THE SCATTERING OF GENERAL SH PLANE WAVE BY INTERFACE CRACK BETWEEN TWO DISSIMILAR VISCOELASTIC BODIES

The scattering of general SH plane wave by an interface crack between two dissimilar viscoelastic bodies is studied and the dynamic stress intensity factor at the crack-tip is computed. The scattering problem can be decomposed into two problems: one is the reflection and refraction problem of general SH plane waves at perfect interface (with no crack); another is the scattering problem due to the existence of crack. For the first problem, the viscoelastic wave equation, displacement and stress continuity conditions across the interface are used to obtain the shear stress distribution at the interface. For the second problem, the integral transformation method is used to reduce the scattering problem into dual integral equations. Then, the dual integral equations are transformed into the Cauchy singular integral equation of first kind by introduction of the crack dislocation density function. Finally, the singular integral equation is solved by Kurtz's piecewise continuous function method. As a consequence, the crack opening displacement and dynamic stress intensity factor are obtained. At the end of the paper, a numerical example is given. The effects of incident angle, incident frequency and viscoelastic material parameters are analyzed. It is found that there is a frequency region for viscoelastic material within which the viscoelastic effects cannot be ignored.

Tailored architecture of composite electrolyte for all-solid-state sodium batteries with superior rate performance and cycle life

Seeking for composite electrolytes reinforced all-solid-state sodium ion batteries with superior long lifespan and rate performance remains a great challenge.Here,a unique strategy to tailor the architecture of composite electrolyte via inserting polymer chains into a small quantity of sulfate sodium grafted C_(48)0H_(28)O_(32)Zr_(6)(UIOSNa)is proposed.The intimate contact between polymer segments and UIOSNa with limited pore size facilitates the anion immobilization of sodium salts and reduction of polymer crystallinity,thereby providing rapid ion conduction and reducing the adverse effect caused by the immigration of anions.The tNa+grafting of-SO_(3)Na groups on fillers allows the free movement of more sodium ions to further improve and ionic conductivity.Consequently,even with the low content of UIOSNa fillers,a high ionic conductivity of 6.62×10^(-4) S·cm^(-1) at 60℃ and a transference number of 0.67 for the special designed composite electrolyte are achieved.The assembled all-solid-state sodium cell exhibits a remarkable rate performance for 500 cycles with 95.96%capacity retention at a high current rate of 4 C.The corresponding pouch cell can stably work for 1000 cycles with 97.03%capacity retention at 1 C,which is superior to most of the reported composite electrolytes in the literature.

Utilizing Multilayer Design of Organic-Inorganic Hybrids to Enhance Wearable Strain Sensor in Humid Environment

Flexible strain wearable sensors have attracted considerable attention due to their advantages of low cost, lightweight, high sensitivity and good flexibility. However, the strain sensors are easy to be damaged in an extreme humidity environment or by the wearer’s sweat in the process of use, resulting in detection disorder or even a short circuit. Furthermore, preparation of sensors with stable properties under extreme environments is one of the most important research directions. To fill this gap, a flexible sensor was prepared by using polyurethane and carbon nanotubes, then modified by polydopamine and 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecane-mercaptan. A typical tunnel model was used to explain the working mechanism of the sensor, the sensitivity of the sensor is also explained and evaluated by the tunneling theory. The results show that the sensor has good sensitivity (the sensor has a stable sensing signal output under a strain range from 2% to 300%) and stability over 8500 cycles. At the same time, the sensor has good superhydrophobicity, the water contact angle reaches 152°, and it is still stable in a humid environment. Moreover, this sensor shows excellent performance in monitoring human joint motion (such as finger, elbow, wrist and knee) and physiological signals (such as speaking and drinking). This work provides an effective design method for the sensor which can be applied in a high humidity environment.

Surface decoration of Halloysite nanotubes with POSS for fire-safe thermoplastic polyurethane nanocomposites

Halloysite nanotubes(HNTs)have been considered as a promising flame retardant fillers for polymers.In this work,the polyhedral oligomericsilsesquioxane(POSS)containing amino group was covalently grafted on the surface of HNTs with 3-(2,3-epoxypropoxy)propytrimethoxysilane as a chemical bridge.The POSS modified HNTs(HNTs-POSS)dispersed uniformly in the thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU)matrix and endowed TPU nanocomposites with enhanced tensile properties and fire safety.Cone calorimeter tests revealed that the introduction of 2 wt%HNTs-POSS to TPU matrix remarkably reduced the peak of heat release rate(PHRR)and total heat release(THR)by 60.0%and 18.3%,respectively.In addition,the peak CO production rate and total smoke release(TSR)could be significantly suppressed by the addition of HNTsPOSS.The well dispersed HNTs in combination with the ceramified silicon network from the thermal decomposition of POSS contributed to the formation of a continuous and compact char layer,exhibiting a tortuous effect by inhibiting heat diffusion and evaporation of volatile gaseous.In addition,the released crystal water from HNTs could dilute the combustible volatiles and then decline the combustion intensity.The tensile tests demonstrated that introduction of 2 wt%HNTs-POSS would enhance the maximum stress of TPU nanocomposite with a slight decrease of elongation at break.The combination of HNTs and POSS through the construction of effective interfacial interactions provides a feasible way to effectively enhance the fire safety of TPU nanocomposites without scarifying ductility.

Facilely prepared layer-by-layer graphene membrane-based pressure sensor with high sensitivity and stability for smart wearable devices

With the prosperous development of artificial intelligence,medical diagnosis and electronic skins,wearable electronic devices have drawn much attention in our daily life.Flexible pressure sensors based on carbon materials with ultrahigh sensitivity,especially in a large pressure range regime are highly required in wearable applications.In this work,graphene membrane with a layer-by-layer structure has been successfully fabricated via a facile self-assembly and air-drying(SAAD)method.In the SAAD process,air-drying the self-assembled graphene hydrogels contributes to the uniform and compact layer structure in the obtained membranes.Owing to the excellent mechanical and electrical properties of graphene,the pressure sensor constructed by several layers of membranes exhibits high sensitivity(52.36 kPa……-1)and repeatability(short response and recovery time)in the loading pressure range of 0–50 kPa.Compared with most reported graphene-related pressure sensors,our device shows better sensitivity and wider applied pressure range.What’s more,we demonstrate it shows desired results in wearable applications for pulse monitoring,breathing detection as well as different intense motion recording such as walk,run and squat.It’s hoped that the facilely prepared layer-by-layer graphene membrane-based pressure sensors will have more potential to be used for smart wearable devices in the future.

Confined Crystallization Behaviors of Cross-linked Comb-like Copolymers

Cross-linked PEG-based copolymers were obtained via synthesis of polyethylene glycol （PEG） and methoxy polyethylene glycol （MPEG） by the bridging and/or cross-linking agent of 2,4-tolylene diisocyanate （TDI） and/or hexamethylene-l,6-diisocyanate homopolymer （HDI trimer）. The effects on the crystallization behaviors of the samples could be found with the changes in molecular weight of MC-PEG and molecular weight of SC-PEG in certain cross-linked density. It is revealed that the samples appear not to crystallize when the molecular weight of MC-PEG and SC-PEG are 1000 g/mol or less than that. The samples begin to crystallize when the molecular weight of either MC-PEG or SC-PEG reaches 2000 g/mol. The crystallinity of crystallized MC-PEG decreases with the increasing molecular weight of uncrystallized SC-PEG and the crystallinity of crystallized SC-PEG declines with the rise of molecular weight of uncrystallizable MC-PEG. The chains of SC-PEG （M_n = 2000 g/mol） can fold and align easilier than those of MC-PEG （M_n = 2000 g/mol）, when the content of PEG is the same.