Femtosecond transient absorption measurements on single wall carbon nanotube/poly(3-hexylthiophene) composites are used to investigate the relaxation dynamics of this blended material. The influence of the addition of nanotubes in polymer matrix on the ultrashort relaxation dynamics is examined in detail. The introduction of nanotube/polymer heterojunctions enhances the exciton dissociation and...

polymer-clay nano-composite materials, in which nano-meter thick layers of clay dispersed in polymer matrix, have generally higher mechanical properties than normal polymeric materials. a new three-dimensional unit cell model has been developed for modeling three constituent phases including inclusion, interphase and matrix. the total elastic modulus of nano-composite is evaluated.  numerical r...

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-...

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...

We present results for stiffness and damping prediction in a class of layered, wavy, metal–polymer composites that exceed conventionally published stiffness-damping maps (The Wang–Lakes line, see [14]). These composites are realized by judiciously placing selected, wavy, metal sheets that sandwich an ultra-thin layer of polymer. Stacks of alternating metal–polymer layered composites, when compr...

The present study reports the preparation and evaluation of polymer composites of chitosan and montmorillonite. The prepared polymer composites were evaluated for various powder properties and characterized by FTIR-ATR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy- Attenuated Total Reflectance), XRD (X Ray Diffraction), and SEM (Scaning Electron Microscopy) techniques. Heckel and Kawakita equations i...

We dispersed the non-covalent functionalization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with a polymer dispersant and obtained a powder of polymer-wrapped CNTs. The UV-vis absorption spectrum was used to investigate the optimal weight ratio of the CNTs and polymer dispersant. The powder of polymer-wrapped CNTs had improved the drawbacks of CNTs of being lightweight and difficult to process, and...

HPMC Polymer composites were prepared by doping various concentrations of Zinc ferrite nanoparticles using solution casting method. These polymer composites were characterized using X-Ray Diffraction and conductivity measurements. The addition of nanoferrites in the polymer matrix do change the structural and the AC conductivity properties of the film, which is supported by the results obtained...

A series of observations of polymer sheathing in multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)−polycarbonate composites are presented. This sheathing was observed in images of the composite fracture surface and is consistent with diameter distributions of the as-received and embedded MWCNTs. A novel nanomanipulation experiment, where the sheathing balls up when contacted by an AFM tip, confirms this phen...