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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Friction, abrasion and crack growth behavior of in-situ and ex-situ silica filled rubber composites
    (Basel : MDPI, 2020) Vaikuntam, Sankar Raman; Bhagavatheswaran, Eshwaran Subramani; Xiang, Fei; Wießner, Sven; Heinrich, Gert; Das, Amit; Stöckelhuber, Klaus Werner
    The article focuses on comparing the friction, abrasion, and crack growth behavior of two different kinds of silica-filled tire tread compounds loaded with (a) in-situ generated alkoxide silica and (b) commercial precipitated silica-filled compounds. The rubber matrix consists of solution styrene butadiene rubber polymers (SSBR). The in-situ generated particles are entirely different in filler morphology, i.e., in terms of size and physical structure, when compared to the precipitated silica. However, both types of the silicas were identified as amorphous in nature. Influence of filler morphology and surface modification of silica on the end performances of the rubbers like dynamic friction, abrasion index, and fatigue crack propagation were investigated. Compared to precipitated silica composites, in-situ derived silica composites offer better abrasion behavior and improved crack propagation with and without admixture of silane coupling agents. Silane modification, particle morphology, and crosslink density were identified as further vital parameters influencing the investigated rubber properties. © 2020 by the authors.
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    Dry-jet wet spinning of thermally stable lignin-textile grade polyacrylonitrile fibers regenerated from chloride-based ionic liquids compounds
    (Basel : MDPI, 2020) Al Aiti, Muhannad; Das, Amit; Kanerva, Mikko; Järventausta, Maija; Johansson, Petri; Scheffler, Christina; Göbel, Michael; Jehnichen, Dieter; Brünig, Harald; Wulff, Lucas; Boye, Susanne; Arnhold, Kerstin; Kuusipalo, Jurkka; Heinrich, Gert
    In this paper, we report on the use of amorphous lignin, a waste by-product of the paper industry, for the production of high performance carbon fibers (CF) as precursor with improved thermal stability and thermo-mechanical properties. The precursor was prepared by blending of lignin with polyacrylonitrile (PAN), which was previously dissolved in an ionic liquid. The fibers thus produced offered very high thermal stability as compared with the fiber consisting of pure PAN. The molecular compatibility, miscibility, and thermal stability of the system were studied by means of shear rheological measurements. The achieved mechanical properties were found to be related to the temperature-dependent relaxation time (consistence parameter) of the spinning dope and the diffusion kinetics of the ionic liquids from the fibers into the coagulation bath. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical tests (DMA) were utilized to understand in-depth the thermal and the stabilization kinetics of the developed fibers and the impact of lignin on the stabilization process of the fibers. Low molecular weight lignin increased the thermally induced physical shrinkage, suggesting disturbing effects on the semi-crystalline domains of the PAN matrix, and suppressed the chemically induced shrinkage of the fibers. The knowledge gained throughout the present paper allows summarizing a novel avenue to develop lignin-based CF designed with adjusted thermal stability.
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    A new way of toughening of thermoset by dual-cured thermoplastic/thermosetting blend
    (Basel : MDPI, 2019) Khatiwada, Shankar P.; Gohs, Uwe; Lach, Ralf; Heinrich, Gert; Adhikari, Rameshwar
    The work aims at establishing the optimum conditions for dual thermal and electron beam curing of thermosetting systems modified by styrene/butadiene (SB)-based triblock copolymers in order to develop transparent and toughened materials. The work also investigates the effects of curing procedures on the ultimate phase morphology and mechanical properties of these thermoset-SB copolymer blends. It was found that at least 46 mol% of the epoxidation degree of the SB copolymer was needed to enable the miscibility of the modified block copolymer into the epoxy resin. Hence, an electron beam curing dose of ~50 kGy was needed to ensure the formation of micro- and nanostructured transparent blends. The micro- and nanophase-separated thermosets obtained were analyzed by optical as well as scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The mechanical properties of the blends were enhanced as shown by their impact strengths, indentation, hardness, and fracture toughness analyses, whereby the toughness values were found to mainly depend on the dose. Thus, we have developed a new route for designing dual-cured toughened micro- and nanostructured transparent epoxy thermosets with enhanced fracture toughness. © 2019 by the authors.
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    Blending In Situ Polyurethane-Urea with Different Kinds of Rubber: Performance and Compatibility Aspects
    (Basel : MDPI, 2018-11-02) Tahir, Muhammad; Heinrich, Gert; Mahmood, Nasir; Boldt, Regine; Wießner, Sven; Stöckelhuber, Klaus Werner
    Specific physical and reactive compatibilization strategies are applied to enhance the interfacial adhesion and mechanical properties of heterogeneous polymer blends. Another pertinent challenge is the need of energy-intensive blending methods to blend high-tech polymers such as the blending of a pre-made hard polyurethane (-urea) with rubbers. We developed and investigated a reactive blending method to prepare the outstanding blends based on polyurethane-urea and rubbers at a low blending temperature and without any interfacial compatibilizing agent. In this study, the polyurethane-urea (PUU) was synthesized via the methylene diphenyl diisocyanate end-capped prepolymer and m-phenylene diamine based precursor route during blending at 100 °C with polar (carboxylated nitrile rubber (XNBR) and chloroprene rubber (CR)) and non-polar (natural rubber (NR), styrene butadiene rubber (sSBR), and ethylene propylene butadiene rubber (EPDM)) rubbers. We found that the in situ PUU reinforces the tensile response at low strain region and the dynamic-mechanical response up to 150 °C in the case of all used rubbers. Scanning electron microscopy reveals a stronger rubber/PUU interface, which promotes an effective stress transfer between the blend phases. Furthermore, energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) based elemental carbon map identifies an interphase region along the interface between the nitrile rubber and in situ PUU phases of this exemplary blend type.
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    Online Structural-Health Monitoring of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics Using Different Carbon Allotropes in the Interphase
    (Basel : MDPI, 2018) Müller, Michael Thomas; Pötzsch, Hendrik Florian; Gohs, Uwe; Heinrich, Gert
    An electromechanical response behavior is realized by nanostructuring the glass fiber interphase with different highly electrically conductive carbon allotropes like carbon nanotubes (CNT), graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), or conductive carbon black (CB). The operational capability of these multifunctional glass fibers for an online structural-health monitoring is demonstrated in endless glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene. The electromechanical response behavior, during a static or dynamic three-point bending test of various carbon modifications, shows qualitative differences in the signal quality and sensitivity due to the different aspect ratios of the nanoparticles and the associated electrically conductive network densities in the interphase. Depending on the embedding position within the glass fiber-reinforced composite compression, shear and tension loadings of the fibers can be distinguished by different characteristics of the corresponding electrical signal. The occurrence of irreversible signal changes during the dynamic loading can be attributed to filler reorientation processes caused by polymer creeping or by destruction of electrically conductive paths by cracks in the glass fiber interphase.