Despite the great potential of graphene as a nanofiller, achieving homogeneous dispersion remains the key challenge for effectively reinforcing polyolefin (such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP)) nanocomposites. Therefore, in this research, we report a facile combined in situ polymerization and masterbatch method for fabricating PP/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites. In the p...

Raman, UV-Vis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were combined in one experimental setup to directly study the interplay between structure and dispersion of SBA-15 supported vanadium oxide during dehydration. The fully hydrated catalyst is slightly reduced but consists mainly of V species with pseudo-octahedral V coordination strongly resembling the xerogel V2O5·1.2H2O. After dehydration a hi...

Graphite nanoplatelets have recently attracted considerable attention as a viable and inexpensive filler substitute for carbon nanotubes in nanocomposites, given the predicted excellent in-plane mechanical, structural, thermal, and electrical properties of graphite. As with carbon nanotubes, full utilization of graphite nanoplatelets in polymer nanocomposite applications will inevitably depend ...

Broadband graphene oxide/PVA films were used as saturable absorbers (SAs) for mode locking erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) and ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL) at 1.06 μm and 1.55 μm. They provide modulation depths of 3.15% and 6.2% for EDFL and YDFL, respectively. Stable self-starting mode-locked pulses are obtained for both lasers, confirming that the graphene oxide is cost-effective. We ha...

Graphene oxide (GO) was employed for the preparation of GO-zinc oxide (ZnO). The hydroxyl group on the surface was exploited to trigger the l-lactide ring-opening polymerization. A composite material with poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) chains grafted to the GO-ZnO surface, GO-ZnO-PLLA, was prepared. The results demonstrated that the employed method allowed one-step, rapid grafting of PLLA to the GO-ZnO...

Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels with different contents of zirconium (denoted as 16Cr ODS, 16Cr-0.3Zr ODS and 16Cr-0.6Zr ODS) were fabricated to investigate the effects of Zr on strengthening mechanism of Al-alloyed 16Cr ODS steel. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) results show that the mean grain size of ODS steels could be decreased by Zr addition. Transmission electron micro...

The resistive switching characteristics of the Cu/SiO x /Pt structure (control sample) exhibited a direct correlation to humidity. The H2O vapor formed the Cu oxide at the Cu/SiO x interface, and Cu ions were injected from the Cu oxide into the SiO x layer, thus improving the resistive switching. However, the control sample demonstrated substantial switching dispersion in a vaporless environmen...

Polymer nanocomposites have attracted great interest over many years, because of the enhanced properties exhibited by such systems. However, it is only recently that the electrical characteristics of this class of material have begun to be studied in detail. Whenever fillers are added to a host polymer matrix, dispersion is of critical importance since, while a well dispersed nanophase may be b...