillonite, and sepiolite. We evaluated the effect of the addition of these fillers on electrical, thermal, and thermo-mechanical properties of epoxy/multi-wall carbon nanotubes nanocomposites. The addition of calcium carbonate in epoxy/multi-wall carbon nanotubes nanocomposites increased the electrical conductivity of this nanocomposite, due to volume exclusion effect. The addition of sepiolite decreased the loss factor and improved electrical constant, however, reduced the electrical conductivity in these nanocomposites, when compared to epoxy/multi-wall carbon nanotubes. Regarding thermal properties, no significant change in glass transition was observed. Thermo-mechanical analysis for nanocomposites showed slight changes in tan (δ) and storage modulus, which is related to the interaction between epoxy, multi-wall carbon nanotubes and mineral fillers.


Author(s):  
B. M. Culbertson ◽  
M. L. Devinev ◽  
E. C. Kao

The service performance of current dental composite materials, such as anterior and posterior restoratives and/or veneer cements, needs to be improved. As part of a comprehensive effort to find ways to improve such materials, we have launched a broad spectrum study of the physicochemical and mechanical properties of photopolymerizable or visible light cured (VLC) dental composites. The commercially available VLC materials being studied are shown in Table 1. A generic or neat resin VLC system is also being characterized by SEM and TEM, to more fully understand formulation variables and their effects on properties.At a recent dental research meeting, we reported on the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) characterization of the materials in Table 1. It was shown by DSC and DMA that the materials are substantially undercured by commonly used VLC techniques. Post curing in an oral cavity or a dry environment at 37 to 50°C for 7 or more hours substantially enhances the cure of the materials.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3140
Author(s):  
Kamil Dydek ◽  
Anna Boczkowska ◽  
Rafał Kozera ◽  
Paweł Durałek ◽  
Łukasz Sarniak ◽  
...  

The main aim of this work was the investigation of the possibility of replacing the heavy metallic meshes applied onto the composite structure in airplanes for lightning strike protection with a thin film of Tuball single-wall carbon nanotubes in the form of ultra-light, conductive paper. The Tuball paper studied contained 75 wt% or 90 wt% of carbon nanotubes and was applied on the top of carbon fibre reinforced polymer before fabrication of flat panels. First, the electrical conductivity, impact resistance and thermo-mechanical properties of modified laminates were measured and compared with the reference values. Then, flat panels with selected Tuball paper, expanded copper foil and reference panels were fabricated for lightning strike tests. The effectiveness of lightning strike protection was evaluated by using the ultrasonic phased-array technique. It was found that the introduction of Tuball paper on the laminates surface improved both the surface and the volume electrical conductivity by 8800% and 300%, respectively. The impact resistance was tested in two directions, perpendicular and parallel to the carbon fibres, and the values increased by 9.8% and 44%, respectively. The dynamic thermo-mechanical analysis showed higher stiffness and a slight increase in glass transition temperature of the modified laminates. Ultrasonic investigation after lightning strike tests showed that the effectiveness of Tuball paper is comparable to expanded copper foil.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1851
Author(s):  
Hye-Seon Park ◽  
Chang-Kook Hong

Poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA) is a promising biomedical polymer material with a wide range of applications. The diverse enantiomeric forms of PLLA provide great opportunities for thermal and mechanical enhancement through stereocomplex formation. The addition of poly (d-lactic acid) (PDLA) as a nucleation agent and the formation of stereocomplex crystallization (SC) have been proven to be an effective method to improve the crystallization and mechanical properties of the PLLA. In this study, PLLA was blended with different amounts of PDLA through a melt blending process and their properties were calculated. The effect of the PDLA on the crystallization behavior, thermal, and mechanical properties of PLLA were investigated systematically by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), polarized optical microscopy (POM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and tensile test. Based on our findings, SC formed easily when PDLA content was increased, and acts as nucleation sites. Both SC and homo crystals (HC) were observed in the PLLA/PDLA blends. As the content of PDLA increased, the degree of crystallization increased, and the mechanical strength also increased.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1242
Author(s):  
Olga Mysiukiewicz ◽  
Paulina Kosmela ◽  
Mateusz Barczewski ◽  
Aleksander Hejna

Investigations related to polymer/metal composites are often limited to the analysis of the electrical and thermal conductivity of the materials. The presented study aims to analyze the impact of aluminum (Al) filler content (from 1 to 20 wt%) on the rarely investigated properties of composites based on the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix. The crystalline structure, rheological (melt flow index and oscillatory rheometry), thermal (differential scanning calorimetry), as well as static (tensile tests, hardness, rebound resilience) and dynamic (dynamical mechanical analysis) mechanical properties of composites were investigated. The incorporation of 1 and 2 wt% of aluminum filler resulted in small enhancements of mechanical properties, while loadings of 5 and 10 wt% provided materials with a similar performance to neat HDPE. Such results were supported by the lack of disturbances in the rheological behavior of composites. The presented results indicate that a significant content of aluminum filler may be introduced into the HDPE matrix without additional pre-treatment and does not cause the deterioration of composites’ performance, which should be considered beneficial when engineering PE/metal composites.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emi Govorčin Bajsić ◽  
Vesna Rek ◽  
Ivana Ćosić

The effect of the addition of talc on the morphology and thermal properties of blends of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and polypropylene (PP) was investigated. The blends of TPU and PP are incompatible because of large differences in polarities between the nonpolar crystalline PP and polar TPU and high interfacial tensions. The interaction between TPU and PP can be improved by using talc as reinforcing filler. The morphology was observed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal properties of the neat polymers and unfilled and talc filled TPU/PP blends were studied by using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The addition of talc in TPU/PP blends improved miscibility in all investigated TPU/T/PP blends. The DSC results for talc filled TPU/PP blends show that the degree of crystallinity increased, which is due to the nucleating effect induced by talc particles. The reason for the increased storage modulus of blends with the incorporation of talc is due to the improved interface between polymers and filler. According to TGA results, the addition of talc enhanced thermal stability. The homogeneity of the talc filled TPU/PP blends is better than unfilled TPU/PP blends.


MRS Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (49) ◽  
pp. 2689-2694
Author(s):  
Karla A. Gaspar-Ovalle ◽  
Juan V. Cauich-Rodriguez ◽  
Armando Encinas

ABSTRACTNanofibrous mats of poly ε-caprolactone (PCL) were fabricated by electrospinning. The nanofiber structures were investigated and characterized by scanning electron microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, static water-contact-angle analysis and mechanical properties. The results showed that the nanofibrous PCL is an ideal biopolymer for cell adhesion, owing to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, structural stability and mechanical properties. Differential scanning calorimetry results showed that the fibrous structure of PCL does not alter its crystallinity. Studies of the mechanical properties, wettability and degradability showed that the structure of the electrospun PCL improved the tensile modulus, tensile strength, wettability and biodegradability of the nanotemplates. To evaluate the nanofibrous structure of PCL on cell adhesion, osteoblasts cells were seeded on these templates. The results showed that both adhesion and proliferation of the cells is viable on these electrospun PCL membranes. Thus electrospinning is a relatively inexpensive and scalable manufacturing technique for submicron to nanometer diameter fibers, which can be of interest in the commodity industry.


2016 ◽  
Vol 682 ◽  
pp. 245-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Włoch ◽  
Tomasz Skrzekut ◽  
Jakub Sobota ◽  
Antoni Woźnicki ◽  
Justyna Cisoń

Mixed and preliminarily consolidated powders of aluminium and nickel (90 mass % Al and 10 mass % Ni) were hot extruded. As results the rod, 8 mm in diameter, was obtained. As-extruded material was subjected to the microstructural investigations using scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDS) and X-ray analysis (XRD). The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermo-mechanical analysis (TMA) were also performed. The mechanical properties of as extruded material were determined by the tensile test and Vickers hardness measurements. In order to evaluate the thermal stability of PM alloy, samples were annealed at the temperature of 475 and 550 °C. After annealing Vickers hardness measurements and tensile tests were carried out. The plastic consolidation of powders during extrusion was found to be very effective, because no pores or voids were observed in the examined material. The detailed microstructural investigations and XRD analyses did not reveal the presence of the intermetallic phases in the as-extruded material. During annealing, the Al3Ni intermetallic compound was formed as the result of chemical reaction between the alloy components. The hardness of the alloy after annealing at the temperature of 475°C was found to be comparable to the hardness in as-extruded state. Annealing of the material at the temperature of 550°C results in hardness decreasing by about 50%, as the consequence of porosity formation and Al3Ni cracking.


Author(s):  
Shayeri Chatterjee ◽  
Rana Mazumder

Objective: The major objective of the present investigation was to extract a natural polymer (okra gum) with its characterization as pharmaceutical binder and to formulate, develop, and evaluate the compression-coated tablet using okra as binder along with synthetic hydrophilic polymers like various grades of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC).Methods: A novel extraction method was carried out using fresh unripe pods of okra (ladies finger) with the aid of organic solvents and its characterization was done. The core tablets were prepared by direct compression method which was compression coated with okra gum and HPMC.Results: After the extraction of the okra gum was carried out, the yield of mucilage obtained was 10%. It is considered as a proof for the purity of the mucilage extract. The above study reveals that the polymers were subjected to the Fourier transform infrared and differential scanning calorimetry thermogram had no significant interactions between the drug and the polymers. The characterization of the new polymer okra showed that it has swelling properties, and in spite of being a hydrophilic polymer, it can be successfully used in pharmaceutical formulation as a good binder.Conclusion: In the present aspect of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of okra gum that has been used as a tablet binder. It is easily available and inexpensive. Okra gum as a binder produces tablet formulations with good physicochemical properties and good candidate for sustained release formulations.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document