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Regenerated silk and carbon nanotubes dough as masterbatch for high content filled nanocomposites
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 17:36 authored by Luca Valentini, Silvia Bittolo Bon, Manoj TripathiManoj Tripathi, Alan DaltonAlan Dalton, Nicola M PugnoRegenerated silk (RS) is a natural polymer that results from the aggregation of liquid silk fibroin proteins. In this work, we observed that RS dispersed in aqueous solution undergoes a reversible solid/liquid transition by programmed heating/cooling cycles. Fourier transform infrared, atomic force microscopy imaging and Raman measurements of the RS reveal that the transition fromrandomcoil to b-sheet structures is involved in this liquid–solid transition. The reversible solid-liquid transition of silk fibroin was then found to be helpful to prepare polymer-like carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersions. We demonstrate that the gelation of RS makes the CNTs with the consistency of a dough with polymeric behavior. Such RS can disperse carbon nanotubes at high concentrations of tens of weight percent. Finally, such carbon nanotube dough has been used for the realization of rubber composites. With this method, we pave the way for handling nanopowders (e.g. CNTs or graphene related materials) with safety and reducing the filler volatility that is critical in polymer-processing.
History
Publication status
- Published
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- Published version
Journal
Frontiers in MaterialsISSN
2296-8016Publisher
Frontiers MediaExternal DOI
Volume
6Article number
a60Department affiliated with
- Mathematics Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Materials Physics Group Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2019-04-17First Open Access (FOA) Date
2019-04-17First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2019-04-17Usage metrics
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