Improving the electroconductivity and mechanical properties of cellulosic paper with multi-walled carbon nanotube/polyaniline nanocomposites

Cellulose is the most abundant renewable polymer in the nature,and cellulosic paper is widely used in our daily life.Conferring electroconductivity to cellulosic paper would allow this conventional material to hold great promise for a wide range of energy-related applications.In the present work,multi-walled carbon nanotube(MWCNT)/polyaniline(PANI)nanocomposites were synthesized via in situ oxidation polymerization process and characterized by FT-IR and TEM.Subsequently,the application of the synthesized MWCNT/PANI nanocomposites as a wet-end filler for the production of electro-conductive paper was demonstrated/developed.Results showed that the cellulosic paper was imparted with an electro-conductivity of up to 0.14 S·m^(-1) while exhibiting a pronounced improvement in mechanical properties as a function of the added MWCNT/PANI nanocomposites.

Catalytic depolymerization/degradation of alkali lignin by dual-component catalysts in supercritical ethanol

Depolymerization of lignin is an important step to obtain lignin monomer for the synthesis of functional bio-polymers.In this paper,catalytic degradation/depolymerization of an alkali lignin was investigated in a supercritical ethanol system.The process conditions were optimized in terms of lignin monomer yield,and the liquid products and solid residue were characterized.Results show that the conversion rate of the alkali lignin was improved in both the Ni7Au3 catalyzed and Nickel-catalyzed systems with supercritical ethanol as the solvent.The maximum lignin conversion rate was 69.57%and 68%respectively for the Ni7Au3 and Nickel-based catalysis systems.Gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy(GC/MS)analysis indicated that the catalytic depolymerization products of alkali lignin were mainly monomeric phenolic compounds such as 2-methoxyphenol.The highest yield of 2-methoxyphenol(84.72%)was achieved with Ni7Au3 as the catalyst.