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Biocomposite materials manufactured from natural fibres and polymer matrix represent a group of engineered composite products with diverse applications. These materials continue to find increasing applications due to their design flexibility, superior properties and aesthetic appeal. The applicability of these biocomposites, however, depends on the interaction in the fibre-matrix interface. This paper reviews the state of the art research in fibre-matrix interfacial interaction based on published literature. A brief background on biocomposite materials is presented. The focus of this review is the modification of natural fibres and its effect on fibre-matrix interfacial adhesion and properties. In addition, the effect of chemical treatment on fibre composition and fibre-matrix interfacial bonding mechanism are discussed.

In the present study, surface properties of three types of carbon fibers (CCF300, CCM40J, and CCF800H) on the interface properties of carbon fiber/epoxy resin (CF/EP) were analyzed. The composites are further modified by graphene oxide (GO) to obtain GO/CF/EP hybrid composites. Meanwhile, the effect of the surface properties of CFs and the additive graphene oxide on the interlaminar shear properties and dynamic thermomechanical properties of GO/CF/EP hybrid composites are also analyzed. The results show that the higher surface oxygen-carbon ratio of carbon fiber (CCF300) has a positive effect on improving the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the CF/EP composites. The Tg of CCF300/EP is 184.4 °C, while the Tg of CCM40J/EP and CCF800/EP are only 177.1 °C and 177.4 °C, respectively. Furthermore, deeper and more dense grooves on the fiber surface (CCF800H and CCM40J) are more conducive to improving the interlaminar shear performance of the CF/EP composites. The interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of CCF300/EP is 59.7 MPa, and that of CCM40J/EP and CCF800H/EP are 80.1 MPa and 83.5 MPa, respectively. For the GO/CF/EP hybrid composites, graphene oxide with abundant oxygen-containing groups is beneficial to improve the interfacial interaction. Graphene oxide can significantly improve the glass transition temperature and interlamellar shear strength of GO/CCF300/EP composites fabricated by CCF300 with a higher surface oxygen-carbon ratio. For the CCM40J and CCF800H with lower surface oxygen-carbon ratio, graphene oxide has a better modification effect on the glass transition temperature and interlamellar shear strength of GO/CCM40J/EP composites fabricated by CCM40J with deeper and finer surface grooves. Regardless of the type of carbon fiber, the GO/CF/EP hybrid composites with 0.1% graphene oxide have the optimized interlaminar shear strength, and the GO/CF/EP hybrid composites with 0.5% graphene oxide have the maximum glass transition temperature.

We investigated the interfacial properties of symmetric ternary An/AmBm/Bn and An/Am/2BmAm/2/Bn polymeric blends by means of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. We systematically analyzed the effects of composition, chain length, and concentration of the copolymers on the interfacial tensions, interfacial widths, and the structures of each polymer component in the blends. Our simulations show that: (i) the efficiency of the copolymers in reducing the interfacial tension is highly dependent on their compositions. The triblock copolymers are more effective in reducing the interfacial tension compared to that of the diblock copolymers at the same chain length and concentration; (ii) the interfacial tension of the blends increases with increases in the triblock copolymer chain length, which indicates that the triblock copolymers with a shorter chain length exhibit a better performance as the compatibilizers compared to that of their counterparts with longer chain lengths; and (iii) elevating the triblock copolymer concentration can promote copolymer enrichment at the center of the interface, which enlarges the width of the phase interfaces and reduces the interfacial tension. These findings illustrate the correlations between the efficiency of copolymer compatibilizers and their detailed molecular parameters.

In this study, a new in-loop hybrid manufacturing method is proposed for fabricating multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNTs)/polylactic acid (PLA) composites. Molecular dynamics simulations were conducted in conjunction with experiments to reveal the mechanism of the proposed method for improving the interfacial performance of MWCNTs/PLA. The superposed gradients in the PLA chain activity and conformation due to the plasma-actuating MWCNTs promoted intermolecular interaction and infiltration between the MWCNTs and PLA chains, forming an MWCNTs-stress-transfer bridge in the direction perpendicular to the interlayer interface, and finally enhancing the performance of the composites. The experimental results indicated that the interfacial shear strength of the specimen fabricated using the proposed method increased by 30.50% to 43.26 MPa compared to those without the addition of MWCNTs, and this value was 4.77 times higher than that of the traditional manufacturing method, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method in improving the interfacial properties of MWCNTs/PLA composites.

Using the method of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations, we investigated the interfacial properties of PEO/PEO-PPO-PEO/PPO ternary blends composed of the Pluronics L64(EO13PO30EO13), F68(EO76PO29EO76), F88(EO104PO39EO104), or F127(EO106PO70EO106) triblock copolymers. Our simulations show that: (i) The interfacial tensions (γ) of the ternary blends obey the relationship γF68 < γL64 < γF88 < γF127, which indicates that triblock copolymer F68 is most effective in reducing the interfacial tension, compared to L64, F88, and F127; (ii) For the blends of PEO/L64/PPO and the F64 copolymer concentration ranging from ccp = 0.2 to 0.4, the interface exhibits a saturation state, which results in the aggregation and micelle formation of F64 copolymers added to the blends, and a lowered efficiency of the L64 copolymers as a compatibilizer, thus, the interfacial tension decreases slightly; (iii) For the blends of PEO/F68/PPO, elevating the Pluronic copolymer concentration can promote Pluronic copolymer enrichment at the interfaces without forming the micelles, which reduces the interfacial tension significantly. The interfacial properties of the blends contained the PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer compatibilizers are, thus, controlled by the triblock copolymer structure and the concentration. This work provides important insights into the use of the PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer as compatibilizers in the PEO and PPO homopolymer blend systems.

Culture medium formulation influences mushroom yield and composition, but its effect on the properties of edible fungal protein remains unclear. To explore the functional and nutritional properties of proteins from Grifola frondosa (GF) fruiting bodies, the study examined the structural, interfacial, gelling, and digestive properties of GF proteins grown in four culture media. The four GF proteins obtained were labeled GFP1–GFP4, respectively. The β-turn content and intrinsic fluorescence in GFP1 increased by 41.48% and 36.45% (p < 0.05), respectively, compared to GFP4. GFP4 exhibited higher surface pressure at the air–water interface and lower interfacial force at the oil–water interface. In comparison with GFP4, the other GFPs showed a higher rate of interfacial film formation and greater film elasticity and strength. GFP2 had a minimum gelling concentration of 80 mg/mL, which is a 33.33% reduction from GFP4. The storage modulus (G′) of GFP1 was 58 times higher than that of GFP4 (10 Pa), indicating a significant increase in gel elasticity (p < 0.05). Additionally, compared to GFP4, GFP1 showed a 16.59% increase in total amino acid and a 6.82% increase in free amino group release (p < 0.05), although its digestibility decreased by 5.06% (p < 0.05). These results suggest that the formulation of the culture medium alters the structures and interfacial properties of GFPs, thereby impacting their functionalities and applications in food colloid-based products.

We explored the effects of the repulsion parameter (aAB) and chain length (NHA or NHB) of homopolymers on the interfacial properties of An/Ax/2BxAx/2/Bm ternary polymeric blends using dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. Our simulations show that: (i) The ternary blends exhibit the significant segregation at the repulsion parameter (aAB = 40). (ii) Both the interfacial tension and the density of triblock copolymer at the center of the interface increase to a plateau with increasing the homopolymer chain length, which indicates that the triblock copolymers with shorter chain length exhibit better performance as the compatibilizers for stabilizing the blends. (iii) For the case of NHA = 4 (chain length of homopolymers An) and NHB (chain length of homopolymers Bm) ranging from 16 to 64, the blends exhibit larger interfacial widths with a weakened correlation between bead An and Bm of homopolymers, which indicates that the triblock copolymer compatibilizers (Ax/2BxAx/2) show better performance in reducing the interfacial tension. The effectiveness of triblock copolymer compatibilizers is, thus, controlled by the regulation of repulsion parameters and the homopolymer chain length. This work raises important considerations concerning the use of the triblock copolymer as compatibilizers in the immiscible homopolymer blend systems.

The surface roughness (Ra) and composite interfacial property of carbon fiber (CF) are considered to be mainly affected by the microstructure of the CF surface. However, quantitative characterization of the CF surface microstructure is always a difficulty. How the CF surface microstructure affects the interfacial property of CF composites is not entirely clear. A quantitative characterization technique based on images was established to calculate the cross-section perimeter and area of five types of CFs, as well as the number (N), width (W) and depth (D) of grooves on these CF surfaces. The CF composite interfacial shear strength (IFSS) was tested by the micro-droplet debonding test and modified by the realistic perimeter. The relationship between the groove structure parameter and the Ra, specific surface area and composite interfacial property was discussed in this article. The results indicated that the CF cross-section perimeter calculated by this technique showed strong consistency with the CF specific surface area and composite interfacial property. At last, the composite interface bonding mechanism based on defect capture was put forward. This mechanism can be a guiding principle for CF surface modification and help researchers better understand and establish interface bonding theories.

Although the two-step deposition (TSD) method is widely adopted for the high performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 perovskite crystal growth mechanism during the TSD process and the photo-generated charge recombination dynamics in the mesoporous-TiO 2 (mp-TiO 2 )/CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 /hole transporting material (HTM) system remains unexploited. Herein, we modified the concentration of PbI 2 (C (PbI2) ) solution to control the perovskite crystal properties, and observed an abnormal CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 grain growth phenomenon atop mesoporous TiO 2 film. To illustrate this abnormal grain growth mechanism, we propose that a grain ripening process is taking place during the transformation from PbI 2 to CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 , and discuss the PbI 2 nuclei morphology, perovskite grain growing stage, as well as Pb:I atomic ratio difference among CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 grains with different morphology. These C (PbI2) -dependent perovskite morphologies resulted in varied charge carrier transfer properties throughout the mp-TiO 2 /CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 /HTM hybrid, as illustrated by photoluminescence measurement. Furthermore, the effect of CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 morphology on light absorption and interfacial properties is investigated and correlated with the photovoltaic performance of PSCs.

In this study, silica-coated zinc oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared via a sol-gel method using inorganic NPs with an organic polymer binding. A hybrid coating was formed with epoxy resin to form a core-shell structure on the fiber surface to improve the interfacial properties between the fiber and resin. The results showed that there was no decrease in the tensile strength of the fiber and the interfacial shear strength with the epoxy resin increased by 38.26 % compared to the pristine sample. The addition of a silane coupling agent played an active role in improving the interfacial properties. Infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that chemical bonds formed between ZnO and SiO2. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the SiO2-coated ZnO NPs polymer composite formed a uniform film particle layer on the surface of the aramid fibers. With this method, it is possible to design aramid fiber composites with good interfacial properties.