Novel Cationic Gemini Surfactants Based on Piperazine: Synthesis,Surface Activity,and Foam Ability

A series of novel Gemini surfactants C_n-pi-C_n with piperazine moiety as spacer was synthesized and characterized by IR, ¹H NMR, and mass spectra. Their surface activities were evaluated by surface tension, electrical conductivity, and steady-state fluorescence. The obtained results indicated that the synthesized Gemini surfactants exhibited lower critical micelle concentration (cmc) and surface tension (γ_cmc) compared with traditional surfactants. The steady-state fluorescence measurement and electrical conductivity were recorded to demonstrate the accuracy of cmc values. In addition, the micellization was evaluated using conductivity measurement in the temperature range of 298–308 K. The foamability and foam stability of these Gemini surfactants were also examined. In which, the Gemini surfactant with the shortest chain (C₁₂) showed the best foamability but the poorest foam stability. Hydrophile–lipophile balance and emulsifying ability were studied and a comparatively poor emulsifying ability displayed.     

Simulation of the densification of real open-celled foam microstructures

Ubiquitous in nature and finding applications in engineering systems, cellular solids are an increasingly important class of materials. Foams are an important subclass of cellular solids with applications as packing materials and energy absorbers due to their unique properties. A better understanding of foam mechanical properties and their dependence on microstructural details would facilitate manufacture of tailored materials and development of constitutive models for their bulk response. Numerical simulation of these materials, while offering great promise toward furthering understanding, has also served to convincingly demonstrate the inherent complexity and associated modeling challenges.The large range of deformations which foams are subjected to in routine engineering applications is a fundamental source of complication in modeling the details of foam deformation on the scale of foam struts. It requires accurate handling of large material deformations and complex contact mechanics, both well established numerical challenges. A further complication is the replication of complex foam microstructure geometry in numerical simulations. Here various advantages of certain particle methods, in particular their compatibility with the determination of three-dimensional geometry via X-ray microtomography, are exploited to simulate the compression of “real” foam microstructures into densification. With attention paid to representative volume element size, predictions are made regarding bulk response, dynamic effects, and deformed microstructural character, for real polymeric, open-cell foams. These predictions include a negative Poisson's ratio in the stress plateau, and increased difficulty in removing residual porosity during densification.     

Nanoscale coatings for control of interfacial bonds and nanotube growth

This paper describes the usefulness of nanoscale coatings in improving some engineering materials having porous and uneven surfaces (microcellular foam, nanofibers, nanotubes, etc.). It is shown that 3-5 nm coatings deposited in microwave plasma can influence crucial properties for a wide variety of applications. Two coatings resulting in opposite chemistries have been studied, an oxide layer that increases surface reactivity_, and a similar fluorocarbon layer that makes it inert. In-depth atomic level microscopic and spectroscopic investigations of nucleation and growth of these layers on various substrates have been reported earlier. The effectiveness of such coatings in modifying bond strength, wettability and catalytic activity of various porous and uneven carbon surfaces have been shown here. The following influences of nanoscale functional coatings have been elaborated upon: (a) modification of carbon-polymer interfaces (b) controlled metallization of carbon (c) influence of nano-coatings on catalytic activity, for formation of carbon nanotubes on larger structures.     

Mini ozonizer for instant production of ozone required for oxidation reactions and its application in the foam flotation-separation technique

The fabrication of a mini ozonizer and its application in the foam flotation-separation technique are described. The system rapidly generates ozone for instant use in small-scale oxidation processes. Its application to the separation of Ce(III) from an alkaline solution is demonstrated.     

泡沫的稳定性及液晶对它的影响

泡沫体系的表面张力、粘度,表面粘度以及液晶相的存在对泡沫的稳定性皆有影响。消泡剂可改变上述性质。本文报导聚氧乙烯辛基酚(TritonX-100),十二烷基硫酸钠(SDS),油酸三乙醇胺(TEAOL)和卵磷脂等起泡剂在均相溶液及有液晶存在时产生泡沫的稳定性,观察硅油的消泡作用。     

淀粉类生物降解泡沫塑料的研究进展

淀粉类生物降解泡沫塑料是一种重要的环境友好材料,具有极其良好的发展前景。本文综述了近年来淀粉类生物降解泡沫塑料性能的研究进展。     

Enhancing cellulase foam fractionation with addition of surfactant

Foam fractionation cannot be used to recover cellulase from an aerated water solution effectively because cellulase by itself can produce only a small amount of foam. The addition of a surfactant can, however, increase the foamate volume and enhance the concentration of cellulase. We studied three detergents individually added to a 200 mg/L cellulase solution to promote foaming. These detergents were anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactants, respectively. Although contributing to foam production, it was observed that nonionic surfactant (Pluronic F-68) barely concentrated cellulase, leaving the enrichment ratio unchanged, near 1. With anionic surfactant, sodium dedecyl sulfate, and cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), the enrichment ratio became much larger, but cellulase denaturation occurred, reducing the activity of the enzyme. When CTAB was used to help foam cellulase, β-cyclodextrin was subsequently added to the foamate to help restore the enzyme activity.     

Anisotropic and heterogeneous thermal expansion of polyethylene foam blocks: Effect of thermal treatments

Crosslinked closed cell polyethylene foams produced in blocks by compression moulding present an anisotropic and heterogeneous thermal expansion behaviour when the temperature is increased. This paper analyses the main reason for this particular behaviour and presents a way to reduce it by using thermal treatments.In order to perform this analysis, an experimental study on the cellular structure, lamellar distribution and thermal expansion is presented as a function of two kinds of thermal treatments. The experimental results have showed that the main factor controlling the foams thermal expansion is an anisotropic and heterogeneous cellular structure of the original foams. It has been also proved that an adequate thermal treatment allows homogenising the foams thermal expansion.     

Spreading of oil from protein stabilised emulsions at air/water interfaces

Spreading of a drop of an emulsion made with milk proteins on air/water interfaces was studied. From an unheated emulsion, all oil molecules could spread onto the air/water interface, indicating that the protein layers around the oil globules in the emulsion droplet were not coherent enough to withstand the forces involved in spreading. Heat treatment (90 °C) of emulsions made with whey protein concentrate (WPC) or skim milk powder reduced the spreadability, probably because polymerisation of whey protein at the oil/water interface increased the coherence of the protein layer. Heat treatment of emulsions made with WPC and monoglycerides did not reduce spreadability, presumably because the presence of the monoglycerides at the oil/water interface prevented a substantial increase of coherence of the protein layer. Heat treatment of caseinate-stabilised emulsions had no effect on the spreadability. If proteins were already present at the air/water interface, oil did not spread if the surface tension (γ) was <60 mN/m. We introduced a new method to measure the rate at which oil molecules spread from the oil globules in the emulsion droplet by monitoring changes in γ at various positions in a ‘trough’. The spreading rates observed for the various systems agree very well with the values predicted by the theory. Spreading from oil globules in a drop of emulsion was faster than spreading from a single oil drop, possibly due to the greater surface tension gradient between the oil globule and the air/water interface or to the increased oil surface area. Heat treatment of an emulsion made with WPC did not affect the spreading rate. The method was not suitable for measuring the spreading rate at interfaces where surface active material is already present, because changes in γ then were caused by compression of the interfacial layer rather than by the spreading oil.     

Improving chemical recycling rate by reclaiming polyurethane elastomer from polyurethane foam

Flexible polyurethane foam was decomposed into a polyol mixture by an extruder with diethanolamine (DEA) as a decomposing agent. The resulting decomposed product could be used as an alternative virgin polyol in reclaiming polyurethane. In the case of reclaiming elastomer by using the decomposed product without any purification, virgin polyol could be alternated by the decomposed product up to 80%. It is a great improvement compared with the reclamation to foam, whose percentage was maximum 5%. Furthermore, the percentage could be improved up to 100% by purifying the decomposed product. We have found that physical properties of reclaimed polyurethane elastomer, such as tensile strength, hardness, and elongation, can be regulated by the ratio of unrefined/refined polyol. Whereas the tensile strength and the hardness increased as the content increased, the elongation decreased.