The primary role of substituted side chains in organic semiconductors is to increase their solubility in common organic solvents. In the recent past, many literature reports have suggested that the side chains play a critical role in molecular packing and strongly impact the charge transport properties of conjugated polymers. In this work, we have investigated the influence of side-chains on th...

Bone is an organic-inorganic composite which has hierarchical structuring that leads to high strength and toughness. The nanostructure of bone consists of nanocrystals of hydroxyapatite embedded and aligned within the interstices of collagen fibrils. This unique nanostructure leads to exceptional properties, both mechanical and biological, making it difficult to emulate bone properties without ...

An optically clear, crystalline, gel-like mesophase is formed by the addition of water to a micellar solution consisting of a mixture of 0.85 M anionic surfactant sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) and a 0.42 M zwitterionic surfactant phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) in isooctane. At 25 degrees C and water to AOT molar ratio of 70, the system has a columnar hexagonal microstructure wit...

The aim of this study is to compare the metallic and natural fiber reinforced polymer composite bone plates used in humerus fractures. A 3D finite element model was developed to analyze the performance of both types of plates. This study proposed on fabrication of natural fiber powdered material (like Sisal (Agave sisalana), Banana (Musa sapientum) and Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa)) Reinforced ...

Organic Solar Cells (OSCs) have a great potential for solar energy harvesting due to their low material cost and cheap production. The most common and promising type of OSC is the bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) OSC, which have shown power-conversion efficiencies of 8-10% [1]. The absorber layer in these OSCs consists of a mix of two phases; (i) a polymer, that serves as an electron donor, and (ii) a...

Magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) has been proven to be a very good repair material for deteriorated concrete structures. It has excellent adhesion performance, leading to high bonding strength with old concrete substrates. This paper presents an experimental study into the properties of MPC binder as the matrix of carbon fiber sheets to form fiber-reinforced inorganic polymer (FRIP) composites....

We report the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of an externally-fed, silicon batchfabricated MEMS electrospinning planar array with as many as 9 steady-operating emitters in 1 cm – more than a 7-fold increase in emitter density compared to state-of-the-art MEMS multiplexed electrospinning sources. The device simultaneously generates multiple nanofiber jets at 20 kV or less...

Electrospun mats and films of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel are produced for drug delivery. To provide mechanical consistency to the gel a reinforcement by nanoclays is introduced in the polymer matrix. Four different suspensions of nanoparticles in the polymer solution are prepared in an adequate solvent. These suspensions are subjected to an electrospinning process to produce the nanofiber...

The detailed structural characterization of complex polymer architectures, like copolymers and polymer mixtures, by mass spectrometry presents a challenge. Even though soft ionization analyses revolutionized the characterization of large molecules and provided a means for determining the polymer's molecular weight distribution, polydispersity, and end groups, full microstructure elucidation and...

The diffusivity and distribution of water in the butyl methacrylate and methacrylic acid copolymer films swollen in water have been investigated using the NMR relaxation and pulse field gradient (PFG) NMR techniques. The contributions of polymer matrix protons, surface water and bound water have been determined from H NMR spectra and relaxation functions. PFG NMR experiments showed that the ech...