Density measurement for polymers by magneto-Archimedes levitation: Simulation and experiments

In a magneto-Archimedes levitation device, a polymer can be levitated in a paramagnetic medium, and its equilibrium levitated height is mainly related to its density. Here, a novel density measurement method for polymers via magneto-Archimedes levitation is proposed, in which the relationship between the density and the levitated height is determined through numerical simulation. COMSOL software is employed to simulate the distribution of magnetic field in the device, and FLUENT-EDEM multiphase software is adopted to predict the polymer's levitated height. A 3rd-order polynomial equation is fitted by simulation results for density calculation. Several experiments with different devices, different magnets, different mediums, and various polymers were carried out to verify the proposed method. Experimental results showed that the proposed method has high accuracy (0.0060–0.0130 g/cm³) in density measurements for small polymer samples (∼25 mm³). In general, the proposed method has prospects of broad application in polymer density-based testing.     

Detecting shrinkage voids in plastic gears using magnetic levitation

Shrinkage voids have a large influence on the quality of plastic gears, and it is still a problem to detect the voids inside gears accurately and conveniently. This paper presents a novel method for detecting shrinkage voids via magnetic levitation. The porosity levels of plastic gears can be calculated using magnetic levitation because the density of plastic gears is influenced by the shrinkage voids. The distribution of shrinkage voids is quantified by the moment of volume, hence a theoretical model for the distributions of shrinkage voids and levitating posture can be established. Computer tomography (CT) detections were also carried out to verify the accuracy of magnetic levitation for detecting the shrinkage voids. Experimental results show that the average relative error of calculated porosity level is less than 7%, and the theoretical model for distribution of shrinkage voids agrees well with the results from CT detections, with the correlation coefficient being up to 99.8%. The proposed method has great potential for mass detection of plastic gears.     

Modification of perfluorinated polymers by high-energy irradiation

This review surveys about the possibilities for the modification of perfluorinated polymers using high-energy irradiation: degradation, functionalization, branching, and cross-linking. The reaction mechanisms for the different reaction conditions are discussed. Electron irradiation of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) with a very high dose leads to a complete degradation of the macromolecules to low-molecular products. In the presence of oxygen perfluorocarboxylic acids and in an inert atmosphere, mixtures of perfluorinated olefins and paraffins can be obtained. Virgin PTFE is disintegrated by high-energy irradiation in air with a lower dose into a micropowder modified with COOH groups. This powder can be homogeneously incorporated in other polymers. So, the special properties of PTFE can be made effective in these polymers. Micropowders functionalized with COOH groups and polyamides (PA) form by reactive extrusion PTFE-PA blockcopolymers which can be used as slide bearing materials. The copolymers poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene) (FEP) and poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-perfluoropropyl vinyl ether) (PFA) irradiated in air show a significantly higher degree of COOH functionalization compared with PTFE. Irradiation of molten PTFE in an inert atmosphere leads to formation of different kinds of double bonds, CF₃ side groups, long-chain branches as well as cross-links. Irradiation of PFA in vacuum results in the generation of COF and COOH groups; in molten state also branches and cross-links are formed.The focus of the present paper is on the work that has been carried out at the Institute of Polymer Research Dresden.     

Finite element assessment of the potential of platelet-filled polymers for membrane gas separations

We use the finite element method to analyze the role of filler aspect ratio and volume loading on the effective permeability and selectivity of gas-separation membranes consisting of a polymer matrix filled with platelet-shaped molecular sieving particles. On the basis of direct 3D finite element estimates, we develop and validate a quick arithmetic procedure for predicting the effective permeability and selectivity of platelet-filled systems. We use this procedure to show that it is feasible to obtain mixed matrix platelet-filled membranes with effective permselectivities considerably exceeding the upper Robeson's bounds.     

Modifications of carbon nanotubes with polymers

The chemical functionalizations of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could enhance their chemical compatibility and dissolution properties, which enable both a more extensive characterization and subsequent chemical reactivity. The modifications with polymers could not only improve CNTs’ solubility and dispersibility but also the interfacial interaction to polymeric matrices in its composites. The main methods for the modification of CNTs with polymers are noncovalent attachment (polymer wrapping and absorption) and covalent attachment (“grafting to”and “grafting from”). The current states of the literatures in the field are presented in this review.     

Qualification of automated low-field NMR relaxometry for quality control of polymers in a production setting

Implementation of a low-field time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) scanner as a diagnostic tool in the production of new polymer components is described in the context of qualification of a new QA/QC device. A study to determine the optimal experimental parameters was performed and a robotic autosampler was built to enable scanning of multiple pads. Relationships between T₂ values and physical properties of DC745 slabs were investigated, and the appropriate sampling parameters for the production setting were determined. Two versions of a robotic autosampler were built and, for the component described here, a fourth radial axis was required in addition to traditional X, Y, and Z movement to eliminate the large variability in T₂ due to inconsistent sample coverage caused by the complex rib geometry of the component. Data show that with appropriate choice of experimental conditions of the NMR detector and the detection geometry of the robotic autosampler, sufficient resolution of variations in cross-link density on the millimeter scale could be determined. All data to date demonstrate that low-field NMR devices are a feasible tool for use in production settings for non-destructive quality control of polymer components.     

Micelle polymers, polymer surfactants and dendrimers as pseudo-stationary phases in micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Several authors have recently reported the use of micelle polymers, polymer surfactants and dendrimers as pseudo-stationary phases in electrokinetic chromatography. These reports have demonstrated the effectiveness of these phases for a variety of applications, including the separation and analysis of hydrophobic compounds and chiral compounds and the application of mass spectrometric detection. This review covers developments in this area since the first introduction of polymeric pseudo-stationary phases in 1992. The use of polymeric micelles in electrokinetic chromatography is compared briefly with capillary electrochromatography. Some thoughts on future directions in this area are presented.     

Effect of solute hydrophobicity on phase behaviour in solutions of thermoseparating polymers

 Two-phase systems consisting of a polymer rich phase and polymer depleted phase, where the polymer is either ethyl(hydroxy ethyl)cellulose (EHEC) or Ucon (a random copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide), have been studied. Both of these polymers can be separated from an aqueous solution by either temperature increase or addition of cosolutes. The polymers are thermoseparating and phase separate in water solutions at the cloud point temperature. Two types of EHEC have been studied: one with a cloud point at 60 °C and the other at 37 °C. The Ucon polymer used in this study has a cloud point at 50 °C. Ternary phase diagrams of polymer/water/cosolute systems have been investigated. When a strongly hydrophilic or hydrophobic cosolute is added to an EHEC- or Ucon–water solution, a phase separation occurs already at, or below, room temperature. As cosolutes, hydrophobic molecules like phenol, butyric and propionic acid, and hydrophilic molecules like glycine, ammonium acetate, sodium carboxylates (acetate to valerate), were studied. The polymer rich phase formed when mixing polymer, water and cosolute was strongly enriched or depleted with hydrophobic or hydrophilic cosolutes, respectively. The two phase region increased for propionic acid, butyric acid and phenol as a result of increased cosolute hydrophobicity. The opposite occurred in the series sodium acetate, sodium butyrate and sodium valerate. The effect of temperature on the phase behaviour has also been investigated. Model calculations based on Flory–Huggins theory of polymer solutions are presented, in form of a phase diagram, which semiquantitatively reproduce some experimental results. Received: 5 July 1996 Accepted: 4 November 1996     

Optimization of flavanones extraction by modulating differential solvent densities and centrifuge temperatures

Understanding the factors influencing flavonone extraction is critical for the knowledge in sample preparation. The present study was focused on the extraction parameters such as solvent, heat, centrifugal speed, centrifuge temperature, sample to solvent ratio, extraction cycles, sonication time, microwave time and their interactions on sample preparation. Flavanones were analyzed in a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and later identified by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The five flavanones were eluted by a binary mobile phase with 0.03% phosphoric acid and acetonitrile in 20 min and detected at 280 nm, and later identified by mass spectral analysis. Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and dimethyl formamide (DMF) had optimum extraction levels of narirutin, naringin, neohesperidin, didymin and poncirin compared to methanol (MeOH), ethanol (EtOH) and acetonitrile (ACN). Centrifuge temperature had a significant effect on flavanone distribution in the extracts. The DMSO and DMF extracts had homogeneous distribution of flavanones compared to MeOH, EtOH and ACN after centrifugation. Furthermore, ACN showed clear phase separation due to differential densities in the extracts after centrifugation. The number of extraction cycles significantly increased the flavanone levels during extraction. Modulating the sample to solvent ratio increased naringin quantity in the extracts. Current research provides critical information on the role of centrifuge temperature, extraction solvent and their interactions on flavanone distribution in extracts.     

Adsorption and flocculation by polymers and polymer mixtures

Polymers of various types are in widespread use as flocculants in several industries. In most cases, polymer adsorption is an essential prerequisite for flocculation and kinetic aspects are very important. The rates of polymer adsorption and of re-conformation (relaxation) of adsorbed chains are key factors that influence the performance of flocculants and their mode of action. Polyelectrolytes often tend to adopt a rather flat adsorbed configuration and in this state their action is mainly through charge effects, including ‘electrostatic patch’ attraction. When the relaxation rate is quite low, particle collisions may occur while the adsorbed chains are still in an extended state and flocculation by polymer bridging may occur. These effects are now well understood and supported by much experimental evidence. In recent years there has been considerable interest in the use of multi-component flocculants, especially dual-polymer systems. In the latter case, there can be significant advantages over the use of single polymers. Despite some complications, there is a broad understanding of the action of dual polymer systems. In many cases the sequence of addition of the polymers is important and the pre-adsorbed polymer can have two important effects: providing adsorption sites for the second polymer or causing a more extended adsorbed conformation as a result of ‘site blocking’.     

Compressed liquid densities of two dipentaerythritol esters

In this work, an experimental study for the determination of the density of two dipentaerythritol esters, dipentaerythritol hexapentanoate (DiPEC5) and dipentaerythritol hexaheptanoate (DiPEC7) has been performed for temperatures ranging from 283.15 K to 398.15 K and pressures up to 70 MPa. The heart of the automatic assembly is an Anton Paar DMA HPM vibrating-tube densimeter. The measured densities have been used to study the behaviour and influence of temperature and pressure on the isothermal compressibility, the isobaric thermal expansivity and the internal pressure.     

Analysis of additives in polymers by thin-layer chromatography coupled with Fourier transform-infrared microscopy

A new, fast and convenient method based on coupled thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) microscopy is developed to separate, detect and identify the additives in polymers. After the TLC development, the analytes were transferred on to a barium fluoride (BaF₂) salt plate via a special capillary technique and analysed by FT-IR microscopy. The additives used for stabilization of polypropylene and the plasticisers used for poly(vinyl chloride) were analysed as examples to illustrate this technique. The overall time taken for the experiment including transferring three marked spots and then identifying them was about 20 min. An amount as small as 0.5 μg can be easily detected and identified. It was a very convenient and reliable method to separate and evaluate complex additives for polymers without the interference from TLC adsorbent, because of a special transferring and identifying method, which is suitable to FT-IR microscopy.     

Theoretical Auger electron spectra of polymers by density functional theory calculations using model dimers

We propose a new approach for analysis of Auger electron spectra (AES) of polymers by density functional theory (DFT) calculations with the Slater's transition-state concept. Simulated AES and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) of four polymers [(CH2CH2)n (PE), (CH2CH(CH3))n (PP), (CH2CH(OCH3))n (PVME), and (CH2CH(COCH3))n (PVMK)] by DFT calculations using model dimers are in a good accordance with the experimental ones. The experimental AES of the polymers can be classified in each range of 1s-2p2p, 1s-2s2p, and 1s-2s2s transitions for C KVV and O KVV spectra, and in individual contributions of the functional groups from the theoretical analysis.     

Synthesis and characterization of halogen-containing ferroelectric liquid crystals and side chain liquid crystalline polymers

A new series of ferroelectric liquid crystals and side chain liquid crystalline polymers based on halogen-containing chiral centres has been synthesized. Chemical structures were analysed by NMR. Liquid crystal phases were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, optical polarizing microscopy, and X-ray diffractometry. The behaviour of the liquid crystalline phases was investigated as a function of spacer units and differing terminal asymmetric moieties. It was found that phase transition temperatures decreased with increasing length of the oligooxyethylene spacer unit. Differing terminal asymmetric moieties led to differing mesophase phenomena. Furthermore, a wide temperature range (including room temperature) of a chiral smectic C phase was achieved.     

Adsorption behavior of end-functionalized polymers modified by iminium ion

In order to clarify the end-functionalization effect of polymers modified by iminium ion, a model compound with a modified chain end was prepared by directly reactingn-butyllithium withN-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and then quenching by the addition of methanol. It is shown that the model compound includes the iminium ion group and that the adsorption bands in the IR-spectra of the chemically modified polymer were similar to those of model compoundThe adsorption behavior of end-functionalized polystyrene(PS-X) and diblock copolymer of PS and polybutadiene(PB) which were modified by iminium ion(PS-PB-X), were examined over a wide range of molecular weights of these polymers. It is evident that the amount of adsorption increased significantly by the end-functionalization and this trend was especially strong in the low molecular weight polymers (M _w<-10⁵). The preference for the end-functionalized polymer was also examined by competitive and sequential adsorption experiments between different molecular weight species. It is shown that a prefered adsorption of PS-X with low molecular mass is pronouced over the adsorption of PS or PS-X with high molecular weight and in the combination of high and low molecular weight species of PS-X, a special enhancement of total adsorption can be observed. This enhancement is based on a combination of different adsorption layers formed by these two molecular weight species.     

A new model for the kinetic analysis of thermal degradation of polymers driven by random scission

In this paper, a series of f(α) kinetic equations able to describe the random scission degradation of polymers is formulated in such a way that the reaction rate of the thermal degradation of polymers that go through a random scission mechanism can be directly related to the reacted fraction. The proposed equations are validated by a study of the thermal degradation of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT). The combined kinetic analysis of thermal degradation curves of this polymer obtained under different thermal pathways have shown that the proposed equation fits all these curves while other conventional models used in literature do not.     

Enthalpy distributions and densities of states in linear polymers

Using polypropylene as an example, we applied a method we have recently developed to calculate the probability distribution of enthalpy from the temperature dependence of the heat capacity. The method involves the use of local temperature expansions of the heat capacity to calculate a set of moments of the enthalpy distribution. Using the maximum‐entropy method, one can then construct the enthalpy distribution for the system. The method is completely model free. The enthalpy distribution so obtained is the analogue of the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution of kinetic energies for a gas, and like that function, tells one the distribution of enthalpies that an average unit in the polymer chain can have, a quantity that is crucial to understanding the chemical and physical properties of a polymer. Given the enthalpy distribution, one can then calculate the Gibbs free energy and the density of states that correspond to a particular value of enthalpy, thus giving one an expanded thermodynamics of the system in addition to the usual average quantities. We illustrate the fact that the Gibbs free‐energy distribution for this system scales as a simple function of temperature and that the density‐of ‐states function yields a simple empirical partition function for the system giving both the average thermodynamics and the distribution functions. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 1513–1518, 2001     

基于侧向磁泳的微流控芯片对两种磁性纳米球的同时分选

基于磁性纳米球在微流控芯片上的侧向磁泳,利用微流控芯片分选了不同磁响应性的磁球.提出了包含磁性纳米球聚集与偏移的理论模型,用于分析磁球在芯片上的侧向位移.在理论分析的基础上设计了芯片系统,使不同磁响应性的磁纳米球可以在芯片系统上依次被分选.实验结果表明,2种磁性纳米球的分选效率均可接受,且实验操作简单;磁响应性强的磁球可被完全分离,这对于珍贵分析样品的分选很有价值.该分选系统被成功用于同时分选样品中乙型肝炎病毒的DNA与丙型肝炎病毒的反转录DNA,在生化分析中具有广阔的应用前景.