Preparation and properties of plasticized starch/multiwalled carbon nanotubes composites

Abstract

A triple‐band multi‐input multi‐output (MIMO) antenna is presented.The proposed antenna consists of a C‐shaped monopole antenna that provides dual‐band resonant antenna. By protruding an L‐shaped parasitic strip on the ground plane, a third band as well as enhancement of the isolation between two ports in MIMO array is achieved. The proposed antenna can cover 2.1–2.6, 3.3–4, and 5.4–6 GHz, which are allocated for WLAN and WiMAX applications. The proposed triple‐band antenna structure is used in different two‐element MIMO arrays. Simulation results show that the S11, S12, and S22 of the MIMO arrays are independent of the position of the two‐element. The results show good S‐parameters, high peak gain and radiation efficiency, and stable radiation patterns among the triple‐band coverage. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:1321–1325, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26799

Starch-based nanocomposites reinforced with flax cellulose nanocrystals

“…However, compared with conventional synthetic thermoplastics, biodegradable products based on starch, unfortunately, still exhibit many disadvantages, such as water sensitivity, brittleness, and poor mechanical properties [6]. Vari-ous physical or chemical means have been used to solve these problems, including blending with other synthetic polymers [7][8][9], the chemical modification [10][11][12], graft copolymerisation [13], and incorporating fillers such as lignin [14], clay [15], and multi-walled carbon nanotubes [16]. More recently, there is an increased use of cellulose nanocrystals (CNs) as the loading-bearing constituent in developing new and inexpensive biodegradable materials due to a high aspect ratio, a high bending strength of about 10 GPa, and a high Young's modulus of approximately 150 GPa [17].…”

Highly functional green materials platform: Starch-ionic liquid-carbon nanotube polymer melt nanocomposites

“…MPa to 39.2 MPa and moisture uptake decreased from 65% to 56% at 98% relative humidity (Cao et al, 2007). Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have the potential to be very effective as a strengthening material due to their high physical properties and unique microstructures (Hussain et al, 2006.…”

“…Many authors have investigated the possibility of using CNTs to enhance the mechanical properties of TPS , Cao et al, 2007, Liu et al, 2011b, Famá et al, 2011, Cheng et al, 2013. Most of these studies employ MWCNTs, probably due to the lower price and more abundance of MWCNTs than SWCNTs.…”

“…A study conducted by Cao et al (Cao et al, 2007) has investigated the material properties of plasticised MWCNTs/pea starch composites. MWCNTs treated with a mixture of sulphuric acid and nitric acid have been found to increase the tensile strength and Young's modulus of glycerol plasticized pea starch.…”

“…When CNTs are introduced into these material systems, the complexity of the factors affecting tensile properties increase. In particular, the distribution and dispersion of CNTs can significantly influence the tensile properties as mentioned 2.4.3 (Liu et al, 2011b, Cao et al, 2007, Famá et al, 2011. Also, as a nanofiller, CNTs are very likely to have an effect on crystallisation behaviour, either facilitating the crystallisation due to their nucleating role or slowing the crystal growth, introducing lamellar defects (Taghizadeh and Favis, 2013), and hence in turn affecting water (Cael et al, 1975, Cael et al, 1973, Dhital et al, 2011, Kizil et al, 2002 (Brown et al, 2001, Jorio et al, 2002 G band 1606…”