Among the renewable resource materials, cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) is considered as an important starting material due to its unique structural features, abundant availability and low cost. A large number of chemicals and products have been developed starting from CNSL by taking advantage of the three reactive sites, namely, phenolic hydroxyl, aromatic ring and unsaturation(s) in the alkenyl side chain. This comprehensive review deals with general information on CNSL, its purification and separation methods, reactivity and applications in polymer chemistry.
Self-assembling properties of poly(sodium acrylate) grafted with dodecyl [C12], PAAgC12,
or poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) [PNIPA] side chains, PAAgPNIPA, were studied in unentangled semidilute
aqueous solution. While PAAgC12 self-associates through hydrophobic interactions, the gelation of
PAAgPNIPA is triggered by heating in response to the lower critical solution temperature of PNIPA
(LCST ∼ 32 °C). The local structure of the physical networks was investigated by small-angle neutron
scattering, and the scattering patterns were described using a polydisperse sphere model taking into
account hard-sphere interactions. This model allow us to draw a realistic picture of physical gels with
quantitative information concerning the size of hydrophobic cores, the volume fraction of stickers in the
aggregates, the fraction of stickers which take part in the aggregation process, the range of repulsive
interactions, and the structural modifications induced by temperature. The description of the network is
in good agreement with complementary data obtained from DSC and 13C NMR. In the present work, a
special emphasis has been given to the important relationship existing between the viscoelastic properties
of associating polymer solutions and the binding energy of stickers leaving temporarily the micellar
junction. Depending on the endothermic or exothermic nature of the disengagement process of the sticker
(heat of demicellization), the relaxation time of the network and the viscoelastic properties will either
decrease or increase with the temperature. The consequence is that aqueous solutions of PAAgC12 and
PAAgPNIPA exhibit opposite rheological properties with the temperature, namely thermothinning and
thermothickening. By mixing these two copolymers, we show that intermediate properties can be obtained
but in that case a microphase-separated network is obtained as a result of copolymer segregation.
A good high rate supercapacitor performance requires a fine control of morphological (surface area and pore size distribution) and electrical properties of the electrode materials. Polyaniline (PANI) is an interesting material in supercapacitor context because it stores energy Faradaically. However in conventional inorganic (e.g. HCl) acid doping, the conductivity is high but the morphological features are undesirable. On the other hand, in weak organic acid (e.g. phytic acid) doping, interesting and desirable 3D connected morphological features are attained but the conductivity is poorer. Here the synergy of the positive quality factors of these two acid doping approaches is realized by concurrent and optimized strong-inorganic (HCl) and weak-organic (phytic) acid doping, resulting in a molecular composite material that renders impressive and robust supercapacitor performance. Thus, a nearly constant high specific capacitance of 350 F g−1 is realized for the optimised case of binary doping over the entire range of 1 A g−1 to 40 A g−1 with stability of 500 cycles at 40 A g−1. Frequency dependant conductivity measurements show that the optimized co-doped case is more metallic than separately doped materials. This transport property emanates from the unique 3D single molecular character of such system.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.