Over the past 30 years, significant commercial and academic progress has been made on Li-based battery technologies. From the early Li-metal anode iterations to the current commercial Li-ion batteries (LIBs), the story of the Li-based battery is full of breakthroughs and back tracing steps. This review will discuss the main roles of material science in the development of LIBs. As LIB research progresses and the materials of interest change, different emphases on the different subdisciplines of material science are placed. Early works on LIBs focus more on solid state physics whereas near the end of the 20th century, researchers began to focus more on the morphological aspects (surface coating, porosity, size, and shape) of electrode materials. While it is easy to point out which specific cathode and anode materials are currently good candidates for the next-generation of batteries, it is difficult to explain exactly why those are chosen. In this review, for the reader a complete developmental story of LIB should be clearly drawn, along with an explanation of the reasons responsible for the various technological shifts. The review will end with a statement of caution for the current modern battery research along with a brief discussion on beyond lithium-ion battery chemistries.

30 Years of Lithium-Ion Batteries.

http://staff.ulsu.ru/moliver/ref/polymers/pott11.pdf

Graphene-based polymer nanocomposites

There have been a number of review papers on layered silicate and carbon nanotube reinforced polymer nanocomposites, in which the fillers have high aspect ratios. Particulate–polymer nanocomposites containing fillers with small aspect ratios are also an important class of polymer composites. However, they have been apparently overlooked. Thus, in this paper, detailed discussions on the effects of particle size, particle/matrix interface adhesion and particle loading on the stiffness, strength and toughness of such particulate–polymer composites are reviewed. To develop high performance particulate composites, it is necessary to have some basic understanding of the stiffening, strengthening and toughening mechanisms of these composites. A critical evaluation of published experimental results in comparison with theoretical models is given.

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Effects of particle size, particle/matrix interface adhesion and particle loading on mechanical properties of particulate–polymer composites

Surface modification of inorganic nanoparticles for development of organic–inorganic nanocomposites—A review

Recently, polymer nanocomposites reinforced with lower volume fraction of nanoceramics and carbon nanotubes have attracted steadily growing interest due to their peculiar and fascinating properties as well as their unique applications in commercial sectors. The incorporation of nanoceramics such as layered silicate clays, calcium carbonate or silica nanoparticles arranged on the nanometer scale with a high aspect ratio and/or an extremely large surface area into polymers improves their mechanical performances significantly. The properties of nanocomposites depend greatly on the chemistry of polymer matrices, nature of nanofillers, and the way in which they are prepared. The uniform dispersion of nanofillers in the polymer matrices is a general prerequisite for achieving desired mechanical and physical characteristics. In this review article, current development on the processing, structure, and mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites reinforced with respective layered silicates, ceramic nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes will be addressed. Particular attention is paid on the structure–property relationship of such novel high-performance polymer nanocomposites.

Structural and mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites

The interfacial crystallization at glass fiber/PP interface in the presence of multiwalled cabon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and organic nucleating agents (NAs) along fiber surface was investigated in this study. MWCNTs and NAs formed a uniform coating layer on glass fiber surface via dipping in well-dispersed MWCNTs and NAs aqueous dispersions. Transcrystalline (TC) structure formed by the strong nucleating ability of MWCNTs/NAs coated glass fiber surface. There existed a detectable difference in TC structure induced by coated glass fiber with different surface components. We found that a more sufficient and higher density transcrystalline (TC) structure can be constructed by introducing MWCNTs in combination with sodium benzoate (SB) or TMB-5 onto fiber surface. Interfacial adhesion was evaluated by interfacial shear strength (IFSS) and morphologies at interfacial region after microdroplet test. The result shows that the MWCNTs/NAs coated glass fiber relates to better interfacial adhesion indicating that enhanced interfacial adhesion derives from the sufficient and high density TC structure induced by MWCNTs and NAs. Our current work provides an effective pathway to construct TC structure and further enhances interfacial adhesion of glass fiber/polypropylene composites. POLYM. COMPOS., 2017. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers

Transcrystalline induced by MWCNTs and organic nucleating agents at the interface of glass fiber/polypropylene

A hierarchical structure of glass fiber cloth (GFC) deposited with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and cationic polyelectrolyte poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) was fabricated by the layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly method. We demonstrated that negatively charged MWCNTs, by acid functionnalization, and positively charged PDDA were sequentially adsorbed onto the GFC to form a uniform and porous interconnected network structure of MWCNTs. Multiscale composites with GFC-[PDDA-MWCNTs] n were prepared by compression molding. The presence of the MWCNTs with their porous nanostructure helped in the formation of an interpenetrating network with the matrix at the interface layer. The resulting interlaminar strength increased by 18∼37% and the surface electrical resistance (∼105 Ω) dropped greatly compared to those of epoxy/GFC composites (1014 Ω), showing them to be promising structural composites with GFC-[PDDA-MWCNTs] n reinforcement with an improvement in properties over epoxy/GFC composites.

Electrostatic Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Hierarchical Structure of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes With Glass Fiber Cloth Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Largely enhanced transcrystalline formation and properties of polypropylene on the surface of glass fiber as induced by PEI-CNT and PEI-GO modification

The nonisothermal crystallization of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) nucleated with elastomer-modified nano-SiO2 [SiO2-(E-MA-GMA)], a commercial nucleating agent (P250), and talc were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) under different cooling rates. It was observed that P250, talc, and SiO2-(E-MA-GMA) act as heterogeneous nuclei in PBT; PBT-P250 and PBT-NE [PBT/SiO2-(E-MA-GMA)] blends, in particular, take a shorter time to crystallize. The Avrami, Ozawa, and Mo models were used to analyze the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics. The Avrami-Jeziorny model failed to describe the nonisothermal crystallization of PBT samples. The Ozawa analysis showed that P250, talc, and SiO2-(E-MA-GMA) change the nucleation mechanism and crystal growth of PBT. The crystallization activation energies of all the PBT samples were determined by the Kissinger model. The results show that the crystallization activation energy of PBT-P250 was lower than that of the others, and the nucleating efficiency o...

Nonisothermal Crystallization Behaviors of Poly(butylene terephthalate) Nucleated with Elastomer-Modified Nano-SiO2, a Commercial Nucleating Agent (P250), and Talc

Ling Zhang

Papers

Transcrystalline induced by MWCNTs and organic nucleating agents at the interface of glass fiber/polypropylene

Electrostatic Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Hierarchical Structure of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes With Glass Fiber Cloth Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Largely enhanced transcrystalline formation and properties of polypropylene on the surface of glass fiber as induced by PEI-CNT and PEI-GO modification

Nonisothermal Crystallization Behaviors of Poly(butylene terephthalate) Nucleated with Elastomer-Modified Nano-SiO2, a Commercial Nucleating Agent (P250), and Talc

Promoting the dispersibility of silica and interfacial strength of rubber/silica composites prepared by latex compounding