Direct Imaging of the Organic-Inorganic Interfacial Transformation.

The organic-inorganic interfacial nanostructures between fillers and the matrix play a crucial role in the performance of polymer composites. Here we propose an cryogenic transmission electron microscope technique (cryo-TEM) approach to directly observe the organic-inorganic interfacial transformation in a toluene diisocyanate (TDI)-based polyurethane composite during its synthesis process. Elliptical protrusions growing radially outward from the filler surface, which serve as the critical intermediate nanostructures of the interface layer, are observed by cryo-TEM, indicating that the interface layer is formed through a curing reaction of the prepolymer molecules anchored on the filler surface.

Surface Engineering of Carbon-Based Microelectrodes for High-Performance Microsupercapacitors.

In this research, the enhancement in electrochemical performance of pyrolyzed carbon microelectrodes by surface modification is investigated. For the proposed microfabrication process, pyrolyzed carbon microelectrodes with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on their surface are obtained by developing GM-1060 photoresist in mixture of propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (PGMEA) and CNTs, and following pyrolysis of a micropatterned photoresist. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/HSO electrolyte (1 M) was applied to assemble this carbon/CNT microelectrode-based all-solid-state microsupercapacitor (carbon/CNT-MSC).