Elastic Behavior of Nanophases in Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)/Bamboo Charcoal (BC) Nanocomposite Films

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite films reinforced with bamboo charcoal (BC) nanoparticles were successfully fabricated via solution casting and their nanomechanical properties in terms of material phases were determined by a peak force quantitative nanomechanical tapping mode (PFQNM). Our experimental results revealed that the elastic modulus of PVA semicrystalline phase in stack-bundle form was 24 ± 4.2 GPa with the semicrystalline phase width being 20-76 nm, as opposed to 11.4 ± 3.1 GPa and 18-65 nm for corresponding PVA amorphous phase accordingly. The incorporation of BC nanoparticles enhanced the elastic moduli of both crystalline and amorphous phases of PVA by ∼51% and ∼100%, respectively. Moreover, the phase width was decreased to be in range of 5-53 nm for crystalline phase and 4-35 nm for amorphous phase.

Valorization of Food Industries Wastes for the Production of Poly(vinyl) Alcohol (PVA) Biodegradable Composites

“…Furthermore, PVA nanocomposites were produced by adding Bamboo Charcoal (BC) nanoparticles via solution casting. Authors found an increase of lamellar size of PVA by the incorporation of BC, which in turns allowed for significant improvement in tensile strength and elastic modulus (Mohanad and Dong, 2018). In details, the incorporation of BC nanoparticles enhanced the elastic moduli of both crystalline and amorphous phases of PVA by ∼51 and ∼100%, respectively (Mohanad and Dong, 2018).…”

Transparent and Flexible Cellulose Triacetate–TiO2 Nanoparticles with Conductive and UV-Shielding Properties

“…The AFM phase images of the TiO 2 /CTA nanocomposite series showed three different phases. The brightest one corresponds to the hardest sol–gel synthesized TiO 2 nanoparticles, whereas the darkest areas are related to the softest CTA matrix in which the amorphous and crystalline phases (see Figure S3) can be distinguished, as supported by the DSC results. As long as the sol–gel content increased, the formation of homogeneously dispersed aggregates of sol–gel synthesized TiO 2 nanoparticles was higher.…”