The development of polydopamine (PDA) coatings with a nanometer-scale thickness on surfaces is highly desirable for exploiting the novel features arising from the specific structure on the molecular level. Exploring the mechanisms of thin-film growth is helpful for attaining desirable control over the useful properties of materials. We present a systematic study demonstrating the growth of a PDA thin film on the surface of mica in consecutive short deposition time intervals. Film growth at each deposition time was monitored through instrumental techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), water contact angle (WCA) analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Film growth was initiated by adsorption of the PDA molecules on mica, with subsequent island-like aggregation, and finally, a complete molecular level PDA film was formed on the surface due to further molecular adsorption. A duration of 60−300 s was sufficient for complete formation of the PDA layer within the thickness range of 0.5−1.1 nm. An outstanding feature of PDA ultrathin films is their ability to act as a molecular adhesive, providing a foundation for constructing functional surfaces. We also explored antimicrobial applications by incorporating Ag nanoparticles into a PDA film. The Ag NPs/PDA film was formed on a surgical blade and then characterized and confirmed by SEM-EDS and XPS. The modified film inhibited bacterial growth by up to 42% on the blade after cutting through a pork meat sample.
Composite sandwich structures with cellular cores have wide application in many fields such as aerospace due to their excellent properties. Thermoplastic composite structure has superior impact resistance and recycling ability compared with conventional thermosetting. The glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene corrugated sandwich panels were fabricated by hot-pressing and hot-melting methods, and the flatwise compression property was experimentally investigated. Numerical simulations by use of ABAQUS VUMAT were subsequently carried out, which captured the main experimental features. The classic buckling theory was used to establish the analytical prediction. Experimental results were used to fit the boundary condition factor between face sheet and corrugated core. The fabricated thermoplastic corrugation has competing compression strength with some metal lattice cores and outperforms the commercial aluminum foams with the same density.
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