Dielectric transition of polyacrylonitrile derived carbon nanofibers

The dielectric behavior of polyacrylonitrile derived carbon nanofibers formed at different carbonization temperatures was investigated using impedance spectroscopy. The impedance data are presented in the form of Cole-Cole plots and four equivalent electrical circuits are derived. It is found that by increasing carbonization temperature from 500 to 800 °C, a strong capacitive element in the parallel equivalent circuit is transformed into an inductive element, while the contact resistance and parallel resistance are significantly decreased. Along with the morphological and chemical structural evolution, respectively witnessed by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, the dielectric transition deduced from the transformation of electrical circuits can be correlated to the proposed microstructural changes of polyacrylonitrile derived carbon nanofibers and the interaction/interference among them.

Basic elements for microfiber photonics : micro/nanofibers and microfiber coil resonators

The basic functional element of microfiber photonics is a microfiber coil resonator (MCR), which potentially can perform filtering, time delay, and nonlinear transformations of electromagnetic waves, as well as sensing of the ambient medium. The first experimental demonstration of an MCR has been recently performed by researchers of the OFS Laboratories (Optical Fiber Communication Conference 2007, Postdeadline paper PDP46). This paper follows up on the later publication presenting a brief introduction to the theory, transmission properties and applications of optical micro/nanofibers and MCRs. Fabrication of MCRs in air and in liquid is reported. For the MCR immersed in liquid, the Q-factor exceeding 60 000 is achieved. © 2008 IEEE.

Basic elements for microfiber photonics:micro/nanofibers and microfiber coil resonators

The basic functional element of microfiber photonics is a microfiber coil resonator (MCR), which potentially can perform filtering, time delay, and nonlinear transformations of electromagnetic waves, as well as sensing of the ambient medium. The first experimental demonstration of an MCR has been recently performed by researchers of the OFS Laboratories (Optical Fiber Communication Conference 2007, Postdeadline paper PDP46). This paper follows up on the later publication presenting a brief introduction to the theory, transmission properties and applications of optical micro/nanofibers and MCRs. Fabrication of MCRs in air and in liquid is reported. For the MCR immersed in liquid, the Q-factor exceeding 60 000 is achieved. © 2008 IEEE.

Electrospinning pH-responsive block copolymer nanofibers

Electrospinng of a fibrous triblock copolymer consisting of poly(methyl methacrylate-block-poly[2-(diethylamino) ethyl methacrylate]-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-b-PDEA-b-PMMA) has been discussed. A mixed co-solvent system of tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dimethylformamide (DMF) was used to electrospin fibrous PMMA-b-PDEA-b-PMMA and its influence on surface morphology and diameter of the electrospun fiber was also investigated in an attempt to control the fiber diameter. The concentration range between 20 and 40 wt % was found suitable for electrospinning of PMMA-b-PDEA-b-PMMA in a THF/DMF system. It was also observed that the average fiber diameter decreased as the content of DMF was increased. A significant decrease in fiber diameter was observed when moving from a THF solution to a THF/DMF system at a ratio of 70:30.

Mechanical properties and cellular response of novel electrospun nanofibers for ligament tissue engineering: Effects of orientation and geometry

Electrospun nanofibers are a promising material for ligamentous tissue engineering, however weak mechanical properties of fibers to date have limited their clinical usage. The goal of this work was to modify electrospun nanofibers to create a robust structure that mimics the complex hierarchy of native tendons and ligaments. The scaffolds that were fabricated in this study consisted of either random or aligned nanofibers in flat sheets or rolled nanofiber bundles that mimic the size scale of fascicle units in primarily tensile load bearing soft musculoskeletal tissues. Altering nanofiber orientation and geometry significantly affected mechanical properties; most notably aligned nanofiber sheets had the greatest modulus; 125% higher than that of random nanofiber sheets; and 45% higher than aligned nanofiber bundles. Modifying aligned nanofiber sheets to form aligned nanofiber bundles also resulted in approximately 107% higher yield stresses and 140% higher yield strains. The mechanical properties of aligned nanofiber bundles were in the range of the mechanical properties of the native ACL: modulus=158±32MPa, yield stress=57±23MPa and yield strain=0.38±0.08. Adipose derived stem cells cultured on all surfaces remained viable and proliferated extensively over a 7 day culture period and cells elongated on nanofiber bundles. The results of the study suggest that aligned nanofiber bundles may be useful for ligament and tendon tissue engineering based on their mechanical properties and ability to support cell adhesion, proliferation, and elongation.

Mastering heterostructured colloidal nanocrystal properties for light-emitting diodes and solar cells

Solution-grown colloidal nanocrystal (NC) materials represent ideal candidates for optoelectronic devices, due to the flexibility with which they can be synthesized, the ease with which they can be processed for devicefabrication purposes and, foremost, for their excellent and size-dependent tunable optical properties, such as high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield, color purity, and broad absorption spectra up to the near infrared. The advent of surfactant-assisted synthesis of thermodynamically stable colloidal solutions of NCs has led to peerless results in terms of uniform size distribution, composition, rational shape-design and the possibility of building heterostructured NCs (HNCs) comprising two or more different materials joined together. By tailoring the composition, shape and size of each component, HNCs with gradually higher levels of complexity have been conceived and realized, which are endowed with outstanding characteristics and optoelectronic properties. In this review, we discuss recent advances in the design of HNCs for efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photovoltaic (PV) solar cell devices. In particular, we will focus on the materials required to obtain superior optoelectronic quality and efficient devices, as well as their preparation and processing potential and limitations

Evaluation of the genotoxicity of cellulose nanofibers

Background: Agricultural products and by products provide the primary materials for a variety of technological applications in diverse industrial sectors. Agro-industrial wastes, such as cotton and curaua fibers, are used to prepare nanofibers for use in thermoplastic films, where they are combined with polymeric matrices, and in biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, amongst other applications. The development of products containing nanofibers offers a promising alternative for the use of agricultural products, adding value to the chains of production. However, the emergence of new nanotechnological products demands that their risks to human health and the environment be evaluated. This has resulted in the creation of the new area of nanotoxicology, which addresses the toxicological aspects of these materials.Purpose and methods: Contributing to these developments, the present work involved a genotoxicological study of different nanofibers, employing chromosomal aberration and comet assays, as well as cytogenetic and molecular analyses, to obtain preliminary information concerning nanofiber safety. The methodology consisted of exposure of Allium cepa roots, and animal cell cultures (lymphocytes and fibroblasts), to different types of nanofibers. Negative controls, without nanofibers present in the medium, were used for comparison.Results: The nanofibers induced different responses according to the cell type used. In plant cells, the most genotoxic nanofibers were those derived from green, white, and brown cotton, and curaua, while genotoxicity in animal cells was observed using nanofibers from brown cotton and curaua. An important finding was that ruby cotton nanofibers did not cause any significant DNA breaks in the cell types employed.Conclusion: This work demonstrates the feasibility of determining the genotoxic potential of nanofibers derived from plant cellulose to obtain information vital both for the future usage of these materials in agribusiness and for an understanding of their environmental impacts.

Stretching-induced orientation to improve mechanical properties of electrospun pan nanocomposites

Partially aligned and oriented polyacrylonitrile(PAN)-based nanofibers were electrospun from PAN and SWNTs/PAN in the solution of dimethylformamide(DMF) to make the carbon nanofibers. The as-spun nanofibers were hot-stretched in an oven to enhance its orientation and crystallinity. Then it were stabilized at 250 square under a stretched stress, and carbonized at 1000 square in N-2 atmosphere by fixing the length of the stabilized nanofiber to convert them into carbon nanofibers. With this hot-stretched process and with the introduction of SWNTs, the mechanical properties will be enhanced correspondingly. The crystallinity of the stretched fibers confirmed by X-ray diffraction has also increased. For PAN nanofibers, the improved fiber alignment and crystallinity resulted in the increased mechanical properties, such as the modulus and tensile strength of the nanofibers. It was concluded that the hot-stretched nanofiber and the SWNTs/PAN nanofibers can be used as a potential precursor to produce high-performance carbon composites.

Synthesis of one-dimensional nanocomposites based on alumina nanofibres and their catalytic applications

Materials with one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure are important for catalysis. They are the preferred building blocks for catalytic nanoarchitecture, and can be used to fabricate designer catalysts. In this thesis, one such material, alumina nanofibre, was used as a precursor to prepare a range of nanocomposite catalysts. Utilising the specific properties of alumina nanofibres, a novel approach was developed to prepare macro-mesoporous nanocomposites, which consist of a stacked, fibrous nanocomposite with a core-shell structure. Two kinds of fibrous ZrO2/Al2O3 and TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites were successfully synthesised using boehmite nanofibers as a hard temperate and followed by a simple calcination. The alumina nanofibres provide the resultant nanocomposites with good thermal stability and mechanical stability. A series of one-dimensional (1D) zirconia/alumina nanocomposites were prepared by the deposition of zirconium species onto the 3D framework of boehmite nanofibres formed by dispersing boehmite nanofibres into a butanol solution, followed by calcination at 773 K. The materials were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), N2 adsorption/desorption, Infrared Emission Spectroscopy (IES), and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results demonstrated that when the molar percentage, X, X=100*Zr/(Al+Zr), was > 30%, extremely long ZrO2/Al2O3 composite nanorods with evenly distributed ZrO2 nanocrystals formed on their surface. The stacking of such nanorods gave rise to a new kind of macroporous material without the use of any organic space filler\template or other specific drying techniques. The mechanism for the formation of these long ZrO2/Al2O3 composite nanorods is proposed in this work. A series of solid-superacid catalysts were synthesised from fibrous ZrO2/Al2O3 core and shell nanocomposites. In this series, the zirconium molar percentage was varied from 2 % to 50 %. The ZrO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites and their solid superacid counterparts were characterised by a variety of techniques including 27Al MAS-NMR, SEM, TEM, XPS, Nitrogen adsorption and Infrared Emission Spectroscopy. NMR results show that the interaction between zirconia species and alumina strongly correlates with pentacoordinated aluminium sites. This can also be detected by the change in binding energy of the 3d electrons of the zirconium. The acidity of the obtained superacids was tested by using them as catalysts for the benzolyation of toluene. It was found that a sample with a 50 % zirconium molar percentage possessed the highest surface acidity equalling that of pristine sulfated zirconia despite the reduced mass of zirconia. Preparation of hierarchically macro-mesoporous catalyst by loading nanocrystallites on the framework of alumina bundles can provide an alternative system to design advanced nanocomposite catalyst with enhanced performance. A series of macro-mesoporous TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites with different morphologies were synthesised. The materials were calcined at 723 K and were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), N2 adsorption/desorption, Infrared Emission Spectroscopy (IES), and UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-visible). A modified approach was proposed for the synthesis of 1D (fibrous) nanocomposite with higher Ti/Al molar ratio (2:1) at lower temperature (<100oC), which makes it possible to synthesize such materials on industrial scale. The performances of a series of resultant TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites with different morphologies were evaluated as a photocatalyst for the phenol degradation under UV irradiation. The photocatalyst (Ti/Al =2) with fibrous morphology exhibits higher activity than that of the photocatalyst with microspherical morphology which indeed has the highest Ti to Al molar ratio (Ti/Al =3) in the series of as-synthesised hierarchical TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites. Furthermore, the photocatalytic performances, for the fibrous nanocomposites with Ti/Al=2, were optimized by calcination at elevated temperatures. The nanocomposite prepared by calcination at 750oC exhibits the highest catalytic activity, and its performance per TiO2 unit is very close to that of the gold standard, Degussa P 25. This work also emphasizes two advantages of the nanocomposites with fibrous morphology: (1) the resistance to sintering, and (2) good catalyst recovery.

Integrating efficient filtration and visible-light photocatalysis by loading Ag-doped zeolite Y particles on aluminia nanofiber membrane

Filtration membrane technology has already been employed to remove various organic effluents produced from the textile, paper, plastic, leather, food and mineral processing industries. To improve membrane efficiency and alleviate membrane fouling, an integrated approach is adopted that combines membrane filtration and photocatalysis technology. In this study, alumina nanofiber (AF) membranes with pore size of about 10 nm (determined by the liquid-liquid displacement method) have been synthesized through an in situ hydrothermal reaction, which permitted a large flux and achieved high selectivity. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are subsequently doped on the nanofibers of the membranes. Silver nanoparticles can strongly absorb visible light due to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect, and thus induce photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes, including anionic, cationic and neutral dyes, under visible light irradiation. In this integrated system, the dyes are retained on the membrane surface, their concentration in the vicinity of the Ag NPs are high and thus can be efficiently decomposed. Meanwhile, the usual flux deterioration caused by the accumulation of the filtered dyes in the passage pores can be avoided. For example, when an aqueous solution containing methylene blue is processed using an integrated membrane, a large flux of 200 L m-2 h-1 and a stable permeating selectivity of 85% were achieved. The combined photocatalysis and filtration function leads to superior performance of the integrated membranes, which have a potential to be used for the removal of organic pollutants in drinking water.