Synthesis and property of a novel sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) with high selectivity for direct methanol fuel cell applications

Bisphenol monomer 4-carboxylphenyl hydroquinone (4C-PH) containing carboxyl groups was synthesized by diazotization reaction of p-aminobenzoic acid and 1,4-benzoquinone and subsequent reductive reaction. Copolymerization of bisphenol A, 4C-PH, sodium 5,5'-carbonylbis(2-fluorobenzene-sulfonate) and 4,4'-difluorobenzophenone at various molar ratios through aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction resulted in a new sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) containing pendant carboxyl groups (C-SPEEK). The structures of the monomer 4C-PH and copolymers were confirmed by FT-IR and H-1 NMR. Flexible and transparent membranes with sulfonic and carboxylic acid groups as the proton conducting sites were prepared. The dependence of ion-exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake, proton conductivity and methanol permeability on the degree of sulfonation has been studied.

Conductive property of multiwall carbon nanotubes-PEO-salt nanocomposite film

By adding a small amount of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) to polyethylene oxide (PEO) and a salt system, a new type of nanocomposite film was constructed. At ambient temperature, the conductivity of the PEO-salt-0.5 wt % MWNTs was nearly three orders of magnitude higher than that of the PEO-salt system. The conductive property of the nanocomposite film was characterized by ac impedance and the differential scanning calorimetry technique.

Synthesis, structural characterization and electrical property of new oxide ion conductors: La3MMo2O12 (M = In, Ga and Al)

New series of oxides, La3MMo2O12 (M = In, Ga and Al), have been prepared by the solid-state reaction. The composition and elemental distribution were analyzed by the energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. As determined by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), these compounds have similar crystal structures that can be indexed on a monoclinic cell at room temperature. AC impedance spectra and the DC electrical conductivity measurements in various atmospheres indicate that they are oxide ion conductors with ionic conductivities between 10(-2) and 10(-3) S/cm at 800 degrees C. The conductivity decreases in the order of La3GaMo2O12 > La3AlMo2O12 > La3InMo2O12, implying that the effect of cell volume and polarization associated with In3+, Ga3+ and Al3+ play an important role in the anion transport of these materials. The reversible phase transition was observed in all these compounds as confirmed by the differential thermal analysis (DTA) and dilatometric measurements.

Transport property of polyaniline and its molecular weight dependence

The electrical conductivity of polyaniline doped with camphor sulfonic acid (PAn-CSA) was studied. The results indicate that there is a critical temperature (T-c) and the temperature dependence of PAn-CSA conductivity shows metallic and semiconductor characteristics above and below T-c, respectively. The higher the molecular weight of PAn, the lower the T-c. The conductivity was enhanced remarkably when PAn-CSA film was stretched, its room temperature conductivity is up to 750 S/cm when elogonation is 60%; however, T-c was independent of elongation.

Characterization of physio-chemical processes and hydration kinetics in concretes containing supplementary cementitious materials using electrical property measurements

The current study monitors both the short- and long-term hydration characteristics of concrete using discretized conductivity measurements from initial gauging, through setting and hardening, the latter comprising both the curing and post-curing periods. In particular, attention is directed to the near-surface concrete as it is this zone which protects the steel from the external environment and has a major influence on durability, performance and service-life. A wide range of concrete mixes is studied comprising both plain Portland cement concretes and concretes containing fly-ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag. The parameter normalised conductivity was used to identify four distinct stages in the hydration process and highlight the influence of supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) on hydration and hydration kinetics. A relationship has been presented to account for the temporal decrease in conductivity, post 10-days hydration. The testing procedure and methodology presented lend itself to in-situ monitoring of reinforced concrete structures. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring the spatial relations between soil physical properties and apparent electrical conductivity

Relations between the apparent electrical conductivity of the soil (ECa) and top- and sub-soil physical properties were examined for two arable fields in southern England (Crowmarsh Battle Farms and the Yattendon Estate). The spatial variation of ECa and the soil properties was explored geostatistically. The variogram ranges showed that ECa varied on a similar spatial scale to many of the soil physical properties in both fields. Several features in the map of kriged predictions of ECa were also evident in maps of the soil properties. In addition, the correlation coefficients showed a strong relation between ECa and several soil properties. A moving correlation analysis enabled differences in the relations between ECa and the soil properties to be examined within the fields. The results indicated that relations were inconsistent; they were stronger in some areas than others. A regression of ECa on the principal component scores of the leading components for both fields showed that the first two components accounted for a large proportion of the variance in ECa, whereas the others accounted for little or none. For Crowmarsh topsoil sand and clay, loss on ignition and volumetric water measured in the autumn had large correlations on the first component, and for Yattendon they were large for topsoil sand and clay, and autumn and spring volumetric water. The cross-variograms suggested strong coregionalization between ECa and several soil physical properties; in particular subsoil sand and silt at Crowmarsh, and subsoil sand and clay at Yattendon. The structural correlations from the linear model of coregionalization confirmed the strength of the relations between ECa and the subsoil properties. Nevertheless, no one property was consistently important for both fields. Although a map of ECa can indicate the general patterns of spatial variation in the soil, it is not a substitute for information on soil properties obtained by sampling and analysing the soil. Nevertheless, it could be used to guide further sampling. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structure property relationships in electrically conducting copolymers formed from pyrrole and N-methyl pyrrole

A series of copolymers containing differing proportions of pyrrole and N-methyl pyrrole were prepared electrochemically at various temperatures using acetonitrile as the solvent. The resultant electrical conductivity decreases universally with increasing fraction of N-methyl pyrrole. Films prepared with p-toluene sulfonate as the dopant show a marked variation in structural anisotropy as revealed by X-ray scattering with apparent copolymer content. There is a clear trend between the variation in electrical conductivity and this structural anisotropy. Different patterns of behaviour are observed for films prepared using perchlorate as the dopant and this is attributed to the role of the dopant and final structure in determining the relative reactivities of the pyrrole and N-methyl pyrrole monomers. These observations support the concept that the introduction of methyl substituents into a polypyrrole chain results in a twisted chain conformation. The structure and properties of the resultant copolymer films are particularly sensitive to the preparation conditions.

Dependence of the electrical conductivity and elastomeric properties on sample preparation of blends of polyaniline and natural rubber

Blend films (free-standing) containing 20% in volume of polyaniline (PANI) in 80% of natural rubber (NR) were fabricated by casting in three different ways: (1) adding PANI-EB (emeraldine base) dissolved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) to the latex (NRL), (2) adding PANI-EB dissolved in in-cresol to NR dissolved in xylol (NRD), (3) overlaying the surface of a pure NR cast film with a PANI layer grown by in situ polymerization (NRO). All the films were immersed into HCl solution to achieve the primary doping (protonation) of PANI before the characterization. The main goal here was to investigate the elastomeric and electrical conductivity properties for each blend, which may be applied as pressure and deformation sensors in the future. The characterization was carried out by optical microscopy, dc conductivity, vibrational spectroscopy (infrared absorption and Raman scattering), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), and tensile stress-strain curves. The results suggest that the NRL blend is the most suitable in terms of mechanical and electrical properties required for applications in pressure and deformation sensors: a gain of conductivity without losing the elastomeric property of the rubber. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Enhanced electrical property of nanostructured Sb-doped SnO2 thin film processed by soft chemical method

The effect of the Sb addition on the microstructural and electrical conductivity of the SnO2 thin film was studied in this work. Experimental results show that the Sb addition allowed to control the grain size and electrical conductivity of the SnO2 thin film, resulting in a nanostructured material. The nanostructured Sb-doped SnO2 thin films present high electrical conductivity, even in the presence of high porosity, supporting the hypothesis that nanostructured material must possess strong electrical conductivity. This work involves important aspects that can be applied to the development of high performance transparent conducting thin film. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tailoring Thermal Transport Property of Graphene through Oxygen Functionalization

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

In-plane thermal conductivity modeling of carbon filled liquid crystal polymer based resins

Adding conductive carbon fillers to insulating thermoplastic resins increases composite electrical and thermal conductivity. Often, as much of a single type of carbon filler is added to achieve the desired conductivity, while still allowing the material to be molded into a bipolar plate for a fuel cell. In this study, varying amounts of three different carbons (carbon black, synthetic graphite particles, and carbon fiber) were added to Vectra A950RX Liquid Crystal Polymer. The in-plane thermal conductivity of the resulting single filler composites were tested. The results showed that adding synthetic graphite particles caused the largest increase in the in-plane thermal conductivity of the composite. The composites were modeled using ellipsoidal inclusion problems to predict the effective in-plane thermal conductivities at varying volume fractions with only physical property data of constituents. The synthetic graphite and carbon black were modeled using the average field approximation with ellipsoidal inclusions and the model showed good agreement with the experimental data. The carbon fiber polymer composite was modeled using an assemblage of coated ellipsoids and the model showed good agreement with the experimental data.

Experimental and theoretical study of microstructure effect on piezoelectric property of one dimensional ZnO nanostructures

Emerging nanogenerators have attracted the attention of the research community, focusing on energy generation using piezoelectric nanomaterials. Nanogenerators can be utilized for powering NEMS/MEMS devices. Understanding the piezoelectric properties of ZnO one-dimensional materials such as ZnO nanobelts (NBs) and Nanowires (NWs) can have a significant impact on the design of new devices. The goal of this dissertation is to study the piezoelectric properties of one-dimensional ZnO nanostructures both experimentally and theoretically. First, the experimental procedure for producing the ZnO nanostructures is discussed. The produced ZnO nanostructures were characterized using an in-situ atomic force microscope and a piezoelectric force microscope. It is shown that the electrical conductivity of ZnO NBs is a function of applied mechanical force and its crystalline structure. This phenomenon was described in the context of formation of an electric field due to the piezoelectric property of ZnO NBs. In the PFM studies, it was shown that the piezoelectric response of the ZnO NBs depends on their production method and presence of defects in the NB. Second, a model was proposed for making nanocomposite electrical generators based on ZnO nanowires. The proposed model has advantages over the original configuration of nanogenerators which uses an AFM tip for bending the ZnO NWs. Higher stability of the electric source, capability for producing larger electric fields, and lower production costs are advantages of this configuration. Finally, piezoelectric properties of ZnO NBs were simulated using the molecular dynamics (MD) technique. The size-scale effect on piezoelectric properties of ZnO NBs was captured, and it is shown that the piezoelectric coefficient of ZnO NBs decreases by increasing their lateral dimensions. This phenomenon is attributed to the surface charge redistribution and compression of unit cells that are placed on the outer shell of ZnO NBs.