Various nylon 6-clay hybrids, such as molecular composites of nylon 6 and silicate layers of montmorillonite and saponite, NCH's and NCHP's, respectively, have been synthesized. To estimate the mechanical properties of these hybrids, tensile, flexural, impact, and heat distortion tests were carried out. NCH was found superior in strength and modulus and comparable in impact strength to nylon 6. The heat distortion temperature (HDT) of NCH (montmorillonite: 4.7 wt. %) was 152 °C, which was 87 °C higher than that of nylon 6. In NCHP, saponite had a smaller effect on the increase of these mechanical properties. The modulus and HDT of NCH and NCHP increased with an increase in the amount of clay minerals. It was found that these properties were well described by the contribution of the constrained region calculated from the storage and loss modulus at the glass transition temperature. According to the mixing law on elastic modulus, the following expression was obtained between the modulus E at 120 °C and the fraction of the constrained region C, En = Ecn = C, where the values of n and Ec (modulus of the constrained region) were 0.685 and 1.02 GPa, respectively.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0884291400020537

Mechanical properties of nylon 6-clay hybrid

At present, the actual mechanism of the photoluminescence (PL) of fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) is still an open debate among researchers. Because of the variety of CDs, it is highly important to summarize the PL mechanism for these kinds of carbon materials; doing so can guide the development of effective synthesis routes and novel applications. This review will focus on the PL mechanism of CDs. Three types of fluorescent CDs were involved: graphene quantum dots (GQDs), carbon nanodots (CNDs), and polymer dots (PDs). Four reasonable PL mechanisms have been confirmed: the quantum confinement effect or conjugated π-domains, which are determined by the carbon core; the surface state, which is determined by hybridization of the carbon backbone and the connected chemical groups; the molecule state, which is determined solely by the fluorescent molecules connected on the surface or interior of the CDs; and the crosslink-enhanced emission (CEE) effect. To give a thorough summary, the category and synthesis routes, as well as the chemical/physical properties for the CDs, are briefly introduced in advance.

The photoluminescence mechanism in carbon dots (graphene quantum dots, carbon nanodots, and polymer dots): current state and future perspective

The emerging graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and carbon dots (C-dots) have gained tremendous attention for their enormous potentials for biomedical applications, owing to their unique and tunable photoluminescence properties, exceptional physicochemical properties, high photostability, biocompatibility, and small size. This article aims to update the latest results in this rapidly evolving field and to provide critical insights to inspire more exciting developments. We comparatively review the properties and synthesis methods of these carbon nanodots and place emphasis on their biological (both fundamental and theranostic) applications.

Glowing Graphene Quantum Dots and Carbon Dots: Properties, Syntheses, and Biological Applications

A facile approach for preparation of photoluminescent (PL) carbon dots (CDs) is reported. The three resulting CDs emit bright and stable red, green and blue (RGB) colors of luminescence, under a single ultraviolet-light excitation. Alterations of PL emission of these CDs are tentatively proposed to result from the difference in their particle size and nitrogen content. Interestingly, up-conversion (UC)PL of these CDs is also observed. Moreover, flexible full-color emissive PVA films can be achieved through mixing two or three CDs in the appropriate ratios. These CDs also show low cytotoxicity and excellent cellular imaging capability. The facile preparation and unique optical features make these CDs potentially useful in numerous applications such as light-emitting diodes, full-color displays, and multiplexed (UC)PL bioimaging.

Red, Green, and Blue Luminescence by Carbon Dots: Full‐Color Emission Tuning and Multicolor Cellular Imaging

and Applications of Fullerenes, Carbon Dots, Nanotubes, Graphene, Nanodiamonds, and Combined Superstructures Vasilios Georgakilas,† Jason A. Perman,‡ Jiri Tucek,‡ and Radek Zboril*,‡ †Material Science Department, University of Patras, 26504 Rio Patras, Greece ‡Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacky University in Olomouc, 17 listopadu 1192/12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic

Broad family of carbon nanoallotropes: classification, chemistry, and applications of fullerenes, carbon dots, nanotubes, graphene, nanodiamonds, and combined superstructures.

Amino-functionalized graphene quantum dots (af-GQDs) with discrete molecular weights and specific edges were self-limitedly extracted from oxidized graphene sheet. Their optical properties can be precisely controlled only by the selective and quantitative functionalization at the edge sites. The af-GQDS exhibit bright colorful fluorescence under a single-wavelength excitation.

Optically tunable amino-functionalized graphene quantum dots

High-resolution 13C-NMR spectra were studied for two different crystalline structures of nylon 6 in the solid state by the cross polarization/magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) method. Two crystalline structures, α-form and γ-form, gave different chemical shifts for methylene carbons. The results showed that the hydrogen bonds between intermolecular chains are stronger in the γ-form than in the α-form. This strongly supports the results of the X-ray study of nylon 6 by Malta et al. Our results also showed that interamolecular delocalization of positive charges occurs in the γ-form through hyperconjugation in which the dihedral angle between the π bond and neighboring σ bonds is 30° while no such effect can be expected in the α-form in which the angle is 0°.

A solid state NMR study on crystalline forms of nylon 6

A plasma-polymerized material was produced from hexamethyldisiloxane vapor by a glow discharge polymerization technique. Spectroscopic interpretation of the chemical structure of the polymerized hexamethyldisiloxane was studied by spectroscopic means such as IR, XPS, and NMR. The plasma polymer was barely soluble in the usual organic solvents, although it contained a small amount of the monomer and its oligomers. The IR spectrum indicated that the polymer consisted of SiCH3, SiO, SiCH2, and SiH groups. The surface of the polymer was found to retain structural units similar to the monomer from the XPS measurement. On the other hand, the 13C and 29Si high-resolution, solid-state NMR measurements revealed that the plasma polymer was highly crosslinked with a variety of conformations and a number of O atoms surrounding a Si atom. Results from the XPS and NMR spectra suggested that the bulk of the polymer was more oxidized than the surface layer; Si atom was preferentially oxidized. A hypothetical chemical structure was proposed for the polymerized hexamethyl-disiloxane.

Spectroscopic study on chemical structure of plasma‐polymerized hexamethyldisiloxane

The products in inductively coupled plasma excited in organosilicic compounds were studied on chemical structures by spectroscopic methods. Plasma-polymerized tetramethylsilane (PA) contains not only SiCH3 groups but also SiH groups on IR and 29Si-NMR analyses. 13C-NMR spectrum of PA reveals that the crosslinked structure of PA is mainly constructed of Ch2 and CH groups. Plasma-polymerized octamethyleyclotetrasiloxane (PD4) is composed of SiCH3 and SiO groups. 13C- and 29Si-NMR spectra of PD4 point out the highly preservation of the structural units similar to the monomer. These data of PD4 suggest that PD4 is formed from the ring-opening polymerization by cleavages of SiO bonds. 13C-NMR spectrum of poly[methyltrimethoxysilane] (PT) indicates the existence of CH3O groups, meanwhile its 29Si-NMR analysis concludes that PT is chiefly composed of the structural units similar to the monomer. The surface analyses by XPS of PA, PD4 and PT suggest that these organosilicic plasma polymers resemble their starting materials.

Ichiro Tajima

Papers

Optically tunable amino-functionalized graphene quantum dots

A solid state NMR study on crystalline forms of nylon 6

Spectroscopic study on chemical structure of plasma‐polymerized hexamethyldisiloxane

Characterization of plasma polymers from tetramethylsilane, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, and methyltrimethoxysilane

Analysis of Oxidative Deterioration of Biodiesel Fuel