Melt-Processed Polybutylene-Succinate Biocomposites with Chitosan: Development and Characterization of Rheological, Thermal, Mechanical and Antimicrobial Properties.

The current research is devoted to the development and characterization of green antimicrobial polymer biocomposites for food packaging applications. The biocomposites were developed by melt compounding on the basis of two different succinate polymer matrices with varying chain stiffness-polybutylene succinate (PBS) or its copolymer with 20 mol.% of polybutylene adipate (PBSA).

Positive and Negative Changes in the Electrical Conductance Related to Hybrid Filler Distribution Gradient in Composite Flexible Thermoelectric Films Subjected to Bending.

P-type multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), as well as heterostructures fabricated by direct deposition of inorganic thermoelectric materials as antimony and bismuth chalcogenides on MWCNT networks are known as perspective materials for application in flexible thermoelectric polymer-based composites. In this work, the electrical response of three types of SbTe-MWCNT heterostructures-based flexible films-free standing on a flexible substrate, encapsulated in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and mixed in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is studied in comparison with the flexible films prepared by the same methods using bare MWCNTs. The electrical conductance of these films when each side of it was subsequently subjected to compressive and tensile stress during the film bending down to a 3 mm radius is investigated in relation to the distribution gradient of SbTe-MWCNT heterostructures or bare MWCNTs within the film.

p-Type PVA/MWCNT-SbTe Composites for Application in Different Types of Flexible Thermoelectric Generators in Combination with n-Type PVA/MWCNT-BiSe Composites.

This work is devoted to the fabrication of p-type polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based flexible thermoelectric composites using multiwall carbon nanotubes-antimony telluride (MWCNT-SbTe) hybrid filler, the study of the thermoelectrical and mechanical properties of these composites, and the application of these composites in two types (planar and radial) of thermoelectric generators (TEG) in combination with the previously reported PVA/MWCNT-BiSe flexible thermoelectric composites. While the power factors of PVA/MWCNT-SbTe and PVA/MWCNT-BiSe composites with 15 wt.% filler were found to be similar, the PVA/MWCNT-SbTe composite with 25 wt.

Flexible N-Type Thermoelectric Composites Based on Non-Conductive Polymer with Innovative BiSe-CNT Hybrid Nanostructured Filler.

This research is devoted to the fabrication of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) based n-type thermoelectric composites with innovative hybrid bismuth selenide-multiwalled carbon nanotube (BiSe-MWCNT) fillers for application in flexible thermoelectric devices. Hybrid fillers were synthesized by direct deposition of BiSe on multiwalled carbon nanotubes using a physical vapor deposition method, thus ensuring direct electrical contact between the carbon nanotubes and BiSe. The Seebeck coefficient of prepared PVOH/BiSe-MWCNT composites was found to be comparable with that for the BiSe thin films, reaching -100 µV·K for the composite with 30 wt.

Contact electrification between identical polymers as the basis for triboelectric/flexoelectric materials.

Polymer contact electrification offers the possibility to harvest mechanical energy using lightweight, flexible and low-cost materials, but the mechanism itself is still unresolved. Several recent studies confirm heterolytic covalent bond breaking as the mechanism for surface charge formation. Here it is shown that the reason for the formation of surface charge by contacting two identical polymers results from the fluctuation in the surface irregularities, and that contacted materials with a greater porosity or surface roughness differential result in a greater generation of surface charge.