Theiss Research

4 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Chemistry

Disentangling High Strength Copolymer Aramid Fibers to Enable the Determination of Their Mechanical Properties

Amanda L. Forster¹, Viviana Rodriguez Cardenas¹, Ajay Krishnamurthy^1,2, Zois Tsinas³, Amy Engelbrecht-Wiggans^1,2, Nolan Gonzalez¹

¹Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, ²Theiss Research, ³University of Maryland

The primary goal of the study is to develop a protocol to prepare consistent specimens for accurate mechanical testing of high strength copolymer aramid fibers, by removing a coating and disentangling the individual fiber strands without introducing significant chemical or physical degradation.

JoVE Core

Cutting Procedures, Tensile Testing, and Ageing of Flexible Unidirectional Composite Laminates

Amy Engelbrecht-Wiggans^1,2, Ajay Krishnamurthy^1,2, Faraz Burni^1,3, William Osborn¹, Amanda L. Forster¹

¹Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, ²Theiss Research, ³Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, University of Maryland

The goal of the study was to develop protocols to prepare consistent specimens for accurate mechanical testing of high-strength aramid or ultra-high-molar-mass polyethylene-based flexible unidirectional composite laminate materials and to describe protocols for performing artificial ageing on these materials.

Engineering

Solution Blow Spinning of Polymeric Nano-Composite Fibers for Personal Protective Equipment

Zois Tsinas^1,2, Ran Tao^1,3, Amanda L. Forster¹

¹Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, ²Theiss Research, ³Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech University

The primary goal of this study is to describe a protocol to prepare polymeric fiber mats with consistent morphology via solution blow spinning (SBS). We aim to use SBS to develop novel, tunable, flexible polymeric fiber nanocomposites for various applications, including protective materials, by incorporating nanoparticles in a polymer-elastomer matrix.

Chemistry

A Synthetic Methodology for Preparing Impregnated and Grafted Amine-Based Silica Composites for Carbon Capture

Charlotte M. Wentz^1,2, Zois Tsinas^1,3, Amanda L. Forster¹

¹Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), ²University of Maryland, ³Theiss Research

This work aims to facilitate the development of standardized techniques for impregnating or grafting aminated compounds onto silica substrates, which are often broadly described in the literature. Specific amounts of solvent, substrate, amines, and the values of other important experimental parameters will be discussed in detail.