Ultraviolet‑Irradiated All‑Organic Nanocomposites with Polymer Dots for High‑Temperature Capacitive Energy Storage

Polymer dielectrics capable of operating efficiently at high electric fields and elevated temperatures are urgently demanded by next-generation electronics and electrical power systems.While inorganic fillers have been extensively utilized to improved high-temperature capacitive performance of dielectric polymers,the presence of thermodynamically incompatible organic and inorganic components may lead to concern about the long-term stability and also complicate film processing.Herein,zero-dimensional polymer dots with high electron affinity are introduced into photoactive allyl-containing poly(aryl ether sulfone)to form the all-organic polymer composites for hightemperature capacitive energy storage.Upon ultraviolet irradiation,the crosslinked polymer composites with polymer dots are efficient in suppressing electrical conduction at high electric fields and elevated temperatures,which significantly reduces the high-field energy loss of the composites at 200℃.Accordingly,the ultraviolet-irradiated composite film exhibits a discharged energy density of 4.2 J cm^(−3)at 200℃.Along with outstanding cyclic stability of capacitive performance at 200℃,this work provides a promising class of dielectric materials for robust high-performance all-organic dielectric nanocomposites.

Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System for Prediction of Effective Thermal Conductivity of Polymer-Matrix Composites

In the present study, the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is developed for the prediction of effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of different fillers filled in polymer matrixes. The ANFIS uses a hybrid learning algorithm. The ANFIS is a class of adaptive networks that is functionally equivalent to fuzzy inference systems (FIS). The ANFIS is based on neuro-fuzzy model, trained with data collected from various sources of literature. ETC is predicted using ANFIS with volume fraction and thermal conductivities of fillers and matrixes as input parameters, respectively. The predicted results by ANFIS are in good agreements with experimental values. The predicted results also show the supremacy of ANFIS in comparison with other earlier developed models.

Influence of Mass Ratio of Resin and Stabilizer on Mechanical Properties of Mo Fiber-reinforced Granite Polymer Composite

Because inferior mechanical strength of granite polymer composite(GPC)has become the main drawback limiting its application and popularization,Mo fibers were added into(GPC)to improve its mechanical strength.Mechanical properties of matrix materials with different mass ratio of resin and stabilizer(MRRS)were investigated systematically.The influences of MRRS on interface bonding strength of Mo fiber-matrix,wettability and mechanical strength of GPC were discussed,respectively,and the theoretical calculation result of MRRS k was obtained,with the optimal value of k=4.When k=4,tensile strength,tensile strain and fracture stress of the cured resin achieve the maximum values.But for k=7,the corresponding values reach the minimum.With the increase of MRRS k,surface free energy of the cured resin first increases and then decreases,while contact angles between Mo sample and matrix have displayed the opposite trend.Wettability of resin to Mo fiber is the best at k=4.Pulling load of Mo fiber and interface bonding strength appear the maximum at k=4,followed by k=5,k=3 the third,and k=7 the minimum.When k=4,mechanical properties of Mo fiber-reinforced GPC are optimal,which is consistent with the result of theoretical calculation.This study is of great significance to get better component formulas of Mo fiber reinforced GPC and to improve its application in machine tools.

Thermal conductivity model of filled polymer composites

Theoretical and empirical models for predicting the thermal conductivity of polymer composites were summarized since the 1920s.The effects of particle shape,filler amount,dispersion state of fillers,and interfacial thermal barrier on the thermal conductivity of filled polymer composites were investigated,and the agreement of experimental data with theoretical models in literatures was discussed.Silica with high thermal conductivity was chosen to mix with polyvinyl-acetate （EVA） copolymer to prepare SiO2/EVA co-films.Experimental data of the co-films＇ thermal conductivity were compared with some classical theoretical and empirical models.The results show that Agari＇s model,the mixed model,and the percolation model can predict well the thermal conductivity of SiO2/EVA co-films.

A Perspective for Developing Polymer-Based Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Composites

The rapid development of aerospace weapons and equipment,wireless base stations and 5G communication technologies has put forward newer and higher requirements for the comprehensive performances of polymer-based electromagnetic interference(EMI)shielding composites.However,most of currently prepared polymer-based EMI shielding composites are still difficult to combine high performance and multi-functionality.In response to this,based on the research works of relevant researchers as well as our research group,three possible directions to break through the above bottlenecks are proposed,including construction of efficient conductive networks,optimization of multi-interfaces for lightweight and multifunction compatibility design.The future development trends in three directions are prospected,and it is hoped to provide certain theoretical basis and technical guidance for the preparation,research and development of polymer-based EMI shielding composites.

Structural Design Strategies of Polymer Matrix Composites for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding:A Review

With the widespread application of electronic communication technology,the resulting electromagnetic radiation pollution has been significantly increased.Metal matrix electromagnetic interference(EMI)shielding materials have disadvantages such as high density,easy corrosion,difficult processing and high price,etc.Polymer matrix EMI shielding composites possess light weight,corrosion resistance and easy processing.However,the current polymer matrix composites present relatively low electrical conductivity and poor EMI shielding performance.This review firstly discusses the key concept,loss mechanism and test method of EMI shielding.Then the current development status of EMI shielding materials is summarized,and the research progress of polymer matrix EMI shielding composites with different structures is illustrated,especially for their preparation methods and evaluation.Finally,the corresponding key scientific and technical problems are proposed,and their development trend is also prospected.

Preparation of Laminin-apatite-polymer Composites Using Metastable Calcium Phosphate Solutions

A synthetic polymer with a laminin-apatite composite layer on its surface would be useful as a percutaneous device. The preparation of such a composite was attempted in the present study using poly（ ethylene terephthalate ） （PET） and polyethylene （PE） as the synthetic polymer. PET and PE plates and those pretreated with an oxygen plasma were alternately dipped in calcium and phosphate ion solutions, and then immersed in a metastable calcium phosphate solution supplemented with laminin （ LCP solution ）. The PET and PE plates pretreated with an oxygen plasma formed a uniform and continuous layer of a laminin-apatite composite on their surfaces. In contrast, the PET and PE plates that had not been pretreated with an oxygen plasma did not form a continuous layer of a laminin-apatite composite on their surfaces. The hydrophilic functional groups on the PET and PE surfaces introduced by the plasma treatment were responsible for the successful laminin-apatite coruposite coating.

Microstructure of Steel Fiber Reinforced Polymer-cement-based Composites

Mercury intrusion porosimetry was used to measure the pore structure of steel fiber reinforced polymer-cement-based composite. The results indicate that the large pore volume decreases by 57. 8% - 51.2% and by 87. 1% - 88% with the addition of steel fibers and polymers respectively. When both steel fibers and polymers are simultaneously added, the large pore volume decreases by 88.3% - 90.1% . As a surface active material , polymer has a favorable water-reduced and forming-film effect, which is contributed to the decrease of the thickness of water film and the improvement of the conglutination between the fibers and the matrix. Polymers could form a microstructure network. This network structure and the bone structure of cement hydration products penetrate each other and thus the interpenetrating network with sticky aggregate and steel fiber inside forms.

Breaking Through Bottlenecks for Thermally Conductive Polymer Composites:A Perspective for Intrinsic Thermal Conductivity,Interfacial Thermal Resistance and Theoretics

Rapid development of energy,electrical and electronic technologies has put forward higher requirements for the thermal conductivities of polymers and their composites.However,the thermal conductivity coefficient(λ)values of prepared thermally conductive polymer composites are still difficult to achieve expectations,which has become the bottleneck in the fields of thermally conductive polymer composites.Aimed at that,based on the accumulation of the previous research works by related researchers and our research group,this paper proposes three possible directions for breaking through the bottlenecks:(1)preparing and synthesizing intrinsically thermally conductive polymers,(2)reducing the interfacial thermal resistance in thermally conductive polymer composites,and(3)establishing suitable thermal conduction models and studying inner thermal conduction mechanism to guide experimental optimization.Also,the future development trends of the three above-mentioned directions are foreseen,hoping to provide certain basis and guidance for the preparation,researches and development of thermally conductive polymers and their composites.

A comprehensive review on material selection for polymer matrix composites subjected to impact load

Polymer matrix composites(PMC)are extensively been used in many engineering applications.Various natural fibers have emerged as potential replacements to synthetic fibers as reinforcing materials composites owing to their fairly better mechanical properties,low cost,environment friendliness and biodegradability.Selection of appropriate constituents of composites for a particular application is a tedious task for a designer/engineer.Impact loading has emerged as the serious threat for the composites used in structural or secondary structural application and demands the usage of appropriate fiber and matrix combination to enhance the energy absorption and mitigate the failure.The objective of the present review is to explore the composite with various fiber and matrix combination used for impact applications,identify the gap in the literature and suggest the potential naturally available fiber and matrix combination of composites for future work in the field of impact loading.The novelty of the present study lies in exploring the combination of naturally available fiber and matrix combination which can help in better energy absorption and mitigate the failure when subjected to impact loading.In addition,the application of multi attributes decision making(MADM)tools is demonstrated for selection of fiber and matrix materials which can serve as a benchmark study for the researchers in future.

Mechanical property of strain-hardening cementitious composites modified with superabsorbent polymers

In order to improve the tensile property, flexuralproperty and drying shrinkage of strain-hardening cementitiouscomposites （SHCC）, mixtures quantitatively modified withsuperabsorbent polymer （SAP） were investigated. Theuniaxial tensile test, the four-point bending test, thecompressive test, the drying shrinkage test and theenvironmental scanning electron microscope （ESEM） wereemployed to investigate the tensile strain capacity, flexuraldeformation capacity, compressive strength, drying shrinkage,crack width and self-healing of SHCC. The experimentalresults show that SHCC modified with SAP particles exhibitsexcellent ductility and deformability, and the tensile strain isup to about 4.5% and the average crack width is controlledaround 40 μm. Meanwhile, the drying shrinkage of SHCCmodified with SAP particles can reduce by about 60%.Furthermore, the self-healing behavior is observed in thecracks of specimen after three cycles of high-low relativehumidity curing, and the self-healing products can completelyfill the cracks of SHCC specimens modified with SAPparticles. It is, therefore, feasible to produce SHCC materialmodified with SAP particles, while simultaneously retaininghigher material ductility.

Effective viscoelastic behavior of particulate polymer composites at finite concentration

Polymeric materials usually present some viscoelastic behavior. To improve the mechanical behavior of these materials, ceramics materials are often filled into the polymeric materials in form of fiber or particle. A micromechanical model was proposed to estimate the overall viscoelastic behavior for particulate polymer composites, especially for high volume concentration of filled particles. The method is based on Laplace transform technique and an elastic model including two-particle interaction. The effective creep compliance and the stress and strain relation at a constant loading rate are analyzed. The results show that the proposed method predicts a significant stiffer response than those based on Mori-Tanaka＇s method at high volume concentration of particles.

Highly Thermally Conductive Polymer/Graphene Composites with Rapid Room‑Temperature Self‑Healing Capacity

Composites that can rapidly self-healing their structure and function at room temperature have broad application prospects.However,in view of the complexity of composite structure and composition,its self-heal is facing challenges.In this article,supramolecular effect is proposed to repair the multistage structure,mechanical and thermal properties of composite materials.A stiff and tough supramolecular frameworks of 2-[[(butylamino)carbonyl]oxy]ethyl ester(PBA)–polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)were established using a chain extender with double amide bonds in a side chain to extend prepolymers through copolymerization.Then,by introducing the copolymer into a folded graphene film(FGf),a highly thermally conductive composite of PBA–PDMS/FGf with self-healing capacity was fabricated.The ratio of crosslinking and hydrogen bonding was optimized to ensure that PBA–PDMS could completely self-heal at room temperature in 10 min.Additionally,PBA–PDMS/FGf exhibits a high tensile strength of 2.23±0.15 MPa at break and high thermal conductivity of 13±0.2 W m^(−1)K^(−1);of which the self-healing efficiencies were 100%and 98.65%at room temperature for tensile strength and thermal conductivity,respectively.The excellent self-healing performance comes from the efficient supramolecular interaction between polymer molecules,as well as polymer molecule and graphene.This kind of thermal conductive self-healing composite has important application prospects in the heat dissipation field of next generation electronic devices in the future.

Prediction of Viscoelastic Behavior of Unidirectional Polymer Matrix Composites

To develop a novel method predicting the viscoelastic behavior of polymer matrix composites according to the viscoelasticity of the matrix, we used the viscoelastic model of the matrix to build new models for unidirectional composites in both 0° and 90° directions. Viscoelastic parameters for both new models were derived, and the obtained equations shared the same form as the viscoelastic constitutive equation of matrix material. The viscoelastic behaviors of matrix material and unidirectional composites were also tested. Results showed that fitting parameters of creep compliance equation were close to the theoretical values of viscoelastic constitutive parameters of the unidirectional composites, proving the validity of the models. A new method was obtained to predict the viscoelastic property of the unidirectional composites based on the viscoelastic property of composite matrix and elastic property of the unidirectional composites. This method provides a theoretical basis for future studies on the viscoelasticity of composite laminates.

Properties and Microstructure of Polymer Emulsions Modifi ed Fibers Reinforced Cementitious Composites

The synthesis and characterization of a new class of cementitious composites filled with polymer emulsions were investigated, and their superior mechanical strength and durability properties compared to composites devoid of fi llers were reported. Polymer emulsions were utilized to mechanically reinforce the composite and bridge the cement, fly ash, aggregate and fibers. The results reveal that the epoxy emulsion and poly（ethylene-co-vinyl acetate） emulsion markedly enhance the mechanical and durability properties of cemetitious composites. The fi bers can be pulled out in the form of slip-hardening and the abrasion phenomenon can be observed clearly on the surface of the fibers. The hydration extent of cement is higher than that of the pristine composites. The polymer modified cementitious composites designed on micromechanics, have fl exibility and plasticity which could be applied for a novel form of multifunctional materials with a range of pipeline coatings applications.

Preparation and Characterization of MMT Doped PVA/SA Polymer Composites

Blends of PVA/SA polymer doped with Montmorillonite were prepared by solution casting technique. Doping of nanoparticles to the polymer matrix does affect the structural and conducting properties. To analyze such changes, these films were subjected to X-ray diffraction, FT-IR spectroscopy, UV-visible absorbance and impedance analysis. Microstructural parameters were computed using in-house program employing X-ray data. Electrical conductivity of these polymer composites was derived using obtained impedance values to understand the conducting property. The results thus obtained are reported in this work.

Friction and Wear of Polymer Composites Filled by Nano-Particles: A Review

Composites formed by adding nano-scale particles to a polymer matrix results in improving electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the composite. Good tribological properties can be obtained for polymers filled with nano-scale fillers compared to that filled with micro-scale particles. The friction and wear resistance of these composites is found to increase with increasing filler concentration. It is also possible to use multi-functional fillers to develop high performance composites which cannot be achieved by using a single filler.

“Toolbox”for the Processing of Functional Polymer Composites

Functional polymer composites(FPCs)have attracted increasing attention in recent decades due to their great potential in delivering a wide range of functionalities.These functionalities are largely determined by functional fillers and their network morphology in polymer matrix.In recent years,a large number of studies on morphology control and interfacial modification have been reported,where numerous preparation methods and exciting performance of FPCs have been reported.Despite the fact that these FPCs have many similarities because they are all consisting of functional inorganic fillers and polymer matrices,review on the overall progress of FPCs is still missing,and especially the overall processing strategy for these composites is urgently needed.Herein,a"Toolbox"for the processing of FPCs is proposed to summarize and analyze the overall processing strategies and corresponding morphology evolution for FPCs.From this perspective,the morphological control methods already utilized for various FPCs are systematically reviewed,so that guidelines or even predictions on the processing strategies of various FPCs as well as multi-functional polymer composites could be given.This review should be able to provide interesting insights for the field of FPCs and boost future intelligent design of various FPCs.

Ionic polymer metal composites actuators with enhanced driving performance by incorporating graphene quantum dots

In order to further improve the driving performance of ionic polymer metal composites(IPMCs),Nafion/graphene quantum dots(GQDs)hybrid membranes incorporating GQDs with various contents of 0,0.1 wt.%,0.5 wt.%,1.0 wt.%,2.0 wt.%and 4.0 wt.%were fabricated by solution casting,and then IPMCs were manufactured by electroless plating.The water contents and elastic moduli of the hybrid membranes were tested.The morphology characteristics of the hybrid membranes and the IPMCs were observed,and the current,AC impedance,blocking force and displacement of the IPMCs were measured.The results show that the elastic modulus of the hybrid membranes decreases,the water content increases,and the actuation performance of the IPMCs improves significantly after the addition of GQDs.IPMC with 1.0 wt.%GQDs exhibits the best driving property.Compared with the IPMC without GQDs,the working current,ion conductivity,blocking force,and tip displacement increase by 94.67%,311.11%,53.66%,and 66.07%,respectively.These results lay a solid foundation for the preparation of IPMCs with high performance,and further broaden their applications in biomedical devices and bionic robots.

Wear and transfer characteristics of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites under water lubrication

The tribological characteristics of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites under distilled-water-lubricated-sliding and dry-sliding against stainless steel were comparatively investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was utilized to examine composite microstructures and modes of failure. The typical chemical states of elements of the transfer film on the stainless steel were examined with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Wear testing and SEM analysis show that all the composites hold the lowered friction coefficient and show much better wear resistance under water lubricated sliding against stainless steel than those under dry sliding. The wear of composites is characterized by plastic deformation, scuffing, micro cracking, and spalling under both dry-sliding and water lubricated conditions. Plastic deformation, scuffing, micro cracking, and spalling, however, are significantly abated under water-lubricated condition. XPS analysis conforms that none of the materials produces transfer films on the stainless steel counterface with the type familiar from dry sliding, and the transfer of composites onto the counterpart ring surface is significantly hindered while the oxidation of the stainless steel is speeded under water lubrication. The composites hinder transfer onto the steel surface and the boundary lubricating action of water accounts for the much smaller wear rate under water lubrication compared with that under dry sliding. The easier transfer of the composite onto the counterpart steel surface accounts for the larger wear rate of the polymer composite under dry sliding.