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Advanced Functional Polymer Composites: Preparation, Processing and Properties II

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A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 December 2022) | Viewed by 17264

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Prof. Dr. Chin-Lung Chiang

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Green Flame Retardant Material Research Laboratory, Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, Hung-Kuang University, Taichung 433, Taiwan
Interests: green flame retardant composites; bio-based flame-retardant composites; epoxy composites; polyurethane composites; graphene composites; carbon nanotube composites; thermal stability; thermal analysis; sol-gel technology; nanocomposites
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Dr. Ming-Yuan Shen

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Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung 411, Taiwan
Interests: carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites; carbon nanomaterials reinforced polymer composites; composite process and technology; mechanical properties of composites
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Prof. Dr. Shang-Hao Liu

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State Key Laboratory of Mining Response and Disaster Prevention and Control in Deep Coal Mines, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Taifeng St., Anhui 232001, China
Interests: chemical process safety; disaster prevention; thermal analysis of hazardous materials; firecracker safety management and amp; inspection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer composites (PC) are composite materials composed of a variety of additives bound together by an organic polymer matrix. PCs are designed to transfer loads between additives and a matrix. Some of the advantages of PCs include their light weight, high stiffness, and their high strength along the direction of their reinforcements. Being both strong and lightweight, polymer composites have already found wide-ranging uses in structural and engineering contexts. Through advancements in materials science and engineering, the potential for further applications of polymer composites can be achieved by introducing functionality. This Special Issue on advanced functional polymer composites (AFPC) focuses on this exciting new generation of materials. Sitting at the intersection of physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering, it welcomes contributions on all types of composite materials, the only caveat being that composite functionality must be clearly demonstrated.

We invite the research community to contribute to this Special Issue by submitting comprehensive reviews or original research articles. The topics of the Special Issue include but are not limited to:

Green flame retardant;
Bio-based flame retardant;
Substantial;
Thermal stability;
Mechanical properties;
Electrical and thermal conductivity/insulation;
Thermoelectric;
Magnetic;
Optical;
Shape memory;
Ferroelectric;
Energy harvesting and storage;
Phase change;
Antimicrobial and antiviral;
Structural health monitoring;
Sensing and actuation;
Self-healing;
Anti-aging.

Prof. Dr. Chin-Lung Chiang
Prof. Dr. Ming-Yuan Shen
Prof. Dr. Shang-Hao Liu
Guest Editors

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. Polymers 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 2700 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.

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 4847 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermomechanical Properties and Fracture Toughness Improvement of Thermosetting Vinyl Ester Using Liquid Metal and Graphene Nanoplatelets

by Thanh Kim Mai Dang, Mostafa Nikzad, Vi Khanh Truong, Syed Masood, Chung Kim Nguyen and Igor Sbarski

Polymers 2022, 14(24), 5397; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14245397 - 09 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1410

Abstract

In this study, a eutectic gallium–indium (EGaIn) alloy and graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) were employed as reinforcements for a comonomer vinyl ester (cVE) resin at different weight fractions up to 2% via a direct polymerization process. First, the effect of EGaIn on the curing kinetics of cVE was evaluated. The thermal and mechanical properties, and the fracture toughness of two types of cVE composites consisting of EGaIn and GnPs were then studied. The results showed that sub-micron sized EGaIn (≤1 wt.%) could promote the curing reaction of cVE without changing the curing mechanism. However, with further increases in EGaIn loading between 1 and 2 wt.%, the curing reaction rate tends to decrease. Both EGaIn and GnPs showed a significant enhancement in strengthening and toughening the cVE matrix with the presence of filler loading up to 1 wt.%. EGaIn was more effective than GnPs in promoting the flexural and impact strength. An increase of up to 50% and 32% were recorded for these mechanical properties, when EGaln was used, as compared to 46%, and 18% for GnPs, respectively. In contrast, the GnPs/cVE composites exhibited a greater improvement in the fracture toughness and fracture energy by up to 50% and 56% in comparison with those of the EGaIn/cVE ones by up to 32% and 39%, respectively. Furthermore, the stiffness of both the EgaIn/cVE and GnPs/cVE composites showed a significant improvement with an increase of up to 1.76 and 1.83 times in the normalized storage modulus, respectively, while the glass transition temperature (T_g) values remained relatively constant. This work highlights the potential of EGaIn being employed as a filler in creating high-performance thermoset composites, which facilitates its widening applications in many structural and engineering fields, where both higher toughness and stiffness are required. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Polymer Composites: Preparation, Processing and Properties II)

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18 pages, 21837 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis, Characterization and Bioactivity Evaluation of a Novel Nano Bagasse Xylan/Andrographolide Grafted and Esterified Derivative

by Kexin Tian, Heping Li, Bin Zhao, Yue Su, Zhiming Zou and Wenli Wang

Polymers 2022, 14(16), 3432; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14163432 - 22 Aug 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2071

Abstract

In the in-depth research that has been conducted on nanometer biomaterials, how to use the biomass resources with high activity and low toxicity to prepare nanomaterials for biomedical applications has attracted much attention. To realize efficient and comprehensive utilization of biomass, bagasse xylan/andrographolide (BX/AD) was ued as a raw material and glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) as an esterification agent to synthesize bagasse xylan/andrographolide esterified derivative (GA-BX/AD). Then, the bagasse xylan/andrographolide grafted and esterified derivative (GA-BX/AD-g-IA) was synthesized by the graft crosslinking reactions using itaconic acid (IA) as graft monomer. The better synthesis conditions were optimized by single factor experiments, the degree of esterification substitution (DS) was 0.43, and the grafting rate (G) of the product reached 42%. The structure and properties of the product were characterized by FTIR, XRD, DTG, SEM, and ¹H NMR. The results showed that the product morphology was significantly changed, and the nanoparticles were spherical with a particle size of about 100 nm. The anti-cancer activity of the product was measured. The molecular docking simulations revealed that the product had good docking activity with human glucocorticoid protein (6CFN) with a binding free energy of 14.38 kcal/mol. The MTT assay showed that the product had a strong inhibitory effect on the growth of human liver cancer cells (BEL-7407) and gastric cancer cells (MGC80-3), with inhibition ratio of 38.41 ± 5.32% and 32.69 ± 4.87%. Therefore, this nanomaterial is expected to be applied to the development and utilization of drug carriers and functional materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Polymer Composites: Preparation, Processing and Properties II)

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15 pages, 3946 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biopolymer Textile Structure of Chitosan with Polyester

by Tea Kaurin, Tanja Pušić and Mirjana Čurlin

Polymers 2022, 14(15), 3088; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14153088 - 29 Jul 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1419

Abstract

The research deals with functionalization of a standard polyester fabric with biopolymer chitosan, whose premises are multifunctional and favour ecological effects. Due to the incompatibility of synthetic and natural polymers, the chitosan treatment was preceded by alkaline hydrolysis with sodium hydroxide with the addition of cationic and anionic surfactants as promoters. Compatibility of the chitosan with untreated and alkali-hydrolyzed fabrics was performed by analysis of mechanical and physico-chemical properties. The number of characterisation procedures performed required the use of hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) to identify homogeneous groups or clusters in which similarities and differences between samples are visible. Almost all applied methods and evaluation parameters have shown that alkaline hydrolysis of polyester fabric has the best potential for functionalization with chitosan. Therefore, the addition of surfactants as promoters during alkaline hydrolysis is not necessary in the pretreatment process phase. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Polymer Composites: Preparation, Processing and Properties II)

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25 pages, 18841 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Epoxy-Based Rapid Mold with Profiled Conformal Cooling Channel

by Chil-Chyuan Kuo and Yi-Jun Zhu

Polymers 2022, 14(15), 3017; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14153017 - 26 Jul 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1393

Abstract

Based on the experience of the foundry industry, reducing the demolding time is the key for mass production of wax patterns with sophisticated geometries. Integration of numerical simulation and rapid tooling technology for decreasing the time to market is essential in advanced manufacturing technology. However, characterization of epoxy-based rapid molds with a profiled conformal cooling channel (PCCC) using computer-aided engineering simulation of the epoxy-based rapid mold with PCCC was not found in the literature. In this study, epoxy-based rapid molds with PCCC were characterized numerically and experimentally. The cooling performance of wax injection molds with two different kinds of cross-sections of the cooling channel was investigated. Four pairs of injection molds with PCCC were implemented using four different kinds of material formulations. It was found that the cooling performance of the PCCC was better than a circular conformal cooling channel (CCCC) since the PCCC maintained a more uniform and steady cooling performance of injection-molded product than CCCC. Epoxy resin added with 41 vol.% Cu powder seems to be a cost-effective empirical material formulation in terms of cooling time and material costs. This empirical material formulation provided an injection mold with low material cost and good cooling performance simultaneously compared to an injection mold fabricated with commercial material. The cooling performance could reach 88% of that of the injection mold fabricated with commercial material. The material cost of making the injection mold was only about 60% of that of the injection mold fabricated with commercial material. The coolant flow rate had no significant effect on the cooling time, whereas the cooling time of the wax pattern was affected by coolant temperature significantly. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Polymer Composites: Preparation, Processing and Properties II)

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13 pages, 7196 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Electromagnetic Shielding Effectiveness of Woven Fabric with Integrated Conductive Threads after Washing with Liquid and Powder Detergents

by Tanja Pušić, Bosiljka Šaravanja, Krešimir Malarić, Marta Luburić and Tea Kaurin

Polymers 2022, 14(12), 2445; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14122445 - 16 Jun 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1373

Abstract

The paper investigates the shielding effectiveness of a newly developed cotton and polyester fabric into which conductive stainless-steel threads were incorporated in the warp and weft directions at frequencies 0.9 GHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.4 GHz. As resistance to external influences and degradation is an additional critical factor for protective textiles, the newly developed protective fabric was exposed to cumulative wash cycles with liquid and powder detergents, which were targeted to preserve the shielding effectiveness (SE). In addition to the SE shielding effectiveness, the influence of 10 washing cycles on the change in thickness as a structural parameter was analyzed. Micro-images of fabric surfaces before and after the first, third, fifth, seventh, and tenth washing cycles were also observed. The obtained results showed that powder and liquid detergents were well formulated to preserve the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMSE) at higher frequencies. However, their impact on the appearance of the surface was not fully consistent with the shielding effectiveness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Polymer Composites: Preparation, Processing and Properties II)

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13 pages, 3659 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Heat Treatment Atmosphere and Temperature on the Properties of Carbon Fibers

by Gyungha Kim, Hyunkyung Lee, Kyungeun Kim and Dae Up Kim

Polymers 2022, 14(12), 2412; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14122412 - 14 Jun 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2135

Abstract

In this study, carbon fibers were heat-treated in a nitrogen and oxygen atmosphere according to temperature to elucidate the mechanism of chemical state changes and oxygen functional group changes on the carbon fiber surface by analyzing the mechanical and chemical properties of carbon fibers. Carbon fibers before and after heat treatment were analyzed using FE-SEM (Field Emission Scanning), UTM (Universal Tensile Testers), XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy), and surface-free energy. In the nitrogen atmosphere, which is an inert gas, the tensile strength was equivalent to that of the virgin up to 500 °C but decreased to 71% with respect to the virgin at 1000 °C. Furthermore, as the temperature increased from room temperature to 1000 °C, the oxygen functional group and the polar free energy gradually decreased compared with the virgin. On the other hand, in the oxygen atmosphere, which is an active gas, the tensile properties were not significantly different from those of the virgin up to 300 °C but gradually decreased at 500 °C. Above 600 °C, the carbon fibers deteriorated, and measurement was impossible. The oxygen functional group decreased at 300 °C, but above 300 °C, among the oxygen functional groups, the hydroxyl group and the carbonyl group increased. Furthermore, the lactone group formed and rapidly increased compared with the virgin, and the polar free energy increased as the temperature increased. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Polymer Composites: Preparation, Processing and Properties II)

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16 pages, 6373 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using a Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor to Measure Residual Strain in the Vacuum-Assisted Resin Transfer Molding Process

by Guang-Min Luo, Guang-Yen Liou and Hong-Zhe Xiao

Polymers 2022, 14(7), 1446; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14071446 - 01 Apr 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1845

Abstract

Vinyl ester (VE) resin has strong environmental tolerance and is the matrix commonly used in the composite materials of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP). VE resin is often combined with glass fiber in different maritime structures, such as wind turbine blades, spinner cases, and nacelle cases. However, VE resin exhibits exothermic reactions and shrinkage during curing, which often generates residual strain in large structures and those with a high stacking number. This study explored the exothermic reaction and shrinkage of VE resin and glass fiber during the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process, as measured using a fiber Bragg grating sensor. The experiment results verified the relationship between the stacking number and residual strain shrinkage. In addition, the symmetric laminate method was used to prevent the bending–twisting coupling effect and subsequent warping deformation of the FRP laminated plate during curing. The experiment results also verified that the bottom layers of the FRP laminated plates produced using VE resin were closer to the mold, and exhibited more shrinkage as the stacking number increased. In addition, this study discovered that during the experiment, the symmetry layer of the FRP laminated plate had a higher exothermic temperature than the bottom layer as a result of the symmetry layer’s ineffective heat dissipation. Therefore, the curing shrinkage of the symmetry layer resin was measured. The experiment results indicated that if the stacking number was between 10 and 30, the residual strain shrinkage of the symmetry layer was greater than that of the surface layer. However, because of the symmetric laminate, the residual strain of the symmetry layer did not increase when the temperature increased. Therefore, the greatest residual strain occurred at the surface of the bottom layer of the laminated plate with a stacking number of 40. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Polymer Composites: Preparation, Processing and Properties II)

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24 pages, 7623 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Dispersing Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene Nanoplatelets Hybrids in the Matrix on the Flexural Fatigue Properties of Carbon/Epoxy Composites

by Yi-Ming Jen and Wei-Lun Ni

Polymers 2022, 14(5), 918; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14050918 - 25 Feb 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2026

Abstract

The synergistic effect of applying hybrid nanoparticles in improving the fatigue property of fiber reinforced polymer composites has rarely been explored before. Hence the monotonic and fatigue flexure properties of the carbon fiber reinforced epoxy laminates with matrix modified by multiwalled carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplatelets were experimentally studied herein. The nanofiller ratio applied in the matrix modification was considered as a variable in the experimental program to investigate the effect of nanofiller ratio on the studied mechanical properties. A synergistic index has been employed to evaluate the synergistic effect of hybrid nanoparticles on the studied properties successfully. Experimental results show that the laminates with matrix modified under a nanofiller ratio (multiwalled carbon nanotube: graphene nanoplatelet) of 9:1 have the higher monotonic and fatigue strengths than those modified under other nanofiller ratios. The monotonic flexural strength and fatigue limit of the specimens modified under a nanofiller ratio of 9:1 are higher than the neat laminate specimens by 9.3 and 11.0%, respectively. The fatigue limits of the studied nano-modified laminates increase with the static strengths. Adding hybrid nanoparticles under proper nanofiller ratios in the matrix can suppress the degradation of the stiffness, further increase the resistance to fatigue damage. Examining the fracture surfaces of fatigued specimens reveals that the pullout/bridging effects of carbon nanotubes and the crack deflection effect of graphene nanoplatelets are the main reinforcement mechanisms in enhancing the fatigue strength of the composites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Polymer Composites: Preparation, Processing and Properties II)

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Review

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31 pages, 7820 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recent Advances in the Copolymerization of Ethylene with Polar Comonomers by Nickel Catalysts

by Randi Zhang, Rong Gao, Qingqiang Gou, Jingjing Lai and Xinyang Li

Polymers 2022, 14(18), 3809; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14183809 - 12 Sep 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2861

Abstract

The less-expensive and earth-abundant nickel catalyst is highly promising in the copolymerization of ethylene with polar monomers and has thus attracted increasing attention in both industry and academia. Herein, we have summarized the recent advancements made in the state-of-the-art nickel catalysts with different types of ligands for ethylene copolymerization and how these modifications influence the catalyst performance, as well as new polymerization modulation strategies. With regard to α-diimine, salicylaldimine/ketoiminato, phosphino-phenolate, phosphine-sulfonate, bisphospnine monoxide, N-heterocyclic carbene and other unclassified chelates, the properties of each catalyst and fine modulation of key copolymerization parameters (activity, molecular weight, comonomer incorporation rate, etc.) are revealed in detail. Despite significant achievements, many opportunities and possibilities are yet to be fully addressed, and a brief outlook on the future development and long-standing challenges is provided. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Functional Polymer Composites: Preparation, Processing and Properties II)

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