Rigid foams were prepared using quebracho tannins and their physical and thermal properties were determined experimentally. These properties were then compared to those of rigid foams derived from mimosa tannins and pine tannins to determine if the nature of the flavonoid affects the properties of the foams. It was found that the preparation of the quebracho tannin-based foams involved the same formulation as that of mimosa tannin-based foams, whereas the ...
Composite carbon foams were prepared by mixing tannin-based resin with various graphite powders in an effort to improve the thermal conductivity relative to pristine carbon foams in order to use them as hosts for phase-change materials. It was found that using graphite powder with smaller particle sizes resulted in foams with a higher bulk density than those prepared with an equal amount of larger graphite particles, this increased density resulted ...
The authors have prepared highly porous, monolithic, carbon polymerised high internal phase emulsions (carboHIPEs) using tannins as the base material. This material was considered to be one of the most environmentally friendly carboHIPEs to have been prepared based on the fact that it is almost entirely composed of plant-derived chemicals. It was determined that in terms of porosity and mechanical properties, these carboHIPEs compared well with others that had been ...
Aerogels are ultra-light, insulative, porous materials that have a wide variety of applications. The aim of this study was to synthesize resorcinol/formaldehyde (RF) cross-linked silica aerogels in one pot by acid catalysis. A thermal constant analyzer measured the thermal conductivity of the RF/SiO2 aerogels using the transient plane source (TPS) method. Results showed that although the RF/SiO2 aerogels had a lower density, their thermal conductivities resembled those ...
The authors have developed a method for the functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The functionalization of the SWCNTs is useful in helping to produce a better dispersion of nanotubes throughout a polymer matrix. Better dispersion of nanotubes was thought to result in an improvement in the mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of nanocomposite polymers. It was determined that the method produced effective surface modification of the nanotubes. The elastic ...
