High breakdown strength and low loss binary polymer blends of poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene‐chlorofluoroethylene) and poly(methyl methacrylate)

Dielectric materials with high breakdown strength and low loss are of crucial importance in capacitive energy storage electronics. Herein, a kind of polymer blend composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene‐chlorofluoroethylene) ferroelectric terpolymer and linear dielectric poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is presented. The polymer blend shows a breakdown strength of 733 MV/m and a charge‐discharge efficiency over 90% at 200 MV/m with optimized PMMA content, which are 101% and 28% higher than that of neat terpolymer. Moreover, microsecond discharge time of 2.26 μs, along with a power density that is 3.6 times that of the current commercially available biaxially oriented polypropylene, as well as great cyclic performance, has been achieved under an electric field of 200 MV/m. The findings of this research demonstrate that the incorporation of linear dielectric PMMA into poly(vinylidene fluoride)‐based ferroelectric polymer provides a new strategy in designing high breakdown strength low loss dielectric materials for reliable compact flexible film capacitors.     

Dielectric spectroscopic analysis of polyvinyl chloride nanocomposites loaded with Fe2O3 nanocrystals

Iron oxide (α‐Fe₂O₃) nanocrystals powder was successfully synthesized via the sol‐gel method. The microstructural examination of the synthesized nanocrystals confirmed the formation of α‐Fe₂O3 (hematite) structure using X‐ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared. The synthesized nano‐hematite powder with different weight percentage up to 5 wt% was introduced to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to fabricate PVC/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites using the solution‐cast technique. The dielectric spectroscopic analysis for the investigated samples has been studied at room temperature and at different temperatures up to 120°C. The real part of the permittivity (ε^′) exhibited a significant dependence on filler concentrations throughout whole temperature range. However, the dependency of both of the loss tangent (tanδ ) and AC conductivity (σ_ac) on filler concentrations is more pronounced at temperatures higher than room temperature. The obtained values of tan δ for the investigated nancomposites referred to the α‐relaxation around 70°C, which is close to glass transition temperature of the investigated PVC. The dependency of the dielectric strength on Fe₂O₃ nanofiller concentration was observed with enhancement in the dielectric strength reach to 20.5% for PVC/0.7 wt% Fe₂O₃ nanocomposite higher than the recorded value for the pristine PVC.     

Surface functionalizing effect of fillers on the tribological properties of MWCNT reinforcement HSGFs/phenolic laminate composites under water lubrication

Multi‐wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and high strength glass fabrics (HSGFs) were modified by polydopamine and polyethyleneimine, respectively. The aim is to improve the friction and wear performance of the synthesized laminate composites in water environment. In this work, polydopamine was used to improve the dispersibility of MWCNTs in phenolic resin matrix, and polyethyleneimine was utilized to enhance the wettability and reactivity of HSGFs. The modified results showed that the dispersibility of MWCNTs treated by polydopamine in water had a distinct improvement in comparison with that of the pristine MWCNTs. Furthermore, it can be clearly observed that good dispersibility can improve the friction and wear performance of the laminate composites. After functionalizing HSGFs by polyethyleneimine, the laminate composites exhibited excellent interfacial bonding, also greatly enhancing the friction and wear properties of the composites.     

Branching exclusion process on a strip

We consider a model of stochastically interacting particles on an infinite strip of ²; in this model, known as a branching exclusion process, particles jump to each empty neighboring site with rate /4 and also can create a new particle with rate 1/4 at each one of these sites. The initial configuration is assumed to have a rightmost particle and we study the process as seen from the rightmost vertical line occupied. We prove that this process has exactly one invariant measure with the property thatH, the number of empty sites to the left of the rightmost particle, has an exponential moment. This refines a result presented by Bramson {eaet al.}, who proved that ford=1,H is finite with probability 1.     

Tensile strengths and Young’s modulus of thin copper and copper-nickel (CuNi44) substrates

In this paper we report a method to determine tensile strengths and Young’s modulus of cubic biaxial textured metal tapes used as substrate materials for coated conductors (CC). Simplicity, rapidity and reproducibility of the procedure are important for the evaluation of continuous in-house productions. Our approach is based on the EN 10002-1 B tensile test method. A key role for satisfactory results is the sample preparation of 100–250 μm thick tapes, which will be described in detail. Copper (E-Cu57) can be successfully transformed to cubic biaxial textured substrates. Best results were achieved by annealing between 750°C and 850°C in reducing atmosphere. Best FWHM values for the ψ scan are 5.51° and for the ϕ scan are 4.5°. Pole figure analysis verified the sharp {001} <100> texture of the tape. Vickers hardness measurements (HV 0.1) for the cold worked material yielded values of 135 and for the annealed tape, values of 37. The ultimate tensile yield strength Rm of the textured substrate is 150 MPa and thus significantly lower than that for the cold worked material (413 MPa). Cubic biaxial substrates could be manufactured from Isotan CuNi44 (WM49) bars. Best results were achieved by annealing at 1200°C in reducing atmosphere. Pole figure analysis verified the {001} <100> texture with other low intensity texture components. Vickers hardness measurements (HV 0.1) for the cold worked material yielded values of 236 and for the annealed tape values of 92. The ultimate tensile yield strength R _m of the textured substrate is 300 MPa and thus significantly lower than that for the cold worked material (723 MPa).      

Thermal analysis and static strength of polyurethanes obtained from glycolysates

In this work thermal stability and tensile strength of polyurethanes obtained from glycolysates was investigated. The glycolysates were produced via glycolysis of waste polyurethane foam (PUR) in the reaction with 1,3-propylene glycol (PG). Polyurethanes were synthesized from the obtained intermediates by the prepolymer method using diisocyanate (MDI) and glycolysis product of molecular mass ranging from 700 to 1000, while 1,4-butylene glycol (BDO) was used as a chain elongation agent. The influence of NCO group concentration in prepolymer on tensile strength and elongation at break of polyurethanes was investigated using Zwick universal tensile tester. Thermal decomposition of the obtained glycolysates and polyurethanes was followed by TG coupled with FTIR spectroscopy. The main products of thermal decomposition have been identified.     

On-line pretreatment and determination of parabens in cosmetic products by combination of flow injection analysis, solid-phase extraction and micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A convenient and automated method for on-line pretreatment and determination of three parabens (i.e. methyl, ethyl and propyl p-hydroxybenzoate) in cosmetic products is proposed by using flow injection analysis (FIA), solid-phase extraction (SPE) and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). An improved split–flow interface is used to couple SPE on C₈-bonded silica with MEKC separation, which can avoid running buffer contamination and reduce buffer consumption, especially, containing expensive reagents. The analytes are loaded onto a C₈ column at 0.6 mL/min for 60 s and eluted with a mixed eluent of 40% (v/v) 10 mmol/L sodium tetraborate buffer (pH 9.3) and 60% (v/v) ethanol at 0.75 mL/min. The MEKC separation is accomplished with a running buffer of 20 mmol/L sodium tetraborate (pH 9.3) containing 100 mmol/L sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) at 15 kV. For butyl p-hydroxybenzoate did not be detected in the cosmetic products, it was used as an internal standard (IS) added into the real samples. This FIA–SPE–MEKC method using IS allows the sample separation within 12 min and the sample throughput of five samples per hour with the relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) less than 2.3% (n = 5). The limits of detection (LOD) are in the range from 0.07 to 0.1 μg/mL (S/N = 3 and n = 11). The proposed method has been used to determine three parabens in real cosmetic products satisfactorily.     

Effect of carbon fiber surface treatments on the flexural strength and tribological properties of short carbon fiber/polyimide composites

Pitch‐based short carbon fibers (CFs) were treated by air oxidation and cryogenic nitrogen, respectively. Thereafter the treated and untreated CFs were incorporated into polyimide (PI) matrix to form composites. The CFs before and after treatment were examined by XPS and SEM.The flexural strength of the specimen was determined in a three‐point test machine and the tribological properties of PI composites sliding against GCr15 steel rings were evaluated on an M‐2000 model ring‐on‐block test rig. The results show that the surface of the treated CFs became rougher. Lots of active groups formed on the CF surface after air oxidation.The treatment can effectively improve the mechanical and tribological properties in their PI composites due to the enhanced fiber‐matrix interfacial bonding. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

光刻蚀法制备水凝胶微图案及其应用

采用光刻技术, 通过光引发单体聚合, 在硅烷化破片表面原位制备水凝胶微图案. 该法简便易行, 无需复杂的仪器设备和操作过程, 且所制微图案具有较好的稳定性. 通过细胞微图案化和液滴微结构制备展示了该技术的实用性和潜在的应用方向.