In the past two decades, we have witnessed significant progress in developing high performance stimuli-responsive polymeric materials. This review focuses on recent developments in the preparation and application of patterned stimuli-responsive polymers, including thermoresponsive layers, pH/ionic-responsive hydrogels, photo-responsive film, magnetically-responsive composites, electroactive com...

In this study, nano-sized fullerene C60 powder was sufficiently mixed with Cu₂SnSe₃ powder by ball milling method, and the C60/Cu₂SnSe₃ composites were prepared by spark plasma sintering technology. The fullerene C60 distributed uniformly in the form of clusters, and the average cluster size was less than 1 μm. With increasing C60 content, the electrical conductivity of C60/Cu₂SnSe₃ composites ...

Antimicrobial active films based on poly (lactic acid) (PLA) were prepared with nano-silver (nano-Ag) and nano-zinc oxide (nano-ZnO) using a solvent volatilizing method. The films were characterized for mechanical, structural, thermal, physical and antimicrobial properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images characterized the fracture morphology of the films with different contents of na...

Nano-fibrillated cellulose was produced from flax and wheat straw cellulose pulps by high pressure disintegration. The reinforcing potential of both disintegrated nano-celluloses in a polyvinyl-alcohol matrix was evaluated. Disintegration of wheat straw was significantly more time and energy consuming. Disintegration did not lead to distinct changes in the degree of polymerization; however, the...

this review reports recent advances in the field of polymer–layered silicate nano composites. thesematerials have attracted both academic and industrial attention because they exhibit dramaticimprovement in properties at very low filler contents. herein, the structure, preparation andproperties of polymer–layered silicate nanocomposites are discussed in general, and finally the effectof clay na...

Quantum dot/liquid crystal nano-composites are promising new materials for a variety of applications in energy harvesting, displays and photonics including the liquid crystal laser. To realize many applications, however, we need to control and stabilize nano-particle dispersion in different liquid crystal host phases and understand how the particles behave in an anisotropic fluid. An ideal syst...

Nacre, the crown jewel of natural materials, has been extensively studied owing to its remarkable physical properties for over 160 years. Yet, the precise structural features governing its extraordinary strength and its growth mechanism remain elusive. In this paper, we present a series of observations pertaining to the red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) shell's organic-inorganic interface, organ...

Hydrothermally synthesized acicular nano-apatite (Nap) was used as filler to make composites with a polyethylene glycol/poly(butylene terephthalate) (PEG/PBT) block copolymer (Polyactive 70:30). The Nap had a particle diameter of 9-25 nm and a length of 80-200 nm. The mechanical properties and the physiochemical characteristics of the composites, such as Young's modulus, swelling degree in wate...

This study aims to examine the properties of composites that different carbon materials with different measurements can reinforce. Using a melt compounding method, this study combines polypropylene (PP) and graphene nano-sheets (GNs) or carbon fiber (CF) to make PP/GNs and PP/CF conductive composites, respectively. The DSC results and optical microscopic observation show that both GNs and CF en...