Stability of electrical and mechanical properties of polyethylene/carbon black composites

The stability of electrical and mechanical properties of two kinds of polymer composites ‐ polyethylene/carbon black and polyethylene/carbon black modified by polypyrrole ‐ was investigated during slow cycle heating and cooling. Conductivity in composites was measured in heating/cooling cycles in the temperature range from 16°C to 125°C. It was found that the thermal treatment resulted in the conductivity changes and the mechanical properties of treated composites have also been influenced. The effect was explained by increased crystallinity in the polymer matrix of thermally treated composites.     

Stability of electrical properties of conducting polymer composites

The effect of slow cycle heating and cooling on the stability of electrical properties of two polymer composites‐ polypropylene/polypyrrole (PP/PPy) and polypropylene/carbon black (PP/CB) ‐ was investigated. Conductivity in composites was measured in heating/cooling cycles in the temperature range from 16°C to 105°C in PP/PPy and to 125°C in PP/CB, respectively. It was found that the thermal treatment caused the decrease of PP/PPy conductivity while in case of PP/CB the treatment increased the electrical conductivity. The positive effect was explained by increased crystallinity in the thermally treated composite.     

Preferential formation of electroactive crystalline phases in poly(vinylidene fluoride)/organically modified silicate nanocomposites

The role of organically modified silicate (OMS), Lucentite STN on the formation of β‐crystalline phase of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is investigated in the present study. The OMS was solution blended with PVDF and cast on glass slide to form PVDF‐OMS nanocomposites. Solution cast samples were subjected to various thermal treatments including annealing (AC‐AN), melt‐quenching followed by annealing (MQ‐AN), and melt‐slow cooling (MSC). Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to investigate the crystalline structure of thermally treated samples. As a special effort, the combination of in situ thermal FT‐IR, WAXD, and DSC studies was utilized to clearly assess the thermal properties. FT‐IR and WAXD results of MQ‐AN samples revealed the presence of β‐phase of PVDF. Ion‐dipole interaction between the exfoliated clay nanolayers and PVDF was considered as a main factor for the formation of β‐phase. Melt‐crystallization temperature and subsequent melting point were enhanced by the addition of OMS. Solid β‐ to γ‐crystal phase transition was observed from in situ FT‐IR and WAXD curves when the representative MQ‐AN sample was subjected to thermal scanning. Upon heating, β‐phase was found to disappear through transformation to the thermodynamically stable γ‐phase rather than melting directly. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2173–2187, 2008     

Reversed Annealing of Thermal Fractionated Polyethylenes by TMDSC

Polyethylene samples prepared by thermal fractionation (TF) were annealed in several consecutive cycles in a temperature modulated DSC (TMDSC) at a temperatures one °C below the peak temperatures, increased from cycle to cycle relative to these peaks. The transition enthalpy of each cooling cycle was greater or equal to that of the preceding heating cycle. The total heat-flows of each heating cycle corresponded to those of the samples in the reference state up until the vicinity of the annealing temperature. During the annealing, the heat capacities decreased to a lower value over a one minute period. The thermal memory effect caused by the thermal fractionation was eliminated by a small overheating of the material for a short time. The fast disappearance of the thermal memory by a relatively very small degree of heating above their melting temperature denies a long range physical separation of macromolecules by TF. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Structural and mechanical behavior of nylon 6 films part I. Identification and stability of the crystalline phases

The crystalline phase of polyamide 6 (otherwise nylon 6) films produced following various physical treatments is investigated by means of thermal analysis, X‐ray diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy. A recently published procedure for treating infrared spectra of multicomponent compounds without a priori knowledge of the individual component spectra allowed us to perform a semiquantitative analysis of the structural changes upon annealing, including data from drawn samples. Melt‐cast films display a mesomorphic state that is thermally stable up to about 120 °C. This structure partly reorganizes into the stable monoclinic α form above 120 °C. Films in major γ form produced by iodine treatment are thermally stable up to 200 °C. Films in major α form are also prepared by superheated water treatment. No evidence is given for a Brill transition about 170 °C. This is an important fact for further understanding of the drawing behavior of PA6 at temperatures above and below this domain. The mesomorphic phase can hardly be separated from the amorphous component both from X‐ray and infrared analysis. However, scanning calorimetry, which is often criticized due to possible reorganization of unstable species during the heating scan, turned out to be a very useful technique. Indeed, recrystallization from the amorphous phase or improvement of ordering from the mesomorphic state both result in exothermic effects in quite different temperature domains that allow to discriminate the two phenomena. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 39: 484–495, 2001     

Multiphase structure of segmented polyurethanes: Its relation with spherulite structure

Small-angle light-scattering (SALS), Polarized light microscopy (PLM), differntial scanning calorimetry (DSC), and small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) were used to study morphological changes in segmented polyurethanes with 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and 1,4-butanediol (BD) as the hard segment. It was found. for the first time, that spherulites could form from the melt by quenching the polyurethanes in the melt state to annealing temperatures between 120°C and T_h, the highest annealing temperature for spherulite formation. T_h ranged from 140°C to ca. 170°C and depended upon the hard-and soft-segment compatibility. Within the range 120°C to T_h, the radius of the spherulite increased with increasing hard-segment content at each fixed annealing temperature. Annealing at 135–140°C gave rise to the largest spherulites. SAXS was used to investigate the phase-separated structures corresponding to the spherulite formation. The interdomain spacing increased with increasing hard-segment content and with increasing annealing temperature.The degree of phase separation first increased with increasing annealing temperature from room temperatures (ca. 25°C), reached a maximum at ca. 107°C, and then decreased with further increase in the annealing temperature. On the basis of these observations, the mechanisms of phase separation, crystallization, and spherulite formation are discussed. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Transport properties and microstructure changes of talc characterized by emanation thermal analysis

Thermal behavior of talc samples (from locality Puebla de Lillo, Spain) were characterized by emanation thermal analysis (ETA), DTA and TG. The ETA, based on the measurement of radon release rate from samples, revealed a closing up of surface micro-cracks and annealing of microstructure irregularities of the talc samples on heating in the range 200–500°C. For ground talc sample a crystallization of non-crystalline phase formed by grinding, into orthorhombic enstatite was characterized as a decrease of radon mobility in the range 785–825°C and by a DTA exothermal effect with the maximum at 830°C. ETA results characterized the microstructure development of the talc samples on heating and served to evaluate their radon mobility and transport properties on heating and cooling. Transport properties of the talc samples were evaluated by using ETA experimental data measured during heating to 600 and 1300°C, respectively, and subsequent cooling to room temperature.     

从溶胀平衡研究玻璃态高聚物的凝聚缠结网络

在13~15℃室温条件下对聚苯乙烯(PS)颗粒在二氧六环/水混合溶剂中的溶胀情况进行目视观察,可以看到,当减小混合溶剂二氧六环/水中的水含量时,PS颗粒从玻璃态到溶胀的玻璃态、溶胀的高弹态、流体态的转变,与PS颗粒升温时从玻璃态到高弹态、流体态的转变相对应.选定混合溶剂二氧六环/水(水6·8wt%)对一个单分散PS试样(Mw=1·68×105)在30℃进行分相平衡和溶胀平衡的测定.分相平衡是先将PS/二氧六环/水(混合溶剂水含量6·8wt%)体系加热到130℃使PS溶解成一均相溶液,然后在冷却过程中分相,在30℃达分相平衡(30天)时,浓相高分子体积浓度p″=0·304,稀相几乎为纯溶剂.从Flory-Huggins相平衡理论得出此体系的高分子-溶剂相互作用参数χ=0·63.本工作使用的单分散PS试样在选定的混合溶剂,即二氧六环/水(水6·8wt%)中,30℃时不能溶解只能溶胀,单分散PS颗粒淬冷试样(密度ρp=1·0451g/mL)到达溶胀平衡(80天)时浓相高分子体积浓度p″=0·308.而此淬冷试样经在80℃热处理100h后的老化试样(ρp=1·0470g/mL)达溶胀平衡(70天)时p″=0·312.从溶胀过程中浓相体积变化曲线可知试样经在80℃热处理过程中凝聚网络趋向于更均一,更接近热处理温度下的平衡态,试样密度增大,网络产生了新的链间凝聚,物理交联密度增大(凝聚点间分子量减小).从溶胀平衡理论并取χ=0·63(分相平衡)可得到淬冷试样的物理交联点间分子量Mc=11·6×104,老化试样的物理交联点间分子量Mc=6·9×104.实验结果说明溶胀过程及溶胀平衡的测定可以反映玻璃态高聚物中的凝聚网络结构的细节,而且非常敏感.     

Cold crystallization behavior of polyamide 6 in PS‐g‐PA6 graft copolymers

TEM micrographs show that the PA grafts of PS‐g‐PA6 graft copolymers, which are obtained directly by extracting homo‐PA6 out from the homo‐PA6/PS‐g‐PA6 blends, are in the form of wormlike structure. The wormlike PA6 domains can shrink into droplets after annealing at 250 °C for 15 min. The diameter of the droplet determined by TEM and SAXS is in the range of 50–60 nm. This article reports on a unique crystallization behavior of the PA6 grafts in PS‐g‐PA6 graft copolymers. In a DSC cooling scan, PA6 grafts do not crystallize from the melt with a cooling rate of 10 °C/min. However, there is a cold crystallization peak around 65 °C in the subsequent heating scan. This cold crystallization phenomenon, which has not yet been reported in the literature till now, follows well the homogeneous nucleation mechanism and is depressed at relatively slow cooling rates (2 °C/min) or even completely eliminated after annealing within a specific temperature range. It may be caused by the slow diffusion or transport rate of the less flexible PA6 grafts to the crystal fronts when crystallization takes place around its glass transition temperature. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 65–73, 2010     

Thermal diffusivity study of polystyrene/poly(vinyl methyl ether) blends by flash radiometry

This article presents thermal diffusivity (D) measurements by flash radiometry for the polymer blend of polystyrene (PS) and poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) with lower critical solution temperature (LCST) phase diagram. Dependence of D on PS content measured at 100°C coincides a phase diagram determined by a cloud point measurement. D value for the blend decreases with increasing PS content and has minimum value at the PS content around 20 wt % from which D increases again with increasing PS content. If the concentration fluctuation between two components in the miscible states at the temperature close to LCST causes the remarkable phonon scattering, the composition dependence of D would resemble the phase diagram. D for the sample in the phase-separated state is larger than that for the miscible state. The larger D in the phase-separated sample would be due to the decrease of the total surface area microscopically contacted to the counter component in the phase-separated state. Dependence of D on temperature for the phase-separated sample is quite different from that of the miscible one. On an isothermal measurement of D for PS/PVME (10 : 90) at 110°C just below the cloud point, D started to increase at time above 100 min and leveled out above 250 min. Isothermal observation of sample film by a differential interference contrast microscopy showed the creation of some structure due to the nucleation and growth of interface at 225 min and it became obvious above 250 min. Thus, the increase in D at 110°C implies that D can sensitively reflect the change in microscopic structures which follows the nucleation and growth of interface. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 35 : 1869–1876, 1997     

聚苯醚/聚苯乙烯共混物溶液浇铸膜的热演化行为

聚苯醚与聚苯乙烯共混物是目前相容性最好的共混体系之一。几十年来人们对该共混体系相容的原因进行了广泛的研究^[1-4]。聚苯醚是半结晶聚合物,在溶剂或溶剂蒸气存在的条件下容易形成结晶,溶剂的性质及结晶的条件都会影响聚苯醚的结晶结构及其形态^[5-8]。用溶液共昆、凝聚成膜的方法制备共混物时,一种结晶性高分子怎样与另一种高分子演化成相容的非晶共混体系,是一个比较有意义的研究课题。本文运用DSC方法,研究了聚苯醚与聚苯乙烯两者溶液共混凝聚成膜后,在各种热历史条件下结晶结构的消亡和演化成非晶相容体系的行为。     

Thermochemical Properties of the 1-Ethyl-3-Methylimidazolium Bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide Ionic Liquid under Conditions of Equilibrium with Atmospheric Moisture

Thermochemical properties of the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ionic liquid [EMim]NTf₂ containing moisture absorbed from the atmosphere (0.242 wt %) are investigated. The phase behavior and thermal stability relative to salt dried in vacuum are studied by means of thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry at different heating and cooling rates. The glass transition, crystallization, and melting temperatures, the enthalpies of phase transitions, and the changes in heat capacity during the formation of glass are determined. It is established that the absorbed water crystallizes at a temperature of around ?40.6°C and has virtually no effect on the thermal stability and phase behavior of the salt. Rapid cooling results in the ionic liquid transitioning into the glass state at ?91.7 °C and the formation of three mesophases with different melting temperatures; one crystalline modification that melts at a temperature of ?19.3°C forms upon slow cooling.     

Compatibility studies of polystyrene and poly(vinyl acetate) blends using electrostatic force microscopy

The effect of thermal treatment on the phase separation process of the components of a polymer blend was investigated using electrostatic force microscopy (EFM). EFM technique is an advance on conventional atomic force microscopy, which enables us to measure locally the dielectric properties of the samples under investigation providing compositional information. In this work, we studied the phase separation process of the polymer blend thin films made of polystyrene and poly(vinyl acetate) (PS/PVAc) (75/25 weight fraction). The samples were subjected to different thermal treatments. It was found that at low annealing temperature, PVAc forms many small islands within PS matrix. As the annealing temperature increases, the number of PVAc islands decreases with an increase in the size of the islands. These islands take spherical‐like shape when annealed at a temperature well above the glass transition temperatures of both the component polymers. Despite these morphological/topographical changes, EFM images evidence that there is no interdiffusion which was further confirmed by quantitatively measuring the value of the dielectric permittivity across the interphase. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 49: 1332–1338, 2011     

Thermotropic rigid chain copolymers I. crystallization kinetics and thermodynamic properties

The kinetics of structure formation and the thermal properties of the ordered phase were analyzed calorimetrically for a rigid polymer, characterized by an irregular chemical structure. The transition from the nematic melt to a partially ordered state was found to involve two different processes, a fast and a slow one. The fast one corresponds apparently to a thermally activated nucleation and growth mechanism, whereas the slow one is strongly self delaying. Its transition rate is only weakly dependent on the temperature. The thermal properties of the ordered phase, resulting from this process, vary strongly with the annealing temperature and annealing time. The enthalpy and entropy of fusion, characteristic for the pure ordered phase, are lower by a factor of about 10 in comparison to the corresponding values of flexible chain molecules.     

Lipid and Protein Thermotropic Transition of Porcine Stratum Corneum by Microscopic Calorimetry and Infrared Spectroscopy

Microscopic differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (DSC-FTIR) were combined to investigate the thermal response and IR spectra of lipid and protein in the process of a phase transition in porcine stratum corneum (SC) by KBr disc method. The alterations of bands associated with the CH₂ stretching vibrations near 2850 and 2920 cnv^?1 were used to determine the phase transformation of lipid with temperature. The peaks of amide I and II of protein were used to investigate the thermal conversion of protein. A reheating process was performed. The results indicate that the bands of lipid near 2900 cm^?1 shifted to greater wavenumber with increased temperature, but reversibly. The band due to deformation mode of the lipid altered from shoulder to smooth with increased temperature. During heating, α-keratin of the protein transformed gradually to p-keratin, but irreversibly. Thermal transitions that occurred near 78 °C and 115 °C for the sample on first heating were associated with phase transition of the lipid-protein complex and the protein in porcine SC, respectively. After reheating, this phase transitional temperature of the lipid-protein complex in porcine SC decreased from 78 to 68 °C, and the transition of protein near 115 °C almost disappeared. This behaviour indicates that porcine SC after heating might alter its structure. The thermally altered proportion of lipid was 43.98% and the thermally induced proportion of protein was 41.48% during the first heating process, but the restoration of lipid during the cycle of heating, cooling and reheating was 37.64%. The variation is attributed to the denaturation of protein to alter the structure of lipid-protein complex after first heating. This technique was simple, precise and reproducible for simple determination of stratum corneum or biological samples in a brief period.     

Phase Diagram of an Ethylene Glycol–Hexamethylphosphorotriamide System

The phase diagram of an ethylene glycol (EG)–hexamethylphosphorotriamide (HMPT) system is studied over two wide temperature intervals (+25°С…?90°С…+40°С) and (?150°С…+40°С) by means of differential scanning calorimetry using INTERTECH DSC Q100 and METTLER TA4000 DSC instruments (Switzerland) in the DSC30 mode with variable cooling/heating rates. Substantial overcooling of the liquid phase, a glass transition, and different types of interaction are observed in the system. No thermal effects are observed in intermediate range of concentrations during the slow cooling/heating processes, and the system remains liquid until the glass transition. The presence of such a metastable phase is attributed to a sharp rise in the viscosity of the system due to different kinds of interaction between the components. HMPT: 2EG and HMPT: EG compounds with crystallization temperatures of +5 and ?0.5°С, respectively, are observed upon rapid cooling and slow heating. Changes in enthalpy are calculated for all of the observed thermal effects. The distinction from the phase diagram of H₂O–HMFT (literary data) is explained by the difference in the interactions between system components and by the structural differences between EG and H₂O.     

Morphology resulting from coupling of phase separation and glass transition in polymer blends

At temperatures near glass transition temperature, off-critical binary polystyrene/polybutadiene (PS/PB) mixtures were found to experience phase separation through the mechanism of slow hydrodynamic coarsening. A bicontinuous phase structure was produced on quenching the PS/PB-blends under cloud point curve. Different coarsening regimes of this percolation structure depending on degrees of supersaturation were found. At late stages of coarsening, secondary phase separation was observed.     

Chemiluminescence study of PS–PVME compatible mixtures

The oxidation of polystyrene (PS), poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME), and their mixtures has been studied by the chemiluminescence method. It was found that luminescence versus temperature curves had sharp inflections that shifted to higher temperatures with increasing PS content of the blends. A linear relationship was obtained between inflection temperatures and onsets of oxidation exotherms as measured by calorimetry. The inflection points for the mixtures also correlated linearly with the temperatures of thermally induced phase separation     

Crosslinking of a fibrous sample to a macro-oriented mesomorphic network

Preliminary results on the synthesis and characterization of anisotropic networks, oriented on a macroscopic scale, are reported. Fiber samples of segmented thermotropic liquid-crystalline polymers bearing the oxypentenyl lateral substituent have been crosslinked via thermally activated radical reaction. This was made possible by immersion of fiber samples in dichloromethane containing t-butylperoxybenzoate as activating agent, thus allowing its diffusion in the samples. Subsequent annealing at 145°C brings us to an anisotropic network with no loss of the original orientation. A mesophase is stabilized and no structural modification is observed by heating samples from room temperature up to 400°C, where thermal decomposition takes place. Crosslinked fibers exhibit good tensile properties, at both room temperature and at 150°C. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 433–438, 1998     

Transformation of isotactic polypropylene droplets from the mesophase into the α‐phase

The structural transformation of homogeneously nucleated metastable mesophase of polypropylene (PP) particles was investigated in this study. We demonstrated the formation of heterogeneity‐free mesophase by slow cooling of the droplets unlike mesophase formation by quenching of the PP melt, which contained large number of bulk nuclei. Submicron size PP droplets were produced by thermal break up of PP and polystyrene layered film assembly. When cooled from melt, the PP droplets crystallized into mesophase at 44 °C revealing granular morphology. Subsequent heating thermogram of the PP particles showed a broad exotherm, which was attributed to the transformation of mesophase into α‐phase. This transformation was investigated during heating by annealing the PP particles at different temperatures. Annealed PP particles were analyzed by means of thermal, morphological and structural properties measurements. Results revealed a two step process for the transformation process. In the first step, the internal rearrangement of PP chains, as against melting and recrystallization of the mesophase, was observed. Since granular morphology was not affected significantly up to 120 °C, it was suggested that translational and rotational motions of PP helices produced ordered α‐phase. In the second step, increment in grain size distribution was observed, when the droplets were annealed at 140 °C. The results were attributed to enhanced chain mobility and merging of the grain boundaries. Annealing at 160 °C revealed the formation of short lamellar structures. Crystal thickening, melting and recrystallization of α‐phase were suggested at high temperature annealing. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011