Polyamide self-lubricating composites filled with thermolysis products of lignin: composition, structure, properties

Compositions of antifriction composites with a polyamide matrix filled with carbon additives obtained by modifying hydrolytic lignin (graphite from lignin, graphite bisulfate from lignin, thermally expanded graphite from lignin) have been developed. Powders of carbon materials were impregnated with cylinder oil before being added to the polyamide matrix. The tribotechnical characteristics of filled polyamide composites, their microstructure and water absorption kinetics have been investigated. It was found that the lowest values of the friction factor are observed in composites filled with thermally expanded graphite from lignin. The friction factor for such composites is 1.5-2 times less than the indicators obtained for currently used graphites. Thus, at specific loads of 0.67 and 2.33 MPa, the friction factor was 0.065 and 0.064, respectively. The investigated antifriction composites have low water absorption compared to pure polyamide. The maximum water absorption (2.2%) in the series of the studied composites had the samples filled with graphite from lignin with an oil content of 9%. According to the data of microstructural analysis, the structure of composites with additives of carbon materials from lignin is homogeneous. The components, including the oil plasticizer, are evenly distributed, the bulk of the oil is localized in the interlayer spaces. The elemental composition of the composites indicates the high chemical purity of the composites. Antifriction composites with the proposed additives are recommended for use in friction units operating in an aqueous mediumor an environment with high humidity.

Composites and coatings based on the Si‒B4C‒ZrB2 glass-forming system modified with carbon-containing materials

The paper studies the effect of carbon-containing materials (graphite, shungite carbon and acetylene soot) on the properties of composites and coatings based on the Si‒ B4C‒ZrB2 glass-forming system. Thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyzes, thermal resistance tests were carried out, the phase composition was determined, and the surface morphology of the coatings was also studied. It is shown that with the introduction of carbon additives, the area of the vitrified surface of the coating increases, in connection with this, the resistance of the material to high temperatures and other aggressive media improves.

Deconvoluting the Impacts of the Active Material Skeleton and the Inactive Phase Morphology on the Performance of Lithium Ion Battery Electrodes

In order to extract the most capacity out of Li-ion battery (LIB) active materials, the optimization of the electrodes architectures at the mesoscale is essential. This work focuses on the morphology of the inactive phase (carbon additives and binder) through a 3-D modeling approach based on stochastic generation with realistic LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 particle size distributions. It was found that having the inactive phase as a film spread on the active material results in poorer performance in part due to the loss of active surface area when compared to an agglomerates morphology.

Sponge-like Chitosan Based Porous Monolith for Uraemic Toxins Sorption

More than three million patients are treated for kidney failure world-wide. Haemodialysis, the most commonly used treatment, requires large amounts of water and generates mountains of non-recyclable plastic waste. To improve the environmental footprint, dialysis treatments need to develop absorbents to regenerate the waste dialysate. Whereas conventional dialysis clears water-soluble toxins, it is not so effective in clearing protein-bound uraemic toxins (PBUTs), such as indoxyl sulfate (IS). Thus, developing absorption devices to remove both water-soluble toxins and PBUTs would be advantageous. Vapour induced phase separation (VIPS) has been used in this work to produce polycaprolactone/chitosan (PCL/CS) composite symmetric porous monoliths with extra porous carbon additives to increase creatinine and albumin-bound IS absorption. Moreover, these easy-to-fabricate porous monoliths can be formed into the required geometry. The PCL/CS porous monoliths absorbed 436 μg/g of albumin-bound IS and 2865 μg/g of creatinine in a single-pass perfusion model within 1 h. This porous PCL/CS monolith could potentially be used to absorb uraemic toxins, including PBUTs, and thus allow the regeneration of waste dialysate and the development of a new generation of environmentally sustainable dialysis treatments, including wearable devices.