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Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Viscoelastic and self-healing behavior of silica filled ionically modified poly(isobutylene-co-isoprene) rubber
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2018) Sallat, Aladdin; Das, Amit; Schaber, Jana; Scheler, Ulrich; Bhagavatheswaran, Eshwaran S.; Stöckelhuber, Klaus W.; Heinrich, Gert; Voit, Brigitte; Böhme, Frank
    Rubber composites were prepared by mixing bromobutyl rubber (BIIR) with silica particles in the presence of 1-butylimidazole. In addition to pristine (precipitated) silica, silanized particles with aliphatic or imidazolium functional groups, respectively, were used as filler. The silanization was carried out either separately or in situ during compounding. The silanized particles were characterized by TGA, 1H-29Si cross polarization (CP)/MAS NMR, and Zeta potential measurements. During compounding, the bromine groups of BIIR were converted with 1-butylimidazole to ionic imidazolium groups which formed a dynamic network by ionic association. Based on DMA temperature and strain sweep measurements as well as cyclic tensile tests and stress-strain measurements it could be concluded that interactions between the ionic groups and interactions with the functional groups of the silica particles strongly influence the mechanical and viscoelastic behavior of the composites. A particularly pronounced reinforcing effect was observed for the composite with pristine silica, which was attributed to acid-base interactions between the silanol and imidazolium groups. In composites with alkyl or imidazolium functionalized silica particles, the interactions between the filler and the rubber matrix form dynamic networks with pronounced self-healing behavior and excellent tensile strength values of up to 19 MPa. This new approach in utilizing filler-matrix interactions in the formation of dynamic networks opens up new avenues in designing new kinds of particle-reinforced self-healing elastomeric materials with high technological relevance.
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    Different transition metal combinations of LDH systems and their organic modifications as UV protecting materials for polypropylene (PP)
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2018) Naseem, Sajid; Lonkar, Sunil P.; Leuteritz, Andreas; Labuschagné, Frederick J. W. J.
    In this research, the use of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) as ultraviolet (UV) light-protecting additives for PP is explored. Different LDHs, such as ZnTi, ZnSn, ZnGa, ZnCr and CdCr LDHs, were prepared and their UV absorptions were characterized. The ZnTi LDHs showed higher UV absorption than the other four metallic combinations and were further organically modified with dodecylbenzene sodium sulfonate (SDBS) and lauric acid (LA). Nanocomposites of polypropylene (PP) with four different types of LDHs, ZnTi, ZnSn, ZnTi-SDBS and ZnTi-LA, were prepared at concentrations of 5%. The crystallinities and layered structures of all the metallic combinations of LDHs were characterized by wide angle X-ray spectroscopy (WAXS) and ultraviolet visible (UV-vis) absorption spectroscopy, and their crystal morphologies were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The decomposition and thermal properties of the nanocomposites and pure PP were analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and by their photo-oxidation behavior. The addition of these organically modified and unmodified LDHs showed significant changes in the thermal decomposition of PP. The thermal stability of PP was increased to around 70 °C by the addition of SDBS-modified ZnTi LDHs (5% by weight), and an increase in induction time of about 300% was determined.
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    Biowaste chicken eggshell powder as a potential cure modifier for epoxy/anhydride systems: competitiveness with terpolymer-modified calcium carbonate at low loading levels
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2017) Saeb, Mohammad Reza; Ghaffari, Mehdi; Rastin, Hadi; Khonakdar, Hossein Ali; Simon, Frank; Najafi, Farhood; Goodarzi, Vahabodin; Vijayan P., Poornima; Puglia, Debora; Asl, Farzaneh Hassanpour; Formela, Krzysztof
    Biowaste chicken eggshell (ES) powder was applied as a potential cure modifier in epoxy/anhydride systems. Cure behaviour and kinetics of composites filled with very low content (0.1 wt% based on epoxy resin) of ES, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and terpolymer-modified fillers, mES and mCaCO3, were discussed comparatively. Surface analysis was performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Cure kinetics was investigated by differential (Friedman) and integral (Ozawa and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose) isoconversional methods using dynamic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data. Overall, protein precursors naturally existing in the structure of pristine ES facilitated crosslinking of epoxy and hardener of anhydride with functional groups resulting from terpolymer attachment to CaCO3 particles. Accelerated/hindered cure was observed depending on the filler type and surface characteristics, as investigated via the autocatalytic/non-catalytic nature of reactions and comparison of activation energy values of four types of composites. An enhanced cure was identified for composites containing untreated ES, which could be inferred on account of the lower competitive cure of carboxyl groups in the terpolymer backbone with epoxy compared to peptide groups existing in microporous pristine ES. On the other hand, mCaCO3 revealed low values of activation energy compared to pristine CaCO3, but still of the same order as ground biowaste ES.
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    Poly(ethylene oxide)-based block copolymers with very high molecular weights for biomimetic calcium phosphate mineralization
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2015) Mai, Tobias; Boye, Susanne; Yuan, Jiayin; Völkel, Antje; Gräwert, Marlies; Günter, Christina; Lederer, Albena; Taubert, Andreas
    The present article is among the first reports on the effects of poly(ampholyte)s and poly(betaine)s on the biomimetic formation of calcium phosphate. We have synthesized a series of di- and triblock copolymers based on a non-ionic poly(ethylene oxide) block and several charged methacrylate monomers, 2-(trimethylammonium)ethyl methacrylate chloride, 2-((3-cyanopropyl)-dimethylammonium)ethyl methacrylate chloride, 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium salt, and [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide. The resulting copolymers are either positively charged, ampholytic, or betaine block copolymers. All the polymers have very high molecular weights of over 106 g mol−1. All polymers are water-soluble and show a strong effect on the precipitation and dissolution of calcium phosphate. The strongest effects are observed with triblock copolymers based on a large poly(ethylene oxide) middle block (nominal Mn = 100 000 g mol−1). Surprisingly, the data show that there is a need for positive charges in the polymers to exert tight control over mineralization and dissolution, but that the exact position of the charge in the polymer is of minor importance for both calcium phosphate precipitation and dissolution.
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    Complex calcium carbonate/polymer microparticles as carriers for aminoglycoside antibiotics
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2018) Racovita, Stefania; Vasiliu, Ana-Lavinia; Bele, Adrian; Schwarz, Dana; Steinbach, Christine; Boldt, Regine; Schwarz, Simona; Mihai, Marcela
    Composite microparticles of CaCO3 and two pectin samples (which differ by the functional group ratio) or corresponding nonstoichiometric polyelectrolyte complexes with different molar ratios (0.5, 0.9 and 1.2) are obtained, characterized and tested for loading and release of streptomycin and kanamycin sulphate. The synthesized carriers were characterized before and after drug loading in terms of morphology (by SEM using secondary electron and energy selective backscattered electron detectors), porosity (by water sorption isotherms) and elemental composition (by elemental mapping using energy dispersive X-ray and FTIR spectroscopy). The kinetics of the release mechanism from the microparticles was investigated using Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas mathematical models.
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    Computer vision vs. spectrofluorometer-assisted detection of common nitro-explosive components with bola-type PAH-based chemosensors
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2021) Kovalev, Igor S.; Sadieva, Leila K.; Taniya, Olga S.; Yurk, Victoria M.; Minin, Artem S.; Santra, Sougata; Zyryanov, Grigory V.; Charushin, Valery N.; Chupakhin, Oleg N.; Tsurkan, Mikhail V.
    Computer vision (CV) algorithms are widely utilized in imaging processing for medical and personal electronics applications. In sensorics CV can provide a great potential to quantitate chemosensors' signals. Here we wish to describe a method for the CV-assisted spectrofluorometer-free detection of common nitro-explosive components, e.g. 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), by using polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH, PAH = 1-pyrenyl or 9-anthracenyl) – based bola-type chemosensors. The PAH components of these chemical bolas are able to form stable, bright emissive in a visual wavelength region excimers, which allows their use as extended matrices of the RGB colors after imaging and digital processing. In non-polar solvents, the excimers have poor chemosensing properties, while in aqueous solutions, due to the possible micellar formation, these excimers provide “turn-off” fluorescence detection of DNT and TNT in the sub-nanomolar concentrations. A combination of these PAH-based fluorescent chemosensors with the proposed CV-assisted algorithm offers a fast and convenient approach for on-site, real-time, multi-thread analyte detection without the use of fluorometers. Although we focus on the analysis of nitro-explosives, the presented method is a conceptual work describing a general use of CV for quantitative fluorescence detection of various analytes as a simpler alternative to spectrofluorometer-assisted methods.
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    Renewable vanillin based flame retardant for poly(lactic acid): A way to enhance flame retardancy and toughness simultaneously
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2018) Zhao, Pengcheng; Liu, Zhiqi; Wang, Xueyi; Pan, Ye-Tang; Kuehnert, Ines; Gehde, Michael; Wang, De-Yi; Leuteritz, Andreas
    In this study, a novel bio-based flame retardant material consisting of modified vanillin and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was developed by incorporation of newly discovered additive, bis(5-formyl-2-methoxyphenyl) phenylphosphonate (VP), into the PLA matrix. The chemical structure of VP was confirmed by 1 H-, 13 C- and 31 P NMR and FTIR. The flame retardancy, thermal behavior as well as the mechanical properties of PLA/VP composites were evaluated. With 5 wt% of VP, the LOI of PLA increased from 21.4 to 25.8 and passed the UL-94 V-0 classification. Additionally, the elongation at break was improved from 3% to 11% without sacrificing tensile strength. In an effort to understand the mechanisms, TGA-FTIR, TGA and SEM were performed. This paper suggests a new possibility to prepare polymeric composites with enhanced flame retardancy from sustainable resources.
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    Reconstitution properties of biologically active polymersomes after cryogenic freezing and a freeze-drying process
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2018) Ccorahua, Robert; Moreno, Silvia; Gumz, Hannes; Sahre, Karin; Voit, Brigitte; Appelhans, Dietmar
    Reconstitution of biologically active polymersomes from the frozen or solid state into any fluid state is still a challenging issue for the design of new biological experiments and for the formulation of therapeutic agents. To gain knowledge about the reconstitution of pH-responsive and photo-crosslinked polymersomes, surface-functionalized and enzyme-containing polymersomers were cryogenically frozen (-20 °C) or freeze-dried with inulin as the lyoprotectant (0.1% w/v) and stored for a defined time period. Reconstituting those polymersomes in solution by thawing or a re-dispersing process revealed their original physical properties as well as their function as a pH-switchable enzymatic nanoreactor.