Synthesis, Morphologies and Building Applications of Nanostructured Polymers

Abstract

Nanostructured polymers (NSPs) are polymeric materials in the size of nanoscale, normally consisting of nanoparticles, nanofibers, nanowires, nanospheres and other morphologies. Polymer nanoparticles (PNPs) can be fabricated either by physical methods (i.e., solvent evaporation, nanoprecipitation, salting out) or by direct nanosynthesis, using micro-or nanoemulsions with nanoreactor compartments to perform polymerization. Polymer nanofibers (PNFs) can be produced via various techniques and the most commonly used approach is electrospinning, whereby a charged solution of a polymer when exposed to an opposite high electric field is pulled into long thin nanofibers. NSPs in general exhibit enhanced properties such as excellent structural and mechanical properties, making them promising candidates for some particular building applications. A variety of PNFs have been developed and used for noise and air pollution filtration. Moreover, PNFs can also be fabricated with phase change materials which are usually employed for thermal energy storage in construction industry. In this review, we will summarize the morphologies and nanosynthesis methods of NSPs, in particular, PNPs and PNFs. In addition, representative NSPs mainly used in construction are introduced for building applications.

A Review of Recent Advances in Nanoengineered Polymer Composites

“…Electrospun nanofibers are thus inexpensive, continuous, and relatively easy to align, assemble, and process in applications [46]. Nanofibrous mats are an ideal reinforcement to be interleaved between two plies of resin matrix composites [47,48] and adhesives [49,50,51] because of the following aspects [34]:Thinness and lightness: They can range from few microns to even subnanometric ranges and are as light as a few grams per square meter, making the impact to weight and thickness of the final manufactured negligible.Porosity: They are highly porous, allowing the matrix to impregnate through them while still maintaining a solid bonding between the two layers of fibers encapsulating them.Tiny volume: The actual volume of these nanomats is negligible owing to the fact that they accumulate with the resin.Mechanical properties: They show highly improved properties compared to their bulk counterparts.…”

Numerical Comparison of Prediction Models for Aerosol Filtration Efficiency Applied on a Hollow-Fiber Membrane Pore Structure

“…The average collector diameter is 90 nm, giving a higher Stk even for smaller particles as Stk is inversely proportional to collector diameter according to Equation (31), thus giving higher theoretical efficiencies compared to general fibrous filters. The membrane structure is more similar to nanofiber based filters, though it is more dense ( Figure 4 , compare e.g., [ 19 , 37 , 77 , 78 , 79 ]). Different impaction efficiency models in relation to particle diameter are compared by face velocity in supplementary material (Figure S1) .…”

Durability Issues and Challenges for Material Advancements in FRP Employed in the Construction Industry

“…Another widely practiced way, especially to improve impact properties of the composite and reduce the crack propagation [ 69 ], is the production of composites where nanofillers are grafted onto the traditional fibers [ 75 , 76 , 77 ]. Coating (dipping or spraying), chemical vapor or electrophoretic deposition, and addition of chemical binding agents are the most used methods to modify the fibers [ 62 , 78 ].…”