Poster Presentation - Polymer Chemistry 2018
Young-Je KWARK
Soongsil University, Korea
Inverse suspension polymerization of itaconic acid to prepare biodegradable superabsorbent polymers
Young-Je KWARK(Biography)
Young-Je Kwark is a Professor of Organic Materials and Fiber Engineering in Soongsil University. He received his PhD in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2001 in the area of atom transfer radical polymerization. After spending his Post-doctoral years at Cornell University, he joined the Soongsil University as a faculty member. He has published many papers on polymer chemistry and worked in various academic societies, which includes his position as an Associate Editor of Macromolecular Research. His research interests include: photo-initiated raft process of unconjugated monomers, organic-inorganic nanohybrids and superabsorbent polymers.
Young-Je KWARK(Abstract)
Crosslinked poly(itaconic acid) was synthesized by inverse suspension polymerization. This process was investigated to determine the influence of different parameters like temperature, stirring speed, and crosslinker. An aqueous phase containing partially neutralized itaconic acid, crosslinking agent, and initiator agent was dispersed in an organic phase and stabilized by a surfactant. The inverse suspension was carried out with varying conditions, such as organic solvent, pH, cross-linker concentration, stirring speed, and additives. These results led to optimization of swelling and absorption behaviours.
Taek Seung Lee
Chungnam National University, South Korea
Synthesis and characterization of fluorescent conjugated polymer dots hybridized with inorganic materials for responsive properties
Taek Seung Lee(Biography)
Taek Seung Lee received a BS in Textile Engineering in 1988 and a PhD in Fiber and Polymer Science in 1994 from Seoul National University. After his Post-doctoral research at Korea Institute of Science and Technology and University of Massachusetts Lowell, he joined Chungnam National University as an Assistant Professor in 1997 and became a Full Professor in 2008. His research interests include: synthesis of functional organic materials and construction of hybrid nanomaterials, which have potential uses in OLED and chemical/biological sensors.
Taek Seung Lee(Abstract)
Conjugated polymers gain a great deal of attention in various applications such as light-emitting diodes, transistors, photovoltaic cells and solar cells, because of their excellent electrical conducting and optical properties. Among various applications, nanoparticles fabricated from such conjugated polymers have advantages, including strong fluorescence, good dispersion in water and easy functionalization on surface. Using such properties of the nanoparticles, many investigations on the conjugated polymer nanodots have been carried out for bio-imaging, bio-sensing, and chemical detection. The surface modification of conjugated polymer dots is found to be intriguing in biology-related fields because of the colloidal stability of the conjugated polymer nanodots in aqueous solution. We are demonstrating new, versatile conjugated polymer-based nanodots that hybridize with inorganic materials for varying optical properties as well as a specific detection of target analytes.
Byung Gil Min
Kumoh National Institute of Technology, South Korea
Antibacterial properties of hybrid films prepared from bio-polyurethane and bio-hydroxyapatite
Byung Gil Min (Biography)
Byung Gil Min is a Professor of Chemical Materials at Kumoh National Institute of Technology located Gumi in South Korea. His research interests include: functional hybrids of polymer-inorganic nanomaterials, high performance fibres and functionalization of textile materials.
Byung Gil Min (Abstract)
Polyurethane (PU) has been widely used in textile applications such as breathable fabrics. PU based on vegetable raw materials (Bio-PU) is attracting worldwide attention. As polyol consisting soft segment in PU, various kinds of vegetable oils have been used. Among them, castor oil is widely used as a starting material for the synthesis of PU, due to inherent hydroxyl groups. There are many methods for imparting antibacterial properties to textile products. Recently, it has been preferred to combine inorganic nano-particles with low human body toxicity into polymers. Silver (Ag) has been most extensively studied and used to prepare antibacterial materials including textiles in the form of nano-silver or silver doped inorganic particles. Apatite and their composites have attracted much attention as materials suitable for introducing silver ion (Ag+). Biological apatites (BioHAp) are the components of bones and also pathological tissue. Due to its chemical and structural similarity to bone minerals, BioHAp is a promising candidate for antibacterial textile application due to its biocompatible, non-toxic, non-inflammatory and nonimmunogenic properties. In this study, the hybrid of Bio-PU prepared from castor oil based polyol and silver doped Bio-HAp were prepared and characterized antibacterial activity for the application of waterproof and breathable films was done.
Lenuta Profire
Grigore T Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Romania
Wound healing effects of new membranes-based chitosan, hyaluronic acid and arginine derivatives
Lenuta Profire(Biography)
Lenuta Profire is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Grigore T Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania. She received her PhD in 1991 with the thesis research concerning synthesis of new bioactive xanthine derivatives. Since 2016 she is Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy at the university. She is Member of the scientific and professional organizations and has managed several national and international research projects. Other important achievements: PhD Supervisor (since 2008), Director of Doctoral School (2012-2016), Member of Doctoral School Council (2012-present), Member of the National Council for Attesting University Titles, Diplomas and Certificates (2011-2012, 2016-present). Her research interest includes: improving the pharmacological and pharmacokinetic profile of the biological active compounds and drugs using biopolymers as delivery systems (based on chitosan, chitosan/hyaluronic acid, chitosan/xanthan, cellulose/chondroitin sulphate); design and characterization of new biological active compounds focused on new heterocycle derivatives (based on xanthine, thiazolidine-4-one, pyrazolin-5-one, azetidin-2-one, aminoacids scaffold) and their biological evaluation (antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetes effects).
Lenuta Profire(Abstract)
The skin and soft tissue injuries, such as burn, ulcer or other traumatic damages, represent a major health care problem in the entire world, regarding the success of the therapy and the cost associated. Although several wound dressings materials have been developed, the problem of the wounds management is far from being solved. The big challenge of the wound treatment remains promoting a faster wound healing and reducing the incidence of bacterial infection. The goal of this study was the development and the evaluation of the healing effects of new polymeric membranes based on chitosan (CS), hyaluronic acid (HA) and new arginine derivatives (ArgD, 6a-j). Two types of polymeric membranes: CS-ArgD and CS-HA-ArgD have been developed and characterized. The most proper membranes, in terms of porosity and swelling degree as well as antioxidant and antimicrobial effects, were tested for healing effects on burn wound model induced to rats. The best results were obtained for chitosan-arginine derivatives membranes (CS-6j, CS-6i) and chitosan-hyaluronic acid-arginine derivative membrane (CS-HA6h). For these membranes, the re-epithelialization was completed with lower values of damaged tissue zone diameter after 15 days of the experiment, compared to the control. All correlated data of this study show that developed novel chitosan-arginine derivatives and chitosan-hyaluronic acid-arginine derivatives membranes are potential materials for wound dressing, with evident beneficial effects in burn wound healing.
Rana OMAR
University of Lorraine and Lebanese University, France
One-step synthesis of a monolayer of monodisperse gold nanocubes for SERS substrates
Rana OMAR (Biography)
Rana Omar had a Bachelor degree in Biochemistry from the Lebanese University in 2011. She received a master degree in Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources from the Lebanese University in 2014 with a practical training at University of Calabria (Italy). She is currently in her 3rd year of the Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry between University of Lorraine (France) and the Lebanese University. Her research focuses on the fabrication of ultrasensitive SERS substrates based on uniform gold nanoparticles.
Rana OMAR (Abstract)
Self-assembly of polymer drives the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) have gained remarkable attention in the fields of catalysis and sensing applications, which require a fine control of size and shape of nanoparticles [1-2]. In the present communication, we describe a synthesis method of monodisperse gold nanoparticles. The monodispersity relies on PMMA selfassembly into nanoholes embedded with gold nanoparticles. A thermodynamic study allowed us to control the structural properties of NPs and to finally obtain gold nanocubes through vapor induced phase separation [3]. The spin-coating of gold precursor dispersed in PMMA solution on a conductive substrate (N-doped silicon) results into the formation of PMMA micelles. Consequently, the evaporation of solvents from these micelles leads to the formation of single shape of GNPs, which is cubic [45]. More precisely, adjusting the concentration of gold precursor, the choice of PMMA molecular weight and concentration and the substrate chemical surface allowed us to control the NPs shape. Our actual research aims to go further in the study of the synthesis mechanism in order to obtain other morphologies such as triangular and hexagonal. Thus, a physio- chemical study based on the variation of the synthesis experimental parameters is under investigation to tune the optical and structural properties of GNPs.
Mojca Bozic
Laboratory for Characterization and Processing of Polymers (LCCP), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maribor,Slovenia
Ionic conductivity and related properties of chitosan-graphene nano-composite membranes
Mojca Bozic(Biography)
Dr. Mojca BožiÄ is an Assistant Professor of Materials in University of Maribor at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Slovenia. She has more than 13-years of experiences in the field of material chemistry (expertise in enzymatic synthesis and bio-catalysis, development of multifunctional biodegradable materials etc.) as well nanotechnology (expertise in nano-particles synthesis), and surface characterization, modification and their application. She is focusing on biochemical functionalization and cross-linking of polysaccharide with focus on chitosan and nanocellulose, and biobased-based polymers.
Mojca Bozic(Abstract)
Direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFC), which belong to the family of alkaline fuel cells, are electrochemical devices that continuously convert the chemical energy of an alcohol fuel to electricity and show a variety of advantages with respect to hydrogen as a fuel. The heart of a DAFC is an anion exchange membrane (AEM) formed by sandwiching a multi-layered structure (i.e. anode diffusion layer, anode catalyst layer and AEM) between an anode and a cathode. Recently, the sustainable biopolymer chitosan was modified to form derivatives in which the quaternary ammonium groups were anchored to the chitosan matrix to form alkaline AEMs, and then employed in DAFCs. A novel cross-linked quaternized chitosan AEM could exhibit a conductivity up to 7.3 ± 0.22 × 10-3 S cm-1 with a maximum current density of about 65 mA cm-2 (Wan et al., 2008, J. Power Sources, 185, 183–187). In this work the chitosan membranes were prepared by a new procedure using Mg(OH)2 nanoparticles to neutralize the chitosan solution in the presence of graphene oxide and benzyltrimethylammonium chloride. Membranes were characterized in term of morphology by scanning electron and atomic force microscope, the hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity by contact angle measurements, tensile strength at maximum and the tensile strain at break by electromechanical universal testing machine, and ionic conductivity by potentiostat. Results indicated on relative hydrophobic membranes with contact angles of approx. 99°. The addition of graphene oxide decreased the water contact angle by a small extent. By using the new procedure by Mg(OH)2 nanoparticles in the presence of graphene oxide and benzyltrimethylammonium chloride we were able to achieve a high ionic conductivity up to 15.5 ± 1.9 × 10-3 S/cm. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support received in the frame of M-era.NET program (NanoElEm - Designing new renewable nano-structured electrode and membrane materials for direct alkaline ethanol fuel cell - http://nanoelmem.fs.um.si/, grant number C3330-17-500098).
Manja Kurecic
University of Maribor, Slovenia
Size and morphology controlling of ethylcellulose nanoparticles by using different surface active polysaccharides in the emulsion evaporation preparation method
Manja Kurecic(Biography)
Manja KureÄiÄ is a Scientific Associate at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maribor and Technical University Graz, Austria, where she is working on several national and international basic and applied projects. She has a background on nanocomposite hydrogels for water purification, which she upgraded with new technologies for preparation of different nanostructured materials that can find applications in technical as well as in the biomedical area. Lately, she is focusing on development of innovative nanofibrous materials by using electrospinning method.
Manja Kurecic(Abstract)
Cellulose ethers, e.g., ethylcellulose (EC) was discovered in 1912 by the work of Lilienfeld (US patent 1188376 A). EC and ethylhydroxyethylcellulose are the only industrially significant organosoluble cellulose ether derivates being commercially produced for around 90 years now. Despite of their wide usage in plastics as a pigment grinding base, as flexible coatings for paper, cloth, and leather, as an electrical insulant, etc. there is still huge research going on in regards to the EC exploitation for new commercial applications. In the recent years, special attention is being paid to design new methods for producing a polysaccharide nanostructured assembly that can possess properties that are significantly different from the bulk material, especially, cellulosic based nanoparticles that exhibit a great potential as holders for imaging and drug agents because of their intrinsic physicochemical properties being biocompatible and biodegradable. In this study, we applied an emulsification– evaporation method to manufacture the EC nanoparticles. Ethyl acetate was used as a water immiscible, volatile organic solvent and as a stabilizing surfactant in water polyvinyl alcohol and different surface active polysaccharides (i.e. carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, high molecular weight methylcellulose and low molecular weight methylcellulose) were examined. To control particle properties, the nanoemulsion template was regulated by adapting the concentration of the surface active polysaccharides. Newly produced EC nanoparticles were characterized for particle size by particle size analyzer, stability by Zetasizer and surface morphology by FE-SEM.
Silvo Hribernik
University of Maribor, Slovenia
Preparation of bismuth coupled polysaccharide nanoparticles for magnetic resonance imaging
Silvo Hribernik(Biography)
Silvo Hribernik works as a Scientific Associate at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maribor. He finished his Graduation in Eco-Textile Engineering in 2005 and Doctorate in Textile Technology in 2010, both at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Maribor, Slovenia. During this time, he also performed research work as a Visiting Scientist at the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana and at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research Potsdam, Germany. His main area of research is the development of fibre-based functional materials with implementation of nanotechnology and is comprised of several research interests, including study of materials’ structure, synthesis of nano-particles, with special attention to magnetic and conductive particles, study and development of coating and adsorption processes.
Silvo Hribernik(Abstract)
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a crucial role in the future of diagnosis, understanding of diseases, and developing new effective treatments. Therefore, the aim of our work is to explore new contrast mechanisms and push MRI beyond its limits. In order to do so, we exploit the cross relaxation between 1H and large quadrupolar nuclei (QN) for contrast agent design. We approached this challenge by incorporating bismuth compounds as a QN into and on the surface of bio-compatible ethylcellulose nanoparticles (NPs). The ethylcellulose NPs were prepared by emulsifying the ethylcellulose/ethylacetate solution in an aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The emulsion was ultra-sonicated and the organic solvent was evaporated. The excess of PVA was removed by several centrifugation steps using water at 60°C as the rinsing agent. By doing so, one can produce uniform NPs of spherical shape and sizes of 200–400 nm. The introduction of the bismuth compounds was carried out in two different ways. In the first one, triphenyl bismuth (BiPh3) was dissolved in the ethylcellulose/ethylacetate solution and emulsified in the aqueous solution of PVA. The NPs were prepared under same conditions as neat ethylcellulose NPs. In the second one, a bismuth complex was covalently attached to the surface of the ethylcellulose NPs by reaction of aryl bismuth amide and the remaining hydroxyl groups. The bismuth coupled NPs were characterized for their size by means of dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopy, which was also used to visualize the NPs. The particles were also labeled with a fluorescent dye and visualized with a fluorescence microscope.
Yuanchi Zhang
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hongkong
Study of shape memory polymer composite for bone repairing
Yuanchi Zhang (Biography)
Yuanchi Zhang is a PhD student from Institute of Textiles and Clothing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hongkong. His research topic involves shape memory polymer composite for biomedical application. He is interested in polymer, biomaterials, functional materials and bone repairing.
Yuanchi Zhang (Abstract)
As one of the most important organ in the body, bones always play a key role for supporting body and protecting the soft tissues. However, with the population aging, bone defect becomes a common situation owing to bone fracture, osteoporosis, diseases and so on. Traditional treatments including bone grafts and conventional metal implantations have apparent drawbacks during the procedure of bone repairing such as time-consuming, labor-intensive and inflammation-responsive, thus synthetic materials especially the polymer materials have gained increased attractions. Nowadays, these materials have been applied for bone repairing even in the clinical trials. Shape memory polymers (SMPs) as one of the smart synthesized materials have attracted many attentions because of their unique features. SMPs can achieve the function, can memorize deformed shapes and recover when exposed to an external stimulus, which is different from other biomedical materials. Also, the shape and size even the properties can be designed to meet various demands. In this study, the shape memory polyurethane was modified with HA and RGD to fabricate the SMP/HA/RGD composite. Then, the structure, mechanical properties and shape memory behaviour were characterized. Furthermore, the biocompatibility and the biomechanical properties were investigated. In present study, we propose a new adaptable function offered by the SMP composite bone screw that is the realization of balance among bio-performances. The relationship among SME, tissue growth and biomechanical properties was discussed to further reveal and explicate the adaptable function.
Ka Young Kim
Gyeongsang National University, South Korea
Strain-induced chirality inversion by distinctly different helix pathway in Co2+-triggered supramolecular peptide polymers
Ka Young Kim (Biography)
Ka Young Kim received her MS Degree in 2015 from the Gyeonsang National University in Chemistry. She is currently a PhD candidate in Chemistry at Gyeonsang National University. Her research interest is in supramolecular structures and their application.
Ka Young Kim (Abstract)
We report a distinctly different dynamic helix inversion pathway of self-assembled terpyridine-based ligands composed of different numbers of peptide moieties with Co2+ and its amplification of strain-induced chirality from an achiral terpyridine moiety. The helical chirality of the metal centers, coordinated by terpyridine ligands is controlled by strain induced chirality with complex ligands to Co2+ ratios. We also show that the distinct helical inversion mechanism is significantly dependent on the number of peptides attached to ligands. The helical inversion pathway of the self-assembled ligand (R-1 and S-1) complexes composed of one alanine analogue (R- or S-2-amino1-propyl moiety) and one long saturated alkyl chain relies on two steps of chirality with different complex geometries, first from strain-induced chirality originating from an octahedral structure to octahedral structure with different helical direction and then on to helical chirality in a square pyramidal structure. In contrast, the helix inversion of the self-assembled R-2 and S-2 complexes containing an alanine analogue and two glycine moieties with Co2+ was followed by one step to form two distinct coexisting complex geometries having the same helical direction. In particular, the circular dichroism (CD) intensities of the self-assembled R-1 and R-2 complexes with Co2+ were 900–1500-fold amplified, compared to those of free R-1 and R-2. The Gibbs free energy of the self-assembled complexes with different geometries were also calculated by temperature-dependent CD observation; the square pyramidal structure of the self-assembled R-1 complex with Co2+ was more stable than the self-assembled R-2 complex with Co2+.
Yeonweon Choi
Gyeongsang National University, South Korea
Crown ether-based moldable supramolecular gel with unusual mechanical properties and controllable electrical conductivity by cation-mediated cross-linking
Yeonweon Choi (Biography)
Yeonweon Choi received the PhD Degree in Chemistry from Gyeonsang National University. At present, he is working as a Researcher in Professor Jong Hwa Jung’s laboratory. His research interests include supramolecular gels and their application.
Yeonweon Choi (Abstract)
Since typical supramolecular gels do not possess electrical conductivity due to wide band gap of the low-conjugated gelator molecules and long distances between the gelators by large amount of solvent in the gel network, their practical use in application fields has been largely limited. Here, we describe high enhancement of mechanical, electrical conductivity and vibration isolation properties of supramolecular gel derived from low-molecular building blocks by incorporation of Cs+, as additional conductive filler. The high elasticity supramolecular gel was produced by hydrazone reaction between calix-[4] arene and 18-crown-6 based building blocks, which have mechanically strong and able to molded into free-standing objects. By controlling the concentration of electron fillers in supramolecular gel, we were able to tune the mechanical and the electrically conductive properties. The supramolecular gel exhibited significantly enhanced storage and loss moduli upon addition of Cs+, respectively. Also, the electrical conductivity of the supramolecular gel increased in proportion to the amount of Cs+ in the gel network. These dramatic enhancements were due to effective complex formation with a sandwich structure between18-crown-6 moiety of building block 2 and Cs+. We also evaluated the ability of vibration isolation of the supramolecular gel. When the mechanical vibrator was turned on, the glass bead directly contacted with slide glass started to vibrate with roll, in contrast, that on supramolecular gel kept its position without any movement. We expect that the concept of embedding electron fillers within self-assembled material will open up new possibilities for developing soft materials with unusual functions.
Ester Abtew
Institute of Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Poly(glyco-peptides) derived from D-gluconolactone
Ester Abtew(Biography)
Ester Abtew is a PhD candidate at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. She studied Chemistry and Biology at the same university (2012). Later she joined direct Ph.D. program in Medicinal Chemistry at the Institute of Drug Research at the same university. Currently she is in the final year of her PhD study which focuses on synthesis of new family of polymers named “Poly(glyco-peptides) and Poly(glycoesters) derived from mono-saccharidesâ€. Her research interest includes: polymer chemistry, polysaccharide and drug delivery.
Ester Abtew(Abstract)
Developments in drug delivery, tissue engineering, gene therapy and medical devices require biopolymers with tailored properties. Polyester prepared from the α-hydroxy acids, lactic and glycolic acids are the most common polymers in clinical use. These polymers are hydrophobic and have been used for absorbable sutures, orthopaedic fixation and biodegradable carrier. Biodegradable hydrophilic polymers and hydrogels are usually prepared from crosslinking of natural polysaccharides and proteins. For the past decade, we have been involved in the synthesis of polyesters derived from amino acids that have been converted into their corresponding α-hydroxyl acids. These polymers were evaluated as scaffolds for cell seeding and proliferation. Here we report the synthesis of polypeptides with saccharide side chains starting from D-gluconolactone. The resulting new nonionic water-soluble polymers, called poly(glucosaminic acid), possessing the properties of peptides and saccharides, have potential uses as scaffolds for tissue engineering and drug carriers.
Heesoo Kim
Dongguk University College of Medicine, South Korea
Functional cyclic polymers via click reaction
Heesoo Kim(Biography)
Heesoo Kim is a Professor of Microbiology at the Dongguk University College of Medicine. Her research interests include molecular and medical microbiology, biomaterials and applications in microbiology and drug delivery.
Heesoo Kim(Abstract)
Cyclic topology polymers have drawn a great attention from both academia and industry because of its unique properties such as the topology and the absence of chain ends. However, in their synthesis, there are still key issues such as unreacted linear polymer precursor residue and its removal, side reaction products and their removal, low overall reaction yield, high time consumption, and limits in ring size. This study investigated the synthesis of cyclic functional polyethers from their linear precursors via azide-alkyne click reaction. Synthetic factors were identified and further optimized to achieve higher polymerization yields with minimizing side reactions. The results will be discussed while considering all factors related in the cyclization reaction.
Seung Hyun Kim
Inha University, Republic of South Korea
Janus-type polymeric nanoparticles for chemical sensing
Seung Hyun Kim (Biography)
Seung Hyun Kim is a Professor in the Department of Applied Organic Materials Engineering in Inha University, Incheon, South Korea. He pursued PhD in the Department of Fiber and Polymer Science and Engineering in Seoul National University, South Korea. He worked as a Postdoc with Prof. Russell at UMASS, MA, USA. He joined as a professor at Inha University, South Korea since 2005. His research interest includes: self-assembly, block copolymers, colloids, nanostructure and nanopatterning.
Seung Hyun Kim (Abstract)
Janus particles are a special type of colloidal particles with two distinct parts on the same particle, whose surfaces have different materials or different functional groups. Analogous to traditional colloids, they are large enough to be observed under optical microscopy in real time and small enough to diffuse by Brownian motion. However, their distinct surface properties and non-centrosymmetry leads to new novel material properties as well as interesting aggregation behaviour. In this work, Janus particles with self-propulsion ability are utilized for chemoresistor sensor where the adsorption of sensing molecules changes the resistance of the device. PS particles with size of hundreds nanometer coated on one side with a thin platinum layer were self-propelled in the solution of hydrogen peroxide that served as fuel in these experiments. Especially, these Janus particles were driven to be preferentially located between two electrodes, and the resistance variation was monitored to detect the sensing molecules. The autonomous movement of micromotors offers considerable promise for enhancing the detection power of a wide range of chemical sensing processes.
Mauro Giorcelli
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Carbon fibre functionalization by plasma treatment
Mauro Giorcelli (Biography)
Mauro Giorcelli is a Researcher at the Department of Applied Science and Technologies (DISAT) at Politecnico di Torino. He has published over 50 articles in international journals, having around 500 citations. He is a Carbon Material Specialist; in particular In Composite Materials. Recently, he has started to work on the MODCOMP EU project (http://modcomp-project.eu/) supported by Horizon 2020, where the topic is engineered fibre-based materials for technical, high value and high performance products. His research interests include carbon materials, composite and biomaterials.
Mauro Giorcelli (Abstract)
Current technological demands are increasingly stretching the properties of advanced materials to expand their applications to more severe or extreme conditions, whilst simultaneously seeking cost-effective production processes and final products. Composites based on carbon fibre (CF) are a hot topic in this field. In order to increase the CF adhesion to polymer, functionalization surfaces are needed. Different surface enhancing and modification techniques on CF based materials show different behaviour. In the framework of the EU MODCOMP project (contract 685844), we aimed to develop novel fibre-based materials for technical, high value, high performance products for non-clothing applications. CF plasma functionalization is a critical step in order to increase polymer adhesion in final products. Here, we show the effect of vacuum and air plasma functionalization on CF. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman and FESEM investigation will highlight the difference between these two types of plasma treatments. The impact of these differences on the final products will be discussed.