Marco Mauro

Optimization of graphene-based materials outperforming host epoxy matrices

The degree of graphite exfoliation and edge-carboxylated layers can be controlled and balanced to design lightweight materials characterized by both low electrical percolation thresholds (EPT) and improved mechanical properties. So far, this challenging task has been undoubtedly very hard to achieve. The results presented in this paper highlight the effect of exfoliation degree and the role of edge-carboxylated graphite layers to give self-assembled structures embedded in the polymeric matrix. Graphene layers inside the matrix may serve as building blocks of complex systems that could outperform the host matrix. Improvements in electrical percolation and mechanical performance have been obtained by a synergic effect due to finely balancing the degree of exfoliation and the chemistry of graphene edges which favors the interfacial interaction between polymer and carbon layers. In particular, for epoxy-based resins including two partially exfoliated graphite samples, differing essentially in the content of carboxylated groups, the percolation threshold reduces from 3 wt% down to 0.3 wt%, as the carboxylated group content increases up to 10 wt%. Edge-carboxylated nanosheets also increase the nanofiller/epoxy matrix interaction, determining a relevant reinforcement in the elastic modulus.

Regio- and enantioselective friedel-crafts reactions of indoles to epoxides catalyzed by graphene oxide: a green approach.

Graphene oxide efficiently promotes high regio- and enantioselective ring opening reactions of aromatic epoxides by indoles addition, in solvent- and metal-free conditions. The Friedel-Crafts products were obtained with enantioselectivity up to 99 % ee. The complete inversion of stereochemistry indicates the occurrence of SN 2-type reaction, which assures high level of enantioselectivity.

Clay exfoliation and polymer/clay aerogels by supercritical carbon dioxide

Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) treatments of a montmorillonite (MMT) intercalated with ammonium cations bearing two long hydrocarbon tails (organo-modified MMT, OMMT) led to OMMT exfoliation, with loss of the long-range order in the packing of the hydrocarbon tails and maintenance of the long-range order in the clay layers. The intercalated and the derived exfoliated OMMT have been deeply characterized, mainly by X-ray diffraction analyses. Monolithic composite aerogels, with large amounts of both intercalated and exfoliated OMMT and including the nanoporous-crystalline δ form of syndiotactic polystyrene (s-PS), have been prepared, by scCO2 extractions of s-PS-based gels. Also for high OMMT content, the gel and aerogel preparation procedures occur without re-aggregation of the exfoliated clay, which is instead observed for other kinds of polymer processing. Aerogels with the exfoliated OMMT have more even dispersion of the clay layers, higher elastic modulus and larger surface area than aerogels with the intercalated OMMT. Extremely light materials with relevant transport properties could be prepared. Moreover, s-PS-based aerogels with exfoliated OMMT could be helpful for the handling of exfoliated clay minerals.

Mixing-induced spontaneous supersymmetry breaking

Abstract It is conjectured that flavor mixing furnishes a universal mechanism for the spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry. The conjecture is proved explicitly for the mixing of two chiral N = 1 supermultiplets and arguments for its general validity are given. That is an instance of the OʼRaifeartaigh Lagrangian for which there is no tree-level nor perturbative breaking. Nonetheless, the dynamical breaking occurs due to the vacuum condensate, a mixing-induced nonperturbative effect that lifts the zero point energy.

Thermally stable, solvent resistant and flexible graphene oxide paper

The ability of graphene oxide (GO) aqueous suspensions to form robust GO paper is largely improved by basification of the suspension before processing. In particular, casting procedures, which are generally unsuitable for production of robust GO paper, become suitable for basified GO (b-GO) suspensions, leading to dense and free-standing papers, which are also highly flexible. Thermal or microwave treatments of paper from b-GO suspensions (b-GO paper) easily produce loss in stacking order of graphene oxide layers, with maintenance of a high degree of parallelism (0.6 < f ≡ orientation function < 0.7) with respect to the paper surface. Differently from usual GO papers, b-GO papers maintain their dimensional integrity when thermally treated or when dispersed in organic solvents or in aqueous solutions. Many relevant b-GO features (improved film ability by casting, maintenance of film integrity and reduced deoxygenation by heating and improved solvent resistance) can be rationalized by formation of covalent bridges between GO layers. Infrared spectra and simple chemical arguments suggest that these covalent bridges between GO layers could be mainly constituted by ether bonds.

SU(N) multi-Skyrmions at finite volume

We study multi-soliton solutions of the four-dimensional SU(N) Skyrme model by combining the hedgehog ansatz for SU(N) based on the harmonic maps of

Vacuum condensates, flavor mixing and spontaneous supersymmetry breaking

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