Poor wetting leads to underperforming composite properties and has been a major obstacle in implementing low cost carbon fibers in SMC parts. The objective of this project is to solve the technical challenge of poor carbon fiber wet-through during Sheet Molding Composite (SMC) process. Continental Structural Plastics (CSP) partnered with ORNL to develop a new sizing technique called Point Sizin...

A composite catalyst of rosin carbon/Fe3O4 with marvellous morphology was synthesized and applied as a counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), demonstrating notable electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of I3(-). Based on this CE, a high power conversion efficiency of 8.11% was achieved, comparable to that of the traditional Pt CE.

We aimed to embed silica optical fibers in composites (epoxy vinyl ester matrix reinforced with E-glass unidirectional fibers in mass fraction of 60%) in order to further monitor the robustness of civil engineering structures (such as bridges). A simple system was implemented using two different silica optical fibers (F1-double coating of 172 µm diameter and F2-single coating of 101.8 µm diamet...

Polymers that respond in a productive fashion to their environment are under active development as they offer significant advantages over traditional materials. For example, polymers with the ability to self-heal and recover a significant fraction of their initial properties after being subjected to a damage event are of significant interest. Here we study the effect of healing agent viscosity ...

The ethyl acetate (EtOAc) soluble fraction of the 85% ethanol (EtOH) extract of the dried bark of Limonia acidissima potently inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activated BV-2 cells, a microglial cell line. Bioassay-guided column chromatography separation afforded a new stereoisomer of neolignan, (7'E)-(7R,8S)-4-hydroxy-3,5'-dimethoxy-4',7-epoxy-8,3'-neolig-7'-en...

This study investigates moisture uptake and diffusion mechanisms in thermoset particle-filled composites for anchor applications. Two epoxy-based with low inorganic filler content one vinyl ester-based high were studied. Material characterization revealed particle size distribution, density, the occurrence of pores, composition. Moisture was monitored at different temperatures, relative humidit...