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Materials Chemistry

Georgia Southern University

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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A Comparison Of Tung Oil Resin Reinforcements Using Fibrous Proteins And Peptides For Biological And Materials Applications, Parker L. Williams Jan 2023

A Comparison Of Tung Oil Resin Reinforcements Using Fibrous Proteins And Peptides For Biological And Materials Applications, Parker L. Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study a tung oil based thermoset was reinforced with collagen and fibroin, and the resulting composites were analyzed for their physical properties. Tung tree seed oil is a great candidate for biobased polymer production because its triglycerides are primarily made of alpha eleostearic acid, a fatty acid with three conjugated carbon-carbon double bonds. These double bonds allow for mechanically strong crosslinking in the polymer. It has been observed that polymerized tung oil forms a gel. This issue has been addressed using divinylbenzene (DVB) and n-butyl methacrylate (BMA) as co-monomers. Similar bio-based polymers have been studied and tend to …

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Investigation Of Intramolecular And Intermolecular Aza-Michael Reactions, Nadia Z. Singleton Jan 2022

Investigation Of Intramolecular And Intermolecular Aza-Michael Reactions, Nadia Z. Singleton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The hydroamination of dimaleimides with diamines has been accomplished to access novel polymers. Various dimaleamides and dimaleimides were synthesized from commercially available diamines and maleic anhydride. The resulting dimaleamides were then ring-closed to their respective dimaleimides either directly in the presence of acid or via the synthesis of mixed amide-esters which then ring close in the presence of acid under heat. Hydroamination of the dimaleimides with piperazine was accomplished in bulk at room temperature. The reaction is spontaneous thus leading to the formation of polyimides with high functional group conversion within minutes. The kinetics of the maleamides and maleimides was …

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Molybdenum Oxide/Antimony Nanobelts Embedded In Asymmetric Membranes For Use As High-Capacity Lithium/Sodium-Ion Battery Anodes, Logan Williams Jan 2022

Molybdenum Oxide/Antimony Nanobelts Embedded In Asymmetric Membranes For Use As High-Capacity Lithium/Sodium-Ion Battery Anodes, Logan Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) are a key aspect of our daily lives, from smartphones to electric vehicles. Commercially available LIB use graphite anodes due to their reliability and safety. Graphite anodes present one key disadvantage: a relatively low theoretical capacity of 372 mAh g-1. It is of great importance that new research focuses on high-capacity anode materials to further our sustainability and usage of LIB. While increasing the performance of LIB is of great interest, developing alternative energy storage devices is gaining attention in academia and industry R&D. Sodium has become a topic of interest in recent years due to sodium’s …

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Characterization Of Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes And Polystyrene/Cnt Composites Prepared With Microwave-Induced Polymerization, Allen Hulette Jan 2022

Characterization Of Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes And Polystyrene/Cnt Composites Prepared With Microwave-Induced Polymerization, Allen Hulette

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of carbon nanotubes in polymer composites can increase the mechanical properties of the resulting product. Carbon nanotubes are known to have chemical interactions that make them attracted to one another and fall out of solution. To reduce this agglomeration and disperse the mechanical properties throughout the composite, functional groups are covalently added to the carbon nanotubes. Another known property of carbon nanotubes is their ability to absorb microwaves and convert it into other forms of energy. This research investigates the effects of carbon nanotube absorption of microwaves and initiation of styrene monomer polymerization. Grignard reactions are used to …

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The Effects Of Nacl On The Triple Helix Structure Of Collagen And The Reinforcement Of Tung Oil-Based Polymers With Collagen Peptides, Christopher Dzorkpata Jan 2021

The Effects Of Nacl On The Triple Helix Structure Of Collagen And The Reinforcement Of Tung Oil-Based Polymers With Collagen Peptides, Christopher Dzorkpata

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this research, a collagen-reinforced bio-composite from tung oil was prepared using free radical initiation and thermal polymerization, leading to polyolefinic tung oil-based matrix. Two peptides (long and short) were synthesized and their secondary features were analyzed using circular dichroism spectroscopy. After this analysis, the long peptide exhibited more triple helix characteristics as compared to the short peptide. The full protein will ultimately have a better interaction with the tung oil, was used in the synthesis of the collagen-reinforced bio-composite. The presence of NaCl in the triple helix and its overall effect on the thermal and mechanical properties of the …

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Α-Eleostearic Acid Extraction By Saponification Of Tung Oil And Its Subsequent Polymerization, Amanda Murawski Jan 2017

Α-Eleostearic Acid Extraction By Saponification Of Tung Oil And Its Subsequent Polymerization, Amanda Murawski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of environmentally sound research is to provide alternatives that are more sustainable and renewable, such as vegetable oil-based polymers, than the current petroleum-based products. Vegetable oil-based polymers have received a lot of attention recently due their multifaceted properties, which are simply achieved by adjusting the monomer or resin composition. The carbon-carbon double bonds in unsaturated oils are ideal reactive sites for the free radical or cationic polymerizations. Most vegetable oils must be modified before polymerization due to the low reactivity of their non-conjugated fatty acid chains. Tung oil (TO) contains ~83% of a triply conjugated fatty acid ( …

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Asymmetric Membranes For High Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes, Ian Byrd Jan 2017

Asymmetric Membranes For High Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes, Ian Byrd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) have broad applications such as portable electronic devices, electric vehicles, and for green energy storage from intermittent sources. Current LIBs are limited by their low capacity materials at both the anode and cathode. At the anode, graphite suffers from a low capacity of only 372 mAh g-1. The most commonly used cathode material is LiCoO2 which has a meager capacity of 140 mAh g-1. Thereby the broader applications of LIBs are limited due to these low capacities. It is imperative to develop higher capacity materials to further improve the performance of LIBs. …

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Electrospun Titanium Dioxide And Silicon Composite Nanofibers For Advanced Lithium Ion Batteries, Kathleen Mccormac Jan 2015

Electrospun Titanium Dioxide And Silicon Composite Nanofibers For Advanced Lithium Ion Batteries, Kathleen Mccormac

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A unique electrospinning method was implemented to fabricate composite nanofibers for lithium ion battery applications. The composite nanofibers were made of amorphous carbon, rutile phase TiO2, and cubic phase Si nanoparticles. Sulfur was utilized as a template to form void structures within the TiO2 nanofiber matrix. This provides the desired space for the Si expansion during the lithiation process. Phase, structure, composition, and morphology of the nanofibers were characterized using Raman spectroscopy, SEM, EDS, TGA, and powder XRD. Carbonized TiO2 nanofibers showed a low but stable specific capacity. Si Nanoparticles demonstrated an initially high but fast …

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