| 1. |
- Oksman, Kristiina, et al.
(författare)
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Review of the recent developments in cellulose nanocomposite processing
- 2016
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Ingår i: Composites. Part A, Applied science and manufacturing. - : Elsevier. - 1359-835X .- 1878-5840. ; 83, s. 2-18
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This review addresses the recent developments of the, processing of cellulose nanocomposites, focusing on the most used techniques, including solution casting, melt-processing of thermoplastic cellulose nanocomposites and resin impregnation of cellulose nanopapers using thermoset resins. Important techniques, such as partially dissolved cellulose nanocomposites, nanocomposite foams reinforced with nanocellulose, as well as long continuous fibers or filaments, are also addressed. It is shown how the research on cellulose nanocomposites has rapidly increased during the last 10 years, and manufacturing techniques have been developed from simple casting to these more sophisticated methods. To produce cellulose nanocomposites for commercial use, the processing of these materials must be developed from laboratory to industrially viable methods.
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| 2. |
- Huang, Qi, et al.
(författare)
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A method for generating case-specific vehicle models from a single-view vehicle image for accurate pedestrian injury reconstructions
- 2024
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Ingår i: Accident Analysis and Prevention. - : Elsevier BV. - 0001-4575 .- 1879-2057. ; 200
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Developing vehicle finite element (FE) models that match real accident-involved vehicles is challenging. This is related to the intricate variety of geometric features and components. The current study proposes a novel method to efficiently and accurately generate case-specific buck models for car-to-pedestrian simulations. To achieve this, we implemented the vehicle side-view images to detect the horizontal position and roundness of two wheels to rectify distortions and deviations and then extracted the mid-section profiles for comparative calculations against baseline vehicle models to obtain the transformation matrices. Based on the generic buck model which consists of six key components and corresponding matrices, the case-specific buck model was generated semi-automatically based on the transformation metrics. Utilizing this image-based method, a total of 12 vehicle models representing four vehicle categories including family car (FCR), Roadster (RDS), small Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), and large SUV were generated for car-to-pedestrian collision FE simulations in this study. The pedestrian head trajectories, total contact forces, head injury criterion (HIC), and brain injury criterion (BrIC) were analyzed comparatively. We found that, even within the same vehicle category and initial conditions, the variation in wrap around distance (WAD) spans 84–165 mm, in HIC ranges from 98 to 336, and in BrIC fluctuates between 1.25 and 1.46. These findings highlight the significant influence of vehicle frontal shape and underscore the necessity of using case-specific vehicle models in crash simulations. The proposed method provides a new approach for further vehicle structure optimization aiming at reducing pedestrian head injury and increasing traffic safety.
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| 3. |
- Geng, Shiyu, et al.
(författare)
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High-strength, High-toughness Aligned Polymer-based Nanocomposite Reinforced with Ultra-low Weight Fraction of Functionalized Nanocellulose
- 2018
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Ingår i: Biomacromolecules. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1525-7797 .- 1526-4602. ; 19:10, s. 4075-4083
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Multifunctional lightweight, flexible, yet strong polymer-based nanocomposites are highly desired for specific applications. However, the control of orientation and dispersion of reinforcing nanoparticles and the optimization of the interfacial interaction still pose substantial challenges in nanocellulose-reinforced polymer composites. In this study, poly(ethylene glycol)-grafted nanocellulose fibers (TOCNF-g-PEG) has demonstrated much better dispersion in a poly(lactic acid) (PLA) matrix as compared to unmodified nanocellulose fibers. Through a uniaxial drawing method, aligned PLA/nanocellulose nanocomposites with high strength, high toughness, and unique optical behavior are obtained. With the incorporation of only 0.1 wt% of TOCNF-g-PEG in PLA, the ultimate strength of the nanocomposite reaches 343 MPa, which is significantly higher than that of other aligned PLA-based nanocomposites reported previously. Compared with the aligned nanocomposite reinforced with unmodified nanocellulose, the ultimate strength and toughness are enhanced by 39% and 70%, respectively. Moreover, the aligned nanocomposite film is highly transparent and possesses an anisotropic light scattering effect, revealing its significant potential for optical applications.
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| 4. |
- Mastantuoni, Gabriella G.
(författare)
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Engineering of lignin in wood towards functional materials
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Through 270 million years of evolution, the finely tuned hierarchical structure of wood has been optimized for efficient nutrient transport and exceptional mechanical stability. Its distinctive orthotropic constitution can provide inspiration and design opportunities for the development of novel functional materials. In recent years, top-down modification approaches have adapted the wood structure for innovative applications, utilizing the hierarchical arrangement at different length scales. In doing so, preserving the structural integrity is of the essence.This thesis explores new top-down modification techniques for the functionalization and structural control of wood-based materials. With the intent of better preserving and utilizing the natural wood organization and native components, two different modification routes were explored on softwood Scots pine: complete lignin removal and in-situ lignin modification. Complete delignification was achieved through preventive crosslinking of the polysaccharide matrix, enhancing intercellular adhesion between tracheids and preventing the disintegration of the cellular arrangement after lignin removal. The second approach focused on chemical modification of lignin by sulfonation as an alternative to complete lignin removal, resulting in wood templates of high negative charge up to 375 µmol g-1 and with well-preserved residual lignin. Hot compression of the delignified wood veneers produced thin wood films with high optical transmittance of 71 % alongside exceptional tensile strength of 449 MPa and Young’s modulus of 50 GPa. Densification of lignin-retaining wood veneers yielded strong and transparent thin films with UV blocking ability. Additionally, these densified films could be easily recycled into discrete wood fibers. The integration of conductive polymers including poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) and polypyrrole in in-situ sulfonated wood resulted in bio-composites with high conductivity up to 203 S m-1 and high pseudo-capacitance up to 38 mF cm-2, indicating that tailoring the wood chemistry and activating the redox activity of lignin by sulfonation are important strategies for the fabrication of composites with potential for sustainable energy applications. By tailoring both wood chemistry and morphology, a wood foam with unique microstructure, enhanced permeability, along with high ultimate strength of 9 MPa and Young’s modulus of 364 MPa was obtained. When combined with the conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS, the composite demonstrated uniform conductivity of 215 S m-1 and mechanoresponsive electrical resistance, showing promise in sensing and mechanoresponsive devices.Therefore, in-situ engineering of lignin proved to be a versatile toolkit to obtain wood templates of improved permeability and porosity, greater compliance to densification, and enhanced compatibility with conductive polymers.
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| 5. |
- Cunha, Ana Gisela, et al.
(författare)
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Topochemical acetylation of cellulose nanopaper structures for biocomposites : mechanisms for reduced water vapour sorption
- 2014
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Ingår i: Cellulose. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0969-0239 .- 1572-882X. ; 21:4, s. 2773-2787
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Moisture sorption decreases dimensional stability and mechanical properties of polymer matrix biocomposites based on plant fibers. Cellulose nanofiber reinforcement may offer advantages in this respect. Here, wood-based nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) and bacterial cellulose (BC) nanopaper structures, with different specific surface area (SSA), ranging from 0.03 to 173.3 m(2)/g, were topochemically acetylated and characterized by ATR-FTIR, XRD, solid-state CP/MAS C-13-NMR and moisture sorption studies. Polymer matrix nanocomposites based on NFC were also prepared as demonstrators. The surface degree of substitution (surface-DS) of the acetylated cellulose nanofibers is a key parameter, which increased with increasing SSA. Successful topochemical acetylation was confirmed and significantly reduced the moisture sorption in nanopaper structures, especially at RH = 53 %. BC nanopaper sorbed less moisture than the NFC counterpart, and mechanisms are discussed. Topochemical NFC nanopaper acetylation can be used to prepare moisture-stable nanocellulose biocomposites.
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| 6. |
- Geng, Shiyu, et al.
(författare)
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Grafting polyethylene glycol on nanocellulose toward biodegradable polymer nanocomposites
- 2017
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Ingår i: ICCM21 Proceedings. - : ICCM, International Committee on Composite Materials.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The reinforcing effect of a small amount of nanocellulose materials on biodegradable and polymer-based nanocomposites remains challenging because of the poor dispersion of the nanomaterials and inefficient interaction between the nanocellulose and the polymer matrix. To improve this, we grafted polyethylene glycol (PEG) on nanocellulose and produced composites of 0.1 wt% nanocellulose materials and polylactic acid (PLA) matrix. Here, two types of PEG grafted nanocellulose including TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanocrystals (TOCNCs) and cellulose nanofibers (TOCNFs), with different lengths and diameters were used as reinforcements, respectively. We investigated the effects of grafting PEG on microstructure, mechanical properties and thermal behaviors of the PLA/nanocellulose composites. It is found that the PEG grafted nanocellulose dispersed better compared to the unmodified nanocellulose in the PLA matrix, and provides higher reinforcing effect that improves the elastic modulus of the nanocomposites compared to the composites with unmodified nanocellulose and ungrafted PEG. However, the glass transition temperature of the nanocomposites was not improved by grafting PEG significantly. We also found that the nanocomposites reinforced by TOCNF exhibited enhanced mechanical and thermal properties compared to those with TOCNCs, which is caused by the higher aspect ratio of the TOCNFs.
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| 7. |
- Koskela, Salla, et al.
(författare)
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Hemicellulose content affects the properties of cellulose nanofibrils produced from softwood pulp fibres by LPMO
- 2022
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Ingår i: Green Chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9262 .- 1463-9270.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO)-catalysed oxidation of cellulose has emerged as a green alternative to chemical modifications in the production of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) from wood pulp fibres. The effect of the hemicellulose content of the starting pulp fibres on the oxidation capabilities of cellulose-active LPMO is important and has not been investigated previously. In this study, the production of LPMO-oxidised CNFs was evaluated on two commercial softwood pulp fibres with different hemicellulose contents. Thin and colloidally stable CNFs were readily obtained from kraft pulp with a hemicellulose content of 16%. The preserved hemicellulose fraction in the kraft pulp enhanced the access of LPMO into the fibre cell wall, enabling the production of homogeneous CNFs with a thin width of 3.7 ± 1.7 nm. By contrast, the LPMO-oxidised dissolving pulp with a lower hemicellulose content of 4% could only be partially disintegrated into thin CNFs, leaving a large amount of cellulose microfibril aggregates with widths of around 50 to 100 nm. CNFs disintegrated from the LPMO-oxidised kraft pulp could be processed into nanopapers with excellent properties including an optical transmittance of 86%, tensile strength of 260 MPa, and Young's modulus of 16.9 GPa. Such CNFs also showed acid-triggered nanofibril gelation owing to the introduced carboxyl groups on cellulose microfibril surfaces. These results indicate that the inherent hemicelluloses present in the wood cell wall are essential for LPMO-mediated CNF production from wood pulp fibres.
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| 8. |
- Yuan, Chao, et al.
(författare)
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Space charge behavior in silicone rubber from in-service aged HVDC composite insulators
- 2019
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation. - 1558-4135 .- 1070-9878. ; 26:3, s. 843-850
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Space charge behavior in sheds removed from service aged 500 and 800 kV HVDC silicone rubber insulators and compared to a stored reference insulator is reported in this paper. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the material aging. The investigations are made under electric field of ±20 kV/mm at room temperature using pulsed electro-acoustic technique. Based on the results, the electric field distribution and mobility of charge carriers, considering the contributions of de-trapping process from both shallow and deep traps, are deduced. It is concluded that space charge concentration in the aged material increases compared to that in the reference material and the dynamics of the charge decay changes. The understanding of this behavior provides a means of possibility assessing insulator material aging.
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| 9. |
- Zhou, Mofan, et al.
(författare)
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Improving efficiency at highway T-junctions with connected and automated vehicles
- 2021
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Ingår i: Transportmetrica A: Transport Science. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2324-9943 .- 2324-9935. ; 17:1, s. 107-123
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies Limited. The development in communication technologies offers efficient vehicular communication capability. Vehicles in communication with road infrastructure share essential traffic information that can be used to develop cooperative driving strategies. In this paper, we aim to propose a heuristic and cooperative method to improve efficiency and merging capacity for highway T-junctions. We evaluated a few performance indicators including travel time, safety and emission. Results indicate that a significant improvement is observed in comparison with the baseline benchmarking case. We further conducted simulations with different geometric configurations and pointed out a few issues that need to be addressed in order to maximise the benefit.
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| 10. |
- Butchosa, Nuria, et al.
(författare)
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Nanocomposites of bacterial cellulose nanofibers and chitin nanocrystals : fabrication, characterization and bactericidal activity
- 2013
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Ingår i: Green Chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9262 .- 1463-9270. ; 15:12, s. 3404-3413
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An environmentally friendly approach was implemented for the production of nanocomposites with bactericidal activity, using bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers and chitin nanocrystals (ChNCs). The antibacterial activity of ChNCs prepared by acid hydrolysis, TEMPO-mediated oxidation or partial deacetylation of a-chitin powder was assessed and the structure of the ChNC nanoparticles was characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and solid-state C-13-NMR. The partially deacetylated ChNCs (D-ChNC) showed the strongest antibacterial activity, with 99 +/- 1% inhibition of bacterial growth compared to control samples. Nanocomposites were prepared from BC nanofibers and D-ChNC by (i) in situ biosynthesis with the addition of D-ChNC nanoparticles in the culture medium of Acetobacter aceti, and (ii) post-modification by mixing D-ChNC with disintegrated BC in an aqueous suspension. The structure and mechanical properties of the BC/D-ChNC nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and an Instron universal testing machine. The bactericidal activity of the nanocomposites increased with the D-ChNC content, with a reduction in bacterial growth by 3.0 log units when the D-ChNC content was 50%. D-ChNC nanoparticles have great potential as substitutes for unfriendly antimicrobial compounds such as heavy metal nanoparticles and synthetic polymers to introduce antibacterial properties to cellulosic materials.
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