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    Thermal annealing to influence the vapor sensing behavior of co-continuous poly(lactic acid)/polystyrene/multiwalled carbon nanotube composites
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier Science, 2020) Li, Yilong; Pionteck, Jürgen; Pötschke, Petra; Voit, Brigitte
    With the main purpose of being used as vapor leakage detector, the volatile organic compound (VOC) vapor sensing properties of conductive polymer blend composites were studied. Poly(lactic acid)/polystyrene/multi-walled carbon nanotube (PLA/PS/MWCNT) based conductive polymer composites (CPCs) in which the polymer components exhibit different interactions with the vapors, were prepared by melt mixing. CPCs with a blend composition of 50/50 wt% resulted in the finest co-continuous structure and selective MWCNT localization in PLA. Therefore, these composites were selected for sensor tests. Thermal annealing was applied aiming to maintain the blend structure but improving the sensing reversibility of CPC sensors towards high vapor concentrations. Different sensing protocols were applied using acetone (good solvent for PS and PLA) and cyclohexane (good solvent for PS but poor solvent for PLA) vapors. Increasing acetone vapor concentration resulted in increased relative resistance change (Rrel) of CPCs. Saturated cyclohexane vapor resulted in lower response than nearly saturated acetone vapor. The thermal annealing at 150 °C did not change the blend morphology but increased the PLA crystallinity, making the CPC sensors more resistant to vapor stimulation, resulting in lower Rrel but better reversibility after vapor exposure.
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    Organic vapor sensing behavior of polycarbonate/polystyrene/multi-walled carbon nanotube blend composites with different microstructures
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier Science, 2019) Li, Yilong; Pionteck, Jürgen; Pötschke, Petra; Voit, Brigitte
    With the focus on the use as leakage detectors, the vapor sensing behavior of conductive polymer composites (CPCs) based on polycarbonate/polystyrene/multi-walled carbon nanotube (PC/PS/MWCNT) blends with different blend ratios was studied as well as their morphological and electrical properties. In the melt mixed blend composites, the MWCNTs are preferentially localized in PC. At the PC/PS ratio of 70/30 wt%, the composites showed a sea-island structure, while for blends containing 40 wt% or 50 wt% PS co-continuous structures were developed resulting in a reduction in the MWCNT percolation threshold. The saturated vapors of the selected solvents have good interactions to PS but different interactions to PC. At 0.75 wt% MWCNT, sea-island CPCs showed high relative resistance change (Rrel) but poor reversibility towards moderate vapors like ethyl acetate and toluene, while CPCs with co-continuous structure exhibited lower Rrel and better reversibility. All CPCs showed poor reversibility towards vapor of the good solvent dichloromethane due to strong interactions between polymers and vapor. In the vapor of the poor solvent cyclohexane, CPCs with higher PS content showed increased Rrel. After extraction of the PS component by cyclohexane, the sensing response was decreased and the Rrel of the co-continuous blend even reached negative values.
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    Bio-inspired deposition of electrochemically exfoliated graphene layers for electrical resistance heating applications
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2020-12-4) Utech, Toni; Pötschke, Petra; Simon, Frank; Janke, Andreas; Kettner, Hannes; Paiva, Maria; Zimmerer, Cordelia
    Electrochemically exfoliated graphene (eeG) layers possess a variety of potential applications, e.g. as susceptor material for contactless induction heating in dynamic electro-magnetic fields, and as flexible and transparent electrode or resistivity heating elements. Spray coating of eeG dispersions was investigated in detail as a simple and fast method to deposit both, thin conducting layers and ring structures on polycarbonate substrates. The spray coating process was examined by systematic variation of dispersion concentration and volume applied to heated substrates. Properties of the obtained layers were characterized by UV-VIS spectroscopy, SEM and Confocal Scanning Microscopy. Electrical conductivity of eeG ring structures was measured using micro-four-point measurements. Modification of eeG with poly(dopamine) and post-thermal treatment yields in the reduction of the oxidized graphene proportion, an increase in electrical conductivity, and mechanical stabilization of the deposited thin layers. The chemical composition of modified eeG layer was analyzed via x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy pointing to the reductive behavior of poly(dopamine). Application oriented experiments demonstrate the direct electric current heating (Joule-Heating) effect of spray-coated eeG layers.