Testing the Dispersion of Nanoparticles in a Nanocomposite with an Ultra-Low Fill Content Using a Novel Non-Destructive Evaluation Technique

Abstract

A non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique capable of testing the dispersion of nanoparticles in a nanocomposite would be of great use to the industry to check the quality of the products made and to ensure compliance with their specifications. Very few NDE techniques found in the literature can evaluate the level of dispersion of the nanoparticles in the whole nanocomposite. Here, a recently developed NDE technique based on pulsed phase thermography (PPT) in transmission mode was used to assess the particle dispersion in ultra-low, less than 0.05 wt%, Ag enriched polymeric based nanocomposite manufactured with an innovative nano-coating fragmentation technique. The phasegrams obtained with the presented technique clearly showed clusters or bundles of Ag nanoparticles when present, down to the size of 6 µm. Therefore, the new NDE approach can be applied to verify that the expected levels of dispersion are met in the production process.

Visualization of deformation-induced changes in carbon nanotube networks in rubber composites using lock-in thermography

“…In contrast, pulse acoustic microscopy and IR-NDT have been used to evaluate CNT aggregates and dispersion in CNT composites, respectively. 12–15 However, observations of deformation and CNT trajectories with high resolution and information in the 3D direction have not been made. Therefore, a direct relationship between CNT network structure and conductivity during deformation has not been established.…”

“…10,11 Furthermore, various techniques have been reported to visualize CNT llers in the composites, including impulse acoustic microscopy and infrared thermography non-destructive testing (IR-NDT). [12][13][14][15] However, these methods only allow the evaluation of CNT aggregates and cannot measure individual nanoscale CNTs or bundle-sized networks with high resolution. In addition, these techniques primarily measure the dispersion state on the sample surface, and 3D information about the CNT dispersion state can only be obtained by gradually grinding off the sample by milling or other means.…”

Cytotoxicity and Antibiofilm Activity of Silver-Polypropylene Nanocomposites

“…Data Availability Statement: Data are contained within the article or supplementary material. The data presented in this study are available in [29][30][31].…”

“…The cytotoxicity and antibiofilm activity of different PNCs with polypropylene (PP) matrix, and Ag nanoplates were examined. The PNCs were fabricated by the authors using a new technique called "nanocoating fragmentation" which was introduced in previous studies [29][30][31]. The cytotoxicity and growth properties of biofilms were evaluated on the surfaces of these PNCs with increasing metallic Ag content (0.0023-0.046 wt%) and compared with neat PP surfaces.…”

The Impact of Excitation Periods on the Outcome of Lock-In Thermography

“…Lock-in thermography is a popular type of non-destructive testing that uses an external source to induce temperature changes in a material or component, and then uses an infrared camera to measure the resulting thermal response. Lock-in thermography is often used to inspect composite materials such as aerospace structural elements [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ], wind turbine blade parts [ 6 , 7 , 8 ], and other advanced composites such as composites containing nanotubes [ 9 , 10 ] as well as sandwich structures [ 11 ]. Lock-in thermography is widely used for detecting subsurface defects, such as cracks [ 12 , 13 ], delamination [ 14 , 15 , 16 ], impact damage [ 17 , 18 ], and corrosion [ 19 , 20 ].…”