Linear viscoelasticity and dynamics of suspensions and molten polymers filled with nanoparticles of different aspect ratios

From fundamental insights to rational (bio)polymer nanocomposite design - Connecting the nanometer to meter scale

Nanoparticle addition has the potential to make bioplastic use mainstream, as the resultant nanocomposite shows improved mechanical, barrier, and thermal properties. It is well established that the architecture and dynamics of the nanoparticle-polymer interphasial region, ∼ 1.5-9 nm from the nanoparticle surface, are crucial for nanocomposite characteristics. Yet, how these molecular phenomena translate to the bulk is still largely unknown. A multi-disciplinary and multi-scale vision is required to capture the full picture and improve materials far beyond what is currently possible. In this review, a first step in bridging the apparent gap between fundamental insights toward observed material properties is made. At the molecular scale, the polymer chain density and dynamics at the nanoparticle surface are governed by a complex interplay between enthalpy and entropy. The resultant interphasial properties can only be propagated to the macroscopic scale effectively when the nanoparticles are well-distributed. This makes the dispersion state a key parameter for which thermodynamic and kinetic insights can be used to prevent nanoparticle aggregation. These insights are linked to material properties relevant to packaging. The outlook section elaborates on the remaining challenges and the steps required to further understand and better design nanocomposite systems.

Unveiling the restricted mobility of carbon nanotubes inside a long chain branched polymer matrix via probing the shear flow effects on the rheological and electrical properties of the filled systems

The present work has aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the effects of shear flow on the behaviors of nano filler evolution inside linear and long chain branched polymer matrices. Accordingly, measurements consisting of transient start-up shear rheology coupled with small amplitude oscillatory sweep (SAOS) and dielectric tests were designed. Linear polypropylene (PPC) and polypropylene (PPH) with long chain branching (LCB) were chosen as the polymer matrices and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the nanofillers. The percolation threshold of the LCB PPH nanocomposites was found to be higher than for linear PPC, due to the high viscosity and elasticity of LCB PPH. A transient shear with different shear rates was imposed on the composites after which SAOS and electrical conductivity measurements were conducted. The liquid-solid transitions of the nanocomposites were found to be different and to depend on the shear flow conditions (shear rate). For the linear PPC, higher shear rates caused the filler network to break down while lower shear rates helped the nanofillers to agglomerate. Interestingly, for LCB PPH, both higher and lower pre-shear rates resulted in the breakup of the filler networks, which was due to the restricted mobility of the CNTs by the LCB. The confinement of the polymer chains to the CNTs and their aggregates made it difficult for the fillers to move thus causing the formed network to be easily destroyed even under slow and slight shears. Similarly, the trend was also found after shear flows as reflected by the increase and decrease of electrical conductivities.

Application of Hydrogels and Hydrocarbon-Based Gels in Oil Production Processes and Well Drilling

The use of gels in oil production processes has become a regular practice in oilfield operations and is constantly developing in all oil-producing countries of the world, as evidenced by the growth of publications and patent activity on this topic. Many oil production processes, such as hydraulic fracturing, conformance control, water, and gas shutoff, cannot be imagined without the use of gel technologies. Inorganic, organic, and hybrid gels are used, as well as foams, gel-forming, and gel-dispersed systems. The possibility of a broad control of structural and mechanical properties, thermal stability, and shear resistance by introducing microscale and nanoscale additives made hydrogels and hydrocarbon-based gels indispensable tools for oil engineers.

Recent advances in enhanced polymer gels for profile control and water shutoff: A review

Polymer gels have been effectively employed as a water management material for profile control and water shutoff treatments in low-middle temperature and low-middle salinity reservoirs. However, most polymer gel systems have limitations under high temperature and salinity reservoir conditions, such as short gelation time, poor strength, and long-term instability. Therefore, several researchers have developed enhanced polymer gels to satisfy the water control requirements in high temperature and salinity reservoirs. This work reviews the five main types of enhanced polymer gels that have been developed so far: nano silica-enhanced gel systems, cellulose-enhanced gel systems, graphite-enhanced gel systems, oily sludge-enhanced gel systems, and foam-enhanced polymer gel systems. Further, this article investigates the fundamental properties, strengthening and crosslinking mechanisms, reservoir application conditions, and field applications of several enhanced polymer systems. In this paper, it is found that the addition of strengthening materials can increase the bound water content in the gel network and significantly improve the temperature and salt resistance of polymer gel, so as to cope with the application of profile control and water plugging in high temperature and high salt reservoirs. Moreover, it also offers references and future research directions for enhanced polymer gel systems.

Fumed Silica-Based Suspensions for Shear Thickening Applications: A Full-Scale Rheological Study

Understanding shear thickening fluids (STFs) is critically important in a broad spectrum of fields ranging from biology to military. STFs are referred to the suspension of solid particles in an inert carrier liquid. Customizing the thickening behavior is vital for obtaining desired properties. Hence, comprehending shear thickening mechanisms is necessary to fully understand the factors affecting the shear thickening response of the STFs. Herein, we systematically investigate the effects of a wide range of parameters, from inherent properties of the constituents, including size and surface chemistry of the suspended particles, to practical conditions such as temperature and shear history, on the shear thickening behavior of fumed silica nanoparticles (NPs)-based suspensions in a polyethylene glycol (PEG) medium. Accordingly, increasing the hydrophobicity of the silica NPs or decreasing the NP size transforms the suspensions from sol to gel. The sol systems exhibit a strong shear thickening response, while shear thinning behavior is prominent in the strong gel systems. Hybridization of different silica NPs is also leveraged to tune the shear thickening behavior. In addition, we showcase the decisive role of operating temperature or shear history on the shear thickening behavior of suspensions. For instance, in terms of the shear history, above a critical value of preshear, the shear thickening behavior occurs at lower shear rates for STFs containing hydrophilic NPs. It is believed that the provided insights in this study can pave the way for developing advanced STFs with prescribed features.

Polymer/nanodiamond composites - a comprehensive review from synthesis and fabrication to properties and applications

Nanodiamond (ND) is an allotrope of carbon nanomaterials which exhibits many outstanding physical, mechanical, thermal, optical and biocompatibility characteristics. Meanwhile, ND particles possess unique spherical shape containing diamond-like structure at the core with graphitic carbon outer shell which intuitively contains many oxygen-containing functional groups at the outer surface. Such superior properties and unique structural morphology of NDs are essentially attractive to develop polymer composites with multifunctional properties. However, despite a long history from the discovery of NDs, which is dated back to the1960s, this nanoparticle has been less explored in the field of polymer (nano)composites compared with other carbon nanomaterials, e.g. carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene. However, open literature indicates that research works in the field of polymer/ND (PND) composites have gained great momentum in the past half a decade. The present article provides a comprehensive review on recent achievements in ND based polymer composites. This review covers a very broad aspect from the synthesis, purification and functionalization of NDs to dispersion, preparation and fabrication of polymer/ND (PND) composites with a look in their recent applications for both structural and functional basis. Therefore, the review would be useful to pave the way for researchers to take some advancing steps in this respect.

Elevated-Temperature 3D Printing of Hybrid Solid-State Electrolyte for Li-Ion Batteries

While 3D printing of rechargeable batteries has received immense interest in advancing the next generation of 3D energy storage devices, challenges with the 3D printing of electrolytes still remain. Additional processing steps such as solvent evaporation were required for earlier studies of electrolyte fabrication, which hindered the simultaneous production of electrode and electrolyte in an all-3D-printed battery. Here, a novel method is demonstrated to fabricate hybrid solid-state electrolytes using an elevated-temperature direct ink writing technique without any additional processing steps. The hybrid solid-state electrolyte consists of solid poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) matrices and a Li⁺ -conducting ionic-liquid electrolyte. The ink is modified by adding nanosized ceramic fillers to achieve the desired rheological properties. The ionic conductivity of the inks is 0.78  × 10 ^-3 S cm^-1 . Interestingly, a continuous, thin, and dense layer is discovered to form between the porous electrolyte layer and the electrode, which effectively reduces the interfacial resistance of the solid-state battery. Compared to the traditional methods of solid-state battery assembly, the directly printed electrolyte helps to achieve higher capacities and a better rate performance. The direct fabrication of electrolyte from printable inks at an elevated temperature will shed new light on the design of all-3D-printed batteries for next-generation electronic devices.

Gas Barrier, Thermal, Mechanical and Rheological Properties of Highly Aligned Graphene-LDPE Nanocomposites

This contribution reports on properties of low-density polyethylene-based composites filled with different amounts of graphene nanoplatelets. The studied samples were prepared in the form of films by means of the precoating technique and single screw melt-extrusion, which yields a highly ordered arrangement of graphene flakes and results in a strong anisotropy of composites morphology. The performed tests of gas permeability reveal a drastic decrease of this property with increasing filler content. A clear correlation is found between permeability and free volume fraction in the material, the latter evaluated by means of positron annihilation spectroscopy. A strong anisotropy of the thermal conductivity is also achieved and the thermal conductivity along the extrusion direction for samples filled with 7.5 wt % of GnP (graphene nanoplatelets) reached 2.2 W/m·K. At the same time, when measured through a plane, a slight decrease of thermal conductivity is found. The use of GnP filler leads also to improvements of mechanical properties. The increase of Young's modulus and tensile strength are reached as the composites become more brittle.

Breaking through the Solid/Liquid Processability Barrier: Thermal Conductivity and Rheology in Hybrid Graphene-Graphite Polymer Composites

Thermal conductivity (TC) enhancement of an insulating polymer matrix at low filler concentration is possible through the loading of a high aspect ratio, thermally conductive single filler. Unfortunately, the dispersion of high-aspect-ratio particles greatly influences the rheological behavior of the polymer host at relatively low volume fractions, which makes further polymer processing or mixing difficult. A possible remedy is using two (hybrid) fillers, differing in their aspect ratios: (1) a plate-like filler, which sharply increases both viscosity and TC, and (2) an isotropic filler, which gradually increases these properties. We examine this hypothesis in a thermosetting silicone rubber by loading it with different ratios, (1)/(2), of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) (1) and graphite powder (2). We constructed a "phase diagram" delineating two composite processability regions: solid-like (moldable) or fluid-like (pourable). This diagram may be employed to tailor the mixture's viscosity to a desired TC value by varying the fillers' volume fraction. The phase diagram highlights the low volume fraction value, above which the composite is solid-like (low processability) for a single high-aspect-ratio nanofiller. By using hybrid filling, one can overcome this limit and prepare a fluid-like composite at a desired TC, not accessible by the single nanofiller. Thus, it provides an indicative tool for polymer processing, especially in applications such as the encapsulation of electronic devices. This approach was demonstrated for a heat source (resistor) potted by silicon rubber graphene-graphite composites, for which a desired TC was obtained in both solid- and liquid-like regions.

Linear and Nonlinear Rheology Combined with Dielectric Spectroscopy of Hybrid Polymer Nanocomposites for Semiconductive Applications

The linear and nonlinear oscillatory shear, extensional and combined rheology-dielectric spectroscopy of hybrid polymer nanocomposites for semiconductive applications were investigated in this study. The main focus was the influence of processing conditions on percolated poly(ethylene-butyl acrylate) (EBA) nanocomposite hybrids containing graphite nanoplatelets (GnP) and carbon black (CB). The rheological response of the samples was interpreted in terms of dispersion properties, filler distortion from processing, filler percolation, as well as the filler orientation and distribution dynamics inside the matrix. Evidence of the influence of dispersion properties was found in linear viscoelastic dynamic frequency sweeps, while the percolation of the nanocomposites was detected in nonlinearities developed in dynamic strain sweeps. Using extensional rheology, hybrid samples with better dispersion properties lead to a more pronounced strain hardening behavior, while samples with a higher volume percentage of fillers caused a drastic reduction in strain hardening. The rheo-dielectric time-dependent response showed that in the case of nanocomposites containing only GnP, the orientation dynamics leads to non-conductive samples. However, in the case of hybrids, the orientation of the GnP could be offset by the dispersing of the CB to bridge the nanoplatelets. The results were interpreted in the framework of a dual PE-BA model, where the fillers would be concentrated mainly in the BA regions. Furthermore, better dispersed hybrids obtained using mixing screws at the expense of filler distortion via extrusion processing history were emphasized through the rheo-dielectric tests.

Highly Sensitive and Practical Detection of Plant Viruses via Electrical Impedance of Droplets on Textured Silicon-Based Devices

Early diagnosis of plant virus infections before the disease symptoms appearance may represent a significant benefit in limiting disease spread by a prompt application of appropriate containment steps. We propose a label-free procedure applied on a device structure where the electrical signal transduction is evaluated via impedance spectroscopy techniques. The device consists of a droplet suspension embedding two representative purified plant viruses i.e., Tomato mosaic virus and Turnip yellow mosaic virus, put in contact with a highly hydrophobic plasma textured silicon surface. Results show a high sensitivity of the system towards the virus particles with an interestingly low detection limit, from tens to hundreds of attomolar corresponding to pg/mL of sap, which refers, in the infection time-scale, to a concentration of virus particles in still-symptomless plants. Such a threshold limit, together with an envisaged engineering of an easily manageable device, compared to more sophisticated apparatuses, may contribute in simplifying the in-field plant virus diagnostics.

Magnetic assembly of transparent and conducting graphene-based functional composites

Innovative methods producing transparent and flexible electrodes are highly sought in modern optoelectronic applications to replace metal oxides, but available solutions suffer from drawbacks such as brittleness, unaffordability and inadequate processability. Here we propose a general, simple strategy to produce hierarchical composites of functionalized graphene in polymeric matrices, exhibiting transparency and electron conductivity. These are obtained through protein-assisted functionalization of graphene with magnetic nanoparticles, followed by magnetic-directed assembly of the graphene within polymeric matrices undergoing sol–gel transitions. By applying rotating magnetic fields or magnetic moulds, both graphene orientation and distribution can be controlled within the composite. Importantly, by using magnetic virtual moulds of predefined meshes, graphene assembly is directed into double-percolating networks, reducing the percolation threshold and enabling combined optical transparency and electrical conductivity not accessible in single-network materials. The resulting composites open new possibilities on the quest of transparent electrodes for photovoltaics, organic light-emitting diodes and stretchable optoelectronic devices.

Transparent and electrically conducting flexible films are in high demand but production can be both time-consuming and expensive. Here, the authors report a method for assembling modified graphene flakes in controlled distributions within polymeric matrices by use of magnetic fields.

Translational and rotational diffusion of a single nanorod in unentangled polymer melts

Polymer nanocomposites have been an issue of both academic and industrial interest due to promising electrical, mechanical, optical, and magnetic properties. The dynamics of nanoparticles in polymer nanocomposites is a key to understanding those properties of polymer nanocomposites and is important for applications such as self-healing nanocomposites. In this article we investigate the translational and the rotational dynamics of a single nanorod in unentangled polymer melts by employing extensive molecular dynamics simulations. A nanorod and polymers are modeled as semiflexible tangent chains of spherical beads. The stiffness of a nanorod is tuned by changing the bending potential between chemical bonds. When polymers are sufficiently long and the nanorod is stiff, the nanorod translates in an anisotropic fashion along the nanorod axis within time scales of translational relaxation times even in unentangled polymer melts. The rotational diffusion is suppressed more significantly than the translational diffusion as the polymer chain length is increased, thus the translational and rotational diffusion of the nanorod are decoupled. We also estimate the winding numbers of polymers, i.e., how many times a polymer winds the nanorod. The winding number increases with longer polymers but is relatively insensitive to the nanorod stiffness.