No abstract

An indicator of being a strong country in today's world is that they have powerful weapons. In this sector where science is used exceedingly, the “stealth” takes an important place. Radar-absorbing materials are used in stealth technology to disguise an object from radar detection, such that it can allow a plane to be perceived as a bird. In this study, Co-doped zinc oxide reinforced styrofoam sheet composites were manufactured as radar-absorbing materials. For this purpose, Co-doped zinc–ZnO particles were synthesized via the Sol-Gel method with doping concentrations of 0%, 3%, 6%, 9%, and 12%. They were embedded in a styrofoam matrix with different loading levels to see the concentration dependence. The as-prepared powders were characterized by using X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy. Magnetic characterization of samples was carried out using a vibrating sample magnetometer. Finally, the radar-absorbing test was applied with a network analyzer to achieve the main purpose of this research. It was concluded that Co-doped zinc oxide reinforced composites have electromagnetic properties that indicate potential applications in the radar-absorbing area.

Fires have been a danger to human beings for the centuries. As people lost their lives and property in fires, they tried to fight the fire and their efforts in this area continued increasingly. Unfortunately, it is still not possible to completely reset the risk of starting the fire. But it seems likely to extinguish immediately after the fire has started, and this is very important to save people’s lives. Scientists have been working in this field in recent years; they are concentrated on producing fire-resistant materials using different materials. This can be provided by different ways; either fire-resistant material can be produced new, or the fire resistivity can be provided by incorporating the additive material into a flammable material. In our previous studies, we used huntite and hydromagnesite minerals to give fire resistance property to polymer materials, very successful results were obtained. In this study, huntite and hydromagnesite minerals were used for accompanying with zinc borate in polypropylene composites in order to increase the flame retardant property of a polymeric materials. Different content of minerals were blended with polypropylene, and composites were produced by twin-screw extruder for observing synergistic effect. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were conducted to determine the structural and morphological properties of the composites. Thermal properties were determined according to thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Tensile and three point bending tests were carried out to obtain mechanical properties. Flame retardant performance was evaluated according to UL 94 vertically flammability test. It was concluded that very good synergistic effects were obtained that zinc borate was significantly influential with huntite/hydromagnesite in the flammability characteristics of composites because higher char formation is observed with zinc borate addtion. Moreover, the zinc borate reduced the smoke generated during combustion.

No abstract

The fundamental operation of radar is transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves. When the waves strike an object, some portion is reflected, some transmitted and some absorbed by the object. If the received or absorbed parts are bigger then reflected, the object may not be dedected by the radar. In this study, it was aimed to produce radar absorbing materials with this principle especially for certain military applications focused on defence and security. Magnetic zinc oxide particles were synthesized by sol-gel. They were embedded to a polymeric matrix with different loading level to see the concentration dependence. The particles were characterized by X-Ray diffraction. Under applied magnetic field, the produced composites exhibited the hysteresis loops of the ferromagnetic behavior with vibrating sample magnetometer. In addition, radar absorbing test was applied as a primary objective of this research with a network analyzer. It was concluded that Fe doped zinc oxide composites have electromagnetic properties which indicate potential application in radar absorbing applications.