Bioinspired assembly of surface-roughened nanoplatelets

Thermal Conductivity of Polymer-Based Composites with Magnetic Aligned Hexagonal Boron Nitride Platelets

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) platelets are widely used as the reinforcing fillers for enhancing the thermal conductivity of polymer-based composites. Since hBN platelets have high aspect ratio and show a highly anisotropic thermal property, the thermal conductivity of the hBNs-filled composites should be strongly associated with the platelets' orientation. However, the orientation effect has been explored less frequently due to the technical difficulties in precontrol of the platelets' orientation in the polymer matrix. In this paper, we report the use of magnetic fields to assemble the platelets into various microstructures and to study the thermal conductivities of the designed composites. The experimental results showed that thermal conductivities are dramatically different among these composites. For instance, the thermal conductivities of the composites with platelets oriented parallel and perpendicular to the heat flux direction are respectively 44.5% higher and 37.9% lower than that of unaligned composites at the volume fraction of 9.14%. The results were also analyzed by a theoretical model. The model suggests that the orientation of the hBN platelets is the main reason for the variance in the thermal conductivity.

Nanoasperity: structure origin of nacre-inspired nanocomposites

Natural nacre with superior mechanical property is generally attributed to the layered "brick-and-mortar" nanostructure. However, the role of nanograins on the hard aragonite platelets, which is so-called nanoasperity, is rarely addressed. Herein, we prepared silica platelets with aragonite-like nanoasperities via biomineralization strategy and investigated the effects of nanoasperity on the mechanical properties of resulting layered nanocomposites composed of roughened silica platelets and poly(vinyl alcohol). The tensile deformation behavior of the nanocomposites demonstrates that nanograins on silica platelets are responsive for strain hardening, improved strength, and toughness. The structure origin is attributed to the nanoasperity-controlled platelet sliding.

Unique impact behavior and toughening mechanism of the polypropylene and poly(ethylene-co-octene) alternating multilayered blends with superior toughness

In this study, the alternating multilayered PP/POE blends with different layers were successfully fabricated by micro-co-extrusion. The notable improvement of toughness in the alternating multilayered blends is ascribed to the synergetic effects of the interfaces delaminations, craze deflection, larger subcritical damage zone during the fracture process.

Mechanics of platelet-reinforced composites assembled using mechanical and magnetic stimuli

Current fabrication technologies of structural composites based on the infiltration of fiber weaves with a polymeric resin offer good control over the orientation of long reinforcing fibers but remain too cumbersome and slow to enable cost-effective manufacturing. The development of processing routes that allow for fine control of the reinforcement orientation and that are also compatible with fast polymer processing technologies remains a major challenge. In this paper, we show that bulk platelet-reinforced composites with tailored reinforcement architectures and mechanical properties can be fabricated through the directed-assembly of inorganic platelets using combined magnetic and mechanical stimuli. The mechanical performance and fracture behavior of the resulting composites under compression and bending can be deliberately tuned by assembling the platelets into designed microstructures. By combining high alignment degree and volume fractions of reinforcement up to 27 vol %, we fabricated platelet-reinforced composites that can potentially be made with cost-effective polymer processing routes while still exhibiting properties that are comparable to those of state-of-the-art glass-fiber composites.

Production of mixed carbonate phases using ammonium carbonate-metal acetate reactions

Materials such as bone, nacre, and fish scales have unique structures that give the material strength as well as ductility. The ultimate goal of our research is to develop new composite materials that have improved strength and ductility compared to conventional materials. The US Army Engineer Research and Development Center is incorporating these design principles to develop hierarchical materials for structural applications. In the present study, the mineralogy and morphology of calcium-containing carbonates precipitated by reacting (NH4)2CO3 with mixed Ca, Sr, Mg, and Mn-acetates was investigated. As the proportion of the non-Ca component increased, the products shifted toward double carbonates and mixtures of double carbonates with single carbonates. Characterization by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction to determine crystal sizes, morphology, and structure of precipitated phases indicated a potential for re-crystallizing the products to form new composite materials. Ongoing research efforts are focused on using information obtained in the present study to develop composites by hydrothermal recrystallization of metastable phases.

A review of experimental techniques to produce a nacre-like structure

The performance of man-made materials can be improved by exploring new structures inspired by the architecture of biological materials. Natural materials, such as nacre (mother-of-pearl), can have outstanding mechanical properties due to their complicated architecture and hierarchical structure at the nano-, micro- and meso-levels which have evolved over millions of years. This review describes the numerous experimental methods explored to date to produce composites with structures and mechanical properties similar to those of natural nacre. The materials produced have sizes ranging from nanometres to centimetres, processing times varying from a few minutes to several months and a different range of mechanical properties that render them suitable for various applications. For the first time, these techniques have been divided into those producing bulk materials, coatings and free-standing films. This is due to the fact that the material's application strongly depends on its dimensions and different results have been reported by applying the same technique to produce materials with different sizes. The limitations and capabilities of these methodologies have been also described.

Layered nanocomposites inspired by the structure and mechanical properties of nacre

Nacre (mother-of-pearl), made of inorganic and organic constituents (95 vol% aragonite calcium carbonate (CaCO(3)) platelets and 5 vol% elastic biopolymers), possesses a unique combination of remarkable strength and toughness, which is compatible for conventional high performance materials. The excellent mechanical properties are related to its hierarchical structure and precisely designed organic-inorganic interface. The rational design of aragonite platelet strength, aspect ratio of aragonite platelets, and interface strength ensures that the strength of nacre is maximized under platelet pull-out failure mode. At the same time, the synergy of strain hardening mechanisms acting over multiple scales results in platelets sliding on one another, and thus maximizes the energy dissipation of viscoplastic biopolymers. The excellent integrated mechanical properties with hierarchical structure have inspired chemists and materials scientists to develop biomimetic strategies for artificial nacre materials. This critical review presents a broad overview of the state-of-the-art work on the preparation of layered organic-inorganic nanocomposites inspired by nacre, in particular, the advantages and disadvantages of various biomimetic strategies. Discussion is focused on the effect of the layered structure, interface, and component loading on strength and toughness of nacre-mimic layered nanocomposites (148 references).