Faculty Publications
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Item Parametric study of manufacturing ultrafine polybenzimidazole fibers by electrospinning(Springer, 2012) Anandhan, S.; Ponprapakaran, K.; Senthil, T.; George, G.Polybenzimidazole (PBI), a high performance polymer, was synthesized from 3,3?-diaminobenzidine (DAB) and isophthalic acid (IPA) through polycondensation. The chemical structure of PBI was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermal characterization of PBI was done by thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. PBI nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning of N, N-dimethyl acetamide solutions of PBI of different solution concentrations, at different voltages. The effects of solution and process parameters (namely, solution concentration and DC voltage) on morphology and average diameter of electrospun PBI fibers were investigated. The electrospun ultrafine fibers' diameter and morphology were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy. Nanofibers were obtained only from PBI solutions of concentrations 12 and 14 % (w/v). At concentrations of 8, 10, and 16 %, fibers could not be obtained. The process parameters were optimized by using the statistical tool, factorial or two-way ANOVA (analysis of variance), DOE (design of experiments) and the results indicate that the applied voltage and the interaction of voltage and solution concentration are influential in determining the diameter and morphology of the electrospun ultrathin PBI fibers. Electrospun PBI fibers, as small as 56 nm, could be successfully produced by using the right combination of solution concentration and spinning voltage. © 2012 Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology.Item Use of nano-ATH as a multi-functional additive for poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate-co-carbon monoxide)(Springer Verlag service@springer.de, 2014) George, G.; Mahendran, A.; Anandhan, S.Flame retardant aluminum hydroxide (ATH) nanoparticles of size ?10-20 nm were dispersed in ethylene-vinyl acetate-carbon monoxide terpolymer (EVACO) via solution casting. The effect of filler loading on the crystallizability, thermal, mechanical, flammability, optical and electrical properties of EVACO was evaluated. At 1 % filler loading nano-ATH particles exhibited very good dispersibility in the EVACO matrix and the % crystallinity of EVACO is the highest at this filler loading. The changes in crystallinity were studied by X-ray diffractometry and differential scanning calorimetry. The highest tensile strength was observed for the composite with 1 % nano-ATH loading, which has the best filler dispersion, and the decay in the tensile properties at higher filler loading is due to agglomerations of ATH nanoparticles and polymer-filler interface debonding. The UV absorption of these composites is augmented irrespective of the nano-ATH loading and ATH emerges as a good absorber of UV light. The DC electrical conductivity study of the composites proves that the addition nano-ATH is an efficient way to improve the dielectric properties of EVACO. The presence of nano-ATH improves the flame retardance of these composites. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Item Influence of organically modified clay mineral on domain structure and properties of segmented thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer(2014) Anandhan, S.; Lee, H.S.Segmented polyether-urethane/organically modified montmorillonite (O-MMT) nanocomposites were synthesized with poly(tetramethylene glycol) (PTMG), 4,4?-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), butane diol (BD), and a commercially available clay Cloisite-30B® (O-MMT). The state of dispersion of the clay crystals in the thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU) matrix was studied by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The phase-separated morphology of the TPU was revealed by high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). O-MMT caused a marginal increase in the glass transition temperature of the soft segments of the TPU and this increase is proportional to the amount of O-MMT in the nanocomposites. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was employed to study the effect of O-MMT on the extent of phase separation in the TPU in these nanocomposites. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results indicate a substantial improvement in the thermal stability of TPU by the addition of O-MMT. Tensile strength and elastic modulus are dramatically decreased by the incorporation of O-MMT into TPU, which is due to the hindrance of the phase-separation process by the exfoliated clay-layered crystals. © The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permissions:sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.Item Thermodynamic miscibility and thermal and mechanical properties of poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate-co-carbon monoxide)/poly(vinyl chloride) blends(John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2015) SelvaKumar, M.; Mahendran, A.; Bhagabati, P.; Anandhan, S.This paper reports the miscibility and thermal and mechanical properties of solution cast binary blends of poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate-co-carbon monoxide) (EVACO) and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). The composition of these blends was varied from 10:90 to 90:10 of PVC/EVACO (w/w %). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed an extensive intermolecular attraction between the blend components, which accounts for their mutual solubility. The differential scanning calorimetry study revealed that the blend components are miscible with each other in all proportions as they exhibited a single glass transition temperature. Tensile strength, moduli, and thermal stabilities of these blends significantly improved with increasing proportion of PVC. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Item Probing the synergism of halloysite nanotubes and electrospinning on crystallinity, polymorphism and piezoelectric performance of poly(vinylidene fluoride)(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Khalifa, M.; Mahendran, A.; Anandhan, S.Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofibers have tremendous potential in nano-sensing and energy scavenging applications. In this study, uniaxially aligned nanofibers were developed from halloysite nanotubes (HNT)/PVDF nanocomposite using electrospinning technique. Incorporation of HNT into PVDF not only reduced the diameter of the electrospun nanofibers, but, also improved their morphology. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, wide angle X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry techniques were used to characterize the crystallinity, polymorphism and polymer-filler interaction in the nanocomposite nanofibers. A force sensor was indigenously designed to study the piezoelectric responses of the nanocomposite nanofibers. At 10 wt% of HNT loading, the sensor produced the highest voltage output, which can be ascribed to its highest ?-phase content. Incorporation of HNT and use of electrospinning synergistically enhanced the ?-phase content and hence the piezoelectric behavior of PVDF. Hence, these nanofibers could be promising and prominent materials in sensor and actuator applications. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.Item Effect of polarization switching on piezoelectric and dielectric performance of electrospun nanofabrics of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Ca–Al LDH nanocomposite(John Wiley and Sons Inc. P.O.Box 18667 Newark NJ 07191-8667, 2020) Shamitha, C.; Mahendran, A.R.; Anandhan, S.At present, highly flexible, durable, and lightweight piezoelectric nanogenerators with high-power density and energy conversion efficiency are of great interest. The present study reports a new synthetic route for Ca–Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets and incorporation of these two-dimensional nanosheets as filler material into poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) to produce composite nanofabrics by electrospinning. The polymorphism, crystallinity, and the interaction between PVDF and LDH were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry techniques. The synergetic effect of PVDF–LDH interaction and in situ stretching due to electrospinning facilitates the nucleation of electroactive ? phase up to 82.79%, which makes it a suitable material for piezoelectric-based nanogenerators. The piezoelectric performance of PVDF/Ca–Al LDH composite nanofabrics was demonstrated by hand slapping and frequency-dependent mechanical vibration mode, which delivered a maximum open circuit output voltage of 4.1 and 5.72 V, respectively. Moreover, the composite nanofabrics exhibited a high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss due to superior interfacial polarization at low-frequency region with LDH loading, promising its potential applications in electronic devices. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 137, 48697. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Item Development of a new flexible nanogenerator from electrospun nanofabric based on PVDF/talc nanosheet composites(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2020) Shetty, S.; Mahendran, A.R.; Anandhan, S.Herein, a flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator composed of electrospun talc/PVDF [poly(vinylidene fluoride)] nanocomposite fabrics has been developed. These nanocomposite fabrics demonstrated enhanced mechanical and piezoelectric properties compared with pristine PVDF nanofabrics. In particular, nanocomposite fabrics with 0.50 wt% talc yielded 89.6% of polar ?-phase in the PVDF matrix, thereby augmenting its piezoelectric response. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry conclusively affirmed the promotion of polar ?-phase in the talc/PVDF nanocomposite fabrics. The 0.50 wt% talc/PVDF nanocomposite fabric based nanogenerator produced an open-circuit voltage and power density of 9.1 V and 1.12 ?W cm-2, respectively, under repetitive finger tapping mode (under a load of 3.8 N). Furthermore, the nanogenerator was also subjected to frequency modulated-shaker mode, wherein an output voltage of 8.9 V was produced. Improved flexibility, mechanical robustness, and enhanced piezoelectric responsiveness of this nanogenerator could possibly pave the way for its use in portable self-powered devices. This journal is © 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry.Item A high thermally stable polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based gel polymer electrolyte for rechargeable Mg-ion battery(Springer, 2020) Singh, R.; Janakiraman, S.; Khalifa, M.; Anandhan, S.; Ghosh, S.; Adyam, A.; Biswas, K.The ionic conductivity and thermal stability of the electrolyte-separator system is an essential parameter for improving battery performance and safety. The present work addresses the high thermally stable gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) using polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as a polymer membrane and magnesium perchlorate in propylene carbonate (Mg(ClO4)2-PC) as a liquid electrolyte. The PAN based polymer membrane is prepared by electrospinning process which produces a bead free and uniformly distributed nanofibers. The electrospun PAN based GPE is characterized by different physical and electrochemical techniques like X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, ionic conductivity, linear sweep voltammetry, magnesium ion transference number and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The ionic conductivity of PAN is 3.28 mS cm?1, compared to that of PP Celgard is 1.97 × 10–4 mS cm?1 at 30 °C. The electrochemical stability of PAN is 4.6 V and also exhibits excellent interfacial stability with magnesium metal. The results showed that the PAN-based GPE has higher ionic conductivity and thermal stability than the polypropylene (PP) Celgard membrane. © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.Item Physico-chemical and piezoelectric characterization of electroactive nanofabrics based on functionalized graphene/talc nanolayers/PVDF for energy harvesting(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2021) Shetty, S.; Shanmugharaj, A.M.; Anandhan, S.Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is a versatile polymer, whose dielectric, piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties can be augmented by a range of processing routes and/or additives. We developed a flexible nanogenerator using electrospun PVDF/COOH-functionalized graphene nanosheet (FGNS)/talc nanosheet (TNS) hybrid nanocomposites. TNS loading was fixed at 0.50 wt% while FGNS loading was varied (0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20 wt %) in these nanofabrics and their structure–property relationship was explored. Incorporation of FGNS led to formation of an electrically conductive network in the polymer matrix aided by TNS and electrospinning. The uniform dispersion of the filler nanosheets led to effective enhancement of the electroactive ?-phase of the PVDF matrix. Crystallinity and polymorphism in these systems were explored by FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. A nanogenerator made of the nanofabric containing 0.5 wt% of TNS and 0.10 wt% of FGNS was mechanically impacted by pneumatic actuator (operating pressure 0.4 MPa), resulting in an output voltage of 12.9 V and a power density of 1.72 µW/cm2, respectively. The piezoelectric coefficient (d33) of this nanofiber system was 61 pm/V as revealed by piezoelectric force microscopy. These novel nanocomposites could be used in flexible energy-harvesting devices. © 2021, The Polymer Society, Taipei.