A process can prepare a colourless, methanolic solution of 3-(N-benzyl-2-aminoethyl)aminopropyltrimethoxysilane hydrochloride. The process includes, in step 1 fractionally distilling the vinylbenzyl chloride reactant component with addition of at least one stabilizer, and in step 2, metering and mixing the distillate (vinylbenzyl chloride) from step 1 into an initial charge of N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane and methanol in a molar ratio of the N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane to vinylbenzyl chloride of 1.0:0.80 to 1.0:1.15 and at a temperature in the range from 40 to 60 C. and leaving them to react further. The colourless, methanolic solution has an APHA colour number of <200 mg PtCo/I.

A soft material comprises a film and a gel system covered by the film. The film is made of polydimethylsiloxane, polytetrafluoroethylene, polymethyl methacrylate, polyxylene, polystyrene, rubber or nylon. The gel system comprises a gel and saline solution. The gel is a polymer network structure, and the saline solution is infilled in interspaces of the polymer network structure. The film is electrostatically neutral, and the soft material has an original electrostatic equilibrium state. When the original electrostatic equilibrium state is broken by electrostatic induction (such as being rubbed by a human hand), the gel expands or shrinks. The disclosure also provides a method for auto-deforming the soft material and a soft robot using the soft material.

An inkjet ink includes a) an aqueous medium; and b) capsules composed of a polymeric shell surrounding a core; wherein the capsules are dispersed in the aqueous medium using a dispersing group covalently bonded to the polymeric shell; wherein the core contains a photoinitiator and one or more chemical reactants capable of forming a reaction product upon application of UV light; wherein the capsules have an average particle size of no more than 4 m as determined by dynamic laser diffraction; and wherein the photoinitiator is a diffusion hindered photoinitiator selected from the group consisting of multifunctional photoinitiators, oligomeric photoinitiators, polymeric photoinitiators and polymerizable photoinitiators.

A method of generating deformable gel beads that contain a single colloidal particle is described. Gel beads containing a particle are isolated from those that do not contain a particle, based on differences between the buoyant density of these gel bead populations. The gel beads containing a particle are subsequently co-encapsulated at a high efficiency into droplets that can comprise additional objects such as cells, other particles, or reagents. The gel coating on the rigid particle prevents clogging in narrow channels, such as those of a droplet generator.

Treated liquid crystal polymer powders have been subjected to surface treatment with plasma or ultra violet rays, a paste including the treated liquid crystal polymer powders and a dispersion medium, a liquid crystal polymer sheet comprising the treated liquid crystal polymer powders or the paste including the treated liquid crystal polymer powders and a dispersion medium into a sheet, a stack including the liquid crystal polymer sheet as a resin layer, and a method of manufacturing the treated liquid crystal polymer powders are provided by the present disclosure.

Disclosed is a method for processing a carbon fiber bundle, which can adjust bundling property, winding property and wear resistance of sizing fibers. The method includes following steps: (i) coating a sizing agent on at least one carbon fiber bundle, in which the sizing agent includes a thermoplastic resin; (ii) drying the carbon fiber bundle by hot air; and (iii) heating the carbon fiber bundle by an infrared light, in which a heating temperature of the heating is equal to or higher than a melting point of the thermoplastic resin.

A process of providing matrix-bonding abrasion resistant CNTs (MBARCs) includes reacting functionalized carbon nanotubes (f-CNTs) and Janus particles, wherein each of the Janus particles is a silica particle having a surface with a first portion containing a CNT-bonding functionality and a second portion containing a matrix-bonding functionality. The CNT-bonding functionality may include, for example, one or more hydroxyl groups. The matrix-bonding functionality may be, for example, selected from a group consisting of vinyl functionalities, amine functionalities, epoxy functionalities, allyl functionalities, acrylate functionalities, sulfur functionalities, isocyanate functionalities, halogen functionalities, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the MBARCs are processed to produce fibers that, in turn, may be blended into a polymeric resin to produce a fiber reinforced polymer composite.

The disclosure provides a method for treating a surface of a carbon fiber composite material, comprising the steps of: (1) pretreating a carbon fiber reinforced resin-based composite material; (2) spraying transparent powder to the surface of the carbon fiber reinforced resin-based composite material and curing it; (3) polishing the surface of the carbon fiber reinforced resin-based composite material after the transparent powder is cured; (4) spraying transparent powder to the surface of the carbon fiber reinforced resin-based composite material after the transparent powder thereon is cured and curing it; (5) polishing, cleaning and baking; and (6) spraying a clear lacquer to the surface of the carbon fiber reinforced resin-based composite material after the transparent powder is cured and curing it.

A novel plasticizer blend(s) useful for plastisol compositions, including organisols, having good solvating properties, good viscosity profiles and compatibility with other plasticizers and solvents traditionally used in plastisols, comprising benzoate ester plasticizer(s) and a compatibilizing plasticizer component. Methods for preparing a plastisol having low viscosity and good rheology characteristics and for rendering a benzoate ester plasticizer, or blends thereof, compatible with organic solvents traditionally used in plastisols, by incorporating the novel plasticizer blend(s), which do not require adjusting the solubility parameters of the solvents to accommodate the plasticizer, are disclosed.

A method includes depositing graphene into a hardener, mixing the hardener and the graphene to produce a homogenous composite mixture, adding a resin material to the composite mixture to produce an epoxy graphene material, coating a structure with the epoxy graphene material, aligning the graphene sheets in the in-plane orientation, and curing the epoxy graphene material.