Taking Advantage of Phosphate Functionalized Waterborne Acrylic Binders to Get Rid of Inhibitors in Direct-to-Metal Paints

In this paper, two phosphate functionalized acrylic binders are formulated to yield direct-to-metal paints without using corrosion inhibitors. The difference between both binders is the addition of polystearylacrylate crystalline nanodomains in one of them, and an amorphous methyl methacylate-co-butyl acrylate copolymer in the other. The water sensitivity, mechanical stability, adhesion, and the performance of the paints against corrosion (high humidity resistance, accelerated weathering, and salt-spray tests) are assessed and compared with a DTM paint formulated from a commercial binder. The performance of both phosphate functionalized paints formulated without corrosion inhibitors in high humidity and weathering tests is superior to the commercial DTM paint formulated without corrosion inhibitors and similar to the DTM paint formulated with them. Furthermore, the paint based on the amorphous copolymer binder provides significantly good performance in the salt spray test (even superior to that of the DTM paint formulated with corrosion inhibitors).

Aqueous Lithium Carboxymethyl Cellulose and Polyacrylic Acid/Acrylate Copolymer Composite Binder for the LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2 Cathode of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Water-soluble green cathode binders are developed to increase the performance of 18650 type LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2 (NMC532) lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Using four basal substances to prepare the composite binders, it is indicated that the cathode with lithium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMCLi)-polyacrylic acid/acrylate copolymer (type 306F) composite binder (Marked as Binder C) avoids the corrosion of aluminum substrate, and exhibits stronger adhesive force and better electrolyte adsorption capacity compared to other cathodes with PVDF binder and single aqueous binders. In particular, the electrochemical performance of the batteries with Binder C is also improved, initial specific capacity of 161.5 mAh g-1 at 0.2 C and retention capacity of 88.9% at 1 C after 1200 cycles are obtained. The batteries with Binder C also exhibit enhanced high-temperature storage performance, there is 97.9% residual capacity when the fully charged batteries are stored in 60 °C for 14 days. The enhanced performance is mainly attributed to the chemical stability and bonding ability of polyacrylic acid/acrylate copolymer and better conduction at the liquid-solid interface caused by CMCLi. These results indicate that Binder C has promising application prospects in the NMC532 cathode, and also provide a reference for the green production of NMC-based LIBs.

Development, Characterization, Optimization, and In Vivo Evaluation of Methacrylic Acid–Ethyl Acrylate Copolymer Nanoparticles Loaded with Glibenclamide in Diabetic Rats for Oral Administration

The methacrylic acid–ethyl acrylate copolymer nanoparticles were prepared using the solvent displacement method. The independent variables were the drug/polymer ratio, surfactant concentration, Polioxyl 40 hydrogenated castor oil, the added water volume, time, and stirring speed, while size, PDI, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency were the response variables analyzed. A design of screening experiments was carried out to subsequently perform the optimization of the nanoparticle preparation process. The optimal formulation was characterized through the dependent variables size, PDI, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency and drug release profiles. In vivo tests were performed in Wistar rats previously induced with diabetes by administration of streptozotocin. Once hyperglycemia was determined in rats, a suspension of nanoparticles loaded with glibenclamide was administered to them while the other group was administered with tablets of glibenclamide. The optimal nanoparticle formulation obtained a size of 18.98 +/− 9.14 nm with a PDI of 0.37085 +/− 0.014 and a zeta potential of −13.7125 +/− 1.82 mV; the encapsulation efficiency was of 44.5%. The in vivo model demonstrated a significant effect (p < 0.05) between the group administered with nanoparticles loaded with glibenclamide and the group administered with tablets compared to the group of untreated individuals.

Acrylonitrile-Styrene-Acrylate Particles with Different Microstructure for Improving the Toughness of Poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) Resin

Herein, acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate copolymer (ASA) particles with different microstructure were synthesized by emulsion polymerization and then used for toughening poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) resin. The structure of ASA particles was confirmed by FTIR. TEM results demonstrated that the particles with different morphologies of multilobe shape, complete core-shell and dumbbell shape were obtained depending on the cross-linker amount. It was found that the toughening efficiency reached the highest when the ASA particles had complete core-shell structure and the shell composition was close to that of the SAN matrix. It was ascribed to the fact that the complete shell layer and similar shell composition provided sufficient interfacial adhesion and transferred stress to induce larger matrix deformation, so that the notched impact strength increased accordingly. Moreover, the notched impact strength of SAN/ASA blend was improved without significantly sacrificing tensile strength when adding 30 wt% ASA particles with the size of around 400 nm. SEM results of the impact-fractured surfaces revealed that irregular fluctuation and numerous microvoids occurred. It was deduced that the toughening mechanism was attributed to the crazings and cavitation of particles. Therefore, this study paved a way of toughening the resin by adjusting the microstructure of the particles including morphology, composition, and size.

Toughness Behavior of SBR Acrylate Copolymer-Modified Pervious Concrete with Single-Sized Aggregates

Pervious concrete is an eco-efficient concrete but has problems regarding its mechanical performance and permeability balance. This research investigated the feasibility of using a combination of styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) and acrylate polymer to improve the toughness of pervious concrete while keeping its permeability. Single-sized aggregate and no sand were considered in the concrete mixture. Acrylate polymers with different solid content, PH, density, and viscosity were emulsion copolymerized with an SBR polymer. Eleven scenarios with different mix proportions and 220 specimens for compressive strength, flexural strength, flexural stiffness, impact resistance, and fracture toughness tests were selected to evaluate the effects of the copolymer on the toughness of copolymer-modified pervious concrete (CMPC). The studies showed that (1) the influence trend of the copolymers generally varied according to different mechanical indexes; (2) XG–6001 acrylate polymer mainly and comprehensively enhanced the toughness of the CMPC; (3) it was difficult to increase the enhancing property of the XG–6001 acrylate polymer with the growth of its mix proportion; (4) the zero-sand pervious concrete with 90% SBR and 10% XG–6001 acrylate emulsion copolymerization proved to have relatively high toughness. The proposed CMPC holds promising application value in sustainability traffic road construction.