High-quality bismuth telluride crystals having a thickness of only a few atoms were prepared by a method similar to that for graphene mechanical exfoliation. The potential for these materials to be used as thermoelectric materials was then investigated. It was found that the properties of these materials could be fine-tuned by altering the thickness, or the sequence of atomic planes. “Stacked superlattices” were formed using these atomic films, and these ...
Nanocomposite phase change materials (PCMs) were prepared by adding silver nanoparticles to isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and an iPP/paraffin wax phase change materials. The Ag nanoparticles were found to be well dispersed in both iPP and the iPP/wax composite, and filler agglomeration was found to increase with increasing filler content. The nanoparticles did not significantly affect the modulus of the iPP on its own, but when Ag and paraffin ...
PMMA/silica mesocomposites (PSM) and nanocomposites (PSN) were synthesized by incorporating vinyl-modified mesoporous silica (VMS) or silica particles into the poly (methyl methacrylate). The prepared composites were characterized by TEM and GPC. Thermal conductivity and gas permeability measurements were performed on the composites using a thermal constants analyzer and Yanco GTR-31 gas permeability analyzer, respectively. It was determined that an increase in the content of nanoscale silica particles improved the ...
This research studied the effect of the addition of vinyl-modified silica and raw silica additions to polymer-silica nanocomposite foams. Extensive physical property characterization was undertaken after their addition to quantify their influence. TEM found that silica particles added through the vinyl-modified silica dispersed better than the raw silica. This created foams with a higher density and smaller cell size. A slight reduction in the thermal conductivity after the additions was ...
The thermal transport properties of nanofluids containing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in ethylene glycol and (poly)-alpha olefins (PAO) were investigated. It was found that the addition of SWCNTs enhanced the thermal conductivity of each of the two base fluids, with this enhancement increasing as the loading of SWCNTs increased. The authors were able to create an accurate predictive model of the thermal conductivity for these nanofluids by characterizing the ...
