Jinfeng Zhuge

Processing of polymer nanocomposites

Abstract: Polymer nanocomposites processing requires incorporating nanoparticles into polymer matrix in a controllable fashion in order to successfully transfer the outstanding properties of nanoparticles to the final nanocomposite. This chapter first reviews various processing techniques to fabricate nanoparticles reinforced polymer nanocomposites. It then discusses some critical processing-related issues for property improvement, including the selection of nanoparticle and polymer matrix, quality of dispersion, alignment and functionalization of nanoparticles.

Study of Synergistic Fire Retardancy of Nanoparticles in Polymer Matrix Composites

In this study, three kinds of carbon nanofiber sheets were made through a high-pressure filtration system: pure carbon nanofiber, carbon nanofiber with polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (PCNS) and carbon nanofiber with Cloisite Na+ clay (CCNS). Then these sheets were incorporated onto the surface of glass fiber reinforced polyester composites through resin transfer molding process. The samples were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetric analyses (TGA). The fire retardant performance of the laminates was evaluated with cone calorimeter test at an external radiated heat flux of 50kw/m2 . The results of laminates with PCNS indicated that the fire performance was impaired when comparing with the case of pure carbon nanofiber paper. However, in the case of CCNS, the primary results showed a pronounced improvement of the fire performance was observed. The possible mechanism was also discussed in the present study.Copyright