ACHM 2020 for LUPIN.pdf (2.74 MB)
Printed hydrogel nanocomposites: fine-tuning nanostructure for anisotropic mechanical and conductive properties
journal contribution
posted on 2020-11-19, 14:56 authored by Weiwei Zhao, Lijin Chen, Sanming Hu, Zhijun Shi, Xing Gao, Vadim SilberschmidtVadim SilberschmidtAdditive manufacturing of composites offers a potential for a new level of control over a material’s structure at the microscale.
The focus of this work is a 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA)–based gelation system with orderly distributed carbon
nanotubes (CNTs). CNTs undergo shear-induced alignment during printing process, and retain their orientation after the polymerisation of HEMA monomers, thereby, forming a nanocomposite with anisotropic mechanical and electrical properties. It is
characterised with an intensive programme of mechanical tests including quasistatic uniaxial stretching, and dynamic cyclic
loadings, as well as its four-terminal sensing of conductive characteristics. A coupling effect of mechanical and electrical
properties is also studied. The experimental findings are discussed in detail and demonstrate that the orientation of CNTs affects
both the mechanical and electrical conductive properties of the nanocomposites in terms of its ultimate strength, resistivity, and a
piezoresistive coefficient. Understanding of anisotropic electromechanical properties of printed PHEMA-CNT hydrogel nanocomposite will ultimately underpin the development of smart soft materials for diverse applications, such as biomimetic nucleus
pulposus or flexible electronics.
Funding
National Natural Science Foundation of China (51703176, 91848102)
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WUT2018IVB006)
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Published in
Advanced Composites and Hybrid MaterialsVolume
3Issue
3Pages
315 - 324Publisher
SpringerVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© SpringerPublisher statement
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-020-00161-5Acceptance date
2020-06-11Publication date
2020-07-24Copyright date
2020ISSN
2522-0128eISSN
2522-0136Publisher version
Language
- en