ELECTROCHEMICAL BEHAVIOR OF A COMPOSITE MATERIAL OF SOLID BIOPOLYMER ELECTROLYTE FROM CASSAVA STARCH / GRAPHENE OXIDE PREPARED AT DIFFERENT pH

Background: Composite materials make it possible to modulate the properties of the source materials and expand their technological potential. In this sense, composite materials made from solid biopolymeric electrolytes and graphene oxide can be an attractive alternative for applications in organic electronics due to their electrochemical properties. Aim: The present work aims to evaluate the electrochemical behavior of a composite material made of solid biopolymeric electrolyte of cassava starch and graphene oxide at different concentrations to determine the effect of this concentration and the pH used in the production process. Methods: The composite material was made from the use of cassava starch plasticized with glycerol, glutaraldehyde, polyethylene glycol and with lithium perchlorate as electrolytes. During the synthesis process, graphene oxide was added in different concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, and 1.75 %w/w) to evaluate the effect of the concentration of this component. The synthesis was carried out by thermochemical method with constant heating in an oven at 75 ° C for 48 hours. Films were prepared using synthesis solutions at different pH (5.0 and 9.0). The pH was regulated by adding HCl or NaOH to the synthesis solution as appropriate. Results and Discussion: The results showed that the cassava starch biopolymeric solid electrolyte films without plasticizers were stiff and brittle, so they broke easily. The films with plasticizers and the films of the composite material were stable to the manual traction, allowing their easy manipulation without breaking. The films presented a similar electrochemical behavior in terms of oxide reduction processes; however, the films with graphene oxide presented signals with higher peak currents. Films made at pH 9.0 showed 50 % more intensity in peak currents. The addition of graphene oxide affected the current parameters and peak potentials, being more marked in the films prepared at pH 9.0; at this pH the films with concentrations of graphene oxide lower than 1.00 %w/w presented variable Ep and Ip, while at concentrations of graphene oxide greater than 1%w/w, the behavior did not show significant variations. Conclusions: The addition of graphene oxide modulates or modifies the electrochemical behavior of cassava starch biopolymeric solid electrolyte films, and the processing pH can vary the effect of the graphene oxide addition.

Deposition, Morphological, and Mechanical Evaluation of W and Be-Al2O3 and Er2O3 Co-Sputtered Films in Comparison with Pure Oxides

Compact and defect-free high melting point oxide strengthened metallic matrix configurations are promising to resolve the hydrogen permeation and brittleness issues relevant to the fusion research community. Previous studies on oxide addition to metallic matrix demonstrated a mitigation in brittleness behavior, while deposition techniques and material configurations are still to be investigated. Thus, here, we report the structural, morphological, and mechanical characterization of metal-oxides thin layers co-deposited by radio frequency (RF)and direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering. A total of six configurations were deposited such as single thin layers of oxides (Al2O3, Er2O3) and co-deposition configurations as metal-oxides (W, Be)—(Al2O3, Er2O3). The study of films roughness by atomic force microscopy (AFM) method show that for Al2O3 metallic-oxides is increased to an extent that could favor gaseous trapping, while co-depositions with Be seem to promote an increased roughness and defects formation probability compared to W co-depositions. Lower elastic modulus on metal-oxide co-depositions was observed, while the indentation hardness increased for Be and decreased for W matrix configurations. These outputs are highly relevant for choosing the proper compact and trap-free configuration that could be categorized as a permeation barrier for hydrogen and furtherly studied in laborious permeation yield campaigns.

Influence of Zinc Oxide Addition on Azodicarbonamide Thermal Decomposition in the Polyethylene/Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Foaming Release

Thermal properties, i.e. melting point and decomposition temperature of polymers, azodicarbonamide (ADC), and other additives mixture, are the most important information to determine the appropriate foaming process parameters. ADC has been widely used as a blowing agent for foam fabrication. Here, ADC will decompose and release gas which will be trapped in the melting polymer to make a foamed product. Originally, ADC has a decomposition temperature at around 220°C. In this study, the effect of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) addition on the thermal properties of intermediate product and Polyethylene/Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (PE/EVA) foam with ADC as the blowing agent was investigated. ZnO addition decreased the decomposition temperature of ADC. The thermal properties were characterized by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The result showed that the decomposition temperature of ADC significantly decreased from the temperature of 220°C to 170°C with the increment of the ZnO.