Composite structures, carbons

Lau, K.T., Hui, D., Effectiveness of using carbon nanotubes as nano-reinforcements for advanced composite structures, Carbon, 40, 2002, 1597-1617. 

Secondly, the stiffness of traditional viscoelastic damping polymers is much lower than the host composite structure. Carbon nanotube films on the other hand offer multifunctionality in terms of enhanced sfiength, stiffness, and fracture toughness, in addition to damping augmentation. The specific stiffness (stiffness/density ratio) of the nanotube-epoxy film developed is about three orders of magnitude greater than the Dyad-606 polymer film [94,95]. 

Composite structures that consist of carbon particles and a polymer or plastic material are useful for bipolar separators or electrode substrates in aqueous batteries. These structures must be impermeable to the electrolyte and electrochemical reactants or products. Furthermore, they must have acceptable electronic conductivity and mechanical properties. The physicochemical properties of carbon blacks, which are commonly used, have a major effect on the desirable properties of the conductive composite structures. Physicochemical properties such as the surface... 

Apart from manifold structures, carbons can have various shapes, forms, and textures, including powders with different particle size distributions, foams, whiskers, foils, felts, papers, fibers [76, 77], spherical particles [76] such as mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB s) [78], etc. Comprehensive overviews are given, for example in [67, 71, 72], Further information on the synthesis and structures of carbonaceous materials can be found in [67, 70, 72, 75, 79]. Details of the surface composition and surface chemistry of carbons are reviewed in Chapter II, Sec. 8, and in Chapter III, Sec. 6, of this handbook. Some aspects of surface chemistry of lithiated carbons will also be discussed in Sec. 5.2.2.3. 

Since the main parameter influencing diamond-like carbon film structure is the energy of bombarding ions, it is expected that the same happens with a-C H films. In fact, it was found that in RFPECVD deposition of a-C H films, the variation of substrate self-bias results in strong changes of film growth, composition, structure, and properties. 

The isotopic composition of carbon in carbonaceous organic material (kerogen) from ancient sedimentary rocks gives information on whether photosynthetic organisms were present during rock formation or not. It can also provide information on biological activities if cellular structures had already been destroyed. Sulphur can be used in a similar way (Schopf, 1999). 

There is no question that the development and commercialization of lithium ion batteries in recent years is one of the most important successes of modem electrochemistiy. Recent commercial systems for power sources show high energy density, improved rate capabilities and extended cycle life. The major components in most of the commercial Li-ion batteries are graphite electrodes, LiCo02 cathodes and electrolyte solutions based on mixtures of alkyl carbonate solvents, and LiPF6 as the salt.1 The electrodes for these batteries always have a composite structure that includes a metallic current collector (usually copper or aluminum foil/grid for the anode and cathode, respectively), the active mass comprises micrometric size particles and a polymeric binder. 

These novel carbon nanostructures can also be modified by (a) doping, that is the addition of foreign atoms into the carbon nanostructure, (b) by the introduction of structural defects that modify the arrangement of the carbon atoms and (c) by functionalization involving covalent or noncovalent bonding with other molecules. These modifications opened up new perspectives in developing novel composite materials with different matrices (ceramic, polymer and metals). For example, polymer composites containing carbon nanostructures have attracted considerable attention due to... 

H. Tsuji, Y. Kawashima, H. Takikawa, S. Tanaka, Poly(L-lactide)/nano-structured carbon composites Conductivity, thermal properties, crystallization, and biodegradation., Polymer, vol. 48, pp. 4213-4225, 2007. 

The Stealth Bomber, more accurately known as the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, is cited as the largest composite structure produced with over 30%i of the weight being carbon-graphite-epoxy composites. The Stealth Bomber was originally slated to hunt Russian mobile missiles that were built in the 1980s. It was deployed in 1993 and has a... 

The arhcle of Berejka covers the state of the art in electron beam technology, material technology, and product-forming technology as applied to structural carbon-fiber-reinforced polymeric composites. 

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