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Nanomaterials
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Nanocomposite Materials—Spotlight on Early Career Investigators
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Nanocomposite Materials—Spotlight on Early Career Investigators

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanocomposite Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 6783

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Gregory M. Odegard

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering–Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
Interests: computational mechanics; computational chemistry; molecular dynamics simulation; density functional theory simulation; composite materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a new generation of researchers in the field of nanomaterials development. Nanocomposite materials are those that contain constituents that are on the length scale of nanometers, such as carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, or nanosheets. These materials hold much promise in the materials researcher community because of their potential for mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties that surpass those of state-of-the-art composites. With the rapid advancement of new material processing, characterization, and modeling techniques, new discoveries in nanomaterials are faster than ever. These new materials are being used for a wide range of applications, including electronics, biomechanics, medicine, and aerospace. 

This Special Issue features young researchers from around the world making important contributions to the advancement of nanomaterials using state-of-the-art techniques.  

Prof. Dr. Gregory M. Odegard
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Nanocomposites
  • Molecular dynamics
  • Multiscale modeling
  • Characterization
  • Processing
  • Nano-reinforcement
  • Nanotubes
  • Nanofibers
  • Nanoparticles
  • Interface
  • Interphase

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 16013 KiB  
Article
PDMS/TiO2 and PDMS/SiO2 Nanocomposites: Mechanical Properties’ Evaluation for Improved Insulating Coatings
by Aldo Cordoba, Eric Mauricio Rivera-Muñoz, Rodrigo Velázquez-Castillo and Karen Esquivel
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(10), 1699; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13101699 - 22 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1391
Abstract
The use of nanoparticles (NPs) as reinforcements in polymeric coatings allows for direct interaction with the polymeric chains of the matrix, resulting in a synergistic process through physical (electrostatic forces) and chemical interactions (bond formation) for the improvement of the mechanical properties with [...] Read more.
The use of nanoparticles (NPs) as reinforcements in polymeric coatings allows for direct interaction with the polymeric chains of the matrix, resulting in a synergistic process through physical (electrostatic forces) and chemical interactions (bond formation) for the improvement of the mechanical properties with relatively low weight concentrations of the NPs. In this investigation, different nanocomposite polymers were synthesized from the crosslinking reaction of the hydroxy-terminated polydimethylsiloxane elastomer. Different concentrations (0, 2, 4, 8, and 10 wt%) of TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by the sol-gel method were added as reinforcing structures. The crystalline and morphological properties of the nanoparticles were determined through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The molecular structure of coatings was through infrared spectroscopy (IR). The crosslinking, efficiency, hydrophobicity, and adhesion degree of the study groups were evaluated with gravimetric crosslinking tests, contact angle, and adhesion tests. It was observed that the crosslinking efficiency and surface adhesion properties of the different nanocomposites obtained were maintained. A slight increase in the contact angle was observed for the nanocomposites with 8 wt% compared to the polymer without reinforcements. The mechanical tests of indentation hardness and tensile strength following the ASTM E-384 and ISO 527 standards, respectively, were performed. As the nanoparticle concentration increased, a maximum increase of 157% in Vickers hardness, 71.4% in elastic modulus, and 80% in tensile strength was observed. However, the maximum elongation remained between 60 and 75%, ensuring that the composites did not become brittle. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanocomposite Materials—Spotlight on Early Career Investigators)
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16 pages, 4105 KiB  
Article
Probing the Influence of Surface Chemical Functionalization on Graphene Nanoplatelets-Epoxy Interfacial Shear Strength Using Molecular Dynamics
by Hashim Al Mahmud, Sagar U. Patil, Matthew S. Radue and Gregory M. Odegard
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(2), 287; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13020287 - 10 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1718
Abstract
In this work, a characterization study of the interfacial interaction between different types of graphene nanoplatelets and an epoxy matrix is computationally performed. To quantify the discrete mutual graphene–epoxy “interfacial interaction energy” (IIE) within the nanocomposite, molecular dynamics simulations with a reactive force [...] Read more.
In this work, a characterization study of the interfacial interaction between different types of graphene nanoplatelets and an epoxy matrix is computationally performed. To quantify the discrete mutual graphene–epoxy “interfacial interaction energy” (IIE) within the nanocomposite, molecular dynamics simulations with a reactive force field are performed on a localized model of the suggested nanocomposite. Pull-out molecular dynamics simulations are also performed to predict the interfacial shear strength between the two constituents. The results indicate a significant increase in interfacial adhesion of functionalized nanoplatelets with the hosting epoxy matrix relative to virgin graphene nanoplatelets. The obtained results also demonstrate a dramatic increase in the interfacial interaction energy (IIE) (up to 570.0%) of the functionalized graphene/epoxy nanocomposites relative to the unmodified graphene/epoxy nanocomposites. In the same context, the surface functionalization of graphene nanoplatelets with the polymer matrix leads to a significant increase in the interfacial shear strength (ISS) (up to 750 times). The reported findings in this paper are essential and critical to producing the next generation of lightweight and ultra-strong polymer-based nanocomposite structural materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanocomposite Materials—Spotlight on Early Career Investigators)
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22 pages, 7497 KiB  
Article
Tensile and Viscoelastic Behavior in Nacre-Inspired Nanocomposites: A Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Study
by Param Punj Singh and Raghavan Ranganathan
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(19), 3333; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12193333 - 24 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2193
Abstract
Organisms hold an extraordinarily evolutionary advantage in forming complex, hierarchical structures across different length scales that exhibit superior mechanical properties. Mimicking these structures for synthesizing high-performance materials has long held a fascination and has seen rapid growth in the recent past thanks to [...] Read more.
Organisms hold an extraordinarily evolutionary advantage in forming complex, hierarchical structures across different length scales that exhibit superior mechanical properties. Mimicking these structures for synthesizing high-performance materials has long held a fascination and has seen rapid growth in the recent past thanks to high-resolution microscopy, design, synthesis, and testing methodologies. Among the class of natural materials, nacre, found in mollusk shells, exhibits remarkably high mechanical strength and toughness. The highly organized “brick and mortar” structure at different length scales is a basis for excellent mechanical properties and the capability to dissipate energy and propagation in nacre. Here, we employ large-scale atomistic coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to study the mechanical and viscoelastic behavior of nacre-like microstructures. Uniaxial tension and oscillatory shear simulations were performed to gain insight into the role of complex structure-property relationships. Specifically, the role played by the effect of microstructure (arrangement of the crystalline domain) and polymer-crystal interactions on the mechanical and viscoelastic behavior is elucidated. The tensile property of the nanocomposite was seen to be sensitive to the microstructure, with a staggered arrangement of the crystalline tablets giving rise to a 20–30% higher modulus and lower tensile strength compared to a columnar arrangement. Importantly, the staggered microstructure is shown to have a highly tunable mechanical behavior with respect to the polymer-crystal interactions. The underlying reasons for the mechanical behavior are explained by showing the effect of polymer chain mobility and orientation and the load-carrying capacity for the constituents. Viscoelastic responses in terms of the storage and loss moduli and loss tangent are studied over three decades in frequency and again highlight the differences brought about by the microstructure. We show that our coarse-grained models offer promising insights into the design of novel biomimetic structures for structural applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanocomposite Materials—Spotlight on Early Career Investigators)
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25 pages, 17339 KiB  
Article
Computational Modeling of Hybrid Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composites Reinforced with Functionalized and Non-Functionalized Graphene Nanoplatelets
by Hashim Al Mahmud, Matthew S. Radue, William A. Pisani and Gregory M. Odegard
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(11), 2919; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11112919 - 31 Oct 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3016
Abstract
The mechanical properties of aerospace carbon fiber/graphene nanoplatelet/epoxy hybrid composites reinforced with pristine graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), highly concentrated graphene oxide (GO), and Functionalized Graphene Oxide (FGO) are investigated in this study. By utilizing molecular dynamics data from the literature, the bulk-level mechanical properties [...] Read more.
The mechanical properties of aerospace carbon fiber/graphene nanoplatelet/epoxy hybrid composites reinforced with pristine graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), highly concentrated graphene oxide (GO), and Functionalized Graphene Oxide (FGO) are investigated in this study. By utilizing molecular dynamics data from the literature, the bulk-level mechanical properties of hybrid composites are predicted using micromechanics techniques for different graphene nanoplatelet types, nanoplatelet volume fractions, nanoplatelet aspect ratios, carbon fiber volume fractions, and laminate lay-ups (unidirectional, cross-ply, and angle-ply). For the unidirectional hybrid composites, the results indicate that the shear and transverse properties are significantly affected by the nanoplatelet type, loading and aspect ratio. For the cross-ply and angle ply hybrid laminates, the effect of the nanoplate’s parameters on the mechanical properties is minimal when using volume fractions and aspect ratios that are typically used experimentally. The results of this study can be used in the design of hybrid composites to tailor specific laminate properties by adjusting nanoplatelet parameters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanocomposite Materials—Spotlight on Early Career Investigators)
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