Deciphering van der Waals interaction between polypropylene and carbonated fly ash from experimental and molecular...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Engineering
• Physical Chemistry

Background:

• Power plant emissions, including fly ash (FA) and carbon dioxide (CO2), pose significant environmental and sustainability challenges.
• Current laboratory methods are insufficient for replacing FA landfilling or effectively mitigating CO2 emissions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a practical method for immobilizing CO2 within FA using a polypropylene (PP) matrix.
• To investigate the mechanical and thermal properties of the resulting carbonated FA-PP composites.
• To elucidate the underlying atomic-scale interactions, specifically van der Waals (vdW) forces, governing the composite's behavior.

Main Methods:

• Combining carbonated FA (C-FA) with a PP matrix to create composite materials.
• Simulating and calculating van der Waals (vdW) interactions at the PP-filler interfaces.
• Analyzing the mechanical (tensile strength) and thermal (conductivity) characteristics of the composites.

Main Results:

• The study reports abnormal mechanical and thermal properties in the C-FA-PP composites.
• Calculated vdW interactions at interfaces were -59.66 kJ mol⁻¹ Å⁻² (PP), -82.30 kJ mol⁻¹ Å⁻² (CaO), and -224.39 kJ mol⁻¹ Å⁻² (CaCO3).
• Observed findings include tensile strength independence from filler loading and enhanced conductivity due to "well-grown" interfaces.

Conclusions:

• This work presents a novel approach to immobilize CO2 in FA, offering practical pollution mitigation strategies.
• The findings provide fundamental insights into atomic-scale physical interactions within composite materials.
• The study guides the development of next-generation composite materials with tailored properties.