Composite sepiolite/chitosan layer-by-layer coated flexible polyurethane foams with superior mechanical properties and energy absorption

Flexible polyurethane foam composites with enhanced stiffness and energy dissipation have been prepared via a facile layer-by-layer assembly approach. The composite foams consisted of naturally abundant nanoclay/chitosan multilayers (up to six) deposited onto the foam struts via dip-coating. The nanoclay/chitosan polyurethane foams were characterised using infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, elemental mapping and μ-CT scanning. Quasi-static mechanical compression of the foams with 6 bilayers showed a 202% increase in the stiffness and a 33% enhancement in the damping loss factor compared to the uncoated pristine foam. Vibration transmissibility tests showed that the dynamic modulus of the 6-bilayer coated foams was 3 times that of the pristine foam. Remarkably, impact tests registered a 50% decrease in the transmitted impact force of these sepiolite/chitosan layer-by-layer coated open cell polyurethane foams, demonstrating their improved energy dissipation capability compared to other nanocoated foams in open literature.

Damping, Energy dissipation, Layer-by-layer assembly, Nanocomposite coatings, Polyurethane foam, Stiffness, Layer -by -layer assembly

10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.117419

0263-8223

Ji, Wenfei

e92dc6cb-ec3c-44fb-928d-f31222e76896

Zhang, Qicheng

269be079-465e-4560-9914-c4b84f512bcb

Alvarez-Borges, Fernando

5512cdfd-6ad3-475f-8aec-2fc767607314

Yuan, Guanjie

6e506f4d-a8a1-490d-a550-cccf3cb166fd

Van Duijneveldt, Jeroen

ec5bc023-7ec6-4911-ad59-3b423c1de5a1

Briscoe, Wuge H.

f94fa6ba-d6c0-45b6-9f8b-f37002396808

Scarpa, Fabrizio

684472c3-1a28-478a-a388-5fd896986c1d

15 October 2023

Ji, Wenfei

e92dc6cb-ec3c-44fb-928d-f31222e76896

Zhang, Qicheng

269be079-465e-4560-9914-c4b84f512bcb

Alvarez-Borges, Fernando

5512cdfd-6ad3-475f-8aec-2fc767607314

Yuan, Guanjie

6e506f4d-a8a1-490d-a550-cccf3cb166fd

Van Duijneveldt, Jeroen

ec5bc023-7ec6-4911-ad59-3b423c1de5a1

Briscoe, Wuge H.

f94fa6ba-d6c0-45b6-9f8b-f37002396808

Scarpa, Fabrizio

684472c3-1a28-478a-a388-5fd896986c1d

Ji, Wenfei, Zhang, Qicheng, Alvarez-Borges, Fernando, Yuan, Guanjie, Van Duijneveldt, Jeroen, Briscoe, Wuge H. and Scarpa, Fabrizio (2023) Composite sepiolite/chitosan layer-by-layer coated flexible polyurethane foams with superior mechanical properties and energy absorption. Composite Structures, 322, [117419]. (doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.117419).

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Accepted/In Press date: 26 July 2023

e-pub ahead of print date: 27 July 2023

Published date: 15 October 2023

Additional Information: Funding Information: WJ would like to thank the China Scholarship Council and the Faculty of Science of the University of Bristol for supporting this work through a scholarship to WJ. μ-CT scanning was performed by the National Research Facility for Lab X-ray CT (NXCT) at the µ-VIS X-ray Imaging Centre, University of Southampton, through the UK Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council ( EPSRC ) grant EP/T02593X/1 . The author would also like to thank Dr Jean-Charles Eloi from the School of Chemistry of the University of Bristol for helping obtain the SEM results. FS would also like to acknowledge the support of the ERC-2020-AdG 101020715 NEUROMETA project. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors

Keywords: Damping, Energy dissipation, Layer-by-layer assembly, Nanocomposite coatings, Polyurethane foam, Stiffness, Layer -by -layer assembly