The current paper presents a state-of-the-art review in the field of ion implantation of polymers. Numerous published studies of polymers modified by ion beams are analysed. General aspects of ion stopping, latent track formation and changes of structure and composition of organic materials are discussed. Related to that, the effects of radiothermolysis, degassing and carbonisation are consider...

We report the synthesis of morphological uniform composites using miniemulsions of poly(tert-butyl acrylate) or poly(styrene) containing organically capped gold nanocrystals (NCs). The optical features of such hybrid structures are dominated by plasmonic effects and depend critically on the morphology of the resulting nanocomposite. In particular, we demonstrate the ability to tune the overall ...

INTRODUCTION Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) is a versatile technique', extensively used in condensed matter research, spanning the scientific fields including polymer science, metallic alloys, magnetic materials, porous materials, ceramics, composites, structural biology and colloidal systems of industrial and technological importance. SANS is useful to study both solid and liquid system...

The discovery of nitric oxide (NO) as a signalling molecule in various physiological and pathological pathways has spurred research in the design of exogenous NO donors as drugs. In recent years, metal nitrosyls (NO complexes of metals) have been investigated as NO-donating agents. Results from our laboratory during the past few years have demonstrated that metal nitrosyls derived from designed...

Biocomposites of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) with 5–40wt% soy flour (SF) are produced by two-step single-screw extrusion (SSE) followed by solid-state shear pulverization (SSSP). The SSE-SSSP approach overcomes limitations with melt mixing, e.g poor SF dispersion and degradation, and limitations with single-step SSSP. Microscopy shows that SF is well dispersed in SSE-...

Ionic liquids can typically be synthesized via protonation, alkylation, metathesis, or neutralization reactions. The many types of ionic have increased their attractiveness to researchers for employment in various areas, including polymer composites. Recently, been employed modify nanofillers the fabrication nanocomposites with improved physicochemical properties. In this succinct review, four ...

Adaptive structures, embedded with sensors and actuators, have many applications, such as damage detection, structural health monitoring, noise reduction, etc. Recent developments in adaptive composites and their fabrication techniques have focussed on robust metal-matrix and polymer-matrix adaptive structures. Metal-matrix structures are used in applications where structure is required to with...

Elastomer-based composites embedded with thermally-responsive material (TRM) and a liquid-phase Joule heater are capable of reversibly changing their elastic rigidity by up to four orders of magnitude. At room temperature, the TRM layer is rigid and prevents the surrounding elastomer from elastically bending or stretching. When activated, the embedded Joule heater softens or melts the TRM, whic...

This paper reports large light-induced reversible and elastic responses of graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) polymer composites. Homogeneous mixtures of GNP/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites (0.1-5 wt%) were prepared and their infrared (IR) mechanical responses studied with increasing pre-strains. Using IR illumination, a photomechanically induced change in stress of four orders of magnitude as ...

Glass fiber reinforced polymer composites are one of the most widely used composite materials. The addition of Coal ash to polymer matrix dramatically increases the overall mechanical strength of the composite material as compared to the polymer composite. In view of this, a method is proposed for mixing coal ash powder (size 52-75 μm) into resin and Ash reinforced polymer composites are fabric...