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A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanocomposite Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 27116

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Dr. Mauro Zarrelli

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Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, National Research Council of Italy, 80055 Portici, Italy
Interests: advanced composites; mechanical and thermo-mechanical performance; nanocomposites; manufacturing processes; residual stresses; cure kinetics; thermal stability; impact; fracture tooughness
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Dr. Anna Borriello

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Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, National Research Council of Italy, P.le Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici, NA, Italy
Interests: polymeric systems; electrically conductive polymers; nanofillers in polymer composite; polymer electrolyte membranes; bio-inspired materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last three decades, the availability of a different typology of nanoparticles has increased enormously, giving a concrete chance to develop tunable materials for specific structural and functional applications.

Adding nanoparticles to a polymer matrix can enhance its performance, at the same time tailoring specific properties. This approach is particularly effective in applications for which specific functionalities are needed, such as conductive polymer, enhanced thermal conductive matrix, high performance composites, functional coating, nanocomposite foams or “smart” materials for sensing.

This Special Issue, titled: “Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites”, within the Nanomaterials Journal of MDPI, aims to publish original research, which will add knowledge to the current understanding on polymer nanocomposites, including fundamental structure/property relationships, property characterization, and numerical modeling and manufacturing techniques. At the same, review work reporting the current state of the art for a specific feature of polymer nanocomposites with main interests for aeronautical and space applications is welcome.

Dr. Mauro Zarrelli
Dr. Anna Borriello
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Polymer nanocomposites
Hierarchical composites
Nanofillers
Processing nanocomposites
Sensing nanocomposite
Smart nanocomposites
Synthesis of nanofiller
Multifunctional of nanocomposites
Structural property
Simulation and modeling

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2627 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Colloidal Stability of Silica-Modified Magnetite Nanoparticles: Comparison of Various Dispersion Techniques

by Gulzhian Dzhardimalieva, Lyubov Bondarenko, Erzsébet Illés, Etelka Tombácz, Nataliya Tropskaya, Igor Magomedov, Alexander Orekhov and Kamila Kydralieva

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(12), 3295; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11123295 - 04 Dec 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1814

Abstract

The production of stable and homogeneous batches during nanoparticle fabrication is challenging. Surface charging, as a stability determinant, was estimated for 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) coated pre-formed magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs). An important consideration for preparing stable and homogenous MNPs colloidal systems is the dispersion stage of pre-formed samples, which makes it feasible to increase the MNP reactive binding sites, to enhance functionality. The results gave evidence that the samples that had undergone stirring had a higher loading capacity towards polyanions, in terms of filler content, compared to the sonicated ones. These later results were likely due to the harsh effects of sonication (extremely high temperature and pressure in the cavities formed at the interfaces), which induced the destruction of the MNPs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites)

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22 pages, 4051 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Cyrtostachys renda Fiber Loading on the Mechanical, Morphology, and Flammability Properties of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes/Phenolic Bio-Composites

by Tamil Moli Loganathan, Mohamed Thariq Hameed Sultan, Qumrul Ahsan, Mohammad Jawaid, Jesuarockiam Naveen, Ain Umaira Md Shah, Abd. Rahim Abu Talib, Adi Azriff Basri and Che Nor Aiza Jaafar

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(11), 3049; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11113049 - 12 Nov 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2092

Abstract

This research focuses on evaluating the effect of Cyrtostachys renda (CR) fiber and the impact of adding multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) on the morphological, physical, mechanical, and flammability properties of phenolic composites. MWCNT were supplemented with phenolic resin through a dry dispersion ball milling method. Composites were fabricated by incorporating CR fiber in 0.5 wt.% MWCNT-phenolic matrix by hot pressing. Nevertheless, the void content, higher water absorption, and thickness swelling increased with fiber loading to the MWCNT/phenolic composites. The presence of MWCNT in phenolic enhanced the tensile, flexural, and impact strength by as much as 18%, 8%, and 8%, respectively, compared to pristine phenolic. The addition of CR fiber, however, strengthened MWCNT-phenolic composites, improving the tensile, flexural, and impact strength by as much as 16%, 16%, and 266%, respectively, for 50 wt.% loading of CR fiber. The CR fiber may adhere properly to the matrix, indicating that there is a strong interface between fiber and MWCNT-phenolic resin. UL-94 horizontal and limiting oxygen index (LOI) results indicated that all composite materials are in the category of self-extinguishing. Based on the technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) technique, 50 wt.% CR fiber-reinforced MWCNT-phenolic composite was chosen as the optimal composite for mechanical and flammability properties. This bio-based eco-friendly composite has the potential to be used as an aircraft interior component. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites)

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21 pages, 9749 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Preparation and Characterization of Transparent Polyimide Nanocomposite Films with Potential Applications as Spacecraft Antenna Substrates with Low Dielectric Features and Good Sustainability in Atomic-Oxygen Environments

by Yan Zhang, Bo-han Wu, Han-li Wang, Hao Wu, Yuan-cheng An, Xin-xin Zhi and Jin-gang Liu

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(8), 1886; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11081886 - 23 Jul 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2358

Abstract

Optically transparent polyimide (PI) films with good dielectric properties and long-term sustainability in atomic-oxygen (AO) environments have been highly desired as antenna substrates in low earth orbit (LEO) aerospace applications. However, PI substrates with low dielectric constant (low-D_k), low dielectric dissipation factor (low-D_f) and high AO resistance have rarely been reported due to the difficulties in achieving both high AO survivability and good dielectric parameters simultaneously. In the present work, an intrinsically low-D_k and low-D_f optically transparent PI film matrix, poly[4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride-co-2,2-bis(4-(4-aminophenoxy)phenyl)hexafluoropropane] (6FPI) was combined with a nanocage trisilanolphenyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (TSP-POSS) additive in order to afford novel organic–inorganic nanocomposite films with enhanced AO-resistant properties and reduced dielectric parameters. The derived 6FPI/POSS films exhibited the D_k and D_f values as low as 2.52 and 0.006 at the frequency of 1 MHz, respectively. Meanwhile, the composite films showed good AO resistance with the erosion yield as low as 4.0 × 10⁻²⁵ cm³/atom at the exposure flux of 4.02 × 10²⁰ atom/cm², which decreased by nearly one order of magnitude compared with the value of 3.0 × 10⁻²⁴ cm³/atom of the standard PI-ref Kapton^® film. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites)

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21 pages, 90347 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Carrier Fibers for the Safe Dosage of Nanoparticles in Nanocomposites: Nanomechanical and Thermomechanical Study on Polycarbonate/Boehmite Electrospun Fibers Embedded in Epoxy Resin

by Natalia Cano Murillo, Media Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani, Dorothee Silbernagl, Farnaz Emamverdi, Karen Cacua, Vasile-Dan Hodoroaba and Heinz Sturm

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(6), 1591; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11061591 - 17 Jun 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2362

Abstract

The reinforcing effect of boehmite nanoparticles (BNP) in epoxy resins for fiber composite lightweight construction is related to the formation of a soft but bound interphase between filler and polymer. The interphase is able to dissipate crack propagation energy and consequently increases the fracture toughness of the epoxy resin. Usually, the nanoparticles are dispersed in the resin and then mixed with the hardener to form an applicable mixture to impregnate the fibers. If one wishes to locally increase the fracture toughness at particularly stressed positions of the fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPC), this could be done by spraying nanoparticles from a suspension. However, this would entail high costs for removing the nanoparticles from the ambient air. We propose that a fiber fleece containing bound nanoparticles be inserted at exposed locations. For the present proof-of-concept study, an electrospun polycarbonate nonwoven and taurine modified BNP are proposed. After fabrication of suitable PC/EP/BNP composites, the thermomechanical properties were tested by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Comparatively, the local nanomechanical properties such as stiffness and elastic modulus were determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). An additional investigation of the distribution of the nanoparticles in the epoxy matrix, which is a prerequisite for an effective nanocomposite, is carried out by scanning electron microscopy in transmission mode (TSEM). From the results it can be concluded that the concept of carrier fibers for nanoparticles is viable. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites)

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13 pages, 5081 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Atomic Oxygen-Resistant Polyimide Composite Films Containing Nanocaged Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Components in Matrix and Fillers

by Yan Zhang, Hao Wu, Yi-dan Guo, Yan-bin Yang, Qiang Yu, Jin-gang Liu, Bo-han Wu and Feng-zhu Lv

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(1), 141; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11010141 - 08 Jan 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2323

Abstract

For the development of spacecraft with long-servicing life in low earth orbit (LEO), high-temperature resistant polymer films with long-term atomic oxygen (AO) resistant features are highly desired. The relatively poor AO resistance of standard polyimide (PI) films greatly limited their applications in LEO spacecraft. In this work, we successfully prepared a series of novel AO resistant PI composite films containing nanocaged polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) components in both the PI matrix and the fillers. The POSS-containing PI matrix film was prepared from a POSS-substituted aromatic diamine, N-[(heptaisobutyl-POSS)propyl]-3,5-diaminobenzamide (DABA-POSS) and a common aromatic diamine, 4,4′-oxydianline (ODA) and the aromatic dianhydride, pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) by a two-step thermal imidization procedure. The POSS-containing filler, trisilanolphenyl POSS (TSP-POSS) was added with the fixed proportion of 20 wt% in the final films. Incorporation of TSP-POSS additive apparently improved the thermal stability, but decreased the high-temperature dimensional stable nature of the PI composite films. The 5% weight loss temperature (T_5%) of POSS-PI-20 with 20 wt% of DABA-POSS is 564 °C, and its coefficient of linear thermal expansion (CTE) is 81.0 × 10⁻⁶/K. The former is 16 °C lower and the latter was 20.0 × 10⁻⁶/K higher than those of the POSS-PI-10 film (T_5% = 580 °C, CTE = 61.0 × 10⁻⁶/K), respectively. POSS components endowed the PI composite films excellent AO resistance and self-healing characteristics in AO environments. POSS-PI-30 exhibits the lowest AO erosion yield (E_s) of 1.64 × 10⁻²⁶ cm³/atom under AO exposure with a flux of 2.51 × 10²¹ atoms/cm², which is more than two orders of magnitude lower than the referenced PI (PMDA-ODA) film. Inert silica or silicate passivation layers were detected on the surface of the PI composite films exposed to AO. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites)

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14 pages, 5011 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal and Mechanical Characterization of an Aeronautical Graded Epoxy Resin Loaded with Hybrid Nanoparticles

by Aldobenedetto Zotti, Simona Zuppolini, Anna Borriello and Mauro Zarrelli

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(7), 1388; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano10071388 - 16 Jul 2020

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 2861

Abstract

Synthesized silica nanoparticles (SiO₂) were coated with a thin polydopamine (PDA) shell by a modified one-step procedure leading to PDA coated silica nanoparticles (SiO₂@PDA). Core-shell (CSNPs) characterization revealed 15 nm thickness of PDA shell surrounding the SiO₂ core (~270 nm in diameter). Different weight percentages of CSNPs were employed as filler to enhance the final properties of an aeronautical epoxy resin (RTM6) commonly used as matrix to manufacture structural composites. RTM6/SiO₂@PDA nanocomposites were experimentally characterized in terms of thermal stability and mechanical performances to assess the induced effects by the synthesized CSNPs on pristine matrix. Thermal stability was investigated by thermogravimetry and data were modelled by the Doyle model and Kissinger methods. An overall enhancement in thermal stability was achieved and clearly highlighted by modelling results. Dynamic Mechanical Analysis has revealed an improvement in the nanocomposite performances compared to the neat matrix, with an increase in the glassy (+9.5%) and rubbery moduli (+32%) as well as glass transition temperature (+10 °C). Fracture Toughness tests confirmed the positive effect in damage resistance compared to unloaded resin with an impressive variation in critical stress intensity factor (K_IC) and critical strain energy (G_IC) of about 60% and 138%, respectively, with the highest SiO₂@PDA content. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites)

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19 pages, 5821 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Aromatic Hyperbranched Polyester/RTM6 Epoxy Resin for EXTREME Dynamic Loading Aeronautical Applications

by Aldobenedetto Zotti, Ahmed Elmahdy, Simona Zuppolini, Anna Borriello, Patricia Verleysen and Mauro Zarrelli

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(2), 188; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano10020188 - 22 Jan 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3126

Abstract

The effects of the addition of an aromatic hyperbranched polyester (AHBP) on thermal, mechanical, and fracture toughness properties of a thermosetting resin system were investigated. AHBP filler, synthesized by using a bulk poly-condensation reaction, reveals a glassy state at room temperature. Indeed, according to differential scanning calorimetry measurements, the glass transition temperature (T_g) of AHBP is 95 °C. Three different adduct weight percentages were employed to manufacture the AHBP/epoxy samples, respectively, 0.1, 1, and 5 wt%. Dynamical Mechanical Analysis tests revealed that the addition of AHBP induces a negligible variation in terms of conservative modulus, whereas a slight T_g reduction of about 4 °C was observed at 5 wt% of filler content. Fracture toughness results showed an improvement of both critical stress intensity factor (+18%) and critical strain energy release rate (+83%) by adding 5 wt% of AHBP compared to the neat epoxy matrix. Static and dynamic compression tests covering strain rates ranging from 0.0008 to 1000 s⁻¹ revealed a pronounced strain rate sensitivity for all AHBP/epoxy systems. The AHBP composites all showed an increase of the true peak yield compressive strength with the best improvement associated with the sample with 0.1 wt% of AHBP. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites)

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11 pages, 3664 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Hybridized Carbon Nanotubes, Silica Nanoparticles, and Core-Shell Rubber on Tensile, Fracture Mechanics and Electrical Properties of Epoxy Nanocomposites

by Ankur Bajpai and Stéphane Carlotti

Nanomaterials 2019, 9(7), 1057; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano9071057 - 23 Jul 2019

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 4477

Abstract

The paper investigates the effect of adding a combination of rigid nanoparticles and core-shell rubber nanoparticles on the tensile, fracture mechanics, electrical and thermo-mechanical properties of epoxy resins. SiO₂ nanoparticles, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT’s), as rigid nanofillers, and core-shell rubber (CSR) nanoparticles, as soft nanofillers were used with bisphenol-A-based epoxy resin. Further, the rigid fillers were added systematically with core-shell rubber nanoparticles to investigate the commingled effect of rigid nanofillers and soft CSR nanoparticles. The resulting matrix will be broadly evaluated by standard methods to quantify tensile, fracture mechanics, electrical, and thermal properties. The results show that the electrical conductivity threshold is obtained at 0.075 wt. % for MWCNT-modified systems. For hybrid systems, the maximum increase of fracture toughness (218%) and fracture energy (900%) was obtained for a system containing 5 wt. % of CSR and 10 wt. % of SiO₂. The analysis of the fracture surfaces revealed the information about existing toughening micro-mechanisms in the nanocomposites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites)

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17 pages, 5301 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Electrically Conductive CNT Composites at Loadings below Theoretical Percolation Values

by Brian Earp, Joseph Simpson, Jonathan Phillips, Dragoslav Grbovic, Stephen Vidmar, Jacob McCarthy and Claudia C. Luhrs

Nanomaterials 2019, 9(4), 491; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano9040491 - 29 Mar 2019

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4603

Abstract

It is well established that dramatic increases in conductivity occur upon the addition of conductive filler materials to highly resistive polymeric matrices in experimental settings. However, the mechanisms responsible for the observed behavior at low filler loadings, below theoretical percolation limits, of even high aspect ratio fillers such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) are not completely understood. In this study, conductive composites were fabricated using CNT bundles dispersed in epoxy resins at diverse loadings, using different dispersion and curing protocols. Based on electron microscopy observation of the CNTs strands distribution in the polymeric matrices and the corresponding electrical conductivities of those specimens, we concluded that no single electron transfer model can accurately explain the conductive behavior for all the loading values. We propose the existence of two different conductive mechanisms; one that exists close to the percolation limit, from ‘low loadings’ to higher CNT contents (CNT % wt > 0.1) and a second for ‘extremely low loadings’, near the percolation threshold (CNT % wt < 0.1). The high conductivity observed for composites at low CNT loading values can be explained by the existence of a percolative CNT network that coexists with micron size regions of non-conductive material. In contrast, samples with extremely low CNT loading values, which present no connectivity or close proximity between CNT bundles, show an electrical conductivity characterized by a current/voltage dependence. Data suggests that at these loadings, conduction may occur via a material breakdown mechanism, similar to dielectric breakdown in a capacitor. The lessons learned from the data gathered in here could guide future experimental research aimed to control the conductivity of CNT composites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials for Aerospace: Polymer Nanocomposites)

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