Aurelio Bifulco

University of Naples Federico II | UNINA · Department of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering

In this work, the fire behavior of a sol-gel in-situ hybrid Mg(OH)2-epoxy nanocomposite was investigated and an artificial neural network-based system built on a fully connected feed-forward artificial neural network was developed to predict its heat release capacity. The nanocomposite containing only ∼5 wt% loading of Mg(OH)2 promoted a remarkable...

The development of hydrophobic composite coatings is of great interest for several applications in the aerospace industry. Functionalized microparticles can be obtained from waste fabrics and employed as fillers to prepare sustainable hydrophobic epoxy-based coatings. Following a waste-to-wealth approach, a novel hydrophobic epoxy-based composite i...

Flame retardance of epoxy resins is usually imparted using suitable additives and/or properly modified curing agents. Herein, via a two-step green synthetic procedure, the chemical modification of the epoxy matrix with reactive silicon and phosphorus precursors is explored to obtain nanocomposites with intrinsic flame-retardant features. Nanoscale...

Thermosets are polymeric materials that contain permanent networks and thus are difficult to recycle. They are not reprocessable once cured and often do not degrade under mild conditions. Over the past decades, the use of polymeric materials in fire safety applications has increased, and so is the need for them to be more sustainable. From this sta...

Since the advent of photocatalytic technology, scientists have been searching for semiconductor materials with high efficiency in solar energy utilization and conversion to chemical energy. Recently, the development of quantum dot (QD) photocatalysts has attracted much attention because of their unique characteristics: small size, quantum effects,...

Transition metal phosphates are promising acid catalysts for biorefinery processes, and their efficiency can benefit from the dispersion in a porous support. Here, a one-pot hydrolytic sol-gel route is established for the synthesis of Ti-P-Si and Zr-P-Si oxides, comprising a fine distribution of titanium or zirconium oxophosphate in a silicate netw...

The development of sustainable hydrophobic composite coatings is of high interest for aircraft applications. Currently, the use of natural derived functionalized microparticles as filler to obtain hydrophobic epoxy-based coatings was not deeply investigated. In this scenario, a novel hydrophobic epoxy-based composite including waste hemp microparti...

Sol-Gel is a “bottom-up” synthesis method that enables the production of films, nano/microparticles, fibers, gels, and bulk materials, both glassy and crystalline. Sol-Gel chemistry can be a vital tool for solving problems in several industrial applications where nanotechnology is necessary to overcome constraints. Here, various examples involving...

Polymers are indispensable to humans in different applications due to their ease of manufacturing and overall performance. However, after a material lifetime, there is a large amount of polymer-based waste, which greatly contributes to the loss of valuable resources and environmental pollution. Thermoplastics may be readily recycled, but because of...

Carbon quantum dots (CDs) are widely used as semiconductor systems, due to their facile synthesis and optical characteristics. CDs have been employed to enhance the light emission, UV resistance, and anticorrosive performances of epoxy nanocomposites (ENCs). Herein, we investigated the use of CDs to prepare multifunctional cycloaliphatic ENCs showi...

The pursuit of sustainable and inexpensive systems for the degradation of organic aquatic pollutants working under sunlight or even without irradiation is still open. Herein, an amorphous titanium oxide modified with dibenzoylmethane, an aromatic diketone, is proposed as a solar photocatalyst showing oxidative activity also in the dark. Ti(IV)-dibe...

Microplastics are recognized as an emerging critical issue for the environment. Here an innovative chemical approach for the treatment of microplastics is proposed, based on an oxidative process that does not require any direct energy source (irradiation or heat). Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) was selected as target commodity polymer, due...

Materials based on silicon-phosphorus mixed oxides have traditionally attracted interest in electronics, optics, catalysis, and related fields. The preparation of a solid containing stable Si–O–P linkages is a huge challenge due to their intrinsic instability to hydrolysis in a wet atmosphere. On the other hand, most technological applications of t...

The aerospace industry requires materials showing good mechanical performance, durability, and thermal stability to satisfy very stringent requirements in several applications. Epoxy-based composites can be a suitable solution, due to the peculiar characteristics of the polymer matrix. Epoxy resins can be cured by aliphatic or aromatic hardeners. T...

Uniformly distributed silica/epoxy nanocomposites (2 and 6 wt.% silica content) were obtained through a “solvent-free one-pot” process. The inorganic phases were obtained through “in situ” sol-gel chemistry from two precursors, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and (3-aminopropyl)-triethoxysilane (APTES). APTES acts as a coupling agent. Surprisingly...

The ease of flammability of polymers represents a key issue that limits their applications in different advanced sectors. In this context, a reliable and effective solution regards the use of flame retardants, i.e., additives that are able to slow down (or even stop) the flame propagation and to enhance the resistance to an irradiative heat flux. A...

Epoxy resins are widely applied in industry for producing fire safe materials. Unfortunately, epoxy resins have the disadvantage of being highly flammable and thus require suitable modifications with reactive or non-reactive flame retardant additives. Recent literature have shown that the derivatives 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxi...

Epoxy resins are widely used in the manufacturing of fire safety products in the industry. 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) is a commercially available non-toxic reactive flame retardant and its incorporation improves the fire behavior of epoxy systems by releasing active phosphorus species to the gas phase. The reaction be...

Epoxy nanocomposites containing Mg(OH)2 nanocrystals (MgNCs, 5.3 wt %) were produced via an eco-friendly "solvent-free one-pot" process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) confirm the presence of well-dispersed MgNCs. HRTEM reveals the presence also of multisheet-s...

The manufacturing of non-woven fibrous composites by electrospinning is being spread in catalysis, adsorption and water purification applications. Specifically designed fillers are required to boost the performances of such electrospun materials and achieve additional functionalities. Herein, silica nanoparticles (SiO2NP) and TiO2-acetylacetonate (...

Hybrid tannic acid-silica-based porous nanoparticles, TA-SiO2 NPs, have been synthesized under mild conditions in the presence of green and renewable tannic acid biopolymer, a glycoside polymer of gallic acid present in a large part of plants. Tannic acid (TA) was exploited as both a structuring directing agent and green chelating site for heavy me...

Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) comprise a class of natural or synthetic molecules and groups of substances which are considered as emerging contaminants due to their toxicity and danger for the ecosystems, including human health. Nowadays, the presence of EDCs in water and wastewater has become a global problem, which is challenging the scie...

Graffiti vandalism represents an aesthetic and structural phenomenon of degradation both for buildings and cultural heritage: the most used sprays and markers can permeate the stone materials exposing them to degradation. Hence, great attention is being currently devoted to new non-invasive chemical approaches to face this urgent problem. This work...

Following a waste-to-wealth approach, humic acid (HA) was exploited as a flame retardant additive. The effect of its addition alone and in combination with urea (UR) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) on the thermal, fire, and mechanical performances of a bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA)-based epoxy resin modified with (3-aminopropyl)-triethoxysi...

Hydrophobic wrinkled silica nanoparticles (WSNs) were obtained by surface functionalization with perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (PDTES) by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Surface functionalization was made to design a hydrophobic surface to immobilize lipase in its open active conformation by interfacial activation. Moreover, to modulate the close...

Organic/inorganic hybrid composite materials with the dispersed phases in sizes down to a few tens of nanometers raised very great interest. In this paper, it is shown that silica/epoxy nanocomposites with a silica content of 6 wt % may be obtained with an “in situ” sol–gel procedure starting from two precursors: tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and...

Hybrid materials based on amorphous titanium or zirconium oxide with specific organic ligands show oxidative activity toward organic pollutants in the dark, owing to the generation and unusual long-term adsorption of superoxide radical anions on their surfaces. Here an overview of perspectives for the development of these materials and their proces...

Polymeric sound absorbers can be produced through electrospinning, a process which allows to fabricate high specific surface materials with a fiber diameter from few nanometers to several micrometers. In this study, a numerical simulation model of the acoustic behavior of poly vinyl pyrrolidone/silica composites were developed. First, the character...

Nowadays, the reduction of the noise level, which is generated by engines has become an important challenge. In order to reduce the damages induced by a continuous exposition to vibrations, the production of suitable soundproofing materials is rising attention. For this reason, there is an interest in having sound absorbing blankets of low thicknes...

Mesoporous silica materials offer a unique opportunity for enzyme immobilization thanks to their properties, such as tuneable pore size, large surface area and easy functionalization. However, a significant enhancement of cellulase enzyme activity entrapped inside the silica pores still represents a challenge. In this work, we immobilized cellulase...

Silica-epoxy nanocomposites were prepared via an “in-situ” sol-gel synthesis process and a phosphorus (P) flame-retardant i.e. 6H-dibenz[c,e][1,2]oxaphosphorin,6-[(1-oxido-2,6,7-trioxa-1-phosphabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-4-yl)methoxy]-, 6-oxide (DP) and melamine (Mel) were further added to the matrix to improve its fire performance. The main components of e...

Thermosetting polymers have been widely used in many industrial applications as adhesives, coatings and laminated materials, among others. Recently, bisphenol A (BPA) has been banned as raw material for polymeric products, due to its harmful impact on human health. On the other hand, the use of aromatic amines as curing agents confers excellent the...

The effect of the addition of additives such as melamine (Mel), silica nanoparticles and a phosphorus-based compound, i.e. 3-(6-oxidodibenzo[c,e][1,2]oxaphosphinin-6-yl)propenamide (DA), on the fire and mechanical performance of a bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA)-based epoxy resin cured with isophoronediamine has been investigated. A UL 94-V0 c...

Natural fibers such as kenaf, hemp, flax, jute, and sisal have become the subject of much research as potential green or eco-friendly reinforcement composites, since they assure the reduction of weight, cost, and CO2 release with less reliance on oil sources. Herein, an inexpensive and eco-friendly waterglass treatment is proposed, allowing the pro...

This paper shows that an eco-friendly electrospinning process allows us to produce water resistant sound absorbers with reduced thickness and excellent sound-absorption properties in the low and medium frequency range (250–1600 Hz) for which which human sensitivity is high and traditional materials struggle to match, that also pass the fire tests w...

Graphene is an attractive component for high-performance stimuli-responsive or ‘smart’ materials, shape memory materials, photomechanical actuators, piezoelectric materials and flexible strain sensors. Nanocomposite fibres were produced by electrospinning high molecular weight Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP-1300 kDa) in the presence of noncovalently fun...

Proper nano-structuring coupled with low surface energy properties is exploited to obtain super-hydrophobic surfaces. A biomimicking hierarchically structured coating upon a material surface is obtained by depositing Janus nano-structured wrinkled colloidal particles. The morphology of the surface is thus ruled by different scales: the size of the...

A new and ecofriendly chemical approach uses inexpensive waterglass solutions in order to promote the formation of a silica-based coating on hemp fabrics; this green coating is able to act as a thermal shield and to protect the latter from heat sources. The waterglass treatment improves the fire behavior of hemp fabric/epoxy composites, also in com...

A new “in situ” sol–gel synthesis procedure was exploited to produce silica/epoxy nanocomposites with 6 wt.% maximum silica content. 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) was used as a coupling agent. The experimental results (fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, FTIR, small-angle X-ray scattering, SAXS, transmission electron microscopy, TEM, nuc...

A new “in situ” sol–gel synthesis procedure was exploited to produce silica/epoxy nanocomposites with 6 wt.% maximum silica content. 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) was used as a coupling agent. The experimental results (fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, FTIR, small-angle X-ray scattering, SAXS, transmission electron microscopy, TEM, nuc...

In this paper, for the first time, inexpensive waterglass solutions are exploited as a new, simple and ecofriendly chemical approach for promoting the formation of a silica-based coating on hemp fabrics, able to act as a thermal shield and to protect the latter from heat sources. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Re...