Ut-battelle, Inc.

University of Tennessee Research Foundation

Drexel University

Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC

Clemson University

Amit Kumar Naskar

Mariappan Parans Paranthaman

Ngoc Anh Nguyen

Soydan Ozcan

Tomonori Saito

Zachary David Hood

Connie D Jackson

Yunchao Li

Yury Gogotsi

Younan Xia

Felix Leonard Paulauskas

Claude Clifford Eberle

Mengmeng Cui

Muhammad Boota

Christopher C Bowland

Shiba Prasad Adhikari

Kokouvi M Akato

Marcus Andrew Hunt

Anthony S Bova

Gerard Michael Ludtka

Lonnie J Love

Vlastimil Kunc

Chad Edward Duty

Nicholas A Rorrer

Dennis Smith

Constantinos Tsouris

Frederick S Baker

Gail Mackiewicz Ludtka

Eric M Karp

Zhonghe Bi

Todd R Eaton

David P Harper

Marko Robert Ivancevic

Dahlia Haynes

Jonathan Richard Mielenz

Robert E Norris

Xuan Yang

Abdou Lachgar

Kelly Marie Meek

Marcus W Wright

Abdessadek Lachgar

Chau D Tran

Mohamed Gabr Abdallah

John Daniel Kennedy Rivard

Joseph M Pickel

A polymer blend material comprising: (i) a lignin component; (ii) a nitrile butadiene rubber component; and (iii) divalent or trivalent metal salt; wherein: component (i) is present in an amount of about 5 wt. % to about 95 wt. % by weight of components (i) and (ii); component (i) is dispersed in component (ii) in the form of domains having a size of up to 1000 nm; component (iii) is present in an amount of 0.1-10 wt. % by weight of components (i) and (ii); and the polymer blend material has a tensile failure strength of at least 10 MPa, and an elongation at break of at least 20%. Methods for producing the polymer blend, molded forms thereof, and articles thereof, are also described.

High strength lignin-acrylonitrile polymer blend materials

A method of producing carbon fibers includes the step of providing polyacrylonitrile precursor polymer fiber filaments. The polyacrylonitrile precursor filaments include from 87-97 mole % acrylonitrile, and less than 0.5 mole % of accelerant functional groups. The filaments are no more than 3 deniers per filament. The polyacrylonitrile precursor fiber filaments can be arranged into tows of at least 150,000 deniers per inch width. The arranged polyacrylonitrile precursor fiber tows are stabilized by heating the tows in at least one oxidation zone containing oxygen gas and maintained at a first temperature Twhile stretching the tows at least 10% to yield a stabilized precursor fiber tow. The stabilized precursor fiber tows are carbonized by passing the stabilized precursor fiber tows through a carbonization zone. Carbon fibers produced by the process are also disclosed.

System for producing carbon fibers from multipurpose commercial fibers

A carbon fiber composite material comprising: (i) a carbon fiber having an outer surface, a thickness of at least 1 micron, and an aspect ratio of at least 1000; (ii) a sizing agent coated on the outer surface of the carbon fiber, wherein the sizing agent has a thickness of up to 200 nm; and (iii) nanoparticles having a size in at least one dimension of up to 100 nm embedded within the sizing agent, wherein the nanoparticles have a metal carbide, metal oxide, metal nitride, and/or metal boride composition. A method for producing the fiber composite material comprises: (a) continuously feeding and coating a continuous carbon fiber with a liquid containing a solvent, sizing agent, and nanoparticles in a continuous feed-through process to result in said sizing agent and nanoparticles coating the surface of the continuous carbon fiber; and (b) removing the solvent from the coated fiber.

Carbon fiber-nanoparticle composites with electromechanical properties

A solid polymer blend material comprising: (i) a lignin-acrylonitrile component containing a homogeneous blend of a lignin component and an acrylonitrile-containing rubber component; and (ii) a styrene-containing thermoplastic component that is non-elastomeric; wherein components (i) and (ii) are homogeneously dispersed in the polymer blend material. Methods for producing the blend material are also described. Methods for producing objects made of the blend material by melt extrusion are also described, comprising: (a) melt blending components (i) and (ii) to form a polymer blend in which components (i) and (ii) are homogeneously blended, wherein the polymer blend exhibits a melt viscosity of no more than 2000 Pa&#xb7;s at a shear rate of 100-1000 sand when heated to a temperature of no more than 240&#xb0; C.; and (b) forming an object made of said polymer blend material.

Lignin-based polymers with enhanced melt extrusion ability

The present disclosure relates to a method that includes polymerizing a nitrile with an acrylate ester to form a copolymer, in a mixture that includes water and an alcohol (R&#x2014;OH), according to the following reaction where Rincludes at least one of a first aliphatic group or hydrogen, Rcomprises at least one of a second aliphatic group or hydrogen, 100&#x2264;m&#x2264;4000, and 1&#x2264;n&#x2264;4000. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the mixture may be an emulsion.

Emulsion polymerization of nitriles and other compounds

A lignin dispersion composition comprising spherical lignin particles dispersed in an aqueous medium, wherein the spherical lignin particles have a size exclusively within a range of 100 nm to 5 microns. Also described herein is a method of producing the lignin dispersion, by: (i) dissolving lignin in an organic solvent substantially devoid of water yet miscible with water to result in a solution of the lignin in the organic solvent; and (ii) producing the lignin dispersion by dialyzing the solution of the lignin with water until substantially all of the organic solvent is replaced with water with simultaneous formation of spherical lignin particles dispersed in the water. Also described herein is a method for stabilizing an emulsion by intimately mixing the emulsion with the lignin dispersion. Also described herein is a hierarchical assembly of porous microparticles produced by mixing the lignin dispersion with an emulsion and an amphiphilic block copolymer.

Lignin dispersion composition and its use in stabilizing emulsions

A solid multiphase polymer blend material comprising: (i) a polyphenolic substance having a molecular weight of at least 500 g/mol; and (ii) a polyester having a molecular weight of at least 500 g/mol; wherein at least a portion of the polyphenolic substance is covalently bonded directly or through a linking moiety to the polyester. Methods for producing the blend material are also described, e.g., homogeneously melt blending a mixture comprising components (i) and (ii) under conditions resulting in covalent attachment of at least a portion of the polyphenolic substance directly or through a linking moiety to the polyester. Methods for producing objects made of the blend material by melt extrusion are also described.

Phenol-containing polyester multiphase polymer blend materials

A composition comprising lignin compounds possessing 8-30 (or 5-15 or 8-12) phenyl rings interconnected by ether and alkylene linkages and containing hydroxy and/or methoxy groups attached to said phenyl rings, wherein said composition possesses a glass transition temperature of 80-100&#xb0; C. (or 95-98&#xb0; C.) and a degree of substitution (DS) of carboxylic acid groups per phenyl ring of at least 0.5 and a DS of methoxy groups per phenyl ring of no more than 1.2, 1.1, or 1.0, wherein at least 90 wt % of said lignin compounds has a molecular weight within a range of 500-5000 g/mol, 1500-3000 g/mol, or 2000-2500 g/mol and/or wherein the molecular weight distribution of the lignin compounds is characterized by a polydispersity index of 1.0-1.5, 1.0-1.4, or 1.0-1.3, and wherein other lignin compounds not possessing the above characteristics are not present. Methods for producing the lignin extract and lignin copolymers and blends produced therefrom are also described.

Functional lignin, and its use in producing blends, copolymers, and self-healing elastomers

The invention provides a method of making a electrocatalyst from waste tires. The method comprises the steps of providing rubber pieces; optionally contacting the rubber pieces with a sulfonation bath to produce sulfonated rubber; pyrolyzing the rubber to produce tire-derived carbon composite comprising carbon black, wherein the pyrolyzing comprises heating to at least 200&#xb0; C.-2400&#xb0; C.; activating the tire-derived carbon composite by contacting the tire-derived carbon composite with an alkali anion compound to provide activated tire-derived carbon supports; and loading the activated carbon-based supports with platinum cubes. In another embodiment, the tire-derived carbon composite is activated by annealing in a carbon dioxide atmosphere.

Carbon supports for oxygen reduction catalysts

A plasticized terephthalate-based polyester blend comprising a terephthalate-based polyester (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate, i.e., PET) homogeneously blended with a fatty acid or ester thereof, wherein said fatty acid or ester thereof is present in said polyester blend in an amount of 1-50 wt %. Also described herein is a method for producing a plasticized terephthalate-based polyester blend, the method comprising melt mixing a terephthalate-based polyester with a fatty acid or ester thereof at a temperature in a range of 230-250&#xb0; C. to produce said polyester blend, wherein said fatty acid or ester thereof is present in said polyester blend in an amount of 1-50 wt % and is homogeneously blended with said terephthalate-based polyester.

Plasticized terephthalate-based polyester blends containing fatty acids or esters thereof

A solid polymer blend material comprising: (i) lignin; and (ii) a polyamide having a melting point of no more than 240&#xb0; C. and which is below the decomposition temperature of the lignin; wherein said lignin is homogeneously dispersed in said polyamide. Methods for producing the blend material are also described. Methods for producing objects made of the blend material by melt extrusion are also described, comprising: (a) melt blending components (i) and (ii) to form a polymer blend in which components (i) and (ii) are homogeneously blended, wherein the polymer blend exhibits a melt viscosity of no more than 2000 Pa&#xb7;s at a shear rate of 100-1000 sand when heated to a temperature of no more than 240&#xb0; C.; and; (b) forming an object made of said polymer blend material.

An object comprising: a blend of (i) a phenol-containing polymer and (ii) a nitrile butadiene rubber; wherein the phenol-containing polymer is present in an amount of at least 5 wt % and up to about 95 wt % by total weight of components (i) and (ii). The object may further contain an electrically conducting component dispersed within the blend or on a surface of the blend. Also described is a method of thermal-activated reversible mechanical deformation of the object by (i) deforming the object at a first temperature, which is at or above the glass transition temperature of the object, and applying a stress on the object; (ii) fixing the deformed state by cooling the object to a second temperature of no more than 0&#xb0; C. while under stress, and removing the stress; and (iii) recovering the object to the original shape by raising the temperature of the object to the first temperature.

Shape memory polymer blend materials

The invention provides a catalyst and a method for making the catalyst. The catalyst comprises a porous carbon composite impregnated with a salt. The catalyst comprises a porous carbon composite impregnated with a salt.

Production of biofuels with novel salts impregnated tire-derived carbon catalysts

A method of recovering carbon black includes the step of providing a carbonaceous source material containing carbon black. The carbonaceous source material is contacted with a sulfonation bath to produce a sulfonated material. The sulfonated material is pyrolyzed to produce a carbon black containing product comprising a glassy carbon matrix phase having carbon black dispersed therein. The pyrolysis can be conducted at a temperature from 1100&#xb0; C. to 1490&#xb0; C. A method of making a battery electrode and a lithium ion or sodium ion battery is also disclosed.

Pyrolytic carbon black composite and method of making the same

Growing community of inventors

Knoxville, TN, United States of America

Amit Kumar Naskar