Abstract: A carbon fiber composite material comprising: (i) a carbon fiber having an outer surface, a thickness of at least 1 micron, and an aspect ratio of at least 1000; (ii) a sizing agent coated on the outer surface of the carbon fiber, wherein the sizing agent has a thickness of up to 200 nm; and (iii) nanoparticles having a size in at least one dimension of up to 100 nm embedded within the sizing agent, wherein the nanoparticles have a metal carbide, metal oxide, metal nitride, and/or metal boride composition. A method for producing the fiber composite material comprises: (a) continuously feeding and coating a continuous carbon fiber with a liquid containing a solvent, sizing agent, and nanoparticles in a continuous feed-through process to result in said sizing agent and nanoparticles coating the surface of the continuous carbon fiber; and (b) removing the solvent from the coated fiber.

Abstract: A composition comprising: (i) an electrically non-conductive fiber having a surface; and (ii) piezoelectric particles adhered to the surface of said electrically non-conductive fiber, and optionally, (iii) a sizing agent (e.g., epoxy) coated over the piezoelectric particles and surface of the electrically non-conductive fiber. Also described are composites in which the above fiber composition is embedded within a matrix, e.g., a polymer, ceramic, or glassy carbon matrix. Also described is a method for producing a passive sensing fiber composition by: coating a fiber having a surface with a liquid suspension containing piezoelectric particles suspended in a solvent; and removing the solvent to result in the piezoelectric particles adhered to the surface of the fiber. Also described are methods for detecting formation of defects in a material and methods of generating electrical energy from ambient vibration by use of the above described fiber compositions and composites thereof.

Abstract: A polymer blend material comprising: (i) a lignin component; (ii) a nitrile butadiene rubber component; and (iii) divalent or trivalent metal salt; wherein: component (i) is present in an amount of about 5 wt. % to about 95 wt. % by weight of components (i) and (ii); component (i) is dispersed in component (ii) in the form of domains having a size of up to 1000 nm; component (iii) is present in an amount of 0.1-10 wt. % by weight of components (i) and (ii); and the polymer blend material has a tensile failure strength of at least 10 MPa, and an elongation at break of at least 20%. Methods for producing the polymer blend, molded forms thereof, and articles thereof, are also described.

Abstract: A carbon fiber composite material comprising: (i) a carbon fiber having an outer surface, a thickness of at least 1 micron, and an aspect ratio of at least 1000; (ii) a sizing agent coated on the outer surface of the carbon fiber, wherein the sizing agent has a thickness of up to 200 nm; and (iii) nanoparticles having a size in at least one dimension of up to 100 nm embedded within the sizing agent, wherein the nanoparticles have a metal carbide, metal oxide, metal nitride, and/or metal boride composition. A method for producing the fiber composite material comprises: (a) continuously feeding and coating a continuous carbon fiber with a liquid containing a solvent, sizing agent, and nanoparticles in a continuous feed-through process to result in said sizing agent and nanoparticles coating the surface of the continuous carbon fiber; and (b) removing the solvent from the coated fiber.