The aim of this work was to study the adsorption behavior of the nanosilica-containing hydrogel nanocomposite of gum karaya grafted with poly(acrylic acid-acrylamide) (GK-clP(AA-co-AAM)) in the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The hydrogel nanocomposite was synthesized by the base-catalyzed hydrolysis and water condensation reactions of tetraethylorthosilicate in an aqu...

Nanocomposite gels containing chitosan as a network polymer and chitin nanowhiskers as reinforcing fillers were prepared by cross-linking with the blocked isocyanate hexamethylene-1,6-di-(aminocarboxysulfonate) (HDS). Young’s modulus and stress at break of the nanocomposite gels increased to maximum values of 169 and 135 kPa, respectively, with increase in whisker content up to 13.3%, whereas t...

The base polymer properties have been developed experimentally by adding small amounts of different fillers but they are expensive to the polymer material. Thus, it has been investigated that the incorporation of cost-less nanoparticles like clay and fumed silica nanoparticles into low density polyethylene LDPE and high density polyethylene HDPE which controlled the breakdown strength and volta...

This paper reviews the potential of polymer and ceramic matrix composites for aerospace/space vehicle applications. Special, unique and multifunctional properties arising due to the dispersion of nanoparticles in ceramic and metal matrix are briefly discussed followed by a classification of resulting aerospace applications. The paper presents polymer matrix composites comprising majority of aer...

Nanocomposites of a polymer and carbon nanotubes exhibit high electrical and thermal conductivity and enhanced mechanical properties in comparison to the polymer alone. Film formation from latex dispersions is an ideal way to create nanocomposite coatings with the advantages of solvent-free processing and a high uniformity of dispersion. It is shown here that carbon nanotubes functionalised wit...

The effect of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on the electrical properties of Poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VdF-HFP)) based gel polymer electrolytes has been investigated in the present work. The length and diameter ranges of CNFs used in the present work are 5-50 μm and 200-600 nm respectively. The nanocomposite gel polymer electrolytes have been synthesized by solution casting tec...

In this study, a polymer-silica nanocomposite using the sol-gel method was synthesized in three steps at room temperature. The nanocomposite material was formed with an organic compound (polyethylene glycol) and inorganic silica nanoparticles. Furthermore, the size and the distribution of nanoparticles in the polymer matrix were characterized by a transmission electron microscope (TEM).  In add...

The effects of physisorbed polymer molecules on carbon nanotubes dispersed in a soft polymer matrix on the resulting mechanical strength of the nanocomposite are reported. From measurements of the large-strain deformation of the nanocomposites, the shear strength, τ, of the nanotube/matrix interface was determined as a function of the interfacial polymer chain length and the chain density, Σ. T...

Title of Document: The Development of Food Polymer-Based Nanocomposites as Novel Antimicrobial Agents and Sustainable Packaging Materials Boce Zhang, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012