Thermokinetic characteristics of lithium chloride

The characterisation of the ionic compound of lithium chloride, LiCl, through XRD, SEM, DSC, TG, DTG and TG-MS analysis is reported. The results show that nominally anhydrous LiCl particles can readily absorb water from the ambient atmosphere to form a surface layer of lithium chloride mono-hydrate, LiCl·H₂O. Solid surface-hydrated LiCl is de-dehydrated via a two-stage mechanism at low heating rates and via a single-stage mechanism at high heating rates. Molten LiCl exhibits substantial evaporation at temperatures below its nominal boiling point, with the rate of evaporation increasing significantly before complete evaporation occurs. The melting process of de-hydrated LiCl is marginally affected by the heating rate; whilst the evaporation process is strongly affected by the heating rate and also dependent on the quantity of material used and the flow rate of the gas passed over it. Heating of surface-hydrated LiCl up to the point of evaporation under a flow of argon and under a flow of ambient air gives identical results, proposing the possibility of performing LiCl-based processes in an air environment. The enthalpies and activation energies for the processes of surface de-hydration, melting, and high-temperature evaporation are determined. The results are consistent with the following thermal phase evolution:

$ [{\text{LiCl + LiCl}} \cdot {\text{H}}_{{\text{2}}} {\text{O}}]_{{{\text{solid}}}} \to [{\text{LiCl}}]_{{{\text{solid}}}} \to [{\text{LiCl}}]_{{{\text{liquid}}}} \mathop\rightarrow\limits^{{{{\text{H}}_{{\text{2}}} {\text{O}} \downarrow {\text{ HCl}} \uparrow}}}[{\text{LiCl-LiOH}}]_{{{\text{liquid}}}} \mathop\rightarrow\limits^{{{{\text{H}}_{{\text{2}}} {\text{O}} \uparrow}}}[{\text{LiCl-Li}}_{{\text{2}}} {\text{O}}]_{{{\text{liquid}}}} \to {\text{Gas}} $

     

Synthesis and characterization of multiblock copolyesters containing poly(dimethylsiloxane) in the soft segments

Synthesis and thermal properties of poly(aliphatic/aromatic-ester) copolymers containing additionally poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) chains in the soft segments are discussed. A two step method of transesterification and polycondensation from the melt was carried out in a presence of magnesium-titanate catalyst. An aliphatic dimer fatty acid was used as a component of the soft segments while poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) constituted the hard blocks. Effectiveness of the incorporation of PDMS into polymer chain was confirmed by the Soxhlet extraction and infrared spectroscopy of an excess of 1,4-butane diol destilled off from the polycondensation reaction. Multiblock copolymers showed microphase separation as determined by differential scanning calorimetry. Incorporation of a small amount of PDMS (up to 14.5 wt.-%) into polymer chain containg low concentration of hard segments of PBT lead to decrease in crystallinity of such copolymers. This may indicate that semicrystalline PBT are dissolved in the amorphous matrix of the soft segments.