Beeswax particles are homogenously emulsified in commercial aqueous polymer dispersion, without additional dispersing agents and surfactants. Emulsions display very good stability with wax droplet size distribution around 350 nm. The wax to polymer ratio in the emulsions can be tuned without compromising emulsion stability. The emulsions are spray coated in order to create either hydrophobic or superhydrophobic coatings. For superhydrophobicity, silica nanoparticles are dispersed in the emulsions at different concentrations. Beeswax‐rich coatings such as the ones with 1:1 beeswax:polymer ratio or more, including the superhydrophobic ones, demonstrate promising latent heat storage characteristics, suitable for thermal management applications. Electron microscopy studies show that as a result of emulsification, the polymer encapsulates the wax droplets/particles as a nanothin shell, preventing a major problem related to low melting point phase change materials referred to as leaching. Hence, the coatings can be heated well above the melting point of beeswax (≈62 °C) and can still demonstrate effective heat storage during the cooling stage. This water‐based coating process using ecofriendly material constituents can easily be scaled up and used in responsive coating applications, ranging from electronics to interior or exterior structural buildings requiring efficient energy management and thermal energy savings.
Stacked-cup carbon nanotubes (SCCNTs) are generally referred to as carbon nanofibers (CNFs). SCCNTs are much less expensive to fabricate and are regarded as good polymer modifiers suitable for large-scale production. Flexible, SCCNT-based soy lecithin biocomposites were fabricated using liquid natural rubber latex as binder. Natural polymers and the SCCNTs were dispersed in a green solvent using a benchtop high-pressure homogenizer. The inks were simply brush-on painted onto cellulose fiber networks and compacted by a hydraulic press so as to transform into conductive paper-like form. The resulting flexible SCCNT papers demonstrated excellent resistance against severe folding and bending tests, with volume resistivity of about 85 Ω·cm at 20 wt % SCCNT loading. The solvent enabled formation of hydrogen bonding between natural rubber and soy lecithin. Thermomechanical measurements indicated that the biocomposites have good stability below and above glass transition points. Moreover, the SCCNT biocomposites had high through-plane thermal conductivity of 5 W/mK and 2000 kJ/m3K volumetric heat capacity, ideal for thermal interface heat transfer applications.
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