Poly(ethylene terephthalate)/carbon black composite fibers prepared by electrospinning

Poly(ethylene terephthalate)(PET)/carbon black(CB) composite fibers with improved mechanical properties in tensile modulus and tensile strength are prepared by eletrospinning. Stable dispersions suitable for electrospinning are obtained by dispersing melt pre-compounded PET/CB composites in hexafluoroisopropanol. The fiber morphology and CB dispersion are investigated by FESEM and TEM. The addition of CB has no obvious effect on fiber diameter, and the average fiber diameters for all the samples are around 2-3 μm. CB in the fibers is in the form of submicron-sized clusters. The thermal properties of the PET/CB composite fibers are evaluated by DSC, showing almost unchanged melting temperature and crystallinity. Uniaxial tensile tests are used to measure the mechanical properties of the PET/CB composite fiber mats. The fiber mats containing 1 wt%-8.5 wt% CB have significantly improved tensile modulus compared to neat PET fiber mat, showing reinforcing effect of CB. The electrical conductivity of the fiber mats has also been tested.     

Preparation and Characterization of Chitosan Composite Membranes Crosslinked by Carboxyl-capped Poly（ethylene glycol）

In this study a series of chemically crosslinked chitosan/poly（ethylene glycol） （CS/PEG） composite membranes were prepared with PEG as a crosslinking reagent other than an additional blend. First, carboxyl-eapped poly（ethylene glycol） （HOOC-PEG-COOH） was synthesized. Dense CS/PEG composite membranes were then prepared by casting/evaporation of CS and HOOC-PEG-COOH mixture in acetic acid solution. Chitosan was chemically crosslinked due to the amidation between the carboxyl in HOOC-PEG-COOH and the amino in chitosan under heating, as confirmed by FTIR analysis. The hydrophilicity, water-resistance and mechanical properties of pure and crosslinked chitosan membranes were characterized, respectively. The results of water contact angle and water absorption showed that the hydrophilicity of chitosan membranes could be significantly improved, while no significant difference of weight loss between pure chitosan membranes and crosslinked ones was detected, indicating that composite membranes with amidation crosslinking possess excellent water resistanance ability. Moreover, the tensile strength of chitosan membranes could be significantly enhanced with the addition of certain amount of HOOC-PEG-COOH crosslinker, while the elongation at break didn＇t degrade at the same time. Additionally, the results of swelling behaviors in water at different pH suggested that the composite membranes were pH sensitive.     

Influence of Glycerol Content on Properties of Wheat Gluten/Hydroxyethyl Cellulose Biocomposites

Environmentally friendly biocomposites were prepared by blending wheat gluten（WG）as a matrix, hydroxyethyl cellulose（HEC）as a filler,and glycerol as a plasticizer,followed by thermo-molding of the mixture at 120°C for crosslinking the matrix.Moisture absorption,tensile properties,dynamic mechanical analysis,and dynamic rheology were evaluated in relation to the glycerol content.Tensile strength and modulus drop dramatically with increasing glycerol content,which is accompanied by significant depression in the glass transition temperature and improvement in the extensibility of the biocomposites.     

CHANGES OF STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF POLY (ETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE) CAUSED BY IN-SITU POLYMERIZATION OF PYRROLE

Conductive polymer composites based on crystalline polymer matrix have been prepared by using an in-situ polymerization process of pyrrole in amorphous poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) film. The DSC and WAXD measurement and SEM observation show that liquid-induced crystallization of PET matrix has occurred during the preparation of composite films. Depending upon the equilibrium degree of swelling and crystallinity, the limited depth of penetration of pyrrole molecules results in a skin-core structure of the composite film. The skin layer containing charge transfer intercalated polypyrrole has a surface resistance of 3.5×10~4 Ω. Rigid and heat-resistant polypyrrole molecules formed in PET film increase the tensile modulus and, especially, the rigidity of PET at elevated temperatures. However, they decrease the tensile strength and elongation at break, and impair the thermal ductility of PET.     

PROPERTIES AND MORPHOLOGY OF UNSATURATED POLYESTER/ACRYLATE-TERMINATED POLYURETHANE/ORGANOMONTMORILLONITE NANOCOMPOSITES

Unsaturated polyester resin （UPR）/acrylate-terminated polyurethane （ATPU）/organo-modified montmorillonite （OMMT） nanocomposites were prepared by the in situ intercalative polymerization method. Samples were prepared by the sequential mixing, i.e. mixture of the ATPU and styrene （S） and OMMT were prepared in the first step; UPR was then added to the pre-intercalates of ATPU/S/OMMT. Results indicate that the mechanical properties and thermal properties of UPR/ATPU/OMMT nanocomposites greatly depend on the amount of ATPU and OMMT. Results show that the addition of ATPU could increase the impact strength of UPR/ATPU composites, but the tensile strength, flexural strength and heat resistance of the materials are obviously decreased. When the weight ratio between UPR, ATPU and OMMT were 82：15：3, the impact strength and heat distortion-temperature of nanocomposite were greatly improved, meanwhile there was little change for other properties of the nanocomposites. The synergistic enhancement effects of ATPU and OMMT on the composites were observed. The structures and morphology of the composites were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.     

EFFECT 0F INTERFACIAL ADHESION ON CRYSTALLIZATION AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF POLY (ETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE)/GLASS BEAD COMPOSITES

The interfacial adhesion between poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and glass beadwas investigated by scanning electron microscope and parallel-plate rheometer. Effect ofinterfacial adhesion on the crystallization and mechenical properties of PET/glass beadcomposites was also studied by differential scanning calorimeter and mechanical testers.The results obtained indicate that the glass bead has a heterogeneous nucleation effecton the PET crystallization. Although better interfacial adhesion is advantageous to theincrease of the tensile strength of the composite, yet it is unfavorable to the crystallizationof PET. It should be pointed out that the crystallization rate of filled PET is always higherthan that of pure PET, regardless of the state of interfacial adhesion.     

Ethylene glycol aluminum as a novel catalyst for the synthesis of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Ethylene glycol aluminum was prepared efficiently and characterized by FT-IR and NMR.It exhibited higher catalytic activity and had profitable effect than titanium glycolate and ethylene glycol antimony for the synthesis of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET).It was only used as polycondensation catalyst because it was sensitive to water.For this catalyst,the degree of esterification of the theoretical amount of water was produced up to 95%at 260℃,while the intrinsic viscosity and content of terminal carboxyl groups of the corresponding PET polyester,polymerized at 280℃,70 Pa for 39 min,was 0.87 dL/g and 23.0μmol/g,respectively. Ethylene glycol aluminum was a promising catalyst for the synthesis of PET polyester.     

The effect of the amount of ammonia on the Cu~0/Cu~+ ratio of Cu/SiO_2 catalyst for the hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to ethylene glycol

The effect of the amount of precipitant ammonia on the Cu0/Cu＋ratio of Cu/Si O2 prepared by the deposition–precipitation method is investigated. Species at different preparation stages, resulted from the amount of ammonia used, are identified by the XRD and FTIR techniques. Chrysocolla together with either copper nitrate hydroxide or copper hydroxide coexist in the uncalcined catalysts. Upon calcination, the latter two species are converted to Cu O particles while chrysocolla remains. Following reduction, Cu O is transformed to metallic Cu and chrysocolla is converted to Cu2 O. The value of Cu0/Cu＋ratio can be evaluated using the peak areas in their TPR profiles. Hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate（DMO） to ethylene glycol（EG） shows that the selectivity of EG depends on the Cu0/Cu＋ratio. Catalyst prepared with the addition of ammonia solution at n（NH3）/n（Cu2＋） = 0.9 for precipitation–deposition gains a more suitable Cu0/Cu＋ratio upon reduction and thus has a higher selectivity for EG.     

COMONOMER SEQUENCE DISTRIBUTION IN METALLOCENE-BASED ETHYLENE/1-BUTENE (S-34) AND ETHYLENE/1-HEXENE (S-43) COPOLYMERS

Metallocene based polyethylenes were prepared by SINOPEC's "metallocene adduct" technologyin a gas phase fluidized bed model reactor. The ~(13)C-NMR spectra of ethylene/1 -butene (S-34) and ethylene/1-hexene(S-43) copolymers were studied in a manner analogous to that established by Hsieh and Cheng. Thecomonomer sequence distributions of copolymer samples were obtained. The results show that thesemetallocene based copolymers contain a small amount of butene and hexene, and the EE and EEE sequencesare dominant.     

Preparation and Properties of Poly（vinyl alcohol）/Chitosan Blend Bio-nanocomposites Reinforced by Cellulose Nanocrystals

The aim of this paper is to report the effect of the addition of cellulose nanocrystals（CNCs） on the mechanical, thermal and barrier properties of poly（vinyl alcohol）/chitosan（PVA/Cs） bio-nanocomposites films prepared through the solvent casting process. The characterizations of PVA/Cs/CNCs films were carried out in terms of X-ray diffraction（XRD）, transmission electron microscopy（TEM）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, thermogravimetric analysis（TGA and DTG）, oxygen transmission rate（OTR）, and tensile tests. TEM and SEM results showed that at low loading levels, CNCs were dispersed homogenously in the PVA/Cs matrix. The tensile strength and modulus in films increased from 55.1 MPa to 98.4 MPa and from 395 MPa to 690 MPa respectively, when CNCs content went from 0 wt% to 1.0 wt%. The thermal stability and oxygen barrier properties of PVA/Cs matrix were best enhanced at 1.0 wt% of CNCs loading. The enhanced properties attained by incorporating CNCs can be beneficial in various applications.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel biodegradable copolyesters by transreaction of poly(ethylene terephthalate) with copoly(succinic anhydride/ethylene oxide)

Poly(ethylene terephthalate)/copoly(succinic anhydride/ethylene oxide) copolymers, (PET/PES copolymers) were synthesized by the transreaction between PET and PES and characterized with GPC, ¹H NMR, and DSC. Most of the copolymers obtained were random copolymers. The films cast of these copolymers were transparent. The thermal, mechanical properties, and biodegradability of the copolymers obtained were studied with respect to the composition and lengths of aliphatic and aromatic units in the copolymers. In the copolymers having high PET content, the melting points, due to the PET segment, were observed by DSC measurement, although the fusion heats of the copolymers were small. The enzymatic hydrolyzability by a lipase from Rhizopus arrhizus and biodegradability by activated sludge of the copolymers decreased with an increase in PET content. When the length of succinic acid unit in the copolymer was below 2, the hydrolyzability of the copolymers decreased considerably. The tensile strengths of the cast films prepared from the copolymers synthesized by the transreaction increased with an increase in PET content, whereas, the elongations at break decreased. Their tensile strengths were half, and the elongations were double compared to those of PET homopolymer film. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 4478–4489, 2000     

An evoluted bio-based 2,5-furandicarboxylate copolyester fiber from poly(ethylene terephthalate)

A series of bio-based poly(ethylene terephthalate-co-ethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PEFT) fibers was prepared via the industrially feasible melt-spinning and hot-drawing process. The effect of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) content on the fibers properties was studied using differential scanning calorimetry, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, sound velocity, tensile, and boiling water shrinkage tests. It was found that the PEFT fibers showed comparable or superior tenacity to the PET fibers under the same conditions, especially the PEFT-4 fibers exhibited the highest tenacity (2.3, 2.9 cN/dtex for the drawn PET and PEFT-4 fibers prepared at the same take-up speed of 2500 m/min and a fixed draw ratio of 1.6). Moreover, the boiling water shrinkage of the PEFT fibers was quite close to that of the PET fibers under the same conditions, showing that the PEFT fibers were comparable to the PET fibers in heat resistance. The results indicated that the bio-based PEFT fibers would be a feasible alternative for the PET fibers, in terms of sustainability, processability, and mechanical properties. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 58, 320–329     

聚对苯二甲酸二甲酯/聚2,5-呋喃二甲酸二甲酯嵌段聚酯的合成与表征

以生物基单体2,5-呋喃二甲酸、乙二醇为原料合成聚2,5-呋喃二甲酸乙二醇酯(PEF)。采用熔融酯交换法以PEF聚酯部分取代聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯(PET),制备了系列PET-b-PEF嵌段共聚酯。通过核磁共振仪(NMR)、差示扫描量热仪(DSC)、热失重仪(TGA)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)等技术手段表征了共聚酯的结构和性能。结果表明,该系列共聚酯的玻璃化转变温度(Tg)在75.8~80.3℃之间,且随着PEF链段质量分数的增加,PET-b-PEF嵌段共聚酯的Tg先降低后升高,结晶度和熔融温度逐渐降低。当PEF链段含量高于15%时,共聚酯没有结晶峰。该系列共聚酯具有良好的热稳定性,起始分解温度在392.2~407.9℃之间,与所制备的PET起始分解温度403.3℃接近。且当共聚酯中PEF链段含量低于15%时,起始分解温度均在407℃左右,优于PET的热稳定性。     

Morphology and properties of isotactic polypropylene/poly(ethylene terephthalate) in situ microfibrillar reinforced blends: Influence of viscosity ratio

In situ microfibrillar reinforced blends based on blends of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were successfully prepared by a “slit extrusion-hot stretching-quenching” process. Four types of iPP with different apparent viscosity were utilized to investigate the effect of viscosity ratio on the morphology and mechanical properties of PET/iPP microfibrillar blend. The morphological observation shows that the viscosity ratio is closely associated to the size of dispersed phase droplets in the original blends, and accordingly greatly affects the microfibrillation of PET. Lower viscosity ratio is favorable to formation of smaller and more uniform dispersed phase particles, thus leading to finer microfibrils with narrower diameter distribution. Addition of a compatibilizer, poly propylene-grafted-glycidyl methacrylate (PP-g-GMA), can increase the viscosity ratio and decrease the interfacial tension between PET and iPP, which tends to decrease the size of PET phase in the unstretched blends. After stretched, the aspect ratio of PET microfibrils in the compatibilized blends is considerably reduced compared to the uncompatibilized ones. The lower viscosity ratio brought out higher mechanical properties of the microfibrillar blends. Compared to the uncompatibilized microfibrillar blends, the tensile, flexural strength and impact toughness of the compatibilized ones are all improved.     

Synthesis and degradation of nontoxic biodegradable waterborne polyurethanes elastomer with poly(ε-caprolactone) and poly(ethylene glycol) as soft segment

In this study, in order to obtain waterborne polyurethanes (WBPUs) with biocompatibility, biodegradability as well as good mechanical properties, a series of nontoxic cross-linked waterborne polyurethanes were designed and synthesized with isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), 1,4-butandiol (BDO) and l-lysine without any other organic agent involved in the whole synthetic process. The bulk structures and properties were characterized by DSC, IR and Instron, mainly focused on the effect of amount of PEG. Their corresponding biodegradability was examined with Lipase AK. The result showed that the prepared waterborne polyurethanes had very good tensile properties, allowing them to be well used as biomaterials. And the change of tensile properties with increasing of amount of PEG in the polymers could be assigned to the change of microphase separation, as indicated by DSC and IR data. A quite good biodegradability was achieved as judged from the change of tensile properties as a function of time. The current work demonstrated a new synthetic approach that can be more promising to prepare both nontoxic and biodegradable polyurethanes for soft tissue engineering applications or drug delivery.     

1,2-丁二醇共聚对聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯结晶行为及力学性能的影响

为了探索生物基乙二醇中的1,2-丁二醇(1,2-BDO)作为共聚单体对生物基聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯(PET)的结晶行为和力学性能的影响。 本文合成了生物基PET均聚物和不同1,2-BDO共聚单元摩尔分数的系列生物基PET共聚物(共聚单体摩尔分数分别为2.0%、2.7%和5.6%),并采用傅里叶变换红外光谱仪(FTIR)、差示扫描量热仪(DSC)和力学测试等技术手段研究了其结晶行为和力学性能。 结果表明,随着1,2-BDO共聚单元摩尔分数的增加,PET共聚物的熔融温度、结晶速率及结晶度均明显降低,表明1,2-BDO共聚单体的引入破坏了PET分子链的规整性,阻碍了PET链段的结晶。 PET材料的拉伸强度随着1,2-BDO共聚单元摩尔分数的增加而降低,而弯曲强度和弯曲模量略有升高。     

Making polymer concrete and polymer mortar using synthesized unsaturated polyester resins from poly(ethylene terephthalate) waste

Depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, waste was studied in the presence of manganese acetate catalyst and propylene glycol (PG) at different weight ratios. The glycolyzed products were analyzed for hydroxyl value and the amount of free glycol. A series of unsaturated polyesters based on the glycolyzed products, maleic anhydride and styrene, were prepared. Molecular weights and curing behavior of these polyesters were determined. Polymer concrete (PC) and polymer mortars (PM) made with these resins were investigated for their compressive strength. It has been found that the properties of PC and PM obtained from resins based on recycled PET are comparable to PC and PM made from virgin materials.     

Oxygen‐barrier properties of cold‐drawn polyesters

The improvement of oxygen‐barrier properties of glassy polyesters by orientation was examined. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(ethylene naphthalate), and a copolymer based on PET in which 55 mol % of the terephthalate was replaced with bibenzoate (PET‐BB55) were oriented by constrained uniaxial stretching. In a fairly narrow window of stretching conditions near the glass‐transition temperature, it was possible to achieve uniform extension of the polyesters without crystallization or stress whitening. The processes of orientation and densification correlated with the conformational transformation of glycol linkages from gauche to trans. Oxygen permeability, diffusivity, and solubility decreased with the amount of orientation. A linear relationship between the oxygen solubility and polymer specific volume suggested that the cold‐drawn polyester could be regarded as a one‐phase densified glass. This allowed an analysis of oxygen solubility in accordance with free‐volume concepts of gas permeability in glassy polymers. Orientation was seen as the process of decreasing the amount of excess‐hole free volume and bringing the nonequilibrium polymer glass closer to the equilibrium (zero‐solubility) condition. Cold drawing most effectively reduced the free volume of PET‐BB55. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 862–877, 2002     

Industrially produced PET nanocomposites with enhaced properties for food packaging applications

Gas permeation of polymers is one of the important factors to be considered in the selection of materials for many packaging applications, such as modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for foods. Poly (ethylene therephthalate) (PET) is known to exhibit very low gas permeation compared with most polymers such as polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene. However, MAP applications require better barrier performance than that of PET. In the present work PET trays reinforced with organically modified sepiolite, fibrillar nanoclay, have been produced at industrial processes. Permeability to water vapour, oxygen and carbon dioxide has been studied in PET nanocomposites as well as their microstructure through transmission electron and scanning electronic microscopy (TEM and SEM), and their mechanical properties. Results show a better performance in barrier properties as well as an increase in tensile strength, and impact resistance when the sepiolite content is lower than 2.5%.