Influence of hollow glass microspheres on the mechanical and physical properties and cost of particle reinforced polymer composites

Effect of CuO and Graphene on PTFE Microfibers: Experimental and Modeling Approaches

The surface of pure polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) microfibers was modified with ZnO and graphene (G), and the composite was studied using ATR-FTIR, XRD, and FESEM. FTIR results showed that two significant bands appeared at 1556 cm⁻¹ and 515 cm⁻¹ as indications for CuO and G interaction. The SEM results indicated that CuO and G were distributed uniformly on the surface of the PTFE microfibers, confirming the production of the PTFE/CuO/G composite. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed on PTFE polymer nanocomposites containing various metal oxides (MOs) such as MgO, Al₂O₃, SiO₂, TiO₂, Fe₃O₄, NiO, CuO, ZnO, and ZrO₂ at the B3LYP level using the LAN2DZ basis set. Total dipole moment (TDM) and HOMO/LUMO bandgap energy ΔE both show that the physical and electrical characteristics of PTFE with OCu change to 76.136 Debye and 0.400 eV, respectively. PTFE/OCu was investigated to observe its interaction with graphene quantum dots (GQDs). The results show that PTFE/OCu/GQD ZTRI surface conductivity improved significantly. As a result, the TDM of PTFE/OCu/GQD ZTRI and the HOMO/LUMO bandgap energy ΔE were 39.124 Debye and ΔE 0.206 eV, respectively. The new electrical characteristics of PTFE/OCu/GQD ZTRI indicate that this surface is appropriate for electronic applications.

Preparation and Property Investigation of Epoxy/Amine Micro/Nanocapsule Based Self-healing Coatings

Autonomous self-healing was achieved by synthesizing epoxy coatings which contain dual micro/nanocapsules; epoxy and amine. Epoxy micro/nanocapsules were prepared by an in situ polymerization process and amine microcapsules were fabricated by vacuum infiltration of diethylenetriamine into nanoporous hollow glass microspheres. Both types of capsules were embedded into epoxy matrix. When cracks were created and started to grow in the coating, the micro/nanocapsules near the crack were ruptured and released their contents. As a result of curing reaction between released curing agents (epoxy and amine), healing of the cracked sites was completed. In this work, some properties of epoxy/amine micro/nanocapsule based self-healing coatings such as morphology of micro/nanocapsule and coating, healing and corrosion properties were studied. Also thermal stability and adhesion properties of this kind of coating were evaluated comprehensively. It was found out that optimum mass ratio of epoxy/amine capsules ratio is 1 : 1 and the highest healing efficiency was achieved for a total micro/nanocapsule concentration of 15 wt.%. Regarding thermal and adhesion behavior of coatings, it was observed that adding micro/nanocapsules to epoxy matrix did not change these properties significantly which means self-healing characteristics were achievable without deteriorating other properties.

Hollow glass bubbles etched with tunable sizes of through-holes

Hollow glass bubbles (HGBs) with through-holes at micron level were fabricated by etching them using diluted 1% hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution in a specially designed reaction system. In this study, the function of each component in the system was carefully investigated and improved to realise the controllable etching process. Various parameters were investigated to explore the optimal etching condition. Highest gross yield of about 85% and effective yield of about 50% were obtained at the optimised etching condition. A separating method was proposed to separate the etched HGBs with different hole sizes with the help of reduced pressure. After separation, HGBs with hole size at sub-micron level, less than 10 µm, and bigger than 10 µm, were achieved. The well-etched HGBs can be used as universal containers to store both reactive and inactive chemicals for applications in self-healing materials, biochemical engineering, and energy industry.

Morphological Structure, Rheological Behavior, Mechanical Properties and Sound Insulation Performance of Thermoplastic Rubber Composites Reinforced by Different Inorganic Fillers

The application area of a sound insulation material is highly dependent on the technology adopted for its processing. In this study, thermoplastic rubber (TPR, polypropylene/ethylene propylene diene monomer) composites were simply prepared via an extrusion method. Two microscale particles, CaCO₃ and hollow glass microspheres (HGW) were chosen to not only enhance the sound insulation but also reinforced the mechanical properties. Meanwhile, the processing capability of composites was confirmed. SEM images showed that the CaCO₃ was uniformly dispersed in TPR matrix with ~3 μm scale aggregates, while the HGM was slightly aggregated to ~13 μm scale. The heterogeneous dispersion of micro-scale fillers strongly affected the sound transmission loss (STL) value of composites. The STL values of TPR composites with 40 wt % CaCO₃ and 20 wt % HGM composites were about 12 dB and 7 dB higher than that of pure TPR sample, respectively. The improved sound insulation performances of the composites have been attributed to the enhanced reflection and dissipate sound energy in the heterogeneous composite. Moreover, the mechanical properties were also enhanced. The discontinued sound impedance and reinforced stiffness were considered as crucial for the sound insulation.