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It is important to utilize the raw colemanite (RC) mineral, which has abundant reserves in the world, and to reduce its particles to smaller sizes for nanotechnology. However, not only the particle size of the produced colemanite powder but also its other properties need to be elucidated. By using the Taguchi design, the RC mineral was ground in a high-energy ball mill. From signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, the smallest average particle size was found to be 3.10 µm for the experiment E04/nano-sized amorphous colemanite (NAC) powder. The characteristics of as-received RC mineral and synthesized NAC material were investigated using laser particle size analyzer, optical microscopes, SEM–EDS, XRD, TEM, HRTEM, and TGA–DTA devices. It was found that the NAC powder was not homogeneous, a small peak within the 300–20 nm range appeared, and d90, d50, d10, and dmin values were, respectively, 14.6 µm, 3.08 µm, 232 nm, and 26 nm. In the XRD analysis, the pure colemanite, calcite, and silica minerals were determined. The crystal structure of the NAC powder almost turned amorphous, and the crystallite size of (031) peak was reduced to 7.3 nm. It was deduced that the average particle size was 8.29 nm (R2 = 0.86), and the d-spacing value was 0.307 nm. This significant finding was attributed to the mobility of balls and moreover it was interpreted with an equation. An unknown transition in TGA–DTA was referred to the calcite mineral. Finally, it is believed that the synthesized NAC material will be beneficial to engineering studies as a natural/mineral additive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose acetate (CA) has found broad applications for many years. However, the development of mechanically strengthened CA materials without losing the processibility in solution remains quite difficult. In this work, novel CA thermosets are reported that can be readily constructed by employing alkyl diboronic acid as a crosslinking agent, which has allowed convenient reconfiguration of CA networks without demanding catalysts or harsh processing conditions. Various properties including thermal stability, creeping resistance, rheological and mechanical strength have been successfully improved by using small amounts (1–5 wt%) of diboronic acid. The dynamic cross‐linked network based on boron chemistry has facilitated solution processing during three times of recycling. Control experiments have shown that alkyl diboronic acid can deliver superior mechanical strength to CA as compared to aryl diboronic acid or single‐arm alkyl boronic acid. Based on the importance of CA materials, this work should be attractive to the design of reprocessible CA thermosets with high performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron cluster sheets are two-dimensional boron atom-based formations called borophene. They are similar to the two-dimensional sheet known as graphene, which is composed of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. The unique electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of borophene make it a sought-after substance for a variety of uses, such as catalysis, energy storage, and electronics. There are two ways to manufacture borophene: chemical vapor deposition and molecular beam epitaxy. Vertex-edge valency-based topological descriptors are a great example of a molecular descriptor that provides information on the connection of atoms in a molecule. These descriptions are based on the notion that a node's value in a molecular network is the sum of the valency of those atoms that are directly connected to that node. In this article, we discussed some novel vertex-edge (ve) and edge-vertex (ev) topological descriptors and found their formulations for the boron cluster or borophene sheets. Also, we show the numerical and graphical comparison of these descriptors in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research study focused on the effect of adding boric acid to epoxy resin in order to obtain a composite material with improved properties and performance. To this end, a fine powder of boric acid (H3BO3) was introduced into epoxy resin in different amounts, i.e., 0.5 g, 1.0 g, and 1.5 g. As the matrix of the epoxy composites, styrene-modified epoxy resin based on bisphenol A (BPA) (Epidian 53) was used. It was cross-linked with two types of curing agents, i.e., an amine (ET) and a polyamide (PAC). The mechanical properties of the obtained epoxy composites (in terms of compressive strength, compressive modulus, and compressive strain) were determined at room temperature in order to assess the effect of the addition of boron acid and of the type of curing agent employed to cure the epoxy on these characteristics. Calorimetric measurements were made to highlight any changes in the glass transition temperature (Tg) as a result of the addition of boric acid to epoxy resin. Finally, flammability tests were performed on both Epidian 53/PAC and Epidian 53/ET epoxy composites to analyze their fire behavior and consequently establish the effectiveness of the selected additive as a flame retardant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanosheets with boron elements have excellent characteristics which makes the boron polymorphs unique and super hard. A boron α -icosahedral nanosheet in crystalline form has superconductivity and thermal electronic properties. In theoretical chemistry and QSPR/QSAR study, a topological descriptor is an important analytical tool. It helps to analyse the structure and its properties and also correlates the with numerical expressions. The valence-based M-polynomial provides quantitative measures of molecular properties based on their geometric, electrostatic, and quantum chemical characteristics. In this article, the QSPR/QSAR analysis is performed for this nanosheet and the analytical expressions are validated with original synthesized data, and received excellent correlation values of 0.9835 and 0.9932. The mathematical expression of the structure is analysed and the indices are compared graphically and numerically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effects of boron (B) on microstructure, mechanical properties (hardness, tensile properties and corrosion resistance,) and thermophysical properties of ZA 12 alloy were investigated. The alloys were produced under a controlled atmosphere by a gravity casting process. Optical, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray spectrometry were used to determine the microstructural properties of the produced alloys. Further, hardness and tensile tests were carried out in the examination of the mechanical properties of the alloys. In addition, corrosion tests were performed on the alloys and the change of corrosion resistance with the addition of boron was defined. Finally, the effect of boron addition to ZA 12 alloy on its thermal properties was specified by hot disk thermal constants analyzer. The results showed that the addition of boron modified the microstructures of ZA 12 alloy. It was also observed that the hardness, ultimate tensile strength (UTS), and elongation of ZA 12 alloy increased with boron addition. The tensile fracture surfaces of ZA 12 alloy showed a clear brittle fracture nature, while finer dimple and fewer brittle cleavage surfaces were observed in the alloys with boron addition. Moreover, ZA 12 alloy's corrosion resistance was also increased with boron addition. The thermal conductivity of ZA 12 alloy was 124,928 W/(m K) and this value decreased after the addition of boron. Thermal diffusivity of the modified alloys was found to decrease after the thermal test, whereas the specific heat capacity of the samples increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, silicone rubber (SiR) is filled with industry preferred micro-silica and specialty hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanosheets, by varying the ratio between the two fillers, while keeping the filler to matrix ratio the same in all three composites. The fillers are added to SiR using an electrostatic disperser which aids in homogenizing the filler-polymer mixture by means of shearing force along with elongation. The performance of synthesized silicone composites are evaluated using thermal, erosion resistance, morphological, mechanical, and high-temperature dielectric properties. Addition of as low as 5 wt% h-BN fillers significantly improved the thermal properties; 6%–20% improvement in thermal conductivity and in less than half the weight loss compared to only silica filled composites with laser erosion. The morphological and mechanical analyses showed improved filler dispersion and filler to silicone matrix interaction owing to good filler dispersion achieved through the electrostatic dispersing method. The dielectric properties measured in wide frequency range, between 10−4 and 103 Hz and at elevated temperatures (up to 175 °C) showed a negligible effect of increase in h-BN content. Thus, this article implies that low amounts of h-BN in silica-silicone composites improve thermal conductivity and erosion resistance significantly and not altering the dielectric responses of these hybrid composites even at elevated temperatures. Hence these composites can find applications both in the high voltage industry and as electronic packaging materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The boron carbide (B4C) nanoparticles doping mesophase pitch (MP) was synthesized by the in-situ doping method with tetrahydrofuran solvent, and the corresponding MP−based carbon fibers (CFs) were successfully prepared through the melt−spinning, stabilization, carbonization and graphitization processes. The structural evolution and properties of boron−containing pitches and fibers in different processes were investigated for exploring the effect of B4C on mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of CFs. The results showed that the B4C was evenly dispersed in pitch fibers to provide active sites of oxygen, resulting in a homogeneous stabilization and ameliorating the split−ting microstructures of CFs. Moreover, the thermal conductivity of B1−MP−CF prepared with 1 wt.% B4C increased to 1051 W/m•K, which was much higher than that of B0−MP−CF prepared without B4C (659 W/m•K). While the tensile strength of B4C−doped CFs was lower than that of pristine CFs. In addition, a linear relationship equation between the graphite microcrystallite parameter (ID/IG) calculated from Raman spectra and the thermal conductivity (λ) calculated according to the electrical resistivity was found, which was beneficial to understand the thermal properties of CFs. Therefore, the doping B4C nanoparticles in MP did play a significant role in reducing the graphitization temperatures due to the boron catalytic graphitization but decreasing the mechanical properties due to the introduction of impurities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey's boric acid production has the highest production share among refined boron products. This production is takes place at the Bandırma (Balıkesir) and Emet (Kütahya) Boric Acid Plants of ETI Maden Operations. Concentrated ore (by physical processes) and high-grade wastes accumulated in waste ponds/dams are obtained from boron production plants. In this study, slime size (d80=52.70µm) wastes belonging to the Bigadiç field with 9-12% B2O3 (ulexite-colemanite) content have been evaluated. Due to the small size of feeding without the need for grinding, the sample was subjected to leaching of acetic acid at 60°C for 1 hour, at a mixing speed of 1500 rpm, at 7% solids. In addition to the recovery of 90% H3BO3 (at 4% acid concentration) after the leaching process, different compounds such as Na2O, and CaO were also obtained. Similar peaks were found in the FT-IR analyzes of boric acid and the product obtained. This study is an important output in terms of evaluating the % B2O3 content in the wastes of both this plant and other boron plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To further improve the anti‐ablation property of boron phenolic resin (BPR), high‐temperature resistant reactive trisilanolheptaphenyl POSS (3OH‐POSS) was synthesized to modify BPR. The thermal stability of BPR was significantly improved. The initial decomposition temperature of the prepared 3OH‐POSS modified BPR (POSSBPR) was increased from 226.0 to 390.2°C and the chars at 800 and 1000°C was increased from 71.1 and 66.7% to 75.1 and 73.7%, respectively with 20% 3OH‐POSS addition. The prepared POSSBPR castings obtained linear ablation rate (LAR) and mass ablation rate (MAR) were as low as −0.122 mm/s and 0.0465 g/s. And the LAR and MAR of high silica fiber reinforced composites (HSC/POSSBPR) were 0.123 mm/s and 0.0602 g/s, respectively. Moreover, the mechanism of high‐temperature carbon microcrystalline and ceramic structure transformation, and ablation performance enhancement of POSSBPR were determined by X‐ray diffraction, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Results indicated that the introduction of 3OH‐POSS promotes the formation of ordered graphite structure of BPR and forms high‐temperature species, such as SiC ceramic, on the ablated surface, which subsequently improves the ablation resistance of the material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Synthesis of boron-doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been considered to be difficult, and their optoelectronic properties have always attracted immense research interest. Therefore, our research group has synthesized 7-mesityl-7H-dinaphtho[1,8- bc :1′,2′- e ]borinine (1-BMes) by a one-pot method via Si–B exchange. As a rigid molecule, 1-BMes exhibited good optoelectronic properties and thermal stability. The device constructed by using organic light-emitting diodes with 1-BMes exhibited green luminescence at 520 nm, with CIE coordinates of (0.24, 0.49) and a maximum external quantum efficiency of 6.2 %. The reaction was used to construct long-wavelength D–A-emitting materials, e.g., 4-(7H-dinaphtho[1,8- bc :1′,2′- e ]borinin-7-yl)-3,5-dimethyl-N, N -diphenylaniline (BMNDPhA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate that the electronic, thermal, and optical properties of a graphene bilayer with boron and nitrogen dopant atoms can be controlled by the interlayer distance between the layers in which the interaction energy and the van der Waals interaction between the dopant atoms play an essential role. We find a conversion of an AA-to an AB-stacked bilayer graphene caused by the repulsive interaction between dopant atoms. At a short interlayer distance, a strong repulsive interaction inducing a strong electric dipole moment of the dopant atoms is found. This gives rise to a breaking of the high symmetry, opening up a bandgap. Consequently, a considerable change in thermoelectric properties such as the Seebeck coefficient and the figure of merit are seen. The repulsive interaction is reduced by increasing the interlayer distance, and at a large interlayer distance the conversion process of the stacking order vanishes. A small bandgap is found leading to a low Seebeck coefficient and a figure of merit. For both short and large interlayer distances, a prominent peak in the optical response is found in the visible range and the peak position is inversely proportional to the interlayer distance. • A conversion of an AA-to an AB-stacked bilayer graphene caused by the repulsive interaction. • A strong repulsive interaction inducing a strong electric dipole moment of the dopant atoms. • The repulsive interaction is reduced by increasing the interlayer distance. • For both short and large interlayer distances, a prominent peak in the optical response is found in the visible range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]