Carbon Black Nanofillers Research Articles

Cellulose nanocrystal filled synthetic rubber: Sustainable production, environmental assessment and end-of-life biodegradation by polyphagous pests

Plastic and rubber productions have reached staggering levels, leading to environmental concerns and accumulation of microplastics (MPs) rising in ecosystems. Rubber tires, a major source of MPs, pose further challenges due to excessive use of carbon black (CB) nanofillers in their manufacturing process, stresses on adding the element of sustainability to these products. This study emphasizes on the production of bio-based cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) filled synthetic rubber with sustainability assessment through life cycle assessment (LCA). It investigates the end-of-life (EOL) biodegradation potentials of rubber waste using a polyphagous pest, fall armyworm (FAW) (Spodoptera frugiperda). The results revealed that the production of CNC filled rubber demonstrate enhanced modulus compared to CB nanofillers, while requires substantial resource consumption, impacting abiotic resource depletion–fossil fuels (ADPf), freshwater ecotoxicity (CTUe), global warming potential (GWP), particulate matter (PM) and other impact categories. Emissions associated with CNC filled rubber during EOL phase are comparatively lower than CB, rendering CNC based rubbers a potentially viable choice from an environmental sustainability perspective. EOL pest biodegradation of CNC filled rubber showed negligible to no discernible physiological effects, potentially attributed to the presence of a diverse gut microbiota community in FAW (S. frugiperda). These findings highlight the relationship between physiochemical properties and CNC biodegradability in synthetic rubbers, aiding the development of sustainable EOL strategies for rubber waste management.

Influence of temperature and electric field strength on the space charge behavior of liquid silicone rubber with carbon black nanofillers

In order to explore the space charge behavior of liquid silicone rubber (LSR) the pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) method has been applied. Due to the elastic nature of LSR, the PEA setup was optimized to ensure a constant contact pressure and thus a constant thickness of the LSR samples. For each sample, the temperature of the ground and the high-voltage electrode was permanently measured. The space charge behavior was investigated for neat LSR and for LSR samples with two different amounts of nanoscaled carbon black (CB). The results show in general a formation of homocharges at both electrodes. At 20 °C, the negative charge from the cathode moves towards the anode in the case of neat LSR. With increasing amount of CB, the negative charge is trapped near the cathode and the charge migration is suppressed. At higher temperature, an increasing amount of positive homocharges at the anode is observed, which is suppressed for LSR with CB nanofillers. The mean charge density between the electrodes is evaluated during polarization and depolarization measurement. The results show that the mean charge density increases with temperature and electric field strength, which is explained by the Schottky and Poole-Frenkel effect. In addition, it is observed that the mean attenuation rate during the depolarization time increases with increasing amount of CB nanofillers.

Effect of carbon black silanization on isothermal curing kinetics of epoxy nanocomposites

AbstractThe present study was carried out to determine the effect of carbon black (CB) nanofiller silanization and loading on isothermal curing kinetics of epoxy nanocomposites. The epoxy resin specimens incorporated with 2, 4, and 8 wt% pristine CB and silanized CB were cured at isothermal temperatures of 43, 60, and 104°C. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to characterize the curing kinetics, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was employed to confirm silanization of CB nanofillers, and scanning electron microscopy was utilized to study the morphology of nanocomposite specimens. It was also observed that the silanization did not change the curing kinetics of CB nanocomposites significantly as compared to the neat epoxy resin. However, the curing reactions of the pristine CB nanocomposites were slower than the neat epoxy resin marked by an average 10 and 4% decrease in the final degree of cure for the nanocomposite specimens cured at 43 and 60°C, respectively. The morphological studies revealed that the silanized CB particles exhibited a more stable and homogeneous dispersion in the epoxy resin than the pristine CB particles. Potential applications for the fabricated nanocomposites include sensors, actuators, and conductive coatings for electrostatic dissipation control in plastic parts.

The effect of nanosized carbon black on the morphology and sc-CO 2 foaming behavior of LLDPE/PS blends at semi-solid state

Abstract The influences of nanosized carbon black (CB) on the morphology of immiscible cocontinuous LLDPE/PS blends and their foaming behavior under the sc-CO2 batch foaming was studied. The morphologies and cellular structures of LLDPE/PS blends and LLDPE/PS/CB nanocomposites were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results indicated that the introduction of CB nanoparticles could effectively improve foaming ability of LLDPE/PS=50/50 blends, when enough amount of CB nanofillers was added. This was ascribed to the morphology transformation from cocontinuous structure to sea-island structure due to the presence of CB nanofillers. Furthermore the critical amount of CB for dramatically improving the foaming capacity depended on the foaming temperature. In contrast, the addition of CB in the LLDPE/PS blends with spherical dispersed phase (such as 80/20 or 20/80, by weight) did not dramatically change the foaming behavior of the blends.

Improvement of the electrical conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer by incorporation of nanofillers and the resulting thermal and mechanical behavior

This work tends to characterize the effect of carbon black nanofillers on the properties of the woven carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic polymers. First of all, composites from nanofilled Polyamide 6 resin reinforced by carbon fibers were fabricated. Scanning electron microscopy observations were performed to localize the nanoparticles and showed that particles penetrated the fiber zone. In fact, by reaching this zone, the carbon black nanofillers create a connectivity's network between fibers, which produces an easy pathway for the electrical current. It explains the noticed improvement of the electrical conductivity of the carbon black nanofilled composites. Electrical conductivity of neat matrix composite passed from 20 to 80 S/cm by adding 8 wt% of carbon black and to 140 S/cm by adding 16 wt% of the same nanofiller. The addition of nanofillers modifies the heating and cooling laws of carbon fiber reinforced polymer: the nanofilled carbon fiber reinforced polymer with 16 wt% is the most conductive so it heats less. Based on these results, the use of the composite itself as an indicator of this mechanical state might be possible. In fact, the study of the influence of a mechanical loading on the electrical properties of the composite by recording the variance of an electrical set is possible.

Influence of Ion Beam and Carbon Black Filler Type on the Mechanical and Physico-Chemical Properties of Butadiene Acrylonitrile Rubber (NBR)

Five types of carbon black nanofillers, namely Intermediate Super-Abrasion Furnace ISAF (N220), High-Abrasion Furnace HAF-LS (N326), Fast Extruding Furnace FEF (N550), General Purpose Furnace GPF (N660) and Semi-Reinforcing Furnace SRF-HS (N774) were incorporated with butadiene acrylonitrile rubber (NBR) in order to improve its physical properties. Young's modulus was found to increase with nanofiller content. Percolation concentration was detected in mechanical as well as in Physico-chemical behavior. The experimental values of the normalized Young's modulus fit well with Pukanszky et al. model; taking into consideration the difference in carbon black-filler type. It is noticed that the characteristic time of swelling in toluene, τ is higher for NBR loaded with 30 phr ISAF and for the rest of samples it increases with increasing of particle size. Finally oxygen ion beam irradiation for percolative loading NBR nanocomposites increases Young's modulus nearly by 2-3 times.

Carbon Nanofiller-enhanced Ceramic Composites: Thermal and Electrical Studies

The present research is focused on the manufacturing and analysis of the thermal and electrical properties of advanced ceramics from alumina (Al2O3) with carbon nanofiller (CNF) from oil palm ash (OPA). The oil palm ash was used to produce carbon black nanofillers with a size of 50 to 100 nm via a ball milling process after undergoing pyrolysis in a furnace at 1000 °C. CNFs were added to the alumina at varying weight fractions and sintered at 1400 °C for the production of CNF ceramic composites. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), electrical conductivity (EC), and electrostatic discharge (ESD) of the ceramic composites were measured. The CTE did not increase with increasing CNF weight and behaved like an alumina matrix. The EC (I-V) showed positive results with increasing CNF weight. The ESD measurement gave predictable results on the dissipative characteristics of ceramic composites due to the insulating nature of alumina with the addition of CNF. Thus, the addition of OPA to alumina may present a suitable route for improving the electrical properties of advanced ceramics.

Nanobioceramic Composites: A Study of Mechanical, Morphological, and Thermal Properties

The aim of this study was to explore the incorporation of biomass carbon nanofillers (CNF) into advanced ceramic. Biomass from bamboo, bagasse (remains of sugarcane after pressing), and oil palm ash was used as the predecessor for producing carbon black nanofillers. Furnace pyrolysis was carried out at 1000 °C and was followed by ball-mill processing to obtain carbon nanofillers in the range of 50 nm to 100 nm. CNFs were added to alumina in varying weight fractions and the resulting mixture was subjected to vacuum sintering at 1400 °C to produce nanobioceramic composites. The ceramic composites were characterized for mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties. A high-resolution Charge-coupled device (CCD) camera was used to study the fracture impact and the failure mechanism. An increase in the loading percentage of CNFs in the alumna decreased the specific gravity, vickers hardness (HV), and fracture toughness values of the composite materials. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity and the thermal stability of the ceramic composite increased as compared to the pristine alumina.

A multiscale microstructure model of carbon black distribution in rubber

The increase of observations and computational capabilities favoured the numerical simulation of microstructure to derive the effective properties of materials. Indeed, the multiscale approaches, that use homogenization techniques, enable us to estimate or to give bounds of the overall properties of heterogeneous media. In this work, the objective is to develop a three-dimensional mathematical model of the morphology of the microstructure of rubber composite containing carbon black nano-fillers. This multiscale model consists of a combination of some primary models that correspond to the physical scales of the microstructure. It is identified according to an original method that uses statistical moments from experimental transmission electronic microscope (TEM) image data and from numerical TEM simulations. This method leads to three-dimensional representative simulations of microstructures that take the complex clustering effect of particles in aggregates, into account. Finally, the identified model of the morphology satisfies the experimental percolation rate of the carbon black aggregates in the material.