Self‐Toughening and Self‐Reinforcing Injection‐Molded Isotactic Polypropylene via Midfrequency Vibration Field

The effect of vibration frequency on the mechanical properties of general grade polypropylene (PP) prepared by two types of vibration injection molding (VIM) was investigated. With the application of vibration injection molding, the mechanical properties of isotactic PP are improved. The yield strength was upgraded with the increment of vibration frequency and a peak occurs at a particular frequency for each VIM. The elongation at break was also raised by increased vibration frequency, and the vibration frequency also improves impact strength. Self‐reinforcing and self‐toughening polypropylene molded parts were found at high vibration frequency. The wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) curves and scanning electronic micrograph (SEM) micrographs have shown that, in the vibration field, the enhancement of mechanical properties can be attributed to the occurrence of a γ‐phase crystalline structure and a more pronounced elongation in shape than obtained by conventional injection moldings. In addition, smaller crystals of the β‐phase crystal form improve toughness.     

The β Phase of Isotactic Polypropylene in TPVs Based on PP/EPDM

β‐Nucleating agent was added into maleic anhydride (MAH) compatiblized isotactic polypropylene (iPP)/ethylene‐propylene‐diene monomer (EPDM) blend systems, dynamically vulcanized by dicumyl peroxide (DCP). The β phase of iPP formed in TPVs was investigated by means of WAXD, and the effect of DCP content, MAH content and system viscosity on the β phase of iPP was also studied. With increasing DCP content, the MFR values of blend systems increased a little and then decreased, indicating that the DCP content showed a remarkable effect on the system viscosity. Also, with increasing MFR, the β phase content increased first and then decreased, while with increasing MAH content, the β phase content decreased sharply.     

Effect of Stretching on β-Phase Content of Isotactic Polypropylene Melt Containing β-Nucleating Agent

Pure isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and that containing 0.2 wt% of a β-nucleating agent (β-NA) were extruded through a slit die. Simultaneously, the extruded melt was stretched at the die exit with different stretching rates (SR). The change of β-phase content with different SR was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). The results indicate that, for pure iPP, the content of β-phase first increases with increasing SR till it reaches a maximum and then it gradually decreases. However, for the case of β-nucleated iPP, it decreases monotonously with increasing SR. The spatial confinement is considered as the best explanation for the suppression of β-phase in the nucleated iPP melt upon stretching.     

Crystallization of α and γ Phases in Isotactic Polypropylene with Low Ethylene Content: Isothermal Crystallization and Secondary Crystallization

Crystallization and melting behaviors of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) with low ethylene content during an isothermal process and on heating just after it are investigated by means of in situ x-ray diffraction. At every isothermal temperature investigated here, the formations of α and γ phases are confirmed. The ratio of γ to α increases with an increase in isothermal temperature. On heating just after the isothermal process, the γ starts melting at a lower temperature than the α. This may be due to the small crystallite size of the γ crystallization during the isothermal process. On cooling after the completion of the isothermal crystallization, the secondary crystallization accelerates, and the γ phase crystallizes predominantly. The fractionation is considered to occur in the primary crystallization during the isothermal process. The low-molecular-weight portion of the materials, which remained in amorphous regions of the spherulite during the isothermal process, crystallizes into the γ phase in the secondary crystallization. Furthermore, the fractionation behavior seems to be enhanced at higher temperatures.     

Effect of Metallic Salts of Malonic Acid on the Formation of β Crystalline Form in Isotactic Polypropylene

The effects of malonic acid and the lithium, sodium, potassium, zinc, magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium salts of malonic acid on the formation of β crystalline form in isotactic polypropylene at the crystallization temperatures 120 and 130°C have been investigated. It was found that malonic acid and the lithium, sodium, and potassium salts of malonic acid inhibit the formation of β crystalline form in polypropylene. Zinc malonate has a limited positive effect on the formation of β crystalline form, while magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium salts are β nucleating agents, in descending order. The decreased β nucleation abilities of the alkaline earth metallic salts of malonic acid are attributed to the increasing atomic radii of the combined metals and decreasing crystallization temperatures.     

The Morphology and Mechanical Properties of Isotactic Polypropylene Injection-Molded Samples with the Presence of β-Nucleation Agent and Periodical Shear Field

The pressure vibration injection molding (PVIM) method was used to prepare β-nucleated isotactic polypropylene samples (PVIM β-iPP samples); a relatively low, periodical shear was imposed on the polymer melt in the mold at the filling and packing stages. The crystal structures and crystal orientation of the PVIM β-iPP samples were investigated by polarizing light microscopy (PLM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and synchrotron two-dimensional wide-angle X-ray diffraction (2D-WAXD). The PLM observations indicated that a cylindrite layer, rather than the transition layer, was found in PVIM β-iPP samples, which is different from the conventional injection-molded (CIM) samples. In addition, the thickness of the oriented layer of the PVIM samples was obviously greater than that of the CIM samples. The SEM observations demonstrated that a large amount of shish-kebab structures appeared in the shear layer of the PVIM β-iPP samples; at the same time, numerous β-spherulites were formed in the core layer. The 2D-WAXD data indicated that orientation homogeneity, to some degree, could be obtained by the periodical shear during PVIM. As a result, the above-mentioned morphology of the PVIM β-iPP samples leads to potentially useful prominent reinforcement and toughening of the material.     

Phase Transition in β-nucleated Isotactic Polypropylene Induced by Combination of Annealing and High Pressure

The effects of annealing and high pressure on the microstructure of β-nucleated isotactic polypropylene (iPP) were investigated. Annealing treatment was carried out at different temperatures from 90–170°C under different pressure conditions, that is, atmospheric pressure and high pressures of 150, 250, and 350 MPa, respectively. The microstructure of the specimens was comparatively investigated through using wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Different from the common annealing treatment under atmospheric pressure, which induces the single-phase transition from metastable β-iPP to the more stable α-iPP (β→α) depending on the annealing temperatures, the application of high pressure induces not only the phase transition of β→α but also the phase transition of β→γ. Furthermore, the thermostability of β-iPP was improved greatly under high pressure. The higher the pressure applied, the smaller was the degree of the transition from β-iPP to α-iPP and/or γ-iPP. This work reports, for the first time, a novel crystalline morphology composed of β-iPP and γ-iPP.     

Effects of α/β Compound Nucleating Agents on Mechanical Properties and Crystallization Behaviors of Isotactic Polypropylene

Sodium 2,2’-methylene-bis (4,6-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphate (commercial name: Irgastab NA-11) and N,N’-dicyclohexylnaphthalene-2,6-dicarboxamide (commercial name: NU-100) are highly effective nucleating agents for α-isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and β-isotactic polypropylene (iPP) respectively. Effects of a total concentration of 0.2 wt% NA-11/NU-100 compound nucleating agents with different ratios of NU-100 on mechanical properties and crystallization behaviors of iPP were studied in this paper. The results showed that good balance between decreased stiffness and increased toughness of iPP was realized when the ratio of NU-100 was 50 wt%. Compared with those of virgin iPP, tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, and flexural modulus of iPP nucleated by the compound nucleating agent with 50 wt% NU-100 decreased by only 2.9%, 4.8%, 3.8% and 6.1% respectively, while the notched Izod impact strength of the nucleated iPP was increased by 212.8%. In addition, differential scanning calorimetry analysis results showed that addition of the NA-11/NU-100 compound nucleating agent increased the peak crystallization temperature of iPP significantly, but the crystallization rate of the nucleated iPP decreased with increasing ratio of NU-100 in compound nucleating agents.     

The Changes of Microstructure and Physical Properties of Isotactic Polypropylene/β Nucleation Agent/Polyolefin Elastomer Induced by Annealing Following Processing

Blends of isotactic polypropylene (iPP)/β nucleation agent (β-NA)/polyolefin elastomer (POE) were prepared by injection molding. The microstructure and mechanical properties of these blends before and after being annealed at various temperatures and times were studied. It was found that annealing simultaneously increased the tensile strength and impact strength. As known, the degree of orientation decreased from the skin layer to the core layer. The orientation of all layers decreased with the increase of annealing temperature and time. The results showed that annealing gave rise to chain rearrangement in both the crystalline and POE phases which, we suggest, played a crucial role in determining the mechanical properties of the blends.     

Numerical Modelling of Velocity and Temperature Distributions of the Buoyancy Convection Effect in KNbO3 Melt

Numerical Modelling of velocity and temperature fields in high-temperature KNbO3 melt of a loop-shaped Pt wire heater is carried out by using the commercial computational code ANSYS for the mathematical solution of the governing equations.Based on the experimental boundary conditions and the Boussinesq approximation,the numerical modelling of a steady and two-dimensional model is applied to study the process under consideration of the buoyancy-driven convection condition.The result is compared with the previous experimental and theoretical data obtained in our laboratory,and the former is in agreement with the latter.Thus a theoretical guide for reasonable growth conditions is provided by studying in depth the real fluid flow effects in the crystal growth from the melt.     

Effect of β-Nucleating Agent on the Crystallization,Mechanical Properties,and Heat Resistance of Injection-Molded Isotactic Polypropylene

Injection-molded β-isotactic polypropylene (β-iPP) was prepared with a commercial β-nucleating agent (NT-A). The effect of NT-A on the crystallization, mechanical properties, and heat resistance of β-iPP was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), polarized light microscopy (PLM), and mechanical and heat deflection tests. DSC and WAXD analysis showed that the content of β-crystals in the nucleated iPP was higher than that of pure iPP, and the content of β-crystals of the core was higher than that of the skin. PLM observations showed that injection-molded iPP had an obvious skin-core structure. NT-A induced abundant β-crystals and resulted in small spherulites which improved the Izod notched impact strength. When the content of NT-A was 0.075wt%, the Izod notched impact strength reached a maximum, 2.6 times more than that of pure iPP. The heat distortion temperature was also improved by NT-A.     

The 1/N F expansion of the γ and β functions in Q.E.D.

The Callan-Symanzik- and-functions are calculated analytically for Q.E.D. in the limit of a large number of leptons (N _F) up to terms of order 1/N _F inclusive. We give closed analytic expressions for the coefficients of these terms in their series expansion in powers ofK N _F/. We have been able to sum these series and to obtain some striking results.     

Nonisothermal Crystallization Nucleation of In‐Situ Fibrillar and Spherical Inclusions in Poly (Phenylene Sulfide)/Isotactic Polypropylene Blends

Nonisothermal crystallization nucleation and its kinetics of in‐situ fibrillar and spherical dispersed phases in poly (phenylene sulfide) (PPS)/isotactic polypropylene (iPP) blends are discussed. The PPS/iPP in‐situ microfibrillar reinforced blend (MRB) was obtained via a slit‐die extrusion, hot stretching, and quenching process, while PPS/iPP common blend with spherical PPS particles was prepared by extrusion without hot stretching. Morphological observation indicated that the well‐defined PPS microfibrils were in situ generated. The diameter of most microfibrils was surprisingly larger than or equal to the spherical particles in the common blend (15/85 PPS/iPP by weight). The nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of three samples (microfibrillar, common blends, and neat iPP) were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The PPS microfibrils and spherical particles could both act as heterogeneous nucleating agents during the nonisothermal crystallization, thus increasing the onset and maximum crystallization temperature of iPP, but the effect of PPS spherical particles was more evident. For the same material, crystallization peaks became wider and shifted to lower temperature when the cooling rate increased. Applying the theories proposed by Ozawa and Jeziorny to analyze the crystallization kinetics of neat iPP, and microfibrillar and common PPS/iPP blends, both of them could agree with the experimental results.     

Theoretical study of spectral parameters for the γ and β band systems of NO for atmosphere and high temperature

Highly correlated ab initio calculations were performed for accurate determination of γ (A²Σ⁺-X²П) and β (B²П-X²П) band systems of NO molecule. Highly accurate multi-reference configuration interaction approach was used to investigate the potential energy curves (PECs) and transition dipole moment curves. We correctly and fully described their diffuse wave functions by the obvious balance between the valence and Rydberg character of the X²П, A²Σ⁺, B²П, C²П and D²Σ⁺ states. The PECs of the three states (X²П, A²Σ⁺ and B²П) by using the aug-cc-pV5Z (aV5Z) basis set for N and O atoms agreed well with the Rydberg–Klein–Rees potential. Moreover, the Einstein A coefficients were calculated to predict the lifetimes, where the vibrational bands included v′ = 0–8, v″ = 0–29 for γ system and v′ = 0–11, v″ = 0–31 for β system. The spectral line intensities of the γ and β systems for atmosphere and high temperature were provided.     

A Comparison of the Effects of Calcium Glutarate and Pimelate on the Formation of β Crystalline Form in Isotactic Poly(propylene)

The effect of calcium glutarate (Cagt) and calcium pimelate (Capt) on the formation of β crystalline form in isotactic poly(propylene) in the crystallization temperature range of 110–130°C has been investigated. The content of β phase crystals increase with the addition of calcium glutarate. K (relative content of β crystalline form in the iPP sample) attains its maximum value for iPP doped with 0.3 wt.% Cagt isothermally crystallized at 110°C (26.71%) or 120°C (30.27%), and for iPP doped with 0.2 wt.% Cagt isothermally crystallized at 130°C (31.97%), respectively. Compared with the K values of iPP doped with 0.1 wt.% Capt (78.33–94.76%), the β nucleation ability of Cagt is inferior to that of Capt. The spherulite size of iPP doped with Capt is smaller than that of iPP doped with Cagt. The difference in the β nucleation ability between Cagt and Capt is explained by the difference between their crystal structure parameters and those of β‐iPP.     

Effect of Metallic Salts of Pimelic Acid and Crystallization Temperatures on the Formation of β Crystalline Form in Isotactic Poly(propylene)

The effect of crystallization temperatures (100–140°C) on the formation of β crystalline form in isotactic polypropylene nucleated by pimelic acid and sodium, magnesium, zinc, calcium, barium and aluminium salts of pimelic acid has been investigated. It is found that β crystalline form can be produced from polypropylene melt, isothermally crystallized at 120 or 130°C. Aluminium pimelate is a α nucleator which suppresses the production of β crystalline form in polypropylene. Pimelic acid and magnesium pimelate are weak β nucleators. Sodium pimelate is a moderate β nucleator. Zinc pimelate, calcium pimelate and barium pimelate are good β nucleators for polypropylene with calcium pimelate being the best.     

The effect of γ radiation on the determination of the antineutrino angular distribution from experiments on the β decay of polarized neutrons

In experiments on the β decay of polarized neutrons where only the electron and proton momentum distributions are observed and the γ radiation is not registered, the asymmetry factor B of the antineutrino angular distribution cannot be obtained rigorously — the value of B is only estimated on the average by taking into consideration the expectation (mean) value 〈B〉 and the rms deviation ΔB. The resulting unavoidable ambiguities in the determination of B amount to several percent, which is significant for the present-day experimental attempts to obtain B to very high precision ∼(0.1–1)%. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 69, No. 10, 681–685 (25 May 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Formation of β-iPP in Isotactic Polypropylene/Acrylonitrile–Butadiene–Styrene Blends: Effect of Resin Type,Phase Composition,and Thermal Condition

The formation of β-iPP (β-modification of isotactic polypropylene) in the iPP/ABS (acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene), iPP/styrene–butadiene (K resin), and iPP/styrene–acrylonitrile (SAN) blends were studied using differential scanning calorimery (DSC), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that α-iPP (α-modification of isotactic polypropylene) and β-iPP can simultaneously form in the iPP/ABS blend, whereas only α-iPP exists in the iPP/K resin and iPP/SAN blend samples. The effects of phase composition and thermal conditions on the β-iPP formation in the iPP/ABS blends were also investigated. The results showed that when the ABS content was low, the ABS dispersed phase distributed in the iPP continuous phase, facilitating the growth of β-iPP, and the maximum amount of β-iPP occurred when the composition of iPP/ABS blend approached 80:20 by weight. Furthermore, it was found that the iPP/ABS blend showed an upper critical temperature T _c * at 130°C for the formation of β-iPP. When the crystallization temperature was higher than the T _c *, the β-iPP did not form. Interestingly, the iPP/ABS blend did not demonstrate the lower critical temperature T _c ** previously reported for pure iPP and its blends. Even if the crystallization temperature decreased to 90°C, there was still β-iPP generation, indicating that ABS has a strong ability to induce the β-iPP. However, the annealing experiments results revealed that annealing in the melt state could eliminate the susceptibility to β-crystallization of iPP.     

Tripartite Probabilistic and Controlled Teleportation of an Arbitrary Single-Qubit State via One-Dimensional Four-Qubit Cluster-Type State

A tripartite scheme for probabilistically teleporting an arbitrary single-qubit state with one-dimensional four-qubit cluster-type state as the quantum channel is proposed. In the scheme, both of the sender and the controller perform a Bell-state measurement (BSM) on their respective qubit pair and announce the measurement results via classical communication. With the help of the sender and the controller, the receiver can reconstruct the original state with a certain probability by introducing an auxiliary qubit and making appropriate unitary operations and measurement. In addition, the total success probability and classical message cost of the present scheme are also worked out.