scholarly journals Sensing parameters as a function of the chemical structure and thickness of two poly(styrene)-type based composites with carbon black

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-15
Author(s):  
Ethnice Dehonor Márquez ◽  
Enrique Vigueras Santiago ◽  
Susana Hernández López ◽  
Alejandro Ramirez Jimenez

Sensing parameters of polymer composite layers were studied as a function of the polymer matrix structure and the initial resistance of the composite layers. Composites of Poly(styrene) and 4-Chloro-poly(styrene) at the same volume fraction of carbon black (8.7% V/V) were prepared by ultrasonic dispersion. Composite layers with different thicknesses and resistances were deposited by spin coating technique on flexible substrates from commercial cellulose acetate foils.  Both kind of composite layers with  initial resistances of 10, 50 and 100 k? were exposed to Acetone, Tetrahydrofuran, Chloroform and Toluene.  Results evidenced that selectivity is very dependent on the chemical structure of the polymer matrix and sensitivity to the initial film electrical resistance.  PS-based composite series were selective to Tetrahydrofuran whereas that 4ClPS-based composite series were selective to Acetone as expected due to their solubility parameters. For both composite series sensitivity increased for layers with less than 100 k? resistances. For all tested solvents 4ClPS-based composites showed higher sensitivities than PS-based composites.  The response times for both series were into the range of 2 to 150 s and recovery times were in the range of 30 to 2000 s.

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadhatai Warasitthinon ◽  
Anne-Caroline Genix ◽  
Michael Sztucki ◽  
Julian Oberdisse ◽  
Christopher G. Robertson

ABSTRACT The hysteretic softening at small dynamic strains (Payne effect)—related to the rolling resistance and viscoelastic losses of tires—was studied as a function of particle size, filler volume fraction, and temperature for carbon black (CB) reinforced uncrosslinked styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) and a paste-like material composed of CB-filled paraffin oil. The low-strain limit for dynamic storage modulus was found to be remarkably similar for CB-filled oil and the CB-filled SBR. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements on the simple composites and detailed data analysis confirmed that the aggregate structures and nature of filler branching/networking of carbon black were virtually identical within oil compared to the high molecular weight polymer matrix. The combined dynamic rheology and SAXS results provide clear evidence that the deformation-induced breaking (unjamming) of the filler network—characterized by filler–filler contacts that are percolated throughout the material—is the main cause for the Payne effect. However, the polymer matrix does play a secondary role as demonstrated by a reduction in Payne effect magnitude with increasing temperature for the CB-reinforced rubber, which was not observed to a significant extent for the oil–CB system.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Castro Martínez ◽  
Susana Hernández López ◽  
Enrique Vigueras Santiago

We study the effect of dielectric constant of some poly(styrene)-type polymer matrix on the percolation threshold in conductive polymer composites with carbon black (CB). We demonstrate that percolation threshold diminishes with an increment of the dielectric constant of polymer matrix. We chose polystyrene and other three polymers similar in structure and molecular weight but with different chemical nature. The corresponding dielectric constant and critical concentration,Xc, in volume fraction of carbon black, v/v CB, were the following: 4MePS(ε=2.43; Xc=0.058), PS(ε=2.60; Xc=0.054), 4BrPS(ε=2.82; Xc=0.051), and 4ClPS(ε=2.77; Xc=0.047). The correlation between both parameters confirms that the percolation threshold decreases while the dielectric constant increases. At microscopic level, this effect is attributed to an enhanced physical interaction of the CB particles with the asymmetric electric density produced by electronegative or inductive atoms/groups. Therefore, by controlling the chemical structure of the polymer matrix, the attraction forces between the polar groups on the carbon black surface particles with those of the polymer matrix can be improved, which in turn induces a better disaggregation and dispersion of those particles into the polymer matrix, allowing the percolation threshold reached at a lower filling fraction.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096739112110239
Author(s):  
Sheedev Antony ◽  
Abel Cherouat ◽  
Guillaume Montay

Nowadays natural fibre composites have gained great significance as reinforcements in polymer matrix composites. Composite material based on a polymer matrix reinforced with natural fibres is extensively used in industry due to their biodegradability, recyclability, low density and high specific properties. A study has been carried out here to investigate the fibre volume fraction effect of hemp fibre woven fabrics/PolyPropylene (PP) composite laminates on the tensile properties and impact hammer impact test. Initially, composite sheets were fabricated by the thermal-compression process with desired number of fabric layers to obtain composite laminates with different fibre volume fraction. Uniaxial, shear and biaxial tensile tests were performed and mechanical properties were calculated. Impact hammer test was also carried out to estimate the frequency and damping parameters of stratified composite plates. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis was performed to observe the matrix and fibre constituent defects. Hemp fabrics/PP composite laminates exhibits viscoelastic behaviour and as the fibre volume fraction increases, the viscoelastic behaviour decreases to elastic behaviour. Due to this, the tensile strength increases as the fibre content increases. On the other hand, the natural frequency increases and damping ratio decrease as the fibre volume fraction increases.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Ali Zamani ◽  
F. Handan Tezel ◽  
Jules Thibault

Membrane-based processes are considered a promising separation method for many chemical and environmental applications such as pervaporation and gas separation. Numerous polymeric membranes have been used for these processes due to their good transport properties, ease of fabrication, and relatively low fabrication cost per unit membrane area. However, these types of membranes are suffering from the trade-off between permeability and selectivity. Mixed-matrix membranes, comprising a filler phase embedded into a polymer matrix, have emerged in an attempt to partly overcome some of the limitations of conventional polymer and inorganic membranes. Among them, membranes incorporating tubular fillers are new nanomaterials having the potential to transcend Robeson’s upper bound. Aligning nanotubes in the host polymer matrix in the permeation direction could lead to a significant improvement in membrane permeability. However, although much effort has been devoted to experimentally evaluating nanotube mixed-matrix membranes, their modelling is mostly based on early theories for mass transport in composite membranes. In this study, the effective permeability of mixed-matrix membranes with tubular fillers was estimated from the steady-state concentration profile within the membrane, calculated by solving the Fick diffusion equation numerically. Using this approach, the effects of various structural parameters, including the tubular filler volume fraction, orientation, length-to-diameter aspect ratio, and permeability ratio were assessed. Enhanced relative permeability was obtained with vertically aligned nanotubes. The relative permeability increased with the filler-polymer permeability ratio, filler volume fraction, and the length-to-diameter aspect ratio. For water-butanol separation, mixed-matrix membranes using polydimethylsiloxane with nanotubes did not lead to performance enhancement in terms of permeability and selectivity. The results were then compared with analytical prediction models such as the Maxwell, Hamilton-Crosser and Kang-Jones-Nair (KJN) models. Overall, this work presents a useful tool for understanding and designing mixed-matrix membranes with tubular fillers.


2008 ◽  
Vol 47-50 ◽  
pp. 714-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Lan ◽  
Jin Song Leng ◽  
Yan Ju Liu ◽  
Shan Yi Du

A new system of thermoset styrene-based shape-memory polymer (SMP) filled with carbon black (CB) is investigated. To realize the electroactive stimuli of SMP, the electrical conductivity of SMP filled with various amounts of CB is characterized. The percolation threshold of electrically conductive SMP filled with CB is about 3% (volume fraction of CB), which is much lower than many other electrically conductive polymers. When applying a voltage of 30V, the shape recovery process of SMP/CB(10 vol%) can be realized in about 100s. In addition, the thermomechanical properties are also characterized by differential scanning calorimetery (DSC).


2011 ◽  
Vol 311-313 ◽  
pp. 201-204
Author(s):  
Hong Zhong Ru ◽  
Ran Ran Zhao

Electrical conductive carbon black-filled cement-based composites are significant as multifunctional structural materials. Double percolation in carbon black-filled cement-based composites involves both carbon black particle percolation and cement paste percolation, which has great effect on the resistivity of composites. Based on double percolation theory, the influences of sand-binder ratio and carbon black volume fraction on the resistivity of carbon black-filled cement-based composites are investigated. The results show that besides carbon black volume fraction, sand-binder ratio is a key factor affecting double percolation behavior in carbon black-filled cement-based composites. At a fixed carbon black content in overall mortar, with increasing sand-binder ratio, the cement paste percolation though aggregate phase increases due to high obstruction of aggregate but the carbon black particle percolation in cement paste decreases. This is because that the microstructure of aggregate is impenetrable so that the carbon black particles are limited in cement paste, that is, the carbon black content in paste is compacted and large amount of conductive paths are generated by lapped adjacent carbon black particles in paste. The double percolation in the electrical conduction in carbon black-filled cement-based composites is observed when the carbon black volume fraction is 7.5% and sand-binder ratio is 1.4, and its resistivity is only 3200 Ωcm, so that a sand-binder ratio of 1.4 and 7.5% carbon black volume fraction or more are recommended for attaining high conductivity with a compromise between workability and conductivity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 814 ◽  
pp. 592-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andras Nemes ◽  
Teja Dasari ◽  
Jiarong Hong ◽  
Michele Guala ◽  
Filippo Coletti

We report on optical field measurements of snow settling in atmospheric turbulence at $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}=940$. It is found that the snowflakes exhibit hallmark features of inertial particles in turbulence. The snow motion is analysed in both Eulerian and Lagrangian frameworks by large-scale particle imaging, while sonic anemometry is used to characterize the flow field. Additionally, the snowflake size and morphology are assessed by digital in-line holography. The low volume fraction and mass loading imply a one-way interaction with the turbulent air. Acceleration probability density functions show wide exponential tails consistent with laboratory and numerical studies of homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Invoking the assumption that the particle acceleration has a stronger dependence on the Stokes number than on the specific features of the turbulence (e.g. precise Reynolds number and large-scale anisotropy), we make inferences on the snowflakes’ aerodynamic response time. In particular, we observe that their acceleration distribution is consistent with that of particles of Stokes number in the range $St=0.1{-}0.4$ based on the Kolmogorov time scale. The still-air terminal velocities estimated for the resulting range of aerodynamic response times are significantly smaller than the measured snow particle fall speed. This is interpreted as a manifestation of settling enhancement by turbulence, which is observed here for the first time in a natural setting.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 5143-5149
Author(s):  
Zhen Zhu ◽  
Wang-De Lin

This paper reports on a nanocomposite synthesized by sol–gel procedure comprising graphene sheets with hollow spheres of titanium dioxide (G/HS-TiO2) with varying weight percentages of graphene for the purpose of humidity sensors. The surface morphology of the nanocomposite was characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The structural properties were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The response to 12–80% RH at room temperature exhibited sensitivity (S = 135). However, the relative humidity range of 12–90% at room temperature exhibited higher sensitivity (S = 557). Sensors fabricated using the proposed nanocomposite exhibited high sensitivity to humidity, high stability, rapid response times, and rapid recovery times with hysteresis error of less than 1.79%. These results demonstrate the outstanding potential of his material for the monitoring of atmospheric humidity. This study also sought to elucidate the mechanisms underlying humidity sensing performance.


BioResources ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 4137-4151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aikfei Ang ◽  
Zaidon Ashaari ◽  
Edi Suhaimi Bakar ◽  
Nor Azowa Ibrahim

An alkali lignin (OL) with a weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of 11646 g/mol was used to prepare low-molecular weight lignin for resin synthesis. The low-molecular weight lignin feedstock was obtained via base-catalysed depolymerisation (BCD) treatments at different combined severity factors. Sequential fractionation of the OL and BCD-treated lignins using organic solvents with different Hildebrand solubility parameters were used to alter the homogeneity of the OL. The yield and properties of OL itself and OL and BCD-treated OL dissolved in propan-1-ol (F1), ethanol (F2), and methanol (F3) were determined. Regardless of the treatment applied, a small amount of OL was dissolved in F1 and F2. The BCD treatment did not increase the yield of F1 but did increase the yields of F2 and F3. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) showed that the repolymerization reaction occurred in F3 for all BCD-treated OL, so these lignins were not suitable for use as feedstocks for resin production. The GPC, 13Carbon-nuclear magnetic resonance, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses confirmed that the F3 in OL exhibited the optimum yield, molecular weight distribution, and chemical structure suitable for use as feedstocks for resin synthesis.


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