Thermally reduced graphene nanoplatelets were covalently functionalised via Bingel reaction to improve their dispersion and interfacial bonding with an epoxy resin. Functionalised graphene were characterized by microscopic, thermal and spectroscopic techniques. Thermal analysis of functionalised graphene revealed a significantly higher thermal stability compared to graphene oxide. Inclusion of only 0.1[emsp14]wt% of functionalised graphene in an epoxy resin showed 22% increase in flexural strength and 18% improvement in storage modulus. The improved mechanical properties of nanocomposites is due to the uniform dispersion of functionalised graphene and strong interfacial bonding between modified graphene and epoxy resin as confirmed by microscopy observations.

The research and development of advanced energy-storage systems must meet a large number of requirements, including high energy density, natural abundance of the raw material, low cost and environmental friendliness, and particularly reasonable safety. As the demands of high-performance batteries are continuously increasing, with large-scale energy storage systems and electric mobility equipment, lithium–sulfur batteries have become an attractive candidate for the new generation of high-performance batteries due to their high theoretical capacity (1675 mA h g⁻¹) and energy density (2600 Wh kg⁻¹). However, rapid capacity attenuation with poor cycle and rate performances make the batteries far from ideal with respect to real commercial applications. Outstanding breakthroughs and achievements have been made to alleviate these problems in the past ten years. This paper presents an overview of recent advances in lithium–sulfur battery research. We cover the research and development to date on various components of lithium–sulfur batteries, including cathodes, binders, separators, electrolytes, anodes, collectors, and some novel cell configurations. The current trends in materials selection for batteries are reviewed and various choices of cathode, binder, electrolyte, separator, anode, and collector materials are discussed. The current challenges associated with the use of batteries and their materials selection are listed and future perspectives for this class of battery are also discussed.

Polymer-based materials are extensively used in various applications such as aircrafts, civilian structures, oil and gas platforms and electronics. They are, however, inherently damage prone and over time, the formation of cracks and microscopic damages influences the thermo-mechanical and electrical properties, which eventually results in the total failure of the materials. This paper provides an overview of the principal causes of cracking in polymer and composites and summarizes the recent progress in the development of non-destructive techniques in crack detection. Furthermore, recent progress in the development of bio-inspired self-healing methods in autonomic repair is discussed.

Despite several excellent properties including low shrinkage, good chemical resistance, curable at low temperatures and the absence of byproducts or volatiles, epoxy resins are susceptible to ultra violet (UV) damage and their durability is reduced substantially when exposed to outdoor environments. To overcome this drawback, UV absorbers have been usually used to decrease the rate of UV degradation. In this present study, the effects of UV light on the chemical, mechanical and physical properties of cured epoxy structure, as well as the effect of an organic UV absorber, Tinuvin 1130, on the epoxy properties were investigated. Chemical changes in a cured epoxy system as a result of the presence and absence of Tinuvin 1130 were determined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analyses. The effect of Tinuvin 1130 on the surface morphology of the epoxy systems was also investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging. Additionally, the glass transition temperatures (T_g) before and during UV radiation were measured. After an 800 h UV radiation, mechanical test results revealed that the lack of the UV absorber can lead to a ~30% reduction in tensile strength. However, in the presence of Tinuvin 1130, the tensile strength was reduced only by ~11%. It was hypothesized that the use of Tinuvin 1130, as an organic UV absorber in the epoxy-amine system, could decrease the undesirable effects, arising from exposure to UV light.

The aim of this study is to find a suitable substitution for diglycidyl ether bisphenol A (DGEBA) to avoid the devastating side effects of bisphenol A. Vanillin, an aromatic compound, was used as a renewable material to synthesize a bio-based epoxy resin. The structure of the vanillin-based epoxy resin was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis. The major drawback of bio-based epoxy resins is their poor mechanical properties preventing them from competing with petroleum based epoxy resins such as DGEBA. Herein, a prepared calcium nitrate solution as an inorganic accelerator was used to accelerate the curing reaction of bio-based epoxy resin which reduced curing times as well as improving significantly the mechanical properties e.g., tensile strength, pull-off strength, and Izod impact strength. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis was used to investigate the curing process and thermal properties of the vanillin-based epoxy resin with and without inorganic accelerators and also DGEBA without accelerators. The results showed that in the presence of 2 wt% inorganic accelerator, the initial onset curing temperature of vanillin-based epoxy resin was reduced from 60.1 °C to 8.5 °C, while the initial onset curing temperature of DGEBA was 55.8 °C. In addition, tensile strength and Izod impact strength of the vanillin-based epoxy system in the presence of inorganic accelerators increased in comparison to the DGEBA system. Moreover, in order to study the effect of inorganic accelerators on the toughness of the synthesized vanillin-based epoxy resin, fracture surfaces from Izod impact strength tests were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) which confirmed improving mechanical properties.