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Polymers
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Nanofillers in Polymers
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Nanofillers in Polymers

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2021) | Viewed by 20113

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jea Uk Lee

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Guest Editor
Department of Advanced Materials Engineering for Information and Electronics, Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si 446-701, Republic of Korea
Interests: carbon composites; polymer synthesis; functionalization of nanomaterials; wearable electronic devices; 3D printing composites; heat management materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer nanocomposites are defined as a mixture of two or more materials, where the matrix is a polymer and the dispersed phase is nanofillers. The addition of a small amount of these nanofillers into the polymer matrix can lead to significant improvements in composites’ properties, such as mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties, and also introduction of new functions, without affecting their processability. Selection of appropriate nanofillers and uniform dispersion of nanofillers in the polymer are the key challenges to obtain the optimal performance of nanocomposites. To date, various types of nanofillers, such as clays, carbon nanotubes, graphene, nanocellulose, Mxene, and metal nanoparticles, have been used to obtain nanocomposites with different applications. The dispersion state of nanofillers is also very important, since the uniform dispersion of nanofillers can lead to a large interfacial area between the constituents of the nanocomposites.

This Special Issue, “Nanofillers in Polymers”, aims to be a collection of high-quality original/review papers focusing on recent progress in new preparation and applications of nanofillers for high-performance polymer nanocomposites, including (a) synthesis and preparation of new nanofillers, (b) tailored control of nanofiller size, concentration, and orientation in polymer matrix, (c) interfacial property control between nanofillers and polymer matrix, (d) evaluation of the nanofiller dispersion state in the polymer matrix, and (f) development of nanocomposites applications using various nanofiller materials.

Prof. Dr. Jea Uk Lee
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Polymer nanocomposites
  • Nanofillers
  • Mechanical properties
  • Thermal properties
  • Electrical properties
  • Clays
  • Carbon nanotubes
  • Graphene
  • Nanocellulose
  • Mxene
  • Metal nanoparticles
  • Uniform dispersion
  • Synthesis

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1646 KiB  
Article
Polyaniline/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites for Hole Transporting Layer of High-Performance Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells
by Jae Woong Jung, Seung Hwan Son and Jun Choi
Polymers 2021, 13(8), 1281; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13081281 - 14 Apr 2021
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 3254
Abstract
We herein address the optoelectronic properties of polyaniline composite films with graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide as a hole transport layer in inverted perovskite solar cells. The composite films exhibited enhanced electrical conductivity and suitable energy level matching with CH3NH [...] Read more.
We herein address the optoelectronic properties of polyaniline composite films with graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide as a hole transport layer in inverted perovskite solar cells. The composite films exhibited enhanced electrical conductivity and suitable energy level matching with CH3NH3PbI3 for efficient hole extraction/transport than the pristine polyaniline film, which thus can deliver improved photovoltaic properties of device. The composite film-based devices exhibited maximum efficiency of 16.61%, which is enhanced by 21.6% from the device with the pristine polyaniline hole transport layer (efficiency = 13.66%). The reduced graphene oxide-based composite film also achieved improved long-term operative stability as compared to the pristine polyaniline-based device, demonstrating a great potential of reduced graphene oxide/polyaniline composite hole transport layer for high performance perovskite solar cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanofillers in Polymers)
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15 pages, 21033 KiB  
Article
Latex-Based Polystyrene Nanocomposites with Non-Covalently Modified Carbon Nanotubes
by Jae Phil Song, Sung Ho Choi, Dae-Won Chung and Seong Jae Lee
Polymers 2021, 13(7), 1168; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13071168 - 5 Apr 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2654
Abstract
We prepared electrically conductive polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites by incorporating non-covalently surface-modified carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with hydrophilic polymers such as polydopamine (PDA) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). Further, ethylene glycol (EG) was introduced as a second dopant to improve the electrical properties of the nanocomposites prepared [...] Read more.
We prepared electrically conductive polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites by incorporating non-covalently surface-modified carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with hydrophilic polymers such as polydopamine (PDA) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). Further, ethylene glycol (EG) was introduced as a second dopant to improve the electrical properties of the nanocomposites prepared with PEDOT:PSS-wrapped CNTs. All conductive PS nanocomposites were prepared through latex-based process, and the morphology and properties of the nanocomposites were investigated. The electrical properties of the nanocomposites with PEDOT:PSS-wrapped CNTs were better than those of the nanocomposites with PDA-coated CNTs owing to the conducting nature of PEDOT:PSS, although the dispersions of both types of modified CNTs in the PS matrix were excellent, as evidenced by morphology and rheology. In the case of PEDOT:PSS modification, the electrical properties of the nanocomposites with EG-doped PEDOT:PSS-wrapped CNTs were superior to those of the nanocomposites without EG treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanofillers in Polymers)
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10 pages, 5744 KiB  
Article
A Facile Solution Engineering of PEDOT:PSS-Coated Conductive Textiles for Wearable Heater Applications
by In Su Jin, Jea Uk Lee and Jae Woong Jung
Polymers 2021, 13(6), 945; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13060945 - 19 Mar 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4126
Abstract
To enable highly conductive electronic textiles (E-textiles), we herein demonstrate a simple solution treatment of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)-coated textiles by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and methanol. The subsequent solution engineering of DMSO and methanol not only enhances crystallization of PEDOT chains [...] Read more.
To enable highly conductive electronic textiles (E-textiles), we herein demonstrate a simple solution treatment of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)-coated textiles by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and methanol. The subsequent solution engineering of DMSO and methanol not only enhances crystallization of PEDOT chains but also the contact for PEDOT:PSS to the fibers. Additionally, the methanol dipping effectively removes the insulating PSS part from the conductive PEDOT chains, which contributes to subsequently reduced sheet resistance of less than 3 Ω/sq of the conductive textiles. Joule heating property of the highly conductive textiles achieves the maximum temperature with the temperature reaching 133 °C at a low applied voltage of 3 V within 20 s, which promises highly conductive E-textiles as multi-functional wearable heater applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanofillers in Polymers)
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9 pages, 3035 KiB  
Article
Facile Post Treatment of Ag Nanowire/Polymer Composites for Flexible Transparent Electrodes and Thin Film Heaters
by In Su Jin, Hee Dong Lee, Seok Il Hong, Woosung Lee and Jae Woong Jung
Polymers 2021, 13(4), 586; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13040586 - 15 Feb 2021
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3070
Abstract
Typical polyol-based synthesis of silver nanowire employs insulating polymer as a surfactant for the silver nanowire growth, which limits direct contact between each nanowire and thus its optoelectronic properties. We herein demonstrate that a simple solvent treatment effectively removes the insulating polymer around [...] Read more.
Typical polyol-based synthesis of silver nanowire employs insulating polymer as a surfactant for the silver nanowire growth, which limits direct contact between each nanowire and thus its optoelectronic properties. We herein demonstrate that a simple solvent treatment effectively removes the insulating polymer around Ag NWs, leading to significantly decreased sheet resistance (~12 Ω/sq) with an increased transmittance (81% @ T550), as compared to other post-treatments. We successfully demonstrate the transparent film heaters using the solvent-treated Ag NWs network, which rapidly exhibited 150 °C under a bias of 5 V. Flexible film heaters on plastic substrate is also demonstrated, suggesting a great potential of the solvent treatment process of Ag NWs for flexible transparent electrode and film heater applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanofillers in Polymers)
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22 pages, 3792 KiB  
Article
Thermal, Rheological, Mechanical, and Electrical Properties of Polypropylene/Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposites
by Nicoleta-Violeta Stanciu, Felicia Stan, Ionut-Laurentiu Sandu, Catalin Fetecau and Adriana-Madalina Turcanu
Polymers 2021, 13(2), 187; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13020187 - 7 Jan 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3265
Abstract
In this paper, nanocomposites based on polypropylene (PP) filled with up to 5 wt.% of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were investigated for determining the material property data used in numerical simulation of manufacturing processes such as the injection molding and extrusion. PP/MWCNT nanocomposite [...] Read more.
In this paper, nanocomposites based on polypropylene (PP) filled with up to 5 wt.% of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were investigated for determining the material property data used in numerical simulation of manufacturing processes such as the injection molding and extrusion. PP/MWCNT nanocomposite pellets were characterized for rheological behavior, crystallinity, specific volume and thermal conductivity, while injection-molded samples were characterized for mechanical and electrical properties. The addition of MWCNTs does not significantly change the melting and crystallization behavior of the PP/MWCNT nanocomposites. The effect of MWCNTs on melt shear viscosity is more pronounced at low shear rates and MWCNT loadings of 1–5 wt.%. However, with the addition of up to 5 wt.% of MWCNTs, the PP/MWCNT nanocomposite still behaves like a non-Newtonian fluid. The specific volume of the PP/MWCNT nanocomposites decreases with increasing MWCNT loading, especially in the MWCNT range of 1–5 wt.%, indicating better dimensional stability. The thermal conductivity, depending on the pressure, MWCNT wt.% and temperature, did not exceed 0.35 W/m·K. The PP/MWCNT nanocomposite is electrical non-conductive up to 3 wt.%, whereas after the percolating path is created, the nanocomposite with 5 wt.% becomes semi-conductive with an electrical conductivity of 10−1 S/m. The tensile modulus, tensile strength and stress at break increase with increasing MWCNT loading, whereas the elongation at break significantly decreases with increasing MWCNT loading. The Cross and modified 2-domain Tait models are suitable for predicting the melt shear viscosity and specific volume as a function of MWCNTs, respectively. These results enable users to integrate the PP/MWCNT nanocomposites into computer aided engineering analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanofillers in Polymers)
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16 pages, 5888 KiB  
Article
Effect of Silica Size and Content on Superamphiphobic Properties of Silica-Fluoropolymer Core-Shell Coatings
by Jiyoung Lee, Ha Soo Hwang, Tien N. H. Lo, Won-Gun Koh and In Park
Polymers 2020, 12(12), 2864; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12122864 - 30 Nov 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2650
Abstract
We present a facile approach to fabricate superamphiphobic surfaces by spray coating silica-fluoropolymer core-shell particles without substrate pretreatment with an additional binder resin. A series of SiO2@poly(1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecyl methacrylate) (SiO2@PFMA) core-shell particles [...] Read more.
We present a facile approach to fabricate superamphiphobic surfaces by spray coating silica-fluoropolymer core-shell particles without substrate pretreatment with an additional binder resin. A series of SiO2@poly(1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecyl methacrylate) (SiO2@PFMA) core-shell particles with core particles of different sizes were prepared via thiol-lactam initiated radical polymerization (TLIRP). The surface of each SiO2 particle with an average particle size of 12, 80, 150, and 350 nm was modified with (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane and used as a seed for TLIRP. The SiO2@PFMA particles with various SiO2 sizes and contents were coated on aluminum substrates by a spray gun and then thermally treated to form a stable, rough composite layer. During the spray coating, the core-shell particles were aggregated by rapid evaporation of the solvent and then irregularly adhered to the substrate resulting in hierarchical structures. In the case of SiO2@PFMAs with low SiO2 contents, the roughness created mainly by the polymer shell disappeared during heat treatment. However, the substrates coated with SiO2@PFMAs with high SiO2 contents maintained the roughness even after heat treatment. The core-shell particles prepared with 12 nm SiO2 formed a stable superamphiphobic surface. The water/hexadecane contact and sliding angles on an aluminum plate coated with SiO2@PFMA, prepared using 12 nm silica at 46 wt% silica content (12 nm-SiO2(46)@PFMA), were 178.5°/159.2° and 1°/7°, respectively. The cross-cut tape test showed that adhesion between the 12nm-SiO2(46)@PFMA and the aluminum substrate was classified as 5B. A glass surface spray-coated with the core-shell composite particles exhibited transparent superhydrophobicity and translucent superamphiphobicity by controlling the concentration of the coating solution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanofillers in Polymers)
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