Journal of Applied Polymer Science最新文献

In recent years, smart textiles have shown broad prospects in the fields of medical health, sports monitoring, military protection and daily wear. However, the development of smart textiles still faces many challenges such as poor sensing performance and flexibility, making it difficult to meet practical application requirements. Highly elastic PY (polyurethane yarn) was used as the core layer material, and 8-spindle SCNY (silver-plated nylon yarn) was used as the outer layer. Through a precision winding process, a spiral-woven sensor wire was successfully prepared. The effects of different twisting degrees on the mechanical and electrical properties of the wire were systematically investigated. Experimental results indicate that at a twist rate of 583 r/m, the yarn exhibits favorable strain-sensing properties alongside excellent extensibility and electrical performance. The yarn reached a uniform temperature of 93.6°C at 1.25 V. In addition, the sensing yarn has a stable conductive network, and the temperature changes dynamically with strain during stretching, demonstrating the potential for dynamic temperature monitoring.

Drilling fluid plays many important roles in drilling operations of oil and gas wells, and the research on the rheological properties of drilling fluid to combat several challenges has gained attention in recent years. The environmentally friendly ternary copolymer drilling fluid viscosity reducer poly-ISAD was designed and synthesized from itaconic acid (IA), sodium p-styrene sulfonate (SSS), 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS), and dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride (DMDAAC), and the key technical parameters were obtained based on the single factor experimental method. Then, the chemical structure, molecular weight, thermal stability, and microscopic morphology of poly-ISAD were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H¹-NMR), gel chromatography (GPC), thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTG), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Moreover, the poly-ISAD was introduced into polymer-based drilling fluid to study its rheological, filtration, and inhibition performances. As a result, the chemical structure of poly-ISAD is consistent with the design, with excellent thermal stability, and the starting temperature for thermal decomposition of polymer molecular chains is 223°C. The weight average molecular weight (M _w ) and number average molecular weight (M _n ) of poly-ISAD are 1.3396 × 10⁶ g/mol and 7.1652 × 10⁵ g/mol, respectively, and the 0.5 wt% poly-ISAD solution shows a uniform network structure after freeze-drying. Simultaneously, the poly-ISAD had an excellent reducing effect on the viscosity of polymer-based drilling fluids; specifically, the apparent viscosity (AV) and yield point (YP) of polymer-based drilling fluids with 0.5 wt% poly-ISAD were reduced by 40.5% and 70.5%. Meanwhile, the results show that the poly-ISAD has excellent filtration and inhibition performances, and the API filtration volume (FL_API) of polymer-based drilling fluids was reduced from 15.4 to 9.0 mL and 6.9 mL by 1.0 and 1.5 wt% poly-ISAD, respectively. Besides, the mechanism of poly-ISAD on the reducing viscosity effect of polymer-based drilling fluids was studied via particle size analysis, zeta potential and SEM. The innovation of this study is that a novel viscosity reducer poly-ISAD is designed and synthesized for use in high-temperature oil and gas reservoirs; the performance and mechanism are investigated, which provided a theoretical reference for other research.

Surface icing poses significant operational and economic risks in aerospace and power transmission. Superhydrophobic perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) coatings fabricated via electrodeposition offer promising anti-icing properties; however, their performance depends critically on electrolyte composition. This study employed response surface methodology to optimize key electrolyte variables: PFA concentration, MgCl₂ concentration, and ethanol-to-water volume ratio. The ethanol-to-water ratio emerged as the dominant factor to control the coating micro/nanostructure and multi-factor delay icing coefficient by governing hydrogen generation, PFA electrophoretic mobility, solution polarity and ion dissociation. An optimized formulation (PFA: 5.96 g/L, MgCl₂: 0.128 g/L, ethanol-water: 49.4:0.6) yielded a coating with minimized solid–liquid contact area. At −10°C, this coating extended droplet freezing time by 52.84 times, enhanced droplet rolling by 49%, increased bounce residence time by 10 ms, and achieved static/dynamic anti-icing rates of 80.9%/90.7% after 200 min. These improvements stem from smaller, more uniform pores reducing moisture penetration and ice adhesion.

In the present work, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) matrix composites were successfully prepared with micron-sized calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) and/or nano-sized zinc oxide (ZnO) fillers in the presence of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) without any surface modifications. A relatively simple procedure was used for composite production, unlike traditional techniques. The 5, 10, and 20 wt% CaCO₃ and 0.5 or 1 wt% ZnO were used separately as well as in combination. Mechanical and thermal behaviors were evaluated through tensile, flexural, and hardness tests, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The combination of 20 wt% CaCO₃ and 0.5 wt% ZnO achieved a 75% increase in modulus and a 30% increase in tensile strength. The composition of 20 wt% CaCO₃ and 1 wt% ZnO exhibited a 24% increase in flexural stiffness and a 40% increase in flexural strength. This composition also provided the highest storage and loss modulus. Overall, adding either single or hybrid fillers enhanced the mechanical and thermal properties compared to the neat matrix. This improvement can be attributed to strong matrix–filler interactions, as confirmed by electron microscopy images.

The regulation of macrophage polarization is an emerging strategy for biomaterials implanted in vivo to accelerate wound tissue regeneration. In this study, a self-healing hydrogel was developed using a polysaccharide-based system formed via a Schiff base reaction between proline-functionalized chitosan (CS-Pr) and oxidized dextran (Odex), with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) incorporated into the polymer network. EGCG in the hydrogels exhibited not only the capacity to facilitate the transformation of macrophage polarization toward the M2 phenotype but also excellent ROS-scavenging activity. Additionally, the hydrogels demonstrated concentration-dependent antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus . The antibacterial ratio of hydrogels for S. aureus was higher than that of E. coli . The composite hydrogels also demonstrated tunable mechanical properties and favorable self-healing properties. When co-cultured with NIH 3 T3 cells, the hydrogels showed good biocompatibility. Based on the above results, the composite hydrogels showed promising potential as clinical materials for wound healing.

An urgent task today is a detailed study of the effect of oxidation of biopolymers on their properties. The purpose of the work was to study the impact of ozone on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). The manuscript presents DSC, XRD, EPR, FTIR, SEM, AFM and GPC data. It was shown that the microrelief of the PHB films changes after 5 h of ozonation without accumulating new chemical groups on the surface. Also, the crystalline phase remained completely unaffected. All the changes occurred in the amorphous region, which became significantly denser with a decrease in radical mobility by 45%. As a result, the strength of the films increased by 60% with constant elongation. The ozonized films were characterized by a decrease in polydispersity by 41%, an increase in the proportion of medium-length macromolecules by 80% and an increase in molecular weight by 5%, which shows that ozone reacts most actively with low molecular weight fragments of PHB in the direction of their rupture and with medium-length chains in the direction of crosslinking. These changes lead to an increase in the degradation period of films in the soil from 200 to 400 days. The prospect of using ozone for surface modification, in particular for controlling the rate of biodegradation, is very attractive due to its simplicity and low cost of implementation.

To enhance the thermal conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites, different kinds of hybrid combining technologies and micro-structure optimization strategies have been adopted in industrial applications. In this study, the thermal and mechanical responses of aluminum-hybrid CFRP (Al-CFRP) laminates are explored. A two-level representative volume element (RVE) model that consists of an RVE of aluminum films (Al-films) with resin-filled holes of different sizes and an RVE of Al-CFRP laminates is constructed. With the model, the effective thermal resistance is modeled and the in-plane effective thermal conductivity (ETC) can be calculated. Single-end thermal conduction tests were conducted on Al-CFRP laminates to investigate their thermal conduction and deformation. An infrared thermal imaging system and a digital image correlation (DIC) system were employed in tests for full-field monitoring. The finite element (FE) results and experimental data verified the accuracy of the proposed two-level RVE model. With respect to conventional CFRP laminates, the in-plane ETC of the Al-CFRP laminates embedded with non-hole Al-films has been increased by 308%. Compared to the Al-CFRP laminates with non-hole Al-films, the out-of-plane deformation of the Al-films with 2 mm holes decreased by 24.22%.

Despite the progress in the preparation of bio-based polymeric membranes using traditional solvents, the enhancement of sustainability and minimization of adverse environmental impact through the replacement of greener solvents is imperative. This study investigates the possibility of fabrication and the performance of sustainable membranes prepared by bio-based polymer and green solvent. The primary objective of this study is attributed to the detailed assessment of the membrane formation mechanism, considering thermodynamic and kinetic aspects. In this context, three different types of PLA (two amorphous and one semicrystalline) were utilized to assess the polymer type effect as well as the solvent effect evaluation using DMSO and other conventional solvents (DMF, DMAc, NMP). The detailed examination of the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects was performed by various parameters such as Hansen solubility parameter (HSP), solubility envelope, diffusion coefficient, ternary phase diagram (solvent-nonsolvent-polymer), and solution viscosity. Despite the meaningful impact of these theoretical methodologies, their limitations in the final structure reasoning were also observed. Based on the separation study, various structures of membranes obtained in this examination demonstrate the competition between thermodynamics and kinetics, which makes it difficult to presume the dominance of the factors. While the complexity of the phase separation mechanism has been discussed for decades since its initiation, our study can provide insight into the importance of the solvent/nonsolvent conversion rate, particularly the diffusion coefficient. The overall conclusion of the results obtained by the performance of membranes indicated the possibility of DMSO substitution for PLA-based membrane preparation, especially for textile wastewater treatment.

A novel strategy is developed to synthesize hierarchical porous carbon materials (CPC-x) by employing potassium citrate as the activator and sulfonated precarbonized chitosan as the carbon precursor. The effects of the chitosan-to-potassium citrate mass ratio on the material structure and electrochemical properties are systematically investigated. The optimized sample, CPC-4, exhibits remarkable electrochemical performance. It possesses a unique three-dimensional hierarchical porous architecture with a high specific surface area of 1454.72 m² g⁻¹ and substantial heteroatom doping (1.45 at% N, 9.84 at% O). Specifically, it achieves a high specific capacitance of 345 F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹ and outstanding cycling stability with 98.57% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 10 A g⁻¹. When assembled into a symmetric supercapacitor, the CPC-4//CPC-4 device delivers attractive energy densities of 5.86 Wh kg⁻¹ in 6 M KOH and 24.55Wh kg⁻¹ in 1 M Na₂SO₄. These compelling results demonstrate the great promise of CPC-4 as a high-performance electrode material for advanced energy storage systems.

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a popular biodegradable polymer but suffers from brittleness and limited aesthetic options. To address this, we developed eco-friendly wood-like composites via melt blending of PLA, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), and sodium lignosulfonate (LS). TPU served as a toughening agent, increasing the elongation at break by 112%, while LS provided a wood-like color and improved interfacial adhesion. The structural, morphological, thermal, mechanical, and chromatic properties of the composites were systematically investigated. The optimized composite (with 2 wt% LS) exhibited a minimal color difference (ΔE = 5.72) compared to poplar wood, good thermal stability, and enabled high-fidelity 3D printing of wood-grain textures with over 92% reproduction accuracy. This work presents a sustainable and versatile material for personalized and eco-friendly 3D printing applications.