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Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
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    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.
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    Devulcanization of Waste Rubber and Generation of Active Sites for Silica Reinforcement
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2019) Ghorai, Soumyajit; Mondal, Dipankar; Hait, Sakrit; Ghosh, Anik Kumar; Wiessner, Sven; Das, Amit; De, Debapriya
    Each year, hundreds of millions of tires are produced and ultimately disposed into nature. To address this serious environmental issue, devulcanization could be one of the sustainable solutions that still remains as one of the biggest challenges across the globe. In this work, sulfur-vulcanized natural rubber (NR) is mechanochemically devulcanized utilizing a silane-based tetrasulfide as a devulcanizing agent, and subsequently, silica (SiO2)-based rubber composites are prepared. This method not only breaks the sulfur–sulfur cross-links but also produces reactive poly(isoprene) chains to interact with silica. The silica natural rubber composites are prepared by replacing 30% fresh NR by devulcanized NR with varying contents of silica. The composites exhibit excellent mechanical properties, tear strength, abrasion resistance, and dynamic mechanical properties as compared with the fresh natural rubber silica composites. The tensile strength of devulcanized rubber-based silica composites is ∼20 MPa, and the maximum elongation strain is ∼921%. The devulcanized composites are studied in detail by chemical, mechanical, and morphological analyses. Thus, the value added by the devulcanized rubber could attract the attention of recycling community for its sustainable applications.
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    A High-Voltage, Dendrite-Free, and Durable Zn–Graphite Battery
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Wang, Gang; Kohn, Benjamin; Scheler, Ulrich; Wang, Faxing; Oswald, Steffen; Löffler, Markus; Tan, Deming; Zhang, Panpan; Zhang, Jian; Feng, Xinliang
    The intrinsic advantages of metallic Zn, like high theoretical capacity (820 mAh g−1), high abundance, low toxicity, and high safety have driven the recent booming development of rechargeable Zn batteries. However, the lack of high-voltage electrolyte and cathode materials restricts the cell voltage mostly to below 2 V. Moreover, dendrite formation and the poor rechargeability of the Zn anode hinder the long-term operation of Zn batteries. Here a high-voltage and durable Zn–graphite battery, which is enabled by a LiPF6-containing hybrid electrolyte, is reported. The presence of LiPF6 efficiently suppresses the anodic oxidation of Zn electrolyte and leads to a super-wide electrochemical stability window of 4 V (vs Zn/Zn2+). Both dendrite-free Zn plating/stripping and reversible dual-anion intercalation into the graphite cathode are realized in the hybrid electrolyte. The resultant Zn–graphite battery performs stably at a high voltage of 2.8 V with a record midpoint discharge voltage of 2.2 V. After 2000 cycles at a high charge–discharge rate, high capacity retention of 97.5% is achieved with ≈100% Coulombic efficiency. © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
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    Temperature-Dependent Reinforcement of Hydrophilic Rubber Using Ice Crystals
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2017-2-2) Natarajan, Tamil Selvan; Stöckelhuber, Klaus Werner; Malanin, Mikhail; Eichhorn, Klaus-Jochen; Formanek, Petr; Reuter, Uta; Wießner, Sven; Heinrich, Gert; Das, Amit
    This is the first study on the impact of ice crystals on glass transition and mechanical behavior of soft cross-linked elastomers. A hydrophilic elastomer such as epichlorohydrin-ethylene oxide-allyl glycidyl ether can absorb about ∼40 wt % of water. The water-swollen cross-linked network exhibits elastic properties with more than 1500% stretchability at room temperature. Coincidently, the phase transition of water into solid ice crystals inside of the composites allows the reinforcement of the soft elastomer mechanically at lower temperatures. Young's modulus of the composites measured at -20 °C remarkably increased from 1.45 to 3.14 MPa, whereas at +20 °C, the effect was opposite and the Young's modulus decreased from 0.6 to 0.03 MPa after 20 days of water treatment. It was found that a part of the absorbed water, ∼74% of the total absorbed water, is freezable and occupies nearly 26 vol % of the composites. Simultaneously, these solid ice crystals are found to be acting as a reinforcing filler at lower temperatures. The size of these ice crystals is distributed in a relatively narrow range of 400-600 nm. The storage modulus (E′) of the ice crystal-filled composites increased from 3 to 13 MPa at -20 °C. The glass transition temperature (-37 °C) of the soft cross-linked elastomer was not altered by the absorption of water. However, a special transition (melting of ice) occurred at temperatures close to 0 °C as observed in the dynamic mechanical analysis of the water-swollen elastomers. The direct polymer/filler (ice crystals) interaction was demonstrated by strain sweep experiments and investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. This type of cross-linked rubber could be integrated into a smart rubber application such as in adaptable mechanics, where the stiffness of the rubber can be altered as a function of temperature without affecting the mechanical stretchability either below or above 0 °C (above the glass temperature region) of the rubber.
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    A Printable Paste Based on a Stable n-Type Poly[Ni-tto] Semiconducting Polymer
    (Basel : MDPI, 2019) Tkachov, Roman; Stepien, Lukas; Greifzu, Moritz; Kiriy, Anton; Kiriy, Nataliya; Schüler, Tilman; Schmiel, Tino; López, Elena; Brückner, Frank; Leyens, Christoph
    Polynickeltetrathiooxalate (poly[Ni-tto]) is an n-type semiconducting polymer having outstanding thermoelectric characteristics and exhibiting high stability under ambient conditions. However, its insolubility limits its use in organic electronics. This work is devoted to the production of a printable paste based on a poly[Ni-tto]/PVDF composite by thoroughly grinding the powder in a ball mill. The resulting paste has high homogeneity and is characterized by rheological properties that are well suited to the printing process. High-precision dispenser printing allows one to apply both narrow lines and films of poly[Ni-tto]-composite with a high degree of smoothness. The resulting films have slightly better thermoelectric properties compared to the original polymer powder. A flexible, fully organic double-leg thermoelectric generator with six thermocouples was printed by dispense printing using the poly[Ni-tto]-composite paste as n-type material and a commercial PEDOT-PSS paste as p-type material. A temperature gradient of 100 K produces a power output of about 20 nW. © 2019 by the authors.
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    Direct Observation of Plasmon Band Formation and Delocalization in Quasi-Infinite Nanoparticle Chains
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publ., 2019) Mayer, Martin; Potapov, Pavel L.; Pohl, Darius; Steiner, Anja Maria; Schultz, Johannes; Rellinghaus, Bernd; Lubk, Axel; König, Tobias A.F.; Fery, Andreas
    Chains of metallic nanoparticles sustain strongly confined surface plasmons with relatively low dielectric losses. To exploit these properties in applications, such as waveguides, the fabrication of long chains of low disorder and a thorough understanding of the plasmon-mode properties, such as dispersion relations, are indispensable. Here, we use a wrinkled template for directed self-assembly to assemble chains of gold nanoparticles. With this up-scalable method, chain lengths from two particles (140 nm) to 20 particles (1500 nm) and beyond can be fabricated. Electron energy-loss spectroscopy supported by boundary element simulations, finite-difference time-domain, and a simplified dipole coupling model reveal the evolution of a band of plasmonic waveguide modes from degenerated single-particle modes in detail. In striking difference from plasmonic rod-like structures, the plasmon band is confined in excitation energy, which allows light manipulations below the diffraction limit. The non-degenerated surface plasmon modes show suppressed radiative losses for efficient energy propagation over a distance of 1500 nm. © 2019 American Chemical Society.
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    Reversible thermosensitive biodegradable polymeric actuators based on confined crystallization
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publ., 2015) Stroganov, Vladislav; Al-Hussein, Mahmoud; Sommer, Jens-Uwe; Janke, Andreas; Zakharchenko, Svetlana; Ionov, Leonid
    We discovered a new and unexpected effect of reversible actuation of ultrathin semicrystalline polymer films. The principle was demonstrated on the example of thin polycaprolactone-gelatin bilayer films. These films are unfolded at room temperature, fold at temperature above polycaprolactone melting point, and unfold again at room temperature. The actuation is based on reversible switching of the structure of the hydrophobic polymer (polycaprolactone) upon melting and crystallization. We hypothesize that the origin of this unexpected behavior is the orientation of polycaprolactone chains parallel to the surface of the film, which is retained even after melting and crystallization of the polymer or the “crystallization memory effect”. In this way, the crystallization generates a directed force, which causes bending of the film. We used this effect for the design of new generation of fully biodegradable thermoresponsive polymeric actuators, which are highly desirable for bionano-technological applications such as reversible encapsulation of cells and design of swimmers.
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    Carbon-Based Materials at Nanoscale
    (New York, NY : Hindawi Publ., 2015) Xia, Dan; Otyepka, Michal; Li, Xi; Liu, Wei; Zheng, Qingbin
    [No abstract available]
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    Metal Plastic Hybrids: Optimisation in model experiments [Metall-Kunststoff-Verbunde: Modellversuche zur Optimierung]
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Bräuer, M.; Edelmann, M.; Lehmann, D.; Tuschla, M.
    Metal plastic hybrids will become more important as components for lightweight constructions. It is reported about optimisation of making three layer hybrids consisted of a steel plate, an adhesion layer based of uretdione powder coating material and a flexible component polyurethane in model experiments. Hybrid formation is performed in a compression moulding process. The adhesion layer and the polyurethane are modified to increase the hybrid bond strength. Peel test are conducted to quantitatively characterize the bond strength and an apparent energy release rate is calculated based on the peel force. For hybrids with widths of 2 mm polyurethane stripes it is possible to increase the apparent energy release rate for about 30 % to 16 N/mm in comparison with a hybrid with unmodified components. These hybrids have the same high bond strength level as the strongest hybrids reported in literature. Concluding the optimisation results are discussed related to their relevancy for the interpretation of the adhesion mechanisms in the interface between adhesion layer and polyurethane. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
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    Review on quality assurance along the CFRP value chain - Non-destructive testing of fabrics, preforms and CFRP by HF radio wave techniques
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2015) Heuer, H.; Schulze, M.; Pooch, M.; Gäbler, S.; Nocke, A.; Bardl, G.; Cherif, Ch.; Klein, M.; Kupke, R.; Vetter, R.; Lenz, F.; Kliem, M.; Bülow, C.; Goyvaerts, J.; Mayer, T.; Petrenz, S.
    Eddy current testing is well established for non-destructive testing of electrical conductive materials [1]. The development of radio frequency (RF) eddy current technology with frequency ranges up to 100 MHz made it possible to extend the classical fields of application even towards less conductive materials like CFRP [2][3](Table 2). It turns out that RF eddy current technology on CFRP generates a growing number of valuable information for comprehensive material diagnostic. Both permittivity and conductivity of CFRP influence the complex impedance measured with RF eddy current devices. The electrical conductivity contains information about fiber texture like orientations, gaps or undulations in a multilayered material. The permittivity characterization influenced by dielectric properties allows the determination of local curing defects on CFRP e.g. hot spots, thermal impacts or polymer degradation. An explanation for that effect is seen in the measurement frequency range and the capacitive structure of the carbon rovings. Using radio wave frequencies for testing, the effect of displacement currents cannot be neglected anymore. The capacitive structures formed by the carbon rovings is supposed to further strengthen the dielectric influences on eddy current measurement signal [3]. This report gives an overview of several realized applications and should be understood as a general introduction of CFRP testing by HF Radio Wave techniques.