The Role of Poly(phenylene sulfide) Microfibrils in Isothermal Crystallization of Isotactic Polypropylene under Shear

An optical polarizing microscope with a hot shear stage was used for an in‐situ investigation of the influences of poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) microfibrils on isothermal crystallization of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) under shear. As the nucleation sites on the PPS microfibril's surface are not able to induce a transcrystalline layer, there are only spherulites generated in a PPS/iPP in‐situ microfirbillar blend in quiescent condition. Applying shear during isothermal crystallization, the crystalline morphology greatly changes. There are fibrillar nuclei induced after steady shear with a shear rate of 5 and 10 s^–1, and these nuclei formed fibrillar crystals after crystallization completion. Two opposite effects coexist in PPS/iPP in‐situ microfibrillar blends during shear‐induced isothermal crystallization; one is the obstructive effect of PPS microfibrils on the iPP molecular chains orientation; the other is the positive effect provided by stress between fiber and matrix, generated by shear, which reduces the potential barrier of crystallization. The results of wide angle x‐ray diffraction (WAXD) show that there are β‐iPP crystals generated in neat iPP and PPS/iPP blends, but that PPS microfibrils have an inhibiting influence on the formation of β‐iPP.     

聚苯乙烯/纳米铝复合材料的流变特性及纺丝研究

为有效制得Z箍缩氘代聚苯乙烯/纳米铝(DPS/AlNPs)导电丝阵材料，采用PS中掺入AlNPs制备PS/AlNPs复合材料纤维进行模拟研究。研究了温度及剪切速率等因素对PS/AlNPs复合材料流变性能的影响、复合材料熔体的结构变化及流动状态与可纺性能的关系，以及PS/AlNPs纤维的形貌、热稳定性能和力学性能。结果表明:PS/AlNPs熔体属于典型剪切变稀型非牛顿流体，熔体的表观粘度与温度呈现负相关，240~260 ℃时复合材料的非牛顿指数介于0.462~0.546，结构黏度系数介于1.8~2.1，黏流活化能介于77.2~104.6 kJ·mol-1，具有良好的可纺性。PS/AlNPs纤维表面光滑，对AlNPs粒子包覆良好且对其抗氧化非常有利，其中当AlNPs质量分数为1%时纤维的断裂伸长率突出、掺量为5%时其断裂强度较高。     

Study on Steady Shear Rheological Behavior of Concentrated Suspensions of Sulfonated Polyacrylamide/Na-Montmorillonite Nanoparticles

Concentrated suspensions of sulfonated polyacrylamide (SPA)/Na⁺-montmorillonite (Na-MMT) were prepared and their stability and steady shear rheological properties were described as a function of nanoparticle and polymer concentration and temperature. The results showed that the Na-MMT nanoparticles suspensions were stable in the absence and presence of SPA and no sedimentation was seen. The Z-average particle sizes for the SPA/Na-MMT suspensions increased in the presence of SPA. Rheological investigations showed that the SPA solutions and SPA/Na-MMT suspensions displayed non-Newtonian behavior in almost the whole range of shear rate. All the suspensions exhibited a shear-thinning flow character as shear rate increased. The flow curves indicated the shear viscosity and stress of the samples were decreased with increasing nanoparticles concentration up to 1.5 wt%, but for Na-MMT loading greater than 1.5 wt% there was an increase in shear viscosity and stress of the suspensions. Increasing of SPA concentration had more effect on increasing the rheological properties of SPA/Na-MMT suspensions than increasing of nanoclay content. Shear viscosity and stress of the suspensions increased with increasing SPA concentration and decreased with increasing temperature from 50°C to 70°C.     

Preparation and rheological studies of uncoated and PVA-coated magnetite nanofluid

Experimental studies of rheological behavior of uncoated magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs)U and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coated magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs)C were performed. A Co-precipitation technique under N₂ gas was used to prevent undesirable critical oxidation of Fe²⁺. The results showed that smaller particles can be synthesized in both cases by decreasing the NaOH concentration which in our case this corresponded to 35 nm and 7 nm using 0.9 M NaOH at 750 rpm for (MNPs)U and (MNPs)C. The stable magnetic fluid contained well-dispersed Fe₃O₄/PVA nanocomposites which indicated fast magnetic response. The rheological measurement of magnetic fluid indicated an apparent viscosity range (0.1–1.2) pa s at constant shear rate of 20 s⁻¹ with a minimum value in the case of (MNPs)U at 0 T and a maximum value for (MNPs)C at 0.5 T. Also, as the shear rate increased from 20 s⁻¹ to 150 s⁻¹ at constant magnetic field, the apparent viscosity also decreased correspondingly. The water-based ferrofluid exhibited the non-Newtonian behavior of shear thinning under magnetic field.     

Toughened Poly(Trimethylene Terephthalate) by Blending with a Functionalized Metallocenic Poly(Ethylene-Octene) Copolymer

New toughened poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) materials were obtained by melt blending with maleic anhydride grafted poly(ethylene-octene) (POEg). Rheological properties, mechanical properties, and morphological characteristics of PTT/POEg blends at four different compositions—95/5, 90/10, 80/20, and 70/30—were studied. The melt viscosity of the blends shows a linear decrease on increasing the POEg content. The addition of rubbery POEg to the PTT matrix increases the impact strength, while tensile properties decrease. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) displayed a very good dispersion of POEg particles in the PTT matrix. Differential scanning colorimetry (DSC) experiments showed that for all samples the melting point was almost constant and the crystallinity did not show obvious differences. SEM results showed shear yielding of the PTT matrix was the major toughening mechanism.     

Flow Characteristics of Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamides during Converging into a Capillary

Partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamides (HPAMs) are the most widely used polymers in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). This study presents capillary flow measurements of three different molecular weight HPAMs in synthetic brine. Polymer solutions having similar viscoelasticity were forced to flow through a 0.23 mm (radius) stainless steel capillary to investigate their flow characteristics including mobility reduction (apparent viscosity) and mechanical stability, represented by the extent of mechanical degradation (DR). The results indicated that the apparent viscosity of the polymer solutions markedly dropped with increasing flow rate until 5 mL/min, corresponding to the shear rate of 8,730s^?1; after that a slight viscosity decrease was observed. The high-molecular-weight HPAMs (6.5 and 8.0 × 10⁶ g/mol) began to have slightly greater apparent viscosity than the low-molecular-weight HPAM (1.0×10⁶ g/mol) above the shear rate of 26,180 s^?1; this might result from the occurrence of the coil-stretch transition. All the HPAMs experienced very similar percentages of mechanical degradation (10%) at shear rates between 1750 and 8730 s^?1; however, above 8730s^?1 the high-molecular-weight HPAMs exhibited a steep increase in mechanical degradation (DR). On the other hand, in the case of the low-molecular-weight HPAM, the DR curve almost leveled off at 12%. Therefore, low-molecular-weight HPAMs are generally suggested for EOR applications. These results, we suggested, should be useful to improve the efficiency of polymer EOR by minimizing mechanical degradation.     

Rheology and Dispersion Behavior of Ethylene‐Vinyl Acetate Copolymers/TiO2 Masterbatches Prepared by Melt‐Compounding

The rheology and dispersion behavior of ethylene‐vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer/TiO₂ masterbatches prepared by melt‐compounding were investigated. The pure EVA exhibits obviously pseudoplastic behavior and the apparent viscosity decreases remarkably at experimental temperatures, especially in the range of 100–500 s^?1. The EVA/TiO₂ masterbatches exhibit similar shear rheology behavior with pure EVA and the apparent viscosities are obviously higher than that of pure EVA when the TiO₂ content is above 10 wt.%. Field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM) and energy dispersive x‐ray spectroscopy (EDX) show that relatively low TiO₂ loading and moderate shear rate are helpful for the improvement of dispersion behavior of TiO₂ nanoparticles; moreover, the dispersion behavior of TiO₂ greatly influences the melt viscosity. The extensional rheology of pure EVA decreases with increasing extension rate, especially at low melt temperatures. EVA/TiO₂ masterbatches have similar extensional rheology behavior as pure EVA and the TiO₂ loading has almost no influence on the extensional viscosity of materbatches.     

Effect of transcrystallization in carbon fiber reinforced poly(p-phenylene sulfide) composites on the interfacial shear strength investigated with the single fiber pull-out test

The effect of transcrystallinity in carbon fiber reinforced poly(p-phenylene sulfide (PPS) composites on the apparent shear strength was investigated with the single fiber pull-out test. Transcrystalline zones around the reinforcing fibers do not seem to improve the adhesion level significantly. Neighbor fibers hinder the formation of the transcrystalline zone and a ductile fracture behavior can be observed. However, the apparent strength level is slightly higher for composites containing such reinforcing neighbor fibers compared with single fiber composite samples. During annealing a brittle interface can be formed in the multifiber composite yielding a higher level of the apparent shear strength.     

Rheological behavior characteristics of TiO2-MWCNT/10w40 hybrid nano-oil affected by temperature,concentration and shear rate: An experimental study and a neural network simulating

In this article, rheological behavior of TiO2-MWCNT (45–55%)/10w40 hybrid nano-oil was studied experimentally. The nano- oils were tested at temperature ranges of 5–55 °C and in shear rates up to 11,997 s⁻¹. With respect to viscosity, shear stress and shear rate variations it was cleared that either of the base oil and nano-oil were non-Newtonian fluids. New equations which were based on thickness of the fluid were presented for different temperature values, R-squared values were between 0.9221 and 0.9998 (the precise of correlation changes depend on temperature). Also to predict the nano-oil behavior, neural network method was utilized. an artificial neural network (MLP type) were used to predict the viscosity in terms of temperature, solid volume fraction and shear stress. to compare the prediction precise of neural network and correlation the results of these two were compared with together. ANN showed more accurate results in comparison with correlation results. R² and (MSE) were 0.9979 and 0.000016 respectively for the ANN.     

Rheological,thermal, and mechanical properties of poly(ethylene naphthalate)/poly(ethylene terephthalate) blends

Structural, Theological, thermal, and mechanical properties of blends of poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) obtained by melt blending were investigated using capillary rheometry, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observation, tensile testing. X-ray diffraction, and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. The melt Theological behavior of the PEN/PET blends was very similar to that of the two parent polymers. The melt viscosity of the blends was between that of PEN and that of PET. Thermal properties and NMR measurement of the blends revealed that PEN is partially miscible with PET in the as molded blends, indicating that an interchange reaction occurs to some extent on melt processing. The blend of 50/50 PEN/PET was more difficult to crystallize compared with blends of other PEN/PET ratios. The blends, once melted during DSC measurements, almost never showed cold crystallization and subsequent melting and definitely exhibited a single glass transition temperature between those of PEN and PET during a reheating run. Improvement of the miscibility between PEN and PET with melting is mostly due to an increase in transesterification. The tensile modulus of the PEN/PET blend strands had a low value, reflecting amorphous structures of the blends, while tensile strength at the yield point increased linearly with increasing PEN content.     

The Shear‐Dependent Phase Separation Behavior of the Ternary Blend Polystyrene/Polyvinyl Methyl Ether/Styrene–Acrylonitrile Copolymer

The phase behavior and phase separation dynamics of a PS/PVME/SAN ternary blend using light scattering under a shear rate range of 0.1～40 s^?1 were investigated. The cloud point temperature first increases and then decreases with the increase of shear rates. At higher shear rates, the cloud point temperature again increases. The phase separation behavior in the early and later stages under shear field can be explained by the Cahn–Hilliard theory and the exponential growth law, respectively. The delay time τ _d ?, the apparent diffusion coefficient D _app, the growth rate R(q), and the exponent term show strong dependence on the difference between the experimental temperature and the cloud point temperature (ΔT), and on the shear rates. Compared with PS/PVME binary blends at lower shear rates, τ _d for a PS/PVME/SAN ternary blend is smaller, while at higher shear rates τ _d is larger. At higher shear rates, the introduction of the third component SAN to a PS/PVME binary blends slows the phase separation process.     

Isothermal Crystallization and Miscibility of Isotactic Polypropylene/Poly(cis-butadiene) Rubber Blends

Isotactic polypropylene/poly(cis-butadiene) rubber (iPP/PcBR) blends were prepared by melt mixing. Isothermal crystallization and miscibility for neat iPP and blends of iPP/PcBR were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. The presence of PcBR remarkably affected isothermal crystalline behaviors of iPP. An addition of PcBR caused shorter crystallization time and a faster overall crystallization rate, meaning a heterogeneous nucleation effect of PcBR upon crystallization of iPP. For the same sample, the crystallization peak was broader and the supercooling decreased as the crystallization temperature increased. The Avrami equation was suitable to describe the primary isothermal crystallization process of iPP and blends. The addition of PcBR led to an increase of values of the Avrami exponent n, which we suggest was because the blends had a stronger trend of instantaneous three-dimensional growth than neat iPP. The equilibrium melting point depression of the blends was observed, indicating that the blends were partly miscible in the melt.     

Evaluation of rheological behavior of 10W40 lubricant containing hybrid nano-material by measuring dynamic viscosity

In the present paper, the dynamic viscosity of 10W40 lubricant containing hybrid nano-materials has been examined. Hybrid nano-materials were composed of 90% of silica (SiO₂) with 20–30 nm mean particle size and 10% of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with inner diameter of 2–6 nm and outer diameter of 5–20 nm. Nano-lubricant samples were prepared by two-step method with solid volume fractions of 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75% and 1%. Dynamic viscosity of the samples was measured at temperatures between 5 and 55 °C and at shear rates of 666.5 s⁻¹ up to 11,997 s⁻¹. Experimental results indicated that the nano-lubricant had non-Newtonian behavior at all temperatures, while 10w40 oil was non-Newtonian only at high temperatures. With the use of the curve fitting technique of experimental data, power law and consistency indexes were obtained; furthermore, these coefficients were assessed by shear stress and viscosity diagram.     

Confined Crystallization in Polymer Blends: DSC Studies of the Behavior and Kinetics of Isothermal Crystallization of Polypropylene in Poly(cis-butadiene) Rubber Blends

Thermal properties of polypropylene with poly(cis-butadiene) rubber (iPP/PcBR) blends have been measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the melting point T_m, crystallization temperature T_c, enthalpy Δ H (melting enthalpies and crystalline enthalpies), and equilibrium melting point T⁰ _m have been measured and calculated. The variation of T_m, T_c, Δ H and T⁰ _m with composition in the blends was discussed, showing that an interaction between phases is present in iPP/PcBR blends. The degree of supercooling characterizing the interaction between two phases in the blends and the crystallizability of the blends which bears a relationship to the composition of the blends was discussed. The kinetics of isothermal crystallization of the crystalline phase in iPP/PcBR blends was studied in terms of the Avrami equation, and the Avrami exponent n and velocity constant K were obtained. The Avrami exponent n is between 3 and 2, meaning that iPP has a thermal nucleation with two dimensional growths. The variation of the Avrami exponent n, velocity constant K, and crystallization rate G bear a relation to the composition of the blends, n increases with increasing content ofPcBR. K also increased with increasing content of PcBR. All of the K for the blends are greater than for pure iPP. The crystallization rate G (t_1/2) depends on the compositions in the blends; all G of the blends are greater than for iPP.     

Toughening Effect of Poly(ethene-co-1-butene)-graft-methyl Methacrylate and Acrylonitrile on Styrene-acrylonitrile Copolymer (SAN)

Poly(ethene-co-1-butene)-graft-methyl methacrylate-acrylonitrile (PEB-g-MAN), synthesized by suspension grafting copolymerization of methyl methacrylate and acrylonitrile onto PEB, was blended with styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN). The mechanical properties, phase structure, toughening mechanism, miscibility, and thermal stability of the SAN/PEB-g-MAN blends were studied using a pendulum impact tester, tension tester, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). The results showed that PEB-g-MAN has an excellent toughening effect on SAN resin. The notched impact strength of the blends (containing 25 wt% PEB) was 63.3 kJ/m², which was nearly 60 times that of SAN resin. The brittle-ductile transition of SAN/PEB-g-MAN blends occurred when the weight percentage of PEB was between 17.5 and ～20 wt%. SAN and PEB-g-MAN were partially miscible. The toughening mechanism of the blends changed with the PEB content. When the PEB content was low, the toughening mechanism of the blends was branching and termination of cracks with slight cavitation. As the content of PEB increased, the toughing mechanism gradually changed from branching and termination of crack with slight cavitation to both branching and termination of crack and cavitation, to extensive cavitation, and finally to shear yielding accompanied by cavitation. The phase structure of the blends changed from a “sea-island’’ structure to a cocontinuous structure as the PEB content increased. ATG analysis showed that the thermal properties of the SAN resin in the blends were enhanced by adding the PEB-g-MAN.     

Melt Strength and Extensional Viscosity of Low-Density Polyethylene and Poly(butylene succinate) Blends Using a Melt-Spinning Technique

The melt strength (MS) and extensional viscosity of low-density polyethylene/poly(butylene succinate) (LDPE/PBS) blends were measured using a melt-spinning technique to investigate the effects of extrusion conditions and mixing ratios on the extensional flow. The experimental results indicated that maximal extensional length and MS of the LDPE/PBS blends decreased with an increase of PBS content. The response of the MS to the extrusion rate depended on the components of the blends. The extensional viscosity of the LDPE/PBS blends decreased with the increases of PBS content, extrusion rate, and extensional strain rate. Extensional master curves were suitable for the LDPE/PBS blends, and the scaling factor decreased with the increase of extrusion rate according to a power law. When the PBS content was not more than 40%, with the further increase of the PBS content, the sensitivity of the scaling factor to the extrusion rate decreased. However, when the PBS content was 60%, the sensitivity of the scaling factor to the extrusion rate increased, and was close to the sensitivity of the LDPE melt. Based on the extensional master curve and the back propagation (BP) neural network model, predicted extensional viscosities were compared with the experimental results.     

Isothermal Melt Crystallization Kinetics for Poly(Trimethylene Terephthalate)/Poly(Butylene Terephthalate) Blends

The kinetics of isothermal melt crystallization of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT)/poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) blends were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) over the crystallization temperature range of 184–192°C. Analysis of the data was carried out based on the Avrami equation. The values of the exponent found for all samples were between 2.0 and 3.0. The results indicated that the crystallization process tends to be two‐dimensional growth, which was consistent with the result of polarizing light microscopy (PLM). The activation energies were also determined by the Arrhenius equation for isothermal crystallization. The values of ΔE of PTT/PBT blends were greater than those for PTT and PBT. Lastly, using values of transport parameters common to many polymers (U*=6280 J/mol, T _∞=T _g – 30), together with experimentally determined values of T _m ⁰ and T _g, the nucleation parameter, K _g, for PTT, PBT, and PTT/PBT blends was estimated based on the Lauritzen–Hoffman theory.     

Characterization of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticle suspensions for electrophoretic deposition

The rheology of suspensions is critically important for the successful achievement of defect-free TiO₂ deposits by electrophoretic deposition (EPD). The rheological behaviour of TiO₂ nanoparticle suspensions in acetylacetone with and without iodine was investigated over a broad solid-concentration range (0.3–2.5 wt.%) and at different shear rates ( = 10–250 s⁻¹). The influence of these parameters on the quality of TiO₂ films obtained by EPD on stainless steel substrates was assessed. The pure solvent and the 1 wt.% TiO₂ nanoparticles suspension without iodine exhibited shear-thickening flow behaviour. For other concentrations, the suspensions showed shear-thinning behaviour followed by an apparent shear-thickening effect at a critical shear rate (100 s⁻¹). For the suspension with 1 wt.% TiO₂ containing iodine, a shear-thickening flow behaviour was observed over the whole shear rate range investigated. The maximum solids fraction (ϕ_m) was experimentally determined from a linear relationship between solid concentration and viscosity. The estimated value was ϕ_m = 7.94 wt.% for this system. Using a suspension with 1 wt.% concentration, good-quality TiO₂ deposits on stainless steel planar substrates were obtained by EPD at constant voltage condition. The influence of pH on suspension stability was determined in the range pH = 1–9, being pH ≈ 5 the optimal value for this system in terms of EPD results.     

Shear‐Enhanced Nucleation of Isotactic Polypropylene in Limited Space

The nucleation rate was measured by directly counting the number of nuclei, which were developed while an isotactic polypropylene melt was flowing under shear in a thin film. The nucleation rate was enhanced with an increased rate of shear, e.g., by a factor of 10 larger at the rate of shear of 14 s^?1 compared with the quiescent state, at 134°C. The ratio of the shear‐enhanced nucleation rate to the nucleation rate in the quiescent state was larger at a higher temperature of crystallization, i.e., about 10 times at 134°C to 590 times at 140°C. The increase of the nucleation rate under shear flow was explained by a reduction of the lateral and end (fold) surface free energies; the product σ _s ² σ _e decreased to 3.2×10^?7 for the sheared melt, from 6.0×10^?7 (J m^?2)³ for the isotropic state. The free energy reduction was caused by transition of the nucleus formation mode from three‐dimensional folded chain nuclei to two‐dimensional bundle nuclei, in which chains lie down on the glass substrate, aligning parallel to the flow direction.     

A Rheological Study of Xanthan Polymer for Enhanced Oil Recovery

This study explored the potential application of xanthan gum as a polymer-flooding agent for oil recovery applications in a specific Devonian oil field. Rheological measurements using oscillatory and steady shear were carried out to examine the change in shear viscosity when the polymer was applied under reservoir conditions. The xanthan rheological properties were described by the Herschel–Bulkley and Ostwald models to characterize its non-Newtonian behavior. As expected, the results showed that higher xanthan concentrations raised the polymer viscosity and increased the degree of shear thinning. Addition of alkalis caused the viscosity of the xanthan solutions to decrease, but they maintained their shear-thinning properties. Polymer solutions in typical oil field brine increased in viscosity by ca. 400% for 720 hours storage time. On the other hand, as expected, the solutions lost their viscosity gradually with increasing temperature. However, at reservoir temperature (68°C), the polymer solutions kept more than 60% of their initial viscosity. In oscillatory deformation tests it was observed that all the measured viscoelastic properties were influenced by temperature and confirmed that xanthan solution behaved as a weak-gel. An order-disorder transition exists within the xanthan-brine solutions which responds to changes in solution concentration, temperature and alkalis.