TY - JOUR A1 - Kimiaei, E. A1 - Farooq, M. A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Ahmadi, Shayan A1 - Babaeipour, S. A1 - Schönhals, Andreas A1 - Österberg, M. T1 - The role of lignin as interfacial compatibilizer in designing lignocellulosic-polyester composite films N2 - Advancing nanocomposites requires a deep understanding and careful design of nanoscale interfaces, as interfacial interactions and adhesion significantly influence the physical and mechanical properties of these materials. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) as interfacial compatibilizer between hydrophilic cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and a hydrophobic polyester, polycaprolactone (PCL). In this context, we conducted a detailed analysis of surface-to-bulk interactions in both wet and dry conditions using advanced techniques such as quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), atomic force microscopy (AFM), water contact angle (WCA) measurements, broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS), and inverse gas chromatography (IGC). QCM-D was employed to quantify the adsorption behavior of LNPs on CNF and PCL surfaces, demonstrating LNPs’ capability to interact with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic phases, thereby enhancing composite material properties. LNPs showed extensive adsorption on a CNF model film (1186 ± 178 ng.cm−2) and a lower but still significant adsorption on a PCL model film (270 ± 64 ng.cm−2). In contrast, CNF adsorption on a PCL model film was the lowest, with a sensed mass of only 136 ± 35 ng.cm−2. These findings were further supported by comparing the morphology and wettability of the films before and after adsorption, using AFM and WCA analyses. Then, to gain insights into the molecular-level interactions and molecular mobility within the composite in dry state, BDS was employed. The BDS results showed that LNPs improved the dispersion of PCL within the CNF network. To further investigate the impact of LNPs on the composites’ interfacial properties, IGC was employed. This analysis showed that the composite films containing LNPs exhibited lower surface energy compared to those composed of only CNF and PCL. The presence of LNPs likely reduced the availability of surface hydroxyl groups, thus modifying the physicochemical properties of the interface. These changes were particularly evident in the heterogeneity of the surface energy profile, indicating that LNPs significantly altered the interfacial characteristics of the composite materials. Overall, these findings emphasize the necessity to control the interfaces between components for next-generation nanocomposite materials across diverse applications. KW - Lignin KW - Nanocomposites PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-615098 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2024.10.083 SN - 0021-9797 VL - 679 SP - 263 EP - 275 PB - Elsevier Inc. AN - OPUS4-61509 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Waniek, Tassilo A1 - Omar, Hassan A1 - Szymoniak, Paulina A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - The influence of water released from particles in epoxy‐based nanocomposites N2 - AbstractRecent studies have hypothesized that the reinforcing effects of boehmite nanoparticles (BNPs) in polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) are partly related to the particles themselves and partly to the water released from the BNP during curing. In this work, PNCs made from dried BNP (dBNP) with concentrations up to 15 wt% are investigated to differentiate particle and water related effects. The observed trend of the storage modulus in dynamic mechanical thermal analysis measurements was found to be independent of the drying procedure. Stiffness maps from intermodulation atomic force microscopy showed that dBNP leads to a stiffening of the interphase surrounding the particles compared with the unaffected epoxy matrix, while a softer interphase was reported for PNCs with as received BNP. A slight decrease in the glass transition temperature was observed by broadband dielectric spectroscopy related to a lowered crosslink density due to the particles. A significantly higher decrease was reported for PNCs with BNP, attributed to water influencing the curing process. In conclusion, the stiffening of PNC with BNP is related to the particles themselves, while the release of water causes the formation of a soft interphase in the vicinity of the particles and a significant decrease in crosslink density. KW - AFM stiffness of interface KW - Aluminium oxide hydroxide KW - Boehmit nanoparticle KW - Glass transition temperature KW - Broadband dielectric spectroscopy KW - Crosslink density control KW - Structure–property relationship KW - Nanocomposites KW - Thermoset PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-606772 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/app.55937 SN - 0021-8995 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-60677 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Waniek, Tassilo A1 - Braun, U. A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Sturm, Heinz T1 - The impact of water released from boehmite nanoparticles during curing in epoxy-based nanocomposites N2 - The enhancing effect on mechanical properties of boehmite (γ-AlOOH) nanoparticles (BNP) in epoxy-based nanocomposites on the macroscopic scale encouraged recent research to investigate the micro- and nanoscopic properties. Several studies presented different aspects relatable to an alteration of the epoxy polymer network formation by the BNP with need for further experiments to identify the mode of action. With FTIR-spectroscopic methods this study identifies interactions of the BNP with the epoxy polymer matrix during the curing process as well as in the cured nanocomposite. The data reveals that not the BNP themselves, but the water released from them strongly influences the curing process by hydrolysis of the anhydride hardener or protonation of the amine accelerator. The changes of the curing processes are discussed in detail. The changes of the curing processes enable new explanation for the changed material properties by BNP discussed in recent research like a lowered glass transition temperature region (Tg) and an interphase formation. KW - Spectroscopy KW - Aluminium oxide hydroxide KW - Glass transition temperature KW - Material chemistry KW - Nanocomposites KW - Structure-property relationship PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-527202 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/app.51006 VL - 138 IS - 39 SP - 51006 PB - Wiley Periodicals LLC CY - Hoboken AN - OPUS4-52720 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fahmy, A. A1 - Saeed, A. A1 - Dawood, U. A1 - Abdelbary, H. A1 - Altmann, Korinna A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Nano-MnO2/xanthan gum composite films for NO2 gas sensing N2 - Nowadays, sensors based on polymers/nanostructured metal oxide composites have been investigated exten-sively because of their sensitivity to NO2 gas at ambient temperature. In this work, nanocomposite membranes of xanthan gum (XG) with different contents of MnO2 nanoparticles were prepared as a potential NO2 gas sensor operating at room temperature by a simple one-step oxidation-reduction reaction. The structural, morphological, thermal, and electrical properties of the composite membrane were investigated. The FT-IR results confirm the successful preparation of MnO2 through the oxidation of XG by KMnO4 and reveal further the structural changes of the XG/MnO2 nanocomposite upon its exposure to NO2 gas. The capping of the synthesized MnO2 nano-particles by XG, the surface composition of the XG/MnO2 nanocomposite membranes, and the effect of NO2 gas on the surface composition was investigated using the XPS technique. The DC conductivity and dielectric loss of nanocomposites were higher than for neat XG. The conductivities of the nanocomposites XG/MO-4, XG/MO-4/ low NO2, and XG/MO-4/high NO2 composites are half, one, and three orders of magnitude higher than that for pure XG revealing a transition from insulating to conductive properties. The results demonstrated that XG/MnO2 nanocomposite membranes are promising for potential applications in NO2 gas sensing. KW - Gas sensors KW - Membranes KW - Metal oxides KW - Nanocomposites KW - Semiconductors PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2022.127277 SN - 0254-0584 VL - 296 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-56769 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Emamverdi, Farnaz A1 - Huang, J. A1 - Mosane Razavi, Negar A1 - Bojdys, M. J. A1 - Forster, A. B. A1 - Budd, P. M. A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Molecular Mobility and Gas Transport Properties of Mixed Matrix Membranes Based on PIM‑1 and a Phosphinine Containing Covalent Organic Framework N2 - Polymers with intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) are gaining attention as gas separation membranes. Nevertheless, they face limitations due to pronounced physical aging. In this study a covalent organic framework containing λ5-phosphinine moieties, CPSF-EtO were incorporated as a nanofiller (concentration range 0-10 wt%) into a PIM-1 matrix forming dense films with a thickness of ca. 100 μm. The aim of the investigation was to investigate possible enhancements of gas transport properties and mitigating effects on physical aging. The incorporation of the nanofiller occurred on aggregate level with domains up to 100 nm as observed by T-SEM and confirmed by X-ray scattering. Moreover, the X-ray data show that the structure of the microporous network of the PIM-1 matrix is changed by the nanofiller. As the molecular mobility is fundamental for gas transport as well as for physical aging, the study includes dielectric investigations of pure PIM-1 and PIM-1/CPSF-EtO mixed matrix membranes to establish a correlation between the molecular mobility and the gas transport properties. Using the time-lag method the gas permeability and the permselectivity were determined for N2, O2, CH4 and CO2 for samples with variation in filler content. A significant increase in the permeability of CH4 and CO2 (50 % increase compared to pure PIM-1) was observed for a concentration of 5 wt% of the nanofiller. Furthermore, the most pronounced change in the permselectivity was found for the gas pair CO2/N2 at a filler concentration of 7 wt%. KW - Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity KW - Nanocomposites PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-595031 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.3c02419 SN - 0024-9297 VL - 57 IS - 4 SP - 1829 EP - 1845 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-59503 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -