This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. It presents the results of the ComBoNDT European project, which aimed at the development of more secure, time- and cost-saving extended ...non-destructive inspection tools for carbon fiber reinforced plastics, adhered surfaces and bonded joints. The book reports the optimal use of composite materials to allow weight savings, reduction in fuel consumptions, savings during production and higher cost efficiency for ground operations.
Silica aerogels are lightweight and highly porous materials, with a three-dimensional network of silica particles, which are obtained by extracting the liquid phase of silica gels under supercritical ...conditions. Due to their outstanding characteristics, such as extremely low thermal conductivity, low density, high porosity and high specific surface area, they have found excellent potential application for thermal insulation systems in aeronautical/aerospace and earthly domains, for environment clean up and protection, heat storage devices, transparent windows systems, thickening agents in paints, etc. However, native silica aerogels are fragile and sensitive at relatively low stresses, which limit their application. More durable aerogels, with higher strength and stiffness, can be obtained by proper selection of the silane precursors, and constructing the silica inorganic networks by compounding them with different organic polymers or different fiber networks. Recent studies showed that adding flexible organic polymers to the hydroxyl groups on the silica gel surface would be an effective mechanical reinforcing method of silica aerogels. More versatile polymer reinforcement approach can be readily achieved if proper functional groups are introduced on the surface of silica aerogels and then co-polymerized with appropriate organic monomers. The mechanical reinforced silica aerogels, with their very open texture, can be an outstanding thermal insulator material for different industrial and aerospace applications.
This paper presents a review of the literature on the methods for mechanical reinforcing of silica aerogels and discusses the recent achievements in improving the strength and elastic response of native silica aerogels along with cost effectiveness of each methodology.
•Overview on chemistry and synthesis/drying methods of silica aerogels is given.•Literature survey on methods for structural reinforcement of silica aerogels•Literature survey on strategies for silica aerogels reinforcement with polymers•Mechanical reinforcement of silica aerogels by incorporation of fibers is described.
Freeze casting, also known as ice templating, is a particularly versatile technique that has been applied extensively for the fabrication of well‐controlled biomimetic porous materials based on ...ceramics, metals, polymers, biomacromolecules, and carbon nanomaterials, endowing them with novel properties and broadening their applicability. The principles of different directional freeze‐casting processes are described and the relationships between processing and structure are examined. Recent progress in freeze‐casting assisted assembly of low dimensional building blocks, including graphene and carbon nanotubes, into tailored micro‐ and macrostructures is then summarized. Emerging trends relating to novel materials as building blocks and novel freeze‐cast geometries—beads, fibers, films, complex macrostructures, and nacre‐mimetic composites—are presented. Thereafter, the means by which aligned porous structures and nacre mimetic materials obtainable through recently developed freeze‐casting techniques and low‐dimensional building blocks can facilitate material functionality across multiple fields of application, including energy storage and conversion, environmental remediation, thermal management, and smart materials, are discussed.
Freeze casting is frequently used for the fabrication of porous biomimetic materials through ice‐templated assembly of micro‐ or nanoscale particles. In recent years, through the use of novel freeze‐casting processes and building blocks, including graphene and nanotubes, materials with extraordinarily high performance have been achieved. Current developments in freeze‐cast materials and their emerging applications are reviewed.
Optical properties are among the most fascinating and useful properties of nanomaterials and have been extensively studied using a variety of optical spectroscopic techniques. A basic understanding ...of the optical properties and related spectroscopic techniques is essential for anyone who is interested in learning about nanomaterials of semiconductors, insulators or metal. This is partly because optical properties are intimately related to other properties and functionalities (e.g. electronic, magnetic, and thermal) that are of fundamental importance to many technological applications, such as energy conversion, chemical analysis, biomedicine, optoelectronics, communication, and radiation detection.
The complex tissue‐specific physiology that is orchestrated from the nano‐ to the macroscale, in conjugation with the dynamic biophysical/biochemical stimuli underlying biological processes, has ...inspired the design of sophisticated hydrogels and nanoparticle systems exhibiting stimuli‐responsive features. Recently, hydrogels and nanoparticles have been combined in advanced nanocomposite hybrid platforms expanding their range of biomedical applications. The ease and flexibility of attaining modular nanocomposite hydrogel constructs by selecting different classes of nanomaterials/hydrogels, or tuning nanoparticle‐hydrogel physicochemical interactions widely expands the range of attainable properties to levels beyond those of traditional platforms. This review showcases the intrinsic ability of hybrid constructs to react to external or internal/physiological stimuli in the scope of developing sophisticated and intelligent systems with application‐oriented features. Moreover, nanoparticle‐hydrogel platforms are overviewed in the context of encoding stimuli‐responsive cascades that recapitulate signaling interplays present in native biosystems. Collectively, recent breakthroughs in the design of stimuli‐responsive nanocomposite hydrogels improve their potential for operating as advanced systems in different biomedical applications that benefit from tailored single or multi‐responsiveness.
Stimuli‐responsive nanocomposite hydrogels represent leading biofunctional platforms due to their design flexibility and ability to operate as intelligent devices that intrinsically recognize and react to physiological or external stimuli inputs. This review delineates recent trends in their design and assembly and critically overviews flagship hybrids on their path to attain sophisticated self‐regulating activities or serving as remote‐controlled long‐term therapeutic modalities.
Dielectric Polymer Nanocomposites provides the first in-depth discussion of nano-dielectrics, an emerging and fast moving topic in electrical insulation. The text begins with an overview of the ...background, principles and promise of nanodielectrics, followed by a discussion of the processing of nanocomposites and then proceeds with special considerations of clay based processes, mechanical, thermal and electric properties and surface properties as well as erosion resistance. Carbon nanotubes are discussed as a means of creation of non linear conductivity, the text concludes with a industrial applications perspective.
Electrochemical energy storage technology is of critical importance for portable electronics, transportation and large‐scale energy storage systems. There is a growing demand for energy storage ...devices with high energy and high power densities, long‐term stability, safety and low cost. To achieve these requirements, novel design structures and high performance electrode materials are needed. Porous 1D nanomaterials which combine the advantages of 1D nanoarchitectures and porous structures have had a significant impact in the field of electrochemical energy storage. This review presents an overview of porous 1D nanostructure research, from the synthesis by bottom‐up and top‐down approaches with rational and controllable structures, to several important electrochemical energy storage applications including lithium‐ion batteries, sodium‐ion batteries, lithium‐sulfur batteries, lithium‐oxygen batteries and supercapacitors. Highlights of porous 1D nanostructures are described throughout the review and directions for future research in the field are discussed at the end.
Porous 1D nanomaterials utilize the advantages of both 1D nanoarchitecture and porous morphology to further enhance the performance of materials for energy‐storage applications. The current status of porous 1D nanostructures, from methodologies for rational and controllable synthesis, to their successful application in lithium‐ion batteries, sodium‐ion batteries, lithium–sulfur batteries, lithium–oxygen batteries and supercapacitors is presented.
This open access book presents a thorough look at tortuosity and microstructure effects in porous materials. The book delivers a comprehensive review of the subject, summarizing all key results in ...the field with respect to the underlying theories, empirical data available in the literature, modern methodologies and calculation approaches, and quantitative relationships between microscopic and macroscopic properties. It thoroughly discusses up to 20 different types of tortuosity and introduces a new classification scheme and nomenclature based on direct geometric tortuosities, indirect physics-based tortuosities, and mixed tortuosities (geometric and physics-based). The book also covers recent progress in 3D imaging and image modeling for studying novel aspects of tortuosity and associated transport properties in materials, while providing a comprehensive list of available software packages for practitioners in the community. This book is a must-read for researchers and students in materials science and engineering interested in a deeper understanding of microstructure–property relationships in porous materials. For energy materials in particular, such as lithium-ion batteries, tortuosity is a key microstructural parameter that can greatly impact long-term material performance. Thus, the information laid out in this book will also greatly benefit researchers interested in computational modeling and design of next-generation materials, especially those for sustainability and energy applications.
As elemental main group materials (i.e., silicon and germanium) have dominated the field of modern electronics, their monolayer 2D analogues have shown great promise for next‐generation electronic ...materials as well as potential game‐changing properties for optoelectronics, energy, and beyond. These atomically thin materials composed of single atomic variants of group III through group VI elements on the periodic table have already demonstrated exciting properties such as near‐room‐temperature topological insulation in bismuthene, extremely high electron mobilities in phosphorene and silicone, and substantial Li‐ion storage capability in borophene. Isolation of these materials within the postgraphene era began with silicene in 2010 and quickly progressed to the experimental identification or theoretical prediction of 15 of the 18 main group elements existing as solids at standard pressure and temperatures. This review first focuses on the significance of defects/functionalization, discussion of different allotropes, and overarching structure–property relationships of 2D main group elemental materials. Then, a complete review of emerging applications in electronics, sensing, spintronics, plasmonics, photodetectors, ultrafast lasers, batteries, supercapacitors, and thermoelectrics is presented by application type, including detailed descriptions of how the material properties may be tailored toward each specific application.
Elemental 2D materials are some of the more exciting nanomaterials of interest due to their unique and tailorable properties. Recent progress in these exciting materials relative to their potential impact in applications including electronics, optoelectronics, and energy systems is presented.
Hydrogels from different materials can be used in biomedical field as an innovative approach in regenerative medicine. Depending on the origin source, hydrogels can be synthetized through chemical ...and physical methods. Hydrogel can be characterized through several physical parameters, such as size, elastic modulus, swelling and degradation rate. Lately, research is focused on hydrogels derived from biologic materials. These hydrogels can be derived from protein polymers, such as collage, elastin, and polysaccharide polymers like glycosaminoglycans or alginate among others. Introduction of decellularized tissues into hydrogels synthesis displays several advantages compared to natural or synthetic based hydrogels. Preservation of natural molecules such as growth factors, glycans, bioactive cryptic peptides and natural proteins can promote cell growth, function, differentiation, angiogenesis, anti-angiogenesis, antimicrobial effects, and chemotactic effects. Versatility of hydrogels make possible multiple applications and combinations with several molecules on order to obtain the adequate characteristic for each scope. In this context, a lot of molecules such as cross link agents, drugs, grow factors or cells can be used. This review focuses on the recent progress of hydrogels synthesis and applications in order to classify the most recent and relevant matters in biomedical field.
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