This is an editorial article. It has no abstract.

Lignin was viewed as a spherical microgel in aqueous alkali. While spread out in a monolayer or adsorbed on a surface, lignin was made up of flexible, disk-like molecules with approximately the same thickness of 2 nm. According to this principle, we employed the lamina of montmorillonite (MMT) as a plane template to anchor cationic lignin (CL) on its two sides, resulting in the formation of CL-MMT hybrid materials (CLM). The isotherm adsorption behavior and structure characteristics of CLM were studied. The results showed that CLM was individually dispersed nanosheets with a thickness of about 5 nm when the mass ratio of CL to MMT is more than 2:1 and prepared at acidic or neutral pH. Compared to the cocoagulation of lignin and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), CLM obviously accelerated the coagulation rate, due to the reduction of surface activity of CL restricted by MMT. The nanoscale dispersion of CLM in SBR matrix significantly improved the tensile strength of CLM/SBR nanocomposites to 14.1 MPa by adding only 10 phr CLM and cardanol glycidyl ether (CGE) as compatibilizer. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed that the glass transition temperature of SBR/CLM nanocomposites decreased with increasing CLM loading. Correspondingly, a special interfacial structure was proposed.

Polymers with amidine groups –NH–C(=NH)– in main chain were synthesized by two different approaches. The first strategy consists in polyaddition of dinitriles and diamines in acidic ionic liquids (ILs) which act as catalyst and solvent, while the second approach is based on polycondensation of 4,4'-oxybis(benzoic acid) diamide and diamines in Eaton’s reagent (ER). The resulting polyamidines (PADs) with M_w up to 25 000 g/mol possess thermal stability on air up to 288°C, and good solubility in polar organic solvents. Moreover dehydrocyclization of obtained PADs into polybenzimidazoles (PBIs) under the action of various oxidants was also studied in this work. The crosslinked films based on PBI and poly(amino imide) resin (PAIR) possess high mechanical characteristics. It has been proved that the crosslinked films based on PBI matrix are perspective materials for design the phosphoric acid electrolyte membranes for the medium temperature fuel cells.

Poly[4-(diphenylamino)benzyl methacrylate] with well-defined molecular weight and low polydispersity was prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using 4-(diphenylamino) benzyl 2-bromo-2-methyl-propanoate as initiator and CuBr/2,2'-bipyridine as catalytic complex. Electrochemical behavior and optical properties of the polymers were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. Cyclic votammetric studies revealed that the redox processes were accompanied by dimerization of triphenylamine pendant groups. The initial polymer was postmodified, in solution or bulk, by electrochemical oxidation leading to a crosslinked and insoluble network with electro -chromic properties, accompanied by strong color changes with high coloration efficiency. The crosslinking reaction took place between triphenylamine groups through para free positions leading to tetraphenylbenzidine bridges. The structure of polymers was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and ¹H and ¹³C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Morphology studies of the cross-linked film have evidenced a smooth and continuous aspect without any pinholes or defects.

A series of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) reinforced natural rubber/butadiene rubber/styrene-butadiene rubber (NR/BR/SBR) blends were prepared via mastication of NR/NCC, BR/SBR and other ingredients. Resorcinol and hexamethylene tetramine (RH) was adopted to modify the interface between NCC and rubber matrix. The morphology, dynamic viscoelastic behavior, apparent crosslink density, mechanical performance and dynamic mechanical property of NR/BR/SBR/NCC blends were discussed in detail. The results showed that NCC was uniformly dispersed in composites and RH could enhance the adhesion of NCC and matrix. According to the dynamic mechanical analysis, NCC performed comparable reinforcing effect with carbon black (CB), and the modulus was improved with modification of RH. Mechanical tests showed that the replacement of CB by NCC in the blends did not deteriorate mechanical properties of composites. Besides, the blends exhibited best mechanical properties, when 10 phr NCC substituted CB.

Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO₃) is considered as one of the most promising materials in the field of multiferroics. In this work, a simple green route as well as synthetic routes has been used for the preparation of pure phase BiFeO₃. An extract of Calotropis Gigantea flower was used as a reaction medium in green route. In each case so formed BiFeO₃ particles are of comparable quality. These particles are in the range of 50–60 nm and exhibit mixed morphology (viz., spherical and cubic) as confirmed by TEM analysis. These pure phase BiFeO₃ nanoparticles were first time surface modified effectively by mean of two silylating agent’s viz., tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and (3-Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES). Modified and unmodified BiFeO₃ nanoparticles were efficiently introduced into polyvinylacetate (PVAc) matrix. It has been shown that nanocomposite prepared by modified BiFeO₃ comprise superior dispersion characteristics, improved ferroelectric properties and favorable magneto-dielectric properties along with excellent wettability in compare to nanocomposite prepared by unmodified BiFeO₃. These preliminary results demonstrate possible applications of this type of nanocomposites particularly in the field of multiferroic coating and adhesives.

Four kinds of nanosilica particles with different surface modification were employed to fabricate low-density polyethylene (LDPE) composites using melt mixing and hot molding methods. The surface chemistry of modified nanosilica was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. All silica nanoparticles were found to suppress the space charge injection and accumulation, increase the volume resistivity, decrease the permittivity and dielectric loss factor at low frequencies, and decrease the dielectric breakdown strength of the LDPE polymers. The modified nanoparticles, in general, showed better dielectric properties than the unmodified ones. It was found that the carrier mobility, calculated from J–V curves using the Mott-Gurney equation, was much lower for the nanocomposites than for the neat LDPE.

Nanocomposite materials based on two different types of polyester matrix (a commercial type and a laboratory produced one) with embedded barium titanate nano-particles were developed and characterized. Structural and morphological characteristics of the produced composite specimens were studied via X-ray diffraction, Fourier transformation infra red spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Thermal, mechanical and electrical performance was examined via differential scanning calorimetry, bending and shear strength tests, and broadband dielectric spectroscopy, respectively. Mechanical strength appears to reduce with the increase of filler content. Commercial polyester’s composites exhibit brittle behaviour, while laboratory polyester’s composites exhibit an elastomeric performance. Dielectric data reveal the presence of four relaxation processes, which are attributed to motion of small parts of the polymer chain (γ-mode), re-arrangement of polar side groups (β-mode), glass to rubber transition of the polymer matrix (α-mode) and Interfacial Polarization between the systems’ constituents. Finally, the energy storing efficiency of the systems was examined by calculating the density of energy.