Exploiting arene-perfluoroarene interactions for dispersion of carbon black in rubber compounds

Hybrid Carbon Black/Silica Reinforcing System for High-Performance Green Tread Rubber

Silica, as a high-quality reinforcing filler, can satisfy the requirements of high-performance green tread rubber with high wet-skid resistance, low rolling resistance, and low heat generation. However, the silica surface contains abundant silicon hydroxyl groups, resulting in a severe aggregation of silica particles in non-polar rubber matrix. Herein, we explored a carbon black (CB)/silica hybrid reinforcing strategy to prepare epoxidized natural rubber (ENR)-based vulcanizates. Benefiting from the reaction and interaction between the epoxy groups on ENR chains and the silicon hydroxyl groups on silica surfaces, the dispersion uniformity of silica in the ENR matrix was significantly enhanced. Meanwhile, the silica can facilitate the dispersity and reinforcing effect of CB particles in the ENR matrix. By optimizing the CB/silica blending ratios, we realized high-performance ENR vulcanizates with simultaneously improved mechanical strength, wear resistance, resilience, anti-aging, and damping properties, as well as reduced heat generation and rolling resistance. For example, compared with ENR vulcanizates with only CB fillers, those with CB/silica hybrid fillers showed ~10% increase in tensile strength, ~20% increase in elongation at break, and ~20% increase in tensile retention rate. These results indicated that the ENR compounds reinforced with CB/silica hybrid fillers are a promising candidate for high-performance green tread rubber materials.

Characteristics, Progress and Trends of Urban Microclimate Research: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Climate change has been a hot topic in recent years. However, the urban microclimate is more valuable for research because it directly affects people’s living environments and can be adjusted by technological means to enhance the resilience of cities in the face of climate change and disasters. This paper analyses the literature distribution characteristics, development stages, and research trends of urban microclimate research based on the literature on “urban microclimate” collected in the Web of Science core database since 1990, using CiteSpace and VOSviewer bibliometric software. It is found that the literature distribution of the urban microclimate is characterized by continuous growth, is interdisciplinary, and can be divided into four stages: nascent exploration, model quantification, diversified development and ecological synergy. Based on the knowledge mapping analysis of keyword clustering, annual overlap, and keyword highlighting, it can be predicted that the research on foreign urban land patch development has three hot trends—multi-scale modelling, multi-factor impact, and multi-policy guidance. The study’s findings help recognize the literature distribution characteristics and evolutionary lineage of urban microclimate research and provide suggestions for future urban microclimate research.

Preparation and application of carbon black-filled rubber composite modified with a multi-functional silane coupling agent

Carbon black (CB)-filled rubber composites are widely used for tire tread and other rubber products due to their good abrasion resistance and reinforcement. Numerous studies have been focused on the filler-rubber interaction with the aim of obtaining optimum performances. In order to investigate the effect of modification on properties of diene rubber composites, a modified CB-filled isoprene rubber (IR) composite was prepared with a multi-functional silane coupling agent, 2-aminoethyl-2-(3-triethoxysilylpropyl)aminoethyl disulfide (ATD). This modification significantly enhanced the CB-IR interaction and improved CB dispersion. For the modified CB/IR vulcanizates, the tensile strength, stress at 300% elongation, temperature rise, and dynamic loss coefficient were significantly improved at low ATD dosage (1.5 phr). Such modification provides an effective route to prepare CB-reinforced diene rubber composites with low hysteresis and improved mechanical properties.

Nature of Carbon Black Reinforcement of Rubber: Perspective on the Original Polymer Nanocomposite

Adding carbon black (CB) particles to elastomeric polymers is essential to the successful industrial use of rubber in many applications, and the mechanical reinforcing effect of CB in rubber has been studied for nearly 100 years. Despite these many decades of investigations, the origin of stiffness enhancement of elastomers from incorporating nanometer-scale CB particles is still debated. It is not universally accepted whether the interactions between polymer chains and CB surfaces are purely physical adsorption or whether some polymer-particle chemical bonds are also introduced in the process of mixing and curing the CB-filled rubber compounds. We review key experimental observations of rubber reinforced with CB, including the finding that heat treatment of CB can greatly reduce the filler reinforcement effect in rubber. The details of the particle morphology and surface chemistry are described to give insights into the nature of the CB-elastomer interfaces. This is followed by a discussion of rubber processing effects, the influence of CB on crosslinking, and various chemical modification approaches that have been employed to improve polymer-filler interactions and reinforcement. Finally, we contrast various models that have been proposed for rationalizing the CB reinforcement of elastomers.

Azobenzene Functionalized "T-Type" Poly(Amide Imide)s vs. Guest-Host Systems-A Comparative Study of Structure-Property Relations

This paper describes the synthesis and characterization of new “T-type” azo poly(amide imide)s as well as guest-host systems based on the “T-type” matrices. The matrices possessed pyridine rings in a main-chain and azobenzene moieties located either between the amide or imide groups. The non-covalent polymers contained the molecularly dispersed 4-phenylazophenol or 4-[(4-methyl phenyl)diazinyl]phenol chromophores that are capable of forming intermolecular hydrogen bonds with the pyridine rings. The FTIR spectroscopy and the measurements of the thermal, optical and photoinduced optical birefringence were employed for the determination of the influence of H-bonds and the specific elements of polymer architecture on physicochemical properties. Moreover, the obtained results were compared to those described in our previous works to formulate structure-property relations that may be considered general for the class of “T-type” azo poly(amide imide)s.

Dolado J. Elucidation of Conduction Mechanism in Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNPs)/Cement Composite Using Dielectric Spectroscopy

Understanding the mechanisms that govern the conductive properties of multifunctional cement-materials is fundamental for the development of the new applications proposed to enhance the energy efficiency, safety and structural properties of smart buildings and infrastructures. Many fillers have been suggested to increase the electrical conduction in concretes; however, the processes involved are still not entirely known. In the present work, we investigated the effect of graphene nanoplatelets (1 wt% on the electrical properties of cement composites (OPC/GNPs). We found a decrease of the bulk resistivity in the composite associated to the enhancement of the charge transport properties in the sample. Moreover, the study of the dielectric properties suggests that the main contribution to conduction is given by water diffusion through the porous network resulting in ion conductivity. Finally, the results support that the increase of direct current in OPC/GNPs is due to pore refinement induced by graphene nanoplatelets.

Mechanical Properties of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Concrete with Different Polymer-Cement Ratios

To study the effect of redispersible polymer emulsion powder on the mechanical properties of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer concrete (CFRPC), the compressive, flexural, and splitting tests of CFRPC specimens with different polymer–cement ratios (polymer–cement mass ratios) were performed in this study. The modification effect of emulsion powder on CFRPC was analyzed from the perspectives of the strength and deformation properties of the specimens. The results show that the static properties of CFRPC increased first and then decreased with the increase of the polymer–cement ratio, in which the splitting tensile strength had the most significant increase; the flexural strength took second place and the compressive strength had a slight increase. When the polymer–cement ratio was 8%, the flexural and splitting tensile strength of the CFRPC specimens increased significantly by 36% and 61%, respectively. According to electron microscopy images, adding emulsion powder can effectively improve the structure of fiber–matrix transition zones and enhance the bond property between fibers and the matrix.

Experimental Study on Shear Strengthening of RC Beams with an FRP Grid-PCM Reinforcement Layer

This paper investigates the shear strengthening effect of a number of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened by a reinforcement layer which combines carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) grid and polymer cement mortar (PCM). A total of ten RC beams, including three types of specimens as Series A and seven kinds of specimens as Series B, were prepared and investigated. The test variables in both series of experiments included various reinforcement ranges and different reinforcement amounts that consisted of CFRP grids’ spacing and cross-section areas. The experimental results suggest that the shear strengthening effect of the CFRP grid-PCM layer for RC beams is obvious and adequate. Meanwhile, better performance is observed if the CFRP grid-PCM reinforcement layer is used for the full sectional reinforcement of RC beams with an I-shaped profile, in contrast to RC beams with reinforcement of the web only. In addition, a new evaluation method based on the effective strain of the CFRP grid is developed to determine the shear capacity of RC beams strengthened by a CFRP grid-PCM layer.

Preparation of Carbon Aerogel Electrode for Electrosorption of Copper Ions in Aqueous Solution

Carbon aerogel (CA) has a rich porous structure, in which micropores and mesopores provide a huge specific surface area to form electric double layers. This property can be applied to the application of capacitive deionization (CDI). The adsorption effect of CA electrode on Cu²⁺ in an aqueous solution was explored for solving heavy metal water pollution. The CAs were synthesized by a sol-gel process using an atmospheric drying method. The structure of CAs was characterized by scanning in an electron microscope (SEM) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption techniques. The adsorption system was built using Cu²⁺ solution as the simulation of heavy metal pollution solution. The control variate method was used to investigate the effect of the anion species in copper solution, the molar ratio of resorcinol to catalyst (R/C) of CA, and the applied voltage and concentration of copper ion on the adsorption results.

Symbiotic Aerogel Fibers Made via In-Situ Gelation of Aramid Nanofibers with Polyamidoxime for Uranium Extraction

The uranium reserve in seawater is enormous, but its concentration is extremely low and plenty of interfering ions exist; therefore, it is a great challenge to extract uranium from seawater with high efficiency and high selectivity. In this work, a symbiotic aerogel fiber (i.e., PAO@ANF) based on polyamidoxime (PAO) and aramid nanofiber (ANF) is designed and fabricated via in-situ gelation of ANF with PAO in dimethyl sulfoxide and subsequent freeze-drying of the corresponding fibrous gel precursor. The resulting flexible porous aerogel fiber possesses high specific surface area (up to 165 m²·g⁻¹), excellent hydrophilicity and high tensile strength (up to 4.56 MPa) as determined by BET, contact angle, and stress-strain measurements. The batch adsorption experiments indicate that the PAO@ANF aerogel fibers possess a maximal adsorption capacity of uranium up to 262.5 mg·g⁻¹, and the absorption process is better fitted by the pseudo-second-order kinetics model and Langmuir isotherm model, indicating an adsorption mechanism of the monolayer chemical adsorption. Moreover, the PAO@ANF aerogel fibers exhibit selective adsorption to uranium in the presence of coexisting ions, and they could well maintain good adsorption ability and integrated porous architecture after five cycles of adsorption–desorption process. It would be expected that the symbiotic aerogel fiber could be produced on a large scale and would find promising application in uranium ion extraction from seawater.

Interfacial interaction modes construction of various functional SSBR–silica towards high filler dispersion and excellent composites performances

The impacts of the interfacial interaction modes and their strength on the filler dispersion and composites performances were clearly clarified.