Honey John

The primary function of an encapsulation material is to protect the acoustic sensors from heat, oil, weather, sea water & mechanical breakage and also works as an electrical insulator. Since the conventional encapsulation process is being carried out at 150 oC and the active materials used in acoustic sensors are temperature sensitive, encapsulants must be formulated using a low-temperature vulcanization technique, which necessitates the development of an appropriate curing recipe. This work describes a curing system that utilizes chemically precipitated copper oxide nanoparticles to effectively crosslink neoprene rubber at low temperatures, resulting in a significantly shorter optimum cure time and reduced loading requirements. A 57% enhancement in the cure rate index is observed in the CuO-based curing system when compared to the reference compound containing commercially available zinc oxide, and produced optimal curing in a shorter time at 90 °C. The copper oxide cured vulcanizates have good mechanical properties, thermal stability, ageing resistance, improved hydrophobicity and can act as acoustic window material in the range of frequencies studied. Further, on examining the anticorrosive performance of the coatings developed using the formulated rubber compounds; optimum property was achieved for the coating containing 1 phr of CuO.

Sustainable material design for high-performance triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) is crucial for advancing self-powered systems. In this study, agro-waste sugarcane bagasse (SCB) is transformed into a functional carbonaceous filler via a simple hydrothermal process and integrated with porous polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to engineer an efficient hybrid triboelectric interface. The strategy offers an economically viable and environmentally benign fabrication route with potential for scale-up, highlighting a practical waste-to-wealth approach for value-added energy materials. The incorporation of alkali-treated sugarcane bagasse-derived carbon significantly enhanced the dielectric characteristics of the porous PDMS, increasing the dielectric constant from 5.2 to 7.7 and modifying the surface morphology and heterogeneous carbon−PDMS interfacial environment. The enhanced dielectric response, together with the modified surface and interfacial characteristics, contributes to the improved triboelectric performance of the composite. The optimized device delivers an output of 121.6 V, 8.8 μA, and 42.8 nC, along with a peak power density of 804 mW m−2, significantly outperforming pristine PDMS. Alkali activation further modifies the carbon structure and accessible pore characteristics, providing additional enhancement of the composite dielectric and triboelectric response. Beyond energy harvesting, the optimized device demonstrates the capability to operate as a self-powered impact sensor capable of detecting external vibrations in mechanical systems, highlighting its potential in energy conversion and sensing. This work presents a facile and sustainable pathway for developing high-performance biomass-derived triboelectric materials.

Electrospun PVDF-borophene composite fibermats based TENG, with a maximum power density of 9.8 W/m ² is integrated into manual treadmill, increase their utility in rehabilitation and gait sensing.

The present work focusses on the facile preparation of epoxy/reduced graphene oxide (Ep/G) nanocomposites via solvent assisted thermal reduction of graphene oxide (GO) within the epoxy matrix. This strategy enables to resolve the problem associated with the agglomeration of reduced graphene oxide in epoxy. Here, GO was dispersed in epoxy/diclorobenzene mixture, which, on subsequent heating facilitated in situ reduction followed by curing. The reduction of GO was confirmed using FTIR, Raman, XRD, EDX, TGA, FE-SEM and TEM analysis. The viscoelastic, mechanical, morphology, dielectric and thermal properties of epoxy nanocomposites with varying in situ reduced graphene oxide (G) content were systematically investigated. The DMA results revealed that storage modulus of the nanocomposites augmented substantially by 20.6 % for 0.5 wt. % of G (Ep/G-0.5) along with a significant positive shift by 40°C in the glass transition temperature (T _g ). The cross-link density enhanced significantly for Ep/G-0.5 with the lowest coefficient of effectiveness (C) reflecting its reinforcing effect in epoxy. Ep/G-0.5 exhibited an improvement in tensile strength, Young’s modulus and impact strength by 30.7 % 48 % and 17.4 %, respectively. The fractured surface of the tensile specimen evidenced the uniform dispersion of G at 0.5 wt.% loading. The dielectric constant (ε') enhanced from 4.8 to 21.9 for Ep/G-3 at a frequency10 ³ Hz. A very low value (3 Hz, making it suitable for charge storage devices. The addition of G ameliorated the thermal stability of epoxy resin. Such a cost-effective technique for the preparation of epoxy/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites is promising for multifarious applications in industries.

The electrospun ABS based TENG is used to devise a smart helmet which is capable of real time impact sensing and wireless alert transmission.