Chitin nanowhiskers from shrimp shell waste as green filler in acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber: Processing and performance properties.

In this work, chitin nanowhiskers with high crystallinity index were obtained from shrimp shells waste using acid hydrolysis method and then comprehensively characterized. Subsequently, the impact of chitin nanowhisker content on processing and performance of acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber based nanocomposites was evaluated. The results showed that the addition of chitin nanowhiskers increased tensile strength and tear strength of nanocomposites by 116 % and 54 %, which was related to suitable dispersion of chitin nanowhiskers in matrix.

Low cost bio-derived carbon-sprinkled manganese dioxide as an efficient sulfur host for lithium-sulfur batteries.

Realization of the lithium-sulfur battery system is of major concern because a theoretical cell capacity of 1675 mA h g can be obtained at an average voltage of 2.1 V. The primary issues that hinder the practical applications of this system include its poor utilization of sulfur, limited cycle life and retarded rate performance.