Sharif Digital Repository

The effects of different nano-SiO2 contents on the rheological properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) solution and mechanical, thermal, structural, and piezoelectric properties of composite nanofibers were investigated. Results showed an increase in fiber diameter (∼125 to 350 nm) and ∼450% increase in tensile strength as the content of nano-SiO2 particles increased. The degree of crystallinity decreased by 19% as the nano-SiO2 content increased by 2% (w/w). Further investigation demonstrated that silica could significantly improve the piezoelectric properties of PVDF nanofibers as the output voltage showed an increase in the presence of silica attributed to change in the crystalline... 

Poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanocomposites were prepared via melt, solution, and co-precipitation mixing methods using Cloisite 30B as organoclay. The results from X-ray diffraction patterns display intercalation or exfoliation of nanoclay depending on the nanocomposite preparation method. The solvent cast and co-precipitated samples showed exfoliation, while intercalation was observed in the nanocomposites prepared by melt mixing. Introducing organoclay induced formation of β-crystals in the PVDF nanocomposites as evidenced by XRD and FT-IR. FT-IR analysis indicated that the samples prepared by the co-precipitation method had a higher tendency for β phase formation, while the sample... 

Surface chemistry of as-received nanodiamond (ND) was first tailored by dry thermal oxidation to obtain carboxylated ND (ND-COOH) and by wet chemistry to obtain ethylenediamine-functionalized ND (ND-EDA). Then, the surface-functionalized ND particles were dispersed in polyamide 6 (PA6) using the melt-mixing method. Transmission optical and scanning electron microscopies indicated a fine dispersion at low nanodiamond concentrations, e.g. 0.25 wt%, particularly with ND-EDA. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed that ND-EDA favoured the α-phase crystal and enhanced the degree of crystallinity of PA6. Experimental data indicated that ND-EDA had considerably improved tensile properties at... 

(ZnO)1-x(CdO)x nanofibers were fabricated via electrospinning of polymer precursor by subsequent annealing in air. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) showed the smooth and beadless nanofibers and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed the ZnO hexagonal and the CdO cubic structure. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) showed the band gap energy reduction by increasing the amount of CdO in (ZnO)1-x(CdO)x nanofibers that resulted in the photocatalytic activity under the visible light for dye degradation. Under the UV light CdO acted as both electron and hole sink in the (ZnO) 1-x(CdO)x nanofibers and a possible photocatalytic activity... 

TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrothermal assisted sol-gel technique. The preparation parameters including pH value, the amount of water, titanium tetra isopropoxide content, temperature and time of hydrothermal process were investigated by Taguchi statistical experiments to determine the influence of synthesizing variables on the optimal conditions and to realize the highest degree of crystallinity or smallest crystallite size. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and direct band gap energy (Eg) values, measured via diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), proved that all the samples consist of anatase as a unique phase. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and specific surface area... 

Na3MnCO3PO4 (NMCP) is produced by hydrothermal synthesis for rechargeable sodium-ion battery (SIB) cathode. Mechanism of formation of NMCP was investigated by measuring the influence of time and temperature on the rate of production of the NMCP crystallites. X-ray diffraction analysis of the synthesized samples showed that MnCO3 first formed as an intermediate phase. Na3MnCO3PO4 was, however, the last phase retained after 24 h of the hydrothermal process at 120 °C. Sigmoidal shape of the crystallization curves followed the Avrami–Erofeev model which described the chemical kinetics of the Na3MnCO3PO4 formation. Respective apparent activation energies of 29.10 for nucleation and 73.91 kJ/mol... 

High-performance wearable electronic devices with the capability of converting mechanical force into electrical energy have been gaining increasing attention for biomedical monitoring applications. We present a novel wearable piezoelectric sensor based on a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofibrous membrane containing microporous zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for arterial pulse monitoring. It is shown that the incorporation of 5 wt % of MOF greatly enhances the piezoelectric constant of the polymer fibrous mat by 3.4-fold without significant loss in its flexibility. The nanofibrous composite exhibits a peak-to-peak voltage of 600 mV under an applied force of 5 N, which...