Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 90
  • Item
    Graphite modified epoxy-based adhesive for joining of aluminium and PP/graphite composites
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Taylor & Francis, 2020) Rzeczkowski, P.; Pötschke, Petra; Fischer, M.; Kühnert, I.; Krause, Beate
    A graphite-modified adhesive was developed in order to simultaneously enhance the thermal conductivity and the strength of an adhesive joint. The thermal conductivity through the joint was investigated by using highly filled PP/graphite composite substrates, which were joined with an epoxy adhesive of different layer thicknesses. Similar measurements were carried out with a constant adhesive layer thickness, whilst applying an epoxy adhesive modified with expanded graphite (EG) (6, 10, and 20 wt%). By reducing the adhesive layer thickness or modifying the adhesive with conductive fillers, a significant increase of the thermal conductivity through the joint was achieved. The examination of the mechanical properties of the modified adhesives was carried out by tensile tests (adhesive only), lap-shear tests, and fracture energy tests (mode 1) with aluminium substrates. Modification of the adhesive with EG led to an increase of the tensile lap-shear strength and the adhesive fracture energy (mode 1) of the joint. In addition, burst pressure tests were performed to determine the strength of the joint in a complex component. The strength of the joint increased with the graphite content in the PP substrate and in the epoxy adhesive.
  • Item
    Experimental and computational analysis of thermoelectric modules based on melt-mixed polypropylene composites
    (Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2023) Doraghi, Qusay; Żabnieńska-Góra, Alina; Norman, Les; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra; Jouhara, Hussam
    Researchers are constantly looking for new materials that exploit the Seebeck phenomenon to convert heat into electrical energy using thermoelectric generators (TEGs). New lead-free thermoelectric materials are being investigated as part of the EU project InComEss, with one of the anticipated uses being converting wasted heat into electric energy. Such research aims to reduce the production costs as well as the environmental impact of current TEG modules which mostly employ bismuth for their construction. The use of polymers that, despite lower efficiency, achieve increasingly higher values of electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficients at a low heat transfer coefficient is increasingly discussed in the literature. This article presents two thermoelectric generator (TEG) models based on data previously described in the literature. Two types of designs are presented: consisting of 4- and 49-leg pairs of p- and n-type composites based on polypropylene melt-mixed with single-walled carbon nanotubes. The models being developed using COMSOL Multiphysics software and validated based on measurements carried out in the laboratory. Based on the results of the analysis, conductive polymer composites employing insulating matrices can be considered as a promising material of the future for TEG modules.
  • Item
    Messanlage zur Untersuchung des Seebeck-Effektes in Polymermaterialien
    (Berlin : De Gruyter, 2020) Jenschke, Wolfgang; Ullrich, Mathias; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra
    The thermoelectric effect named after the physicist Thomas Johann Seebeck has been investigated sufficiently well for all technically relevant metals and has been used for a long time, among other things, for temperature measurement by means of thermocouples. Less well known and researched is the Seebeck effect in polymer materials, which are gaining increasing influence in the sensor industry today. This article describes a measuring system designed specifically to study the Seebeck effect in polymeric samples with the aim of developing tailored polymers for sensory engineering applications using the Seebeck effect. The special requirement of the measuring system is the realization of constant accurate temperature sources.
  • Item
    Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Grown on Cellulose/GO Hydrogels as Advanced Catalytic Materials for the Heterogeneous Fenton-like Reaction
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2019) Chen, Yian; Pötschke, Petra; Pionteck, Jürgen; Voit, Brigitte; Qi, Haisong
    Cellulose/graphene oxide (GO)/iron oxide (Fe3O4) composites were prepared by coprecipitating iron salts onto cellulose/GO hydrogels in a basic solution. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared, and X-ray diffraction characterization showed that Fe3O4 was successfully coated on GO sheets and cellulose. Cellulose/GO/Fe3O4 composites showed excellent catalytic activity by maintaining almost 98% of the removal of acid orange 7 (AO7) and showed stability over 20 consecutive cycles. This performance is attributable to the synergistic effect of Fe3O4 and GO during the heterogeneous Fenton-like reaction. Especially, the cellulose/GO/Fe3O4 composites preserve their activity by keeping the ratio of Fe3+/Fe2+ at 2 even after 20 catalysis cycles, which is supported by XPS analysis.
  • Item
    Effects of high energy electrons on the properties of polyethylene / multiwalled carbon nanotubes composites: Comparison of as-grown and oxygen-functionalised MWCNT
    (Melville, NY : AIP, 2014) Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra; Gohs, U.
    Polymer modification with high energy electrons (EB) is well established in different applications for many years. It is used for crosslinking, curing, degrading, grafting of polymeric materials and polymerisation of monomers. In contrast to this traditional method, electron induced reactive processing (EIReP) combines the polymer modification with high energy electrons and the melt mixing process. This novel reactive method was used to prepare polymer blends and composites. In this study, both methods were used for the preparation of polyethylene (PE)/ multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) composites in the presence of a coupling agent. The influence of MWCNT and type of electron treatment on the gel content, the thermal conductivity, rheological, and electrical properties was investigated whereby as-grown and oxidised MWCNT were used. In the presence of a coupling agent and at an absorbed dose of 40 kGy, the gel content increased from 57 % for the pure PE to 74 % or 88 % by the addition of as-grown (Baytubes® C150P) or oxidised MWCNT, respectively. In comparison to the composites containing the as-grown MWCNTs, the use of the oxidised MWCNTs led to higher melt viscosity and higher storage modulus due to higher yield of filler polymer couplings. The melt viscosity increased due to the addition of MWCNT and crosslinking of PE. The thermal conductivity increased to about 150 % and showed no dependence on the kind of MWCNT and the type of electron treatment. In contrast, the lowest value of electrical volume resistivity was found for the non-irradiated samples and after state of the art electron treatment without any influence of the type of MWCNT. In the case of EIReP, the volume resistivity increased by 2 (as-grown MWCNT) or 3 decades (oxidised MWCNT) depending on the process parameters. © 2014 American Institute of Physics.
  • Item
    Effect of additives on MWCNT dispersion and electrical percolation in polyamide 12 composites
    (Melville, NY : AIP, 2017) Socher, Robert; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra
    The aim of this study was to decrease the electrical percolation threshold of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in a polyamide 12 matrix by the use of additives. Different kinds of additives were selected which either interact with the π-system of the MWCNTs (imidazolium based ionic liquid (IL) and perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA)) or improve the MWCNT wettability (cyclic butylene terephthalate, CBT). The composites were melt mixed using a DACA microcompounder. The electrical percolation threshold for PA12/MWCNT without additives, measured on compression molded plates, was found between 2.0 and 2.25 wt%. With all used additives, a significant reduction of the electrical percolation threshold could be achieved. Whereas the addition of IL and CBT resulted in MWCNT percolation at around 1.0 wt%, a slightly higher percolation threshold between 1.0 and 1.5 wt% was found for PTCDA as an additive. Interestingly, the electrical resistivity at higher loadings was decreased by nearly two decades when using CBT and one decade after application of PTCDA, whereas IL did not contribute to lower values in this range. In all cases macrodispersion as assessed by light microscopy was not improved and even worse as compared to non-modified composites. In summary, the results illustrate that these kinds of additives are able to improve the performance of PA12 based MWCNT nanocomposites.
  • Item
    Influence of graphite and SEBS addition on thermal and electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of polypropylene composites
    (Melville, NY : AIP, 2017) Krause, Beate; Cohnen, A.; Pötschke, Petra; Hickmann, T.; Koppler, D.; Proksch, B.; Kersting, T.; Hopmann, C.
    In this study, composites based on polypropylene (PP) and different graphite fillers were melt mixed using small scale microcompounder Xplore DSM15 as well as lab-scale co-rotating twin screw extruder Coperion ZSK26Mc. The measurements of the electrical and thermal conductivity as well as mechanical properties of the composites were performed on pressed plates. It was found that the addition of graphite powders having different particle size distributions leads to different increases of the thermal conductivity. For synthetic graphite, the PP composites filled with TIMCAL Timrex® KS500 reached the highest value of thermal conductivity of 0.52 W/(m·K) at 10 vol% loading, whereas this composite was not electrical conductive. Furthermore, the influence of a styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene block copolymer (SEBS) based impact modifier on the mechanical properties of PP filled with 80 wt% of different synthetic graphites was investigated. For that the proportion of SEBS in the PP component was varied systematically. The conductivities were influenced by the type of graphite and the content of impact modifier. The results indicate that the impact strength of the composite containing TIMCAL Timrex® KS300-1250 can be increased by approx. 100 % when replacing 50 wt% of the PP component by SEBS.
  • Item
    Impact of synthesis temperature on morphology, rheology and electromagnetic interference shielding of CVD-grown carbon nanotube/polyvinylidene fluoride nanocomposites
    (Lausanne : Elsevier Sequoia, 2017) Mirkhani, Seyyed Alireza; Arjmand, Mohammad; Sadeghi, Soheil; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra; Sundararaj, Uttandaraman
    Employing chemical vapor deposition technique, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized over Fe catalyst at a broad range of temperatures, i.e. 550° C to 950° C (at 100° C intervals). CNTs were melt-mixed into a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) matrix at various loadings, and then compression molded. Surprisingly, despite the ascending trend of CNT powder conductivity with the synthesis temperature, the nanocomposites made with CNT synthesized at 650° C had significantly lower percolation threshold (around 0.4 wt%) and higher electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) (20.3 dB over the X-band for 3.5 wt% CNT and 1.1 mm thickness) than the other temperatures. Exhaustive characterization studies were conducted on both CNTs and composites to unveil their morphological and electrical characteristics. Superior EMI shielding of CNT650° C was attributed to a combination of high carbon purity, aspect ratio, crystallinity, and moderate powder conductivity along with decent state of dispersion within the PVDF matrix.
  • Item
    Extruded polycarbonate/Di-Allyl phthalate composites with ternary conductive filler system for bipolar plates of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2019) Naji, Ahmed; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra; Ameli, Amir
    Here, we report multifunctional polycarbonate (PC)-based conductive polymer composites (CPCs) with outstanding performance manufactured by a simple extrusion process and intended for use in bipolar plate (BPP) applications in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. CPCs were developed using a ternary conductive filler system containing carbon nanotube (CNT), carbon fiber (CF), and graphite (G) and by introducing di-allyl phthalate (DAP) as a plasticizer to PC matrix. The samples were fabricated using twin-screw extrusion followed by compression molding and the microstructure, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and mechanical properties were investigated. The results showed a good dispersion of the fillers with some degree of interconnection between dissimilar fillers. The addition of DAP enhanced the electrical conductivity and tensile strength of the CPCs. Due to its plasticizing effect, DAP reduced the processing temperature by 75 °C and facilitated the extrusion of CPCs with filler loads as high as 63 wt% (3 wt% CNT, 30 wt% CF, 30 wt% G). Consequently, CPCs with the through-plane electrical, in-plane electrical and thermal conductivities and tensile strength of 4.2 S cm-1, 34.3 S cm-1, 2.9 W m-1 K-1, and 75.4 MPa, respectively, were achieved. This combination of properties indicates the potential of PC-based composites enriched with hybrid fillers and plasticizers as an alternative material for BPP application.
  • Item
    Lightweight polymer-carbon composite current collector for lithium-ion batteries
    (Basel : MDPI, 2020) Fritsch, Marco; Coeler, Matthias; Kunz, Karina; Krause, Beate; Marcinkowski, Peter; Pötschke, Petra; Wolter, Mareike; Michaelis, Alexander
    A hermetic dense polymer-carbon composite-based current collector foil (PCCF) for lithium-ion battery applications was developed and evaluated in comparison to state-of-the-art aluminum (Al) foil collector. Water-processed LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LMNO) cathode and Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) anode coatings with the integration of a thin carbon primer at the interface to the collector were prepared. Despite the fact that the laboratory manufactured PCCF shows a much higher film thickness of 55 µm compared to Al foil of 19 µm, the electrode resistance was measured to be by a factor of 5 lower compared to the Al collector, which was attributed to the low contact resistance between PCCF, carbon primer and electrode microstructure. The PCCF-C-primer collector shows a sufficient voltage stability up to 5 V vs. Li/Li+ and a negligible Li-intercalation loss into the carbon primer. Electrochemical cell tests demonstrate the applicability of the developed PCCF for LMNO and LTO electrodes, with no disadvantage compared to state-of-the-art Al collector. Due to a 50% lower material density, the lightweight and hermetic dense PCCF polymer collector offers the possibility to significantly decrease the mass loading of the collector in battery cells, which can be of special interest for bipolar battery architectures. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.