Influence of Gas Type on the Thermal Efficiency of Microwave Plasmas for the Sintering of Metal Powders

Microwave plasmas have enormous potential as a rapid and energy efficient sintering technology. This paper evaluates the influence of both plasma atmosphere and metal powder type on the sintering temperatures achieved and the properties of the sintered powder metal compacts. The sintering is carried out using a 2.45 GHz microwave-plasma process called rapid discharge sintering (RDS). The sintering of three types of metal powder are evaluated in this study: nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and 316L stainless steel (SS). An in-depth study of the effects of the plasma processing parameters on the sintered powder compacts are investigated. These parameters are correlated with the mechanical performance of the sintered compacts to help understand the effect of the plasma heating process. The substrate materials are sintered in four different gas discharges, namely hydrogen, nitrogen oxygen and argon. Thermocouple, pyrometer and emission spectroscopy measurements were taken to determine the substrate and the discharge temperatures. The morphology and structure were examined using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The density and hardness of the sintered compacts were correlated with the plasma processing conditions. As expected higher densities were obtained with powders with lower sintering temperatures i.e. nickel and copper when compared with stainless steel. Under the power input and pressure conditions used, the highest substrate temperature attained was 1,100°C for Cu powder sintered in a nitrogen atmosphere. In contrast under the same processing conditions but in an argon plasma, the temperature achieved with SS was only 500°C. The effect of the plasma gas type on the sintered powder compact chemistry was also monitored, both hydrogen and nitrogen yielded a reducing effect for the metal in contrast with the oxidising effect observed in an oxygen plasma.     

Melting of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) nanoconfined in controlled pore glasses (CPG)

The melting temperature depression of pentaerythritol tetranitrate, nanoconfined in controlled pore glasses (CPG), was systematically studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The solid–liquid interfacial energy σ _sl was obtained from the Gibbs–Thomson equation fit to melting temperature vs. reciprocal pore diameter. The pore size distribution of the CPG pores was also estimated from the DSC data. Pore sizes obtained from the manufacturer by BET are compared with those determined from the DSC curves using either the curves directly or by assuming spherical shaped confining cavities. The thermal mass vales are in better agreement with the BET estimation.     

含硫环状膦酸酯衍生物的合成及其热性能

以三氯化磷、苯和硫粉为原料,用离子液体法绿色合成了硫代苯基膦酰二氯(3);3与季戊四醇或新戊二醇反应合成了两种新型含硫磷系阻燃剂--2,4,8,10-四氧杂-3,9-二磷杂螺环[5.5]十一烷-3,9-二硫-3,9-二苯(1)或5,5-二甲基-2-苯基-2-硫代-1,3-二氧-2-磷杂环己烷(2).用~1H NMR,IR,DSC和TG对其结构和性能进行了表征.结果表明,1具有良好的成炭性和热稳定性.     

Influence of the steel powder type and processing parameters on the debinding of PM compacts with gelatin binder

Binders present an important part of the powder metallurgy technology as they are vital to provide efficient powder agglomeration and/or lubrication during shaping. At the same time, they have to be easily removed from the compacts during initial stages of sintering without any harmful effect for the base material, as well as for the environment. Therefore, behavior of gelatin as a binder for stainless- and tool-steel gas-atomised powder compacts was studied by thermal analysis and electron microscopy. Thermal analysis showed that peak mass-loss occurred in the range between 340 and 370 °C, depending on the base powder and heating rate. Risk for base powder oxidation at temperatures below 425 °C was detected. Based on the obtained results, it is recommended to perform debinding at ~425 °C after applying a heating rate of around 7.5 °C min^?1. Only in this way efficient enough binder removal can be obtained concurrently to avoiding base powder oxidation.     

Thermoanalytical studies of reactions in solid mixtures of pentaerythritol and oxidizing agents. I. Potassium dichromate and potassium permanganate

DSC and TG, supported by IR spectrophotometry and gas chromatography, were applied to the study of reactions in solid mixtures of pentaerythritol (PE), 2,2-bis-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol, and the oxidizing agents potassium dichromate and potassium permanganate. The results indicate that esterification followed by decarbonylation occurred when the mole ratio of oxidizing agent to PE was equal to or greater than 5 : 1. At lower mole ratios evidence for esterification followed by the formation of cyclic acetal intermediates was obtained.     

Quasi-isothermal dilatometric studies of the influence of oxygen pressure on the initial sintering stage of UO2 powder compacts

Quasi-isothermal dilatometry (QID) is a useful technique for sintering studies of powder compacts. In the present work the principle of this technique and the method of calculating activation energies from the QID curves is first described? then, using this method, the sintering mechanism and the influence of oxygen pressure on the initial sintering stage of UO₂ compacts are evaluated. The controlling mechanism was found to be grain boundary diffusion of uranium vacancies with an activation energy of 234 kJ/mole in accordance with literature data.     

Pressurization effects on the polymorphic forms of famotidine

The effects of high static pressure on the polymorphic modifications A and B of famotidine were examined by differential scanning calorimetry, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray powder diffractometry. The obtained effects appeared to differ significantly depending on whether they were monitored by DSC or any of the other above techniques. In particular, DSC measurements tend to deceptively amplify a tendency of the pure modification B to turn into the more stable form A under pressurization, while the spectroscopic methods and XRPD exhibit no essential change in the crystal structure of the metastable form B. The apparent morphological transformation in the pressed samples stems from the nature of the DSC method itself.     

三溴化磷法合成三溴新戊醇及其热性能

以三溴化磷和季戊四醇为原料,经亲核取代反应制得三溴新戊醇酯化物（2）; 2与甲醇经酯交换反应合成了三溴新戊醇（3）,收率90%,其结构经¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, FT-IR和元素分析确证。用DSC和TG研究了3的热性能。结果表明：3的熔点约为67.74 ℃; 3的初始分解温度和最大失重速率温度分别为120 ℃和180 ℃。     

Crosslinking kinetics studies on interpenetrating polymer network powder coatings

IPN powder coatings were prepared which were composed of (A) a pendant double bond-containing acrylic resin made by reacting m-isopropenyl-α-α-dimethylbenzyl isocyanate (TMI) and a hydroxyl-containing acrylic resin and (B) a bisphenol type epoxy resin of high molecular weight cured by means of a carboxylic acid-containing acrylic resin. Crosslinking kinetics studies were carried out by using a computerized differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). A computer program was designed to simulate the curing reactions of the IPN powder coatings by using the individual kinetic parameters obtained from DSC. The simulated results from the computer program are very close to the results from experimental thermograms (by DSC). Therefore, this methodology provides an efficient tool to simplify and predict kinetic studies of crosslinking reactions in current or new IPN powder coating systems.     

Improvement of magnetic properties by hot rolling of sintered powder alloy in the Fe–Cr–Co system

A method to produce a technically suitable, hard-magnetic material of composition Fe–26% Cr–16% Co–2% Mo–2% W from a powder raw material was proposed. A distinguishing feature of the method is a reduced temperature of sintering of powder compacts (1200°C). The sintered samples are subjected to hot rolling. The magnetic and strength characteristics of the thus obtained magnetic material are on the level of those of alloys produced by powder metallurgy at a sintering temperature of about 1400°C and their cast analogs. Data on the magnetic hysteresis and strength properties of the synthesized material were presented.     

Thermal analysis of powdered alumina materials

How a DSC result is influenced by the particle size distribution of a powder sample is shown, and a simple and optimal method to be included in a routine DSC analysis (e.g., purity determination) to improve the reliability of the analysis is proposed. In case of-Al₂O₃ powder, most reliable heat capacity data can be obtained by preparing a powder with a self-similar particle size distribution with a distribution constant of 0.7, and by compressing it under a pressure of 1.5 MPa for a duration of 5 min or longer.This work is partially supported by the Research Fund of North Shore College of SONY Institute. R.O. wishes to express her gratitude to the support.     

超支化聚芴的合成与性能研究

采用2,7-二(4-羟基苯基)-9,9-二烷基芴(A2)与四对甲基苯磺酸季戊四醇酯(B4)通过A2+B4型缩聚反应合成了一系列共轭型超支化聚合物.利用紫外和荧光谱对聚合物予以表征,结果表明,此类聚合物均可发出稳定、纯正的蓝光.DSC和TGA显示,4种聚合物在150℃以下没有明显的相态变化,300℃以内无明显的热分解现象,这表明此类聚合物具有良好的热稳定性,有利于材料的发光效率及发光稳定性.     

Nanosized bismuth titanate (Bi4Ti3O12) system drive through auto-combustion process by using suspension titania (TiO2)

Bismuth titanate (Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂) was developed by means of titanium oxide (TiO₂) suspension in auto-combustion process at 220 °C to get nanosized (20 ± 5 nm) bismuth titanate (Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂) powder. Complete piezoelectric phase (tetragonal) was obtained after calcination at 700 °C. Dilatometery of compacts was performed to find out sintering temperature. On the basis of shrinkage results, compacts were sintered at 750, 800, and 850 °C for 2 h. After sintering single phase was obtained with orthorhombic structure analyzed by X-ray diffraction and also investigated by Rietveld method. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy revealed that fine plate-like structure which is a characteristic of BIT powder can be obtained at 850 °C. Sintering results indicate that density and average grain size increase with the increasing temperature. A maximum of about 90 % of the theoretical density was achieved for the sintered product at 850 °C.     

Vapor pressure measurements in the range 10 Pa to 1 Pa of four pentaerythritol esters: Density and vapor–liquid equilibria modeling of ester lubricants

Vapor pressures of four pure pentaerythritol esters, PE, pentaerythritol tetrapentanoate, pentaerythritol tetraheptanoate, pentaerythritol tetranonanoate and pentaerythritol tetra 2-ethylhexanoate were measured between 334 and 476 K in a recently developed gas saturation apparatus. The experimental vapor pressure values for the four polyolesters range from 5.6 × 10⁻⁵ Pa to 0.94 Pa. These data together with density values were used to determined SAFT and PC-SAFT characteristic parameters. The linearity of molecular parameters for both models with the molecular weight permits to interpolate and extrapolate these parameters for pentaerythritol ester with linear chains. For pentaerythritol esters with ethyl-alkanoic chains, the parameters of SAFT and PC-SAFT have been estimated assuming that the slope of these straight lines is the same for PEs with linear chains that for PE with branched chains. This procedure was used to predict density of commercial POEs, estimating the molecular weight when it is not available from the viscosity at 313.15 K. PC-SAFT gives better performances than SAFT to predict density data for these four compounds at high pressures and for other PEs at atmospheric pressure. Furthermore, characteristic parameters for Soave-Redlich-Kwong and Peng Robinson EoSs were also estimated from the experimental vapor pressures and literature density values.     

Paracetamol-propyphenazone interaction and formulation difficulties associated with eutectic formation in combination solid dosage forms

Polymorphic behaviours of paracetamol and propyphenazone and interaction between these two compounds were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray powder diffraction and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR)-spectroscopy. Binary mixtures containing various ratios of the compounds were prepared as physical and fused mixtures and analysed by DSC to study their thermal behaviours. Phase diagrams obtained from the melting endotherms of the binary mixtures demonstrated formation of an eutectic mixture at a paracetamol-propyphenazone combination of about 35:65 (w/w) with an eutectic temperature of 56 degrees C. The FT-IR spectroscopy revealed no chemical interaction due to eutectic formation, and a lower degree of crystallinity of the eutectic mixture than individual substances was observed by X-ray powder diffraction analysis. The DSC and X-ray powder diffraction data demonstrated a polymorphic change in propyphenazone as a result of melting of the compound. Tablets, containing both paracetamol and propyphenazone in a combination formulation and prepared using standard wet granulation technology, were found to have physical instability when packed in either polyvinylchloride// aluminium or polyvinylchloride/polyvinyldienechloride// aluminium blisters and stored for one month at 40 degrees C with either 75% relative humidity or without any humidity control. The instability of the tablets was more apparent under the high humidity condition.     

Liquid crystal gels cross-linked with 1,3,5-tris-(ω-methacryloyloxyalkyloxy)benzenes

A mixture of ω-(4-cyanobiphenyl-4′-yloxy)alkyl methacrylate and 1,3,5-tris-(ω-methacryloyloxyalkyloxy)benzene was heated to 200 °C at 5–10 °C/min. A large, broad exothermic transition peak was observed by differential scanning calorimetry during the first heating process. The transition indicated the formation of a networked polymer, which was then immersed for 24 h in various nematic liquid crystals, such as 4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl, to give liquid crystal gels. The networked polymers and their corresponding liquid crystal gels exhibited different liquid crystal-isotropic transitions. The swelling behaviors of the liquid crystal gels were compared with those of gels cross-linked with 1,6-hexanediol dimethacrylate, trimethylpropane trimethacrylate, and pentaerythritol tetraacetate. The characteristics of liquid crystal gels cross-linked with 1,3,5-tris-(ω-methacryloyloxyalkyloxy)benzenes were studied.     

纳米二氧化钛的水热法制备及在染料敏化太阳能电池中的应用

分别在盐酸和冰醋酸溶液中水解钛酸四正丁酯,得到前驱体,通过水热法制备锐钛矿型二氧化钛纳米晶体.以纳米二氧化钛为电子传输体组装染料敏化电池,通过XRDI、CP、DRS、TEM、SEM和电池的光电性能测试,研究制备的二氧化钛对电池光电性能的影响.结果表明,水热反应温度对染料敏化太阳能电池光电性能有较大影响,在有机酸介质中制备的二氧化钛具有较高的光电转换效率.     

Enzyme-catalyzed degradation of poly(l-lactide)/poly(?-caprolactone) diblock, triblock and four-armed copolymers

Poly(l-lactide)/poly(?-caprolactone) diblock, triblock and four-armed copolymers with the same monomer feed ratio (50/50) were synthesised by two step ring opening polymerisation of successively added ?-caprolactone and l-lactide, using isopropanol, ethylene glycol, or pentaerythritol as initiator and zinc lactate as co-initiator. The resulting copolymers were characterised by ¹H NMR, DSC, SEC, and FT-IR, which confirmed the blocky characteristic of the copolymers. Solution cast films were allowed to degrade at 37 °C in the presence of proteinase K, and the degradation was monitored by gravimetry, DSC, SEC, ¹H NMR and ESEM. The effects of chain structure, block length and crystallinity on the degradation are discussed. The four-armed block copolymer degrades the most rapidly, while the diblock copolymer exhibited the slowest degradation rate. The difference was related to the crystallinity depending on both the molecular structure and block length. Little compositional or molar mass changes were obtained during degradation, which strongly supports a surface erosion mechanism, in agreement with ESEM observations.     

Glass transition temperature and thermal decomposition of cellulose powder

Cellulose powder and cellulose pellets obtained by pressing the microcrystalline powder were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and thermal gravimetry (TG). The TG method enabled the assessment of water content in the investigated samples. The glass phase transition in cellulose was studied using the DSC method, both in heating and cooling runs, in a wide temperature range from −100 to 180 °C. It is shown that the DSC cooling runs are more suitable for the glass phase transition visualisation than the heating runs. The discrepancy between glass phase transition temperature T _g found using DSC and predictions by Kaelbe’s approach are observed for “dry” (7 and 5.3% water content) cellulose. This could be explained by strong interactions between cellulose chains appearing when the water concentration decreases. The T _g measurements vs. moisture content may be used for cellulose crystallinity index determination.     

Preparation,characterization and compatibility studies of poly(DFAMO/AMMO)

Poly(3-difluoroaminomethyl-3-methyl oxetane (DFAMO)/3-azidomethyl-3-methyl oxetane (AMMO)) (PDA) can be used as an energetic pre-polymer in the binder systems of solid propellants and polymer-bonded explosives (PBXs). The cationic solution polymerization affords PDA using butane diol (BDO) and boron trifluride etherate (TFBE) as initiator and catalyst, separately. Its molecular structure is characterized and thermal decomposition behavior is investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The copolymer has good thermal stability and exhibits a three-step mass-loss process with the first two steps mainly belonging to the thermal decomposition of difluoroamino and azido groups, respectively. DSC method is performed to evaluate the compatibility of PDA with some energetic components and inert materials. More than half of the selected materials are compatible with PDA, which including cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX), 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), ammonium perchlorate (AP), ammonium nitrate (AN), potassium nitrate (KNO₃), aluminum powder (Al), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), 2-nitrodiphenylamine (NDPA) and 1,3-diethyl-1,3-diphenyl urea (C₁).