blown bitumen (110/10) was mixed with heavy vacuum slops (h.v.s), 60/70 penetration grade bitumen and recycled isotactic polypropylene (ipp) at different levels. the resulting resins were used to impregnate non-woven poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers to form composites. the modulus and penetration grade of the resulting bituminous resins were determined. it was found that these bituminous res...

Nanomaterials are increasingly used as drug carriers for cancer therapy. Nanomaterials also appeal to researchers in the areas of cancer diagnosis and biomarker discovery. Several antitumor nanodrugs are currently being tested in preclinical and clinical trials and show promise in therapeutic and other settings. We review the development of nanomaterial drug carriers, including liposomes, polym...

This work reports the synthesis of poly (monomethyl itaconate) grafted multi-layer graphene oxide (PMMI-g-GO) by atom transfer radical polymerization using activators regenerated electron (ARGET-ATRP). PMMI-g-GO presents outstanding properties, such as a high electrical conductivity (5.04 S m-1), low number stacked layers (6) and IG/I2D ratio 2.05 estimated from Raman spectrum, which indicates ...

A novel biomass composite inspired from wood porous structure was manufactured by impregnating vinyl monomer into wood cellular structure under vacuum conditions, and initiating the monomer for in situ polymerization through a thermal treatment. The vacuum condition was studied, and the mechanical properties of the composite were also tested. SEM observation shows that polymer generated in the ...

A novel, low-cost and direct green synthesis strategy was developed for the preparation of polymer composite spheres composed of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) decorated on the polymer colloids in a raspberry-like fashion. The polymer colloids were employed as both the reductant and the substrate support. The environmentally benign reaction system consists of AgNO3, polymer spheres and an ethanol...

We demonstrate carbon nanotube (CNT) composite-based optoacoustic transmitters that generate strong and high frequency ultrasound. The composite consists of CNTs grown on a substrate, which are embedded in elastomeric polymer used as an acoustic transfer medium. Under pulsed laser excitation, the composite generates very strong optoacoustic pressure: 18 times stronger than a Cr film reference a...

We demonstrate wide-band ultrafast optical pulse generation at 1, 1.5, and 2 μm using a single-polymer composite saturable absorber based on double-wall carbon nanotubes (DWNTs). The freestanding optical quality polymer composite is prepared from nanotubes dispersed in water with poly(vinyl alcohol) as the host matrix. The composite is then integrated into ytterbium-, erbium-, and thulium-doped...

The rapid growth in nanomaterial applications have revealed limitations in available physicochemical characterization methods. An in situ electrochemical small-angle neutron scattering (eSANS) methodology was devised that enables direct measurements of nanomaterial dispersion structure while undergoing reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions at the vitreous carbon electrode. Furthermore, these po...

A novel magneto-active gel based nanomaterial system is presented to provide precise control of temperature to a localized area in response to externally controlled magnetic stimuli. Integration of ferromagnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4) in the polyethylene glycol (PEG) based thermo-responsive polymer provides the swelling and de-swelling behavior of magnetic stimuli controlled system by generating...

Polymer-clay nano-composite materials, in which nano-meter thick layers of clay dispersed in polymer matrix, have generally higher mechanical properties than normal polymeric materials. A new three-dimensional unit cell model has been developed for modeling three constituent phases including inclusion, interphase and matrix. The total elastic modulus of nano-composite is evaluated.  Numerical r...