Facile fabrication of superhydrophobic surface with micro/nanoscale binary structures on aluminum substrate

The present work reports a simple method to produce the aluminum superhydrophobic surface based on an interface reaction between an aluminum foil and zinc aqueous solution. The products were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectrum. The field-emission scanning electron microscopy images show that the coating surface is composed of micro/nanoscale binary structure, which is similar to the structure of lotus leaf. The wettability of the coating surface was also investigated. It was found that after treatment with stearic acid, the wettability of the aluminum foil changed from superhydrophilic to water-repellent superhydrophobic. The complex micro/nanoscale binary structures along with the low surface energy lead to the high surface superhydrophobicity.     

Shape memory induced structural evolution of high performance copolyimides

In this work, two kinds of high temperature shape memory copolyimides were prepared and the shape memory cycles induced structural evolution of macromolecular chains was investigated in detail. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of poly(benzoxazole‐co‐imide) (PI1) and poly(benzimidazole‐co‐imide) (PI2) are 280 °C and 355 °C, respectively. The results show that PI1 could keep stable macromolecular chain structure under shape memory cycles and exhibit outstanding shape memory performance (R_f > 98%, R_r > 97%) under different stretch condition. Whereas, shape memory cycles induced orientation with more ordered macromolecular chains packing is formed for PI2 after several thermal mechanical cycles, which strongly affect physical crosslinking points, thermal mechanical properties as well as shape memory behaviors. The study on macroscopic property and microscopic structure evolution will promote a better understanding of the shape memory effect of polyimides and accelerate development of high performance polyimides for shape memory applications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 3858–3867     

Statistical inference in partially-varying-coefficient single-index model

Consider a varying-coefficient single-index model which consists of two parts: the linear part with varying coefficients and the nonlinear part with a single-index structure, and are hence termed as varying-coefficient single-index models. This model includes many important regression models such as single-index models, partially linear single-index models, varying-coefficient model and varying-coefficient partially linear models as special examples. In this paper, we mainly study estimating problems of the varying-coefficient vector, the nonparametric link function and the unknown parametric vector describing the single-index in the model. A stepwise approach is developed to obtain asymptotic normality estimators of the varying-coefficient vector and the parametric vector, and estimators of the nonparametric link function with a convergence rate. The consistent estimator of the structural error variance is also obtained. In addition, asymptotic pointwise confidence intervals and confidence regions are constructed for the varying coefficients and the parametric vector. The bandwidth selection problem is also considered. A simulation study is conducted to evaluate the proposed methods, and real data analysis is also used to illustrate our methods.     

Effects of atomic oxygen irradiation on structural and tribological properties of polyimide/Al2O3 composites

To understand the effects of atomic oxygen (AO) irradiation on the structural and tribological behaviors of polymer composites, polyimide/Al₂O₃ composites were irradiated with AO in a ground‐based simulation facility. The structural changes were characterized by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and attenuated total‐reflection FTIR, whereas the tribological changes were evaluated by friction and wear tests as well as scanning electron microscopy analysis of the worn surfaces. It was found that AO irradiation induced the oxidation and degradation of polyimide molecular chains, which increased the O concentration and decreased the C concentration in the composite surfaces. The destruction action of AO changed the surface chemical structure and morphology of the samples. Friction and wear tests indicated that AO irradiation decreased the friction coefficient but increased the wear rate of both pure and Al₂O₃ filled polyimides. In terms of the tribological properties, appropriate content of Al₂O₃ might be favorable for the improvement of tribological properties in AO environment. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Room temperature synthesis of water-repellent polystyrene nanocomposite coating

A stable superhydrophobic polystyrene nanocomposite coating was fabricated by means of a very simple and easy method. The coating was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectrum. The wettability of the products was also investigated. By adding the surface-modified SiO₂ nanoparticles, the wettability of the coating changed to water-repellent superhydrophobic, not only for pure water, but also for a wide pH range of corrosive liquids. The influence of the drying temperature and SiO₂ content on the wettability of the nanocomposite coating was also investigated. It was found that both factors had little or no significant effect on the wetting behavior of the coating surface.     

Semiparametric analysis based on weighted estimating equations for transformation models with missing covariates

Missing covariate data are very common in regression analysis. In this paper, the weighted estimating equation method (Qi et al., 2005) [25] is used to extend the so-called unified estimation procedure (Chen et al., 2002) [4] for linear transformation models to the case of missing covariates. The non-missingness probability is estimated nonparametrically by the kernel smoothing technique. Under missing at random, the proposed estimators are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal, with the asymptotic variance estimated consistently by the usual plug-in method. Moreover, the proposed estimators are more efficient than the weighted estimators with the inverse of true non-missingness probability as weight. Finite sample performance of the estimators is examined via simulation and a real dataset is analyzed to illustrate the proposed methods.     

Estimation in partially linear models with missing responses at random

A partially linear model is considered when the responses are missing at random. Imputation, semiparametric regression surrogate and inverse marginal probability weighted approaches are developed to estimate the regression coefficients and the nonparametric function, respectively. All the proposed estimators for the regression coefficients are shown to be asymptotically normal, and the estimators for the nonparametric function are proved to converge at an optimal rate. A simulation study is conducted to compare the finite sample behavior of the proposed estimators.     

Different responses of several kinds of copolymerized polyimide films to ultraviolet irradiation

The surfaces of three kinds of copolymerized polyimide films were irradiated by ultraviolet (UV) light. The chemical composition changes of the films after irradiation were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), while their topographical changes were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Besides, the surface topographical variation induced changes in friction behavior were recorded on a DF·PM unidirectional friction and wear test rig in a ball on block contact configuration. It was found that photodegradation took place, which induced the chain scission of the polyimide molecules and formation of low molecular weight oxidized material (LMWOM). Due to different photostability of the three kinds of polyimide, different chemical composition changes and forms of “LMWOM” were observed. Also, different friction behavior variations of the three kinds of polyimide films were recorded. It is thought that the polyimide film of PI (PPA + PMDA) with rod-like structures might have stronger photo-resistance, whose form of “LMWOM” was “nodules” and whose friction coefficient increased at 2 h of irradiation possibly due to cross-linking. In the case of PI (OPA + PMDA) and PI (MPA + PMDA) films, they mainly underwent photodegradation, which might soften the surfaces and increased the friction coefficients with increasing irradiation time.     

Friction and Wear Behaviors of the Polydimethylsiloxane Bishydroxyalkyl-Terminated Modified Polyurethane Composites Filled with the Barium Sulfate in Dry Friction and Water Lubrication

The addition of less than 20 wt% of approximate 1 micron barium sulfate (BaSO₄) into polyurethane (PU) composites modified by bishydroxyalkyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMSBH) resulted in increases in mechanical strength and thermal conductivity and, at the same time, resulted in improvements in the friction and wear properties of the polyurethane composites. These polyurethane composites were suitable for marine use for bearings at high load under dry friction and at fast sliding speed under water lubrication. Characterization with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and an MRH-3 ring-on-block wear tester indicated that the addition of BaSO₄ disrupts the organic phase separation in the polyurethane, resulting in better tribological properties, but there is no special chemical reaction between the particles and polyurethane. Adding too much BaSO₄ resulted in higher wear rate because of inorganic–organic phase separation.     

Structural and Tribological Properties of Polytetrafluoroethylene Composites Filled with Glass Fiber and Al2O3 in Atomic Oxygen Environment

Effects of atomic oxygen (AO) irradiation on the structural and tribological behaviors of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composites filled with both glass fibers and Al₂O₃ were investigated in a ground-based simulation facility, in which the average energy of AO was about 5 eV and the flux was 5.0 × 10¹⁵/cm² s. It was found that AO irradiation first induced the degradation of PTFE molecular chains on the sample surface, and then resulted in a change of surface morphology. The addition of Al₂O₃ filler significantly increased the AO resistance property of PTFE composites. Friction and wear tests indicated that AO irradiation affected the wear rate and increased the friction coefficient of specimens. The PTFE composite containing 10% Al₂O₃ exhibit the best AO resistance and lower wear rate after long time AO irradiation.