STUDY ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF POLYVINYL CHLORIDE/POLYSTYRENE BLENDS BY ELECTRON MICROPROBE ANALYSIS*

The morphology of polyvinyl chloride/polystyrene (PVC/PS) blend samples with different mass ratios, preparedby means of solution casting and melt mixing, have been successfully examined by electron microprobe analysis (EMP). Thisexperiment was performed in a scanning electron microscope attached to an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer. Differentialscanning calorimetry was also used to investigate the phase separation of the blends. The results show that PVC and PS areincompatible and the blends have sea-islands phase structures. Blends prepared via melt mixing have finer phase-dispersionthan those prepared via solution casting.     

THE NATURE OF MOLTEN-SALT-LIQUID-METAL SOLUTIONS

The microscopic structure of certain molten-salt-liquid-metal solutions has been investigated by quantum chemical method. It is indicated that (ⅰ) Li_(n 1)~(n ) or Li_(n 2)~(n ) ions form in Li-LiF melt. The valence electrons of Li atoms delocalize into all vacant orbitals of neighboring cations; (ⅱ) lithium fluoride, dissolving in liquid lithium, forms F~- ions in liquid metal, and the vacant orbitals of Li~ ions of the salt take part in the delocalization with the electrons of metallic bond. It is this delocalizatin energy that makes this solution thermodynamically stable; (ⅲ) Mg_2~(2 ) is unstable as compared with Mg~ or Mg_2~ . The experimental results of mass-spectroscopy also indicate the existence of Mg~ abd Mg_2~ , but not Mg_2~(2 ). The state of Mg dissolving in molten salt is discussed based on the results mentioned above.     

FRACTAL CHARACTER OF PHASE MORPHOLOGY OF HIGH IMPACT POLYSTYRENE/POLY（cis-BUTADIENE） RUBBER BLENDS

Evolution and fractal character of the phase morphology of high impact polystyrene/poly（cis-butadiene） rubber （HIPS/PcBR） blends during melting and mixing were investigated using scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The characteristic length L was defined as the size of particles of the dispersed phase in blends. Different fractal dimensions, Df and Din, were introduced to study the distribution width of phase dimensions in the dimensionless region and the uniformity of the spatial distribution of particles, respectively. The results showed that the average characteristic length Lm and Df increase as the volume fraction of the dispersed phase increases, when the volume fraction of the dispersed phase is lower than 50%. In other words, the size of particles increases and their distribution in the dimensionless region becomes more uniform. Meanwhile, the uniformity of the spatial distribution becomes more perfect as the volume fraction increases. At a certain composition, Lm decreases in the initial stage of the mixing and levels off in the late stage. In the initial stage, Df becomes large rapidly with the process of blending, which means that the distribution of L in the dimensionless region becomes more uniform. Meanwhile, the spatial distribution tends to be ideal rapidly in the early stage and fluctuates in a definite range in the late stage of the mixing.     

Molecular weight distribution of A_2-B_2 type condensation polymers in the presence of capping monomer C

The molecular weight distribution of A2-B2 type condensation polymers in the presence of capping monomer C has been derived with statistical calculation and Monte Carlo simulation methods. The Monte Carlo simulation result agrees with that of statistical calculation. The number distribution function and weight distribution function of seven types of molecules existing in A2-B2-C system have been obtained. The effect of reactivity of capping monomer C on these distributions are discussed.     

SCATTERING FUNCTION OF POLYMER BLENDS

For a system of flexible polymer molecules, the concepts of two concentrations, namely the segmental and the molecular concentrations, have been proposed in this paper. The former is equivalent to the volume fraction. The latter can be defined as the number of the gravity centers of macromolecules in a unit volume. The two concentrations should be correlated with each other by the conformational function of the polymer chain and should be discussed in different thermodynamic equations. On the basis of these concepts it has been proved that the Flory-Huggins entropy of mixing should be the result of the mixing “ideal gases of the gravity centers of macromolecules“. The general correlation between the free energy of mixing and the scattering function (structural factor) of polymer blends has been studied based on the general fluctuation theory. When the Flory-Huggins free energy of mixing is adopted, the de Gennes scattering function of a polymer blend can be derived.     

A pneumatic micromixer facilitating fluid mixing at a wide range flow rate for the preparation of quantum dots

A novel fluid micromixer based on pneumatic perturbation and passive structures was developed. This micromixer facilitates integration and is applicable to fluid mixing over a wide range of flow rates. The microfluidic mixing device consists of an S-shaped structure with two mixing chambers and two barriers, and two pneumatic chambers designed over the S-shaped channel. The performance of the micromixer for fluids with wide variation of flow rates was significantly improved owing to the integration of the pneumatic mixing components with the passive mixing structures. The mixing mechanism of the passive mixing structures was explored by numerical simulation, and the influencing factors on the mixing efficiency were investigated. The results showed that when using a gas pressure of 0.26 MPa and a 100 m-thick polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pneumatic diaphragm, the mixing of fluids with flow rates ranging from 1 to 650 L/min was achieved with a pumping frequency of 50 Hz. Fast synthesis of CdS quantum dots was realized using this device. Smaller particles were obtained, and the size distribution was greatly improved compared with those obtained using conventional methods.     

Chemical-physical aspects of formation and evolution of phase structure in multi-polymers: Intensity fluctuation, phase structure and its fractal characteristics in blends of isotactic polypropylene with poly(cis-1,4-butadiene) rubber

This paper studies the formation and evolution of phase structure of isotactic polypropylene/poly(cis-1,4-butadiene) (iPP/PcBR) blends during molten and mixing in a visual mixer by on-line analysis of the small angle light back scattering. The density fluctuation of iPP/PcBR blends during molten and mixing is discussed using the integral-intensity Js, of the scattering intensity of the blends. The "invariant" Q, which shows fluctuation of the system, is calculated by data of the small angle light back scattering, and the variation of Q with the blending time, temperature and shear rate during molten and mixing in iPP/PcBR blends is discussed. The structure parameters which characterize dimensions of phase in the blends, as the correlation distance ac, and the average chord lengths of two-phase, as li PP and lP cBR, are calculated by data of scattering intensity. The average diameters dp of dispersed phases are calculated from SEM images. The variation of ac, dp, li PP and lP cBR with the blending time and compositions in the blends during molten and mixing is discussed. The scale law is analyzed to find multi-scale characteristics in this system. The generalized fractal dimension Dp is calculated and the relation of Dp with generalized entropy function is discussed to determine that Dp is state function and the physical significance of Dp is the same as that of the generalized entropy function.     

One-step process to make electrically conductive thermoplastic vulcanizates filled with MWCNTs

Electrically conductive thermoplastic vulcanizates(TPVs) filled by multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs) are prepared by a simple one-step melt mixing process,based on linear low density polyethylene(LLDPE) and ultrafme full-vulcanized rubber particles(UFRP).An ideal morphology with controlled localization of MWCNTs in continuous LLDPE matrix and appropriate size of finely-dispersed UFRP can be achieved at the same time.The controlled localization of MWCNTs in the continuous phase facilitates the formation of conductive pathway,and thus the volume resistivity of the as-prepared LLDPE/UFRP/MWCNTs thermoplastic vulcanizates is significantly decreased.The results show that both the blend ratio of LLDPE/UFRP and the loading of MWCNTs have remarkable effect on the volume resistivity.Significantly, the electrically conductive TPVs exhibit good mechanical properties duo to the fine dispersion of UFRP in LLDPE.The added MWCNTs are capable of imparting reinforcement effects to thermoplastic vulcanizates with just a slight loss of stretchability and elasticity.     

PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE(SPI)/MONTMORILLONITE(MMT) BIONANOCOMPOSITES

 The bionanocomposites of soy protein isolate (SPI)/montmorillonite (MMT) have been prepared successfully via simple melt mixing, in which MMT was used as nanofiller and glycerol was used as plasticizer. Their structures and properties were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis and tensile testing. XRD、TEM and SEM results indicated that the MMT layers could be easily intercalated by the SPI matrix even by simple melt processing. The exfoliated MMT layers were randomly dispersed in the protein matrix as MMT content was low (less than 5 wt%), an incomplete exfoliation was evident from SEM results, and some primary particles were observed as the MMT content was high (from 5 wt% to 9 wt%). A significant improvement of the mechanical strength and thermal stability of SPI/MMT nanocomposites has been achieved. Our work suggests that simple melt processing is an efficient way to prepare SPI/MMT nanocomposites with exfoliated structure.     

Electrochemical Co-reduction of Bi(Ⅲ)and Y(Ⅲ)and Extracting Yttrium from Molten LiCl-KCl Using Liquid Bi as Cathode

The electrochemical reaction of Bi(Ⅲ)and co-reduction behaviour of Bi(Ⅲ)and Y(Ⅲ)ions were researched in molten LiCl-KCl on a ttmgsten(W)electrode employing a range of electrochemical teclmiques.Cyclic voltammetric and square-wave voltanunetric results revealed that the reduction of Bi(Ⅲ)was a one-step process,with the exchange of three electrons on a W electrode,and diffusion-controlled.The electrochemical curves showed two reduction peaks pertaining to the formation of Bi-Y alloy compounds,because of the co-reduction of Bi(Ⅲ)and Y(Ⅲ) by metallic Y deposited on the pre-deposited Bi-coated W electrode and reacting with Bi metal in molten LiCl-KCl. Furthermore,galvanostatic electrolysis was conducted using liquid Bi as cathode to extract yttrium at different current intensities,and the extractive products were analyzed by SEM,EDS and XRD.The results indicated that BiY intermetallic compotmd was formed in the molten LiCl-KCl-YCl3 system.     

Catalytic Kinetics of the Schiff Base Metal Complexes Bearing Side Chain of Cyclic morpholine in Carboxylic Ester Hydrolysis

It has been reported that two Schiff base transition metal complexes bearing the side chain of the morpholine ring were synthesized and characterized, and two complexes with the same base agent but different metal ions were used as a simulant hydrolase in the catalytic hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl picolinate in this paper. The mechanism of PNPP catalytic hydrolysis is proposed and supported by the results of the spectral analysis and the kinetic calculation. A kinetic mathematical model, applied to the calculation of the kinetic and thermodynamics parameters of PNPP catalytic hydrolysis, has been established on the foundation of the mechanism proposed. The result of the study shows that the two complexes have a good catalytic activity in PNPP catalytic hydrolysis, and the rate of the PNPP catalytic hydrolysis was increased with the increase of the pH values in the buffer solution and affected by the polarization effect of metal ion of the complexes.     

A Study of the Reaction Dynamics for the H+BrCH_3 System Using Quasi-classical Trajectory Theory

In the present paper, scattering probabilities and rate constants of different channels for the H + BrCH_3 reaction system have been calculated by means of quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) method. Several important kinetic effects such as vibrational enhancement, channel competition, vibrational adiabaticity, mass combination, coupling of angular momenta and the relation between the kinetic effects and the feature of the potential energy surface have been discussed. Based on these analyses, a direct-type rebonded mechanism for this reaction has been inferred and used to explain the nonsymmetric angular distribution of the products crossed-molecular beam experiment. The agreement of calculation with experimental results is satisfactory.     

FT-Raman Spectroscopic Studies on the Interaction of Metal Ions With Sphingomyelin Bilayer

The interaction of trivalent lanthanide ions and divalent calcium ions with sph-'ngomyelm bilayer has been studied by FT-Raman spectroscopy.The results showed that the bonding of metal ions to the phosphate group of sphingomyelin bi-iayer,either La3 or Ca2 did not change the conformation of the choline group,that is,O-C-C-N is still in its gauche conformation.The presence of metal ions changed the states of the interfacial region from liquid-like to amorphous state and even to crystalline.They increased the fluidity of acyl chains of sphingomyelin bilaver and made them packed disorderly.     

XPS SHAKE-UP AND HMO CALCULATION ON SOME CONJUGATED RING CARBON-HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS

XPS shake-up satellite peaks (XPS shake-up) and HMO calculations of some conjugatedring carbon-hydrogen compounds have been reported. The shake-up spacing and probabilityusing HMO calculation accord with XPS experimental results. The relation between shake-up transition of the excited atom and its chemical activity, namely, the order of its atomicfree valence, has been established.     

Preconcentration and Determination of Trace Amounts of Heavy Metals in Water Samples Using Membrane Disk and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A fast and simple method for preconcentration of Ni^2＋, Cd^2＋, Pb^2＋, Zn^2＋, Cu^2＋ and Co^2＋ from natural water samples was developed. The metal ions were complexed with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate （Na-DDTC）, then adsorbed onto octadecyl silica membrane disk, recovered and determined by FAAS. Extraction efficiency, influence of sample volume and eluent flow rates, effects of pH, amount of Na-DDTC, nature and amount of eluent for elution of metal ions from membrane disk, break through volume and limit of detection have been evaluated. The effect of foreign ions on the percent recovery of heavy metal ions has also been studied. The limit of detection of the proposed method for Ni^2＋, Cd^2＋, Pb^2＋, Zn^2＋, Cu^2＋ and Co^2＋was found to be 2.03, 0.47, 3.13, 0.44, 1.24 and 2.05 ng·mL^-1, respectively. The proposed （DDTC） method has been successfully applied to the recovery and determination of heavy metal ions in different water samples.     

Experimental determination and prediction of the compressibility factor of high CO_2 content natural gas with and without water vapor

In order to study the effect of different CO2 contents on gas compressibility factor(Z-factor),the JEFRI-PVT apparatus has been used to measure the Z-factor of dry natural gas with CO2 content range from 10.74 to 70.42 mol%at the temperature range from 301.2 to 407.3 K and pressure range from 7 to 44 MPa.The results show that Z-factor decreases with increasing CO2 content in natural gas at constant temperature and increases with increasing temperature for natural gas with the same CO2 content.In addition,the Z-factor of water-saturated natural gas with high CO2 content has been measured.A comparison of the Z-factor between natural gas with and without saturated water vapor indicates that the former shows a higher Z-factor than the latter.Furthermore,Peng-Robinson,Hall-Yarborough,and Soave-Benedict-Webb- Rubin equations of state(EoS)are used for the calculation of Z-factor of high CO2 content natural gas with and without water vapor.The optimal binary interaction parameters(BIP)for PR EoS are presented.The measured Z-factor is compared with the calculated Z-factor based on three models,which shows that PR EoS combined with van der Waals mixing rule for gas without water and Huron-Vidal mixing rule for water-saturated gas,are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Design and optimization of electrochemical cell potential for hydrogen gas production

This study deals with the optimization of best working conditions in molten melt for the production of hydrogen(H2) gas.Limited research has been carried out on how electrochemical process occurs through steam splitting via molten hydroxide.54 combinations of cathode,anode,temperature and voltage have been investigated for the optimization of best working conditions with molten hydroxide for hydrogen gas production.All these electrochemical investigations were carried out at 225 to 300℃ temperature and 1.5 to 2.5 V applied voltage values.The current efficiency of 90.5,80.0 and 68.6% has been achieved using stainless steel anodic cell with nickel,stainless steel and platinum working cathode respectively.For nickel cathode,an increase in the current directly affected the hydrogen gas flow rate at cathode.It can be hypothesized from the noted results that increase in current is directly proportional to operating temperature and applied voltage.Higher values were noted when the applied voltages increased from 1.5 to 2.5 V at 300℃,the flow rate of hydrogen gas increased from 1.5 to 11.3 cm³ min^-1,1.0 to 13 cm³ min^-1 in case of electrolysis@stainless steel and@graphite anode respectively.It is observed that the current efficiency of stainless steel anodic cell was higher than the graphite anodic cell.Therefore,steam splitting with the help of molten salts has shown an encouraging alternate to current methodology for H2 fuel production.     

Holographic Storage Properties of In：Fe：Mn：LiNbO3 Crystals

In:Fe:Mn:LiNbO3(LN) crystals were grown in air atmosphere by Czochralski method with different concentration of In (0,1,2,3 mol%) in the melts,while the contents of Fe2O3 and MnO were 0.1 and 0.5 mol%,respectively. The location of doping ions was analyzed by Ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra and differential thermal analysis. The diffraction efficiency (η),writing time (τw) and erasure time (τe) of the crystals were measured by two-beam coupling experiment. The dynamic range and photorefractive sensitivity have also been calculated. The results showed that with the increase of In ions in the melt,the absorption edge of In:Fe:Mn:LN crystal shifts to the violet firstly and then makes the Einstein shift,the Curie temperature of crystal increases firstly and then decreases,the storage ratio speeds up,diffraction efficiency decreases,and dynamic range and photorefractive sensitivity increase. The mechanism of holographic storage properties of In:Fe: Mn:LN crystal with different doping concentration of In3+ was investigated,suggesting the In: Fe:Mn:LN crystals are excellent holographic storage materiel with better synthetical properties than Fe:Mn:LN crystals.     

Studies on the Physical Properties of Alkanes Using Edge-adjacency Information Topological Index

Edge-adjacency index and information topological index for 82 molecules of alkanes nave been constructed and calculated. The topological indices were used to correlate with seven physical properties of the alkanes. Some empirical equations were obtained through regression. The regression and calculation results show a good agreement of the topological indices and the properties.     

纳米尺寸材料的结构和性质III：铁纳米粒子的结构和性质

Molecular dynamics computer simulation has been carded out to study the structure and physical properties of iron nanoparticles with 331 to 2133 Fe atoms or with diameter from 2.3 to 4.3 nm. The core of liquid nanodroplets has the similar structure of the bulk molten iron liquid that has an average coordination number around 10.5 and the packing density around 0.45, although the closest Fe-Fe distance is slightly longer in the bulk liquid. Most of the iron nanoparticles formed from the cooling of molten nanodroplets have the same body center cubic crystal structure as it was observed in the bulk under the normal temperature and pressure. Lattice contraction was observed for iron nanoparticles. An amorphous solid and an HCP like solid were obtained accidentally during the quenching runs on Fe331 nanoparticles. The physical properties of iron nanoparticles such as molar volume, density, thermal expansion coefficient, melting point, heat of fusion, heat capacity and diffusion coefficient were estimated based on the results obtained from this simulation. The dependence of physical properties on the nanoparticle sizes was addressed.