Enabling coherent BaZrO3 nanorods/YBa2Cu3O7-x interface through dynamic lattice enlargement in vertical epitaxy of BaZrO3/YBa2Cu3O7-x nanocomposites

One-dimensional c-axis-aligned BaZrO3 (BZO) nanorods are regarded as strong one-dimensional artificial pinning centers (1D-APCs) in BZO-doped YaBa2Cu3O7-x (BZO/YBCO) nanocomposite films. However, a microstructure analysis has revealed a defective, oxygen-deficient YBCO column around the BZO 1D-APCs due to the large lattice mismatch of ~7.7% between the BZO (3a=1.26 nm) and YBCO (c=1.17 nm), which has been blamed for the reduced pinning efficiency of BZO 1D-APCs. Herein, we report a dynamic lattice enlargement approach on the tensile strained YBCO lattice during the BZO 1D-APCs growth to induce c-axis elongation of the YBCO lattice up to 1.26 nm near the BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface via Ca/Cu substitution on single Cu-O planes of YBCO, which prevents the interfacial defect formation by reducing the BZO/YBCO lattice mismatch to ~1.4%. Specifically, this is achieved by inserting thin Ca0.3Y0.7Ba2Cu3O7-x (CaY-123) spacers as the Ca reservoir in 2-6 vol.% BZO/YBCO nanocomposite multilayer (ML) films. A defect-free, coherent BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface is confirmed in transmission electron microscopy and elemental distribution analyses. Excitingly, up to five-fold enhancement of Jc (B) at magnetic field B=9.0 T//c-axis and 65-77 K was obtained in the ML samples as compared to their BZO/YBCO single-layer (SL) counterpart’s. This has led to a record high pinning force density Fp together with significantly enhanced Bmax at which Fp reaches its maximum value Fp,max for BZO 1D-APCs at B//c-axis. At 65 K, the Fp,max ~158 GN/m3 and Bmax ~ 8.0 T for the 6% BZO/YBCO ML samples represent a significant enhancement over Fp,max ~36.1 GN/m3 and Bmax ~ 5.0 T for the 6% BZO/YBCO SL counterparts. This result not only illustrates the critical importance of a coherent BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface in the pinning efficiency, but also provides a facile scheme to achieve such an interface to restore the pristine pinning efficiency of the BZO 1D-APCs.

Enhancing the Optical Properties of Chitosan, Carboxymethyl Cellulose, Sodium Alginate Modified with Nano Metal Oxide and Graphene Oxide

The solution casting method was utilized to synthesize nanocomposite films of chitosan (Cs)/CuO, Cs/graphene oxide (GO), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)/TiO2, CMC/GO, sodium alginate (Na Alg)/TiO2, and Na-Alg/GO owing to their various applications. The influence of CuO, TiO2 and GO concentration on the optical properties of Cs, CMC and Na-Alg films was studied by UV-Vis Spectroscopy. The absorbance of Cs, CMC and Na-Alg increased with increasing the filler content, thus reflecting the dependence of Cs, CMC, and Na-Alg properties on the nanofiller content, and confirming the interactions between individual polymers and CuO, TiO2 and GO nanoparticles. The obtained absorbance values were then used to calculate the absorption coefficient and, hence, the optical band gap values. The characteristic absorption bands of CuO and TiO2 underwent a redshift by increasing the filler content. The results showed that the optical band gap of Cs, CMC, and Na-Alg decreased with filler content, and they possessed 1, 2 and 2 band gaps respectively. The obtained results recommended that Cs, CMC, and Na-Alg nanocomposites can be used in optoelectronic devices.

Transparent Montmorillonite/cellulose Nanofibril Nanocomposite Films: the Influence of Exfoliation Degree and Interfacial Interaction

To obtain high performance of nanocomposite films made of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and montmorillonites (MMTs), highly ordered nanostructures and abundant interfacial interactions are of extreme importance, especially for CNF film with high MMT content. Here, we tend to unveil the influence of exfoliation degree of MMTs and their interfacial interactions with CNFs on the properties of ensuing nanocomposite films. Monolayer MMTs prefer to form highly ordered nanostructure during water evaporation induced self-assembly. The obtained nanocomposite film with 30 wt% monolayer MMTs exhibits a tensile strength of 132 MPa, a total light transmittance of 90.2% (550nm), and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of 41.5 g•mm/m2•day, better than the film made of original bulk MMTs and CNFs (30 MPa strength, 60% transparency, and 78.7 g•mm/m2•day WVTR). Moreover, the physical properties (153 MPa strength and 20.9 g•mm/m2•day WVTR) of nanocomposite film can be further enhanced by constructing ionic interactions between the monolayer MMT and CNF using 0.5 wt% cationic polyethylenimine (PEI). However, as the amount of PEI continues to increase, its performance will be deteriorated dramatically because of the disordered orientation of monolayer MMTs. This work could provide an insight into the fabrication of high performance MMT/CNF nanocomposite film for advanced applications.

Impact of Multi-Walled CNT Incorporation on Dielectric Properties of PVDF-BaTiO3 Nanocomposites and Their Energy Harvesting Possibilities

The current study investigated the fabrication of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) adhering to Barium titanate (BaTiO3) nanoparticles and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanocomposites, as well as the impact of MWCNT on the PVDF-BaTiO3 matrix in terms of dielectric constant and dielectric loss with a view to develop a high performance piezoelectric energy harvester in future. The capacity and potential of as-prepared nanocomposite films for the fabrication of high-performance flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator (PNG) were also investigated in this work. In particular, five distinct types of nanocomposites and films were synthesized: PB (bare PVDF–BaTiO3), PBC-1 (PVDF–BaTiO3-0.1 wt% CNT), PBC-2 (PVDF–BaTiO3-0.3 wt% CNT), PBC-3 (PVDF–BaTiO3-0.5 wt% CNT), and PBC-4 (PVDF–BaTiO3-1 wt% CNT). The dielectric constant and dielectric loss increased as MWCNT concentration increased. Sample PBC-3 had the optimum dielectric characteristics of all the as-prepared samples, with the maximum output voltage and current of 4.4 V and 0.66 μA, respectively, with an applied force of ~2N. Fine-tuning the BaTiO3 content and thickness of the PNGs is likely to increase the harvester’s performance even more. It is anticipated that the work would make it easier to fabricate high-performance piezoelectric films and would be a suitable choice for creating high-performance PNG.