Some properties of polyvinyl acetate films cast from methanol,acetone and chloroform as solvent

Polyvinyl acetate was cast into films on a clean mercury surface from its solution in either methanol, acetone or chloroform. Some mechanical properties of the films, exposed at 20 °C and 65% r.h., and 45 and 60 °C in air ovens, were studied. They were found to be highly dependent on the solvent used for film casting and the time of exposure of film at each of the temperatures. The initial modulus, yield stress, tensile strength and work to rupture of the polymer films were greater for those cast from acetone than those cast from chloroform, and for all the films these properties increased with exposure time, with an induction period in some cases. The elongation at break decreased with exposure time from an initial value which was higher for the chloroform-cast than the acetone-cast films. Films cast from methanol were found to be too brittle for testing.The results are interpreted on the basis of interactions between the solvent molecules and those of the polymer. Of the three solvents, chloroform produced polyvinyl acetate films with the most constant mechanical properties over the longest period of exposure which depended on the temperature of exposure, decreasing as the temperature increased. Hence chloroform is recommended for casting films of polyvinyl acetate. Methanol is practically unsuitable while acetone could be used where chloroform is not available.     

Water resistance, mechanical properties and biodegradability of methylated-cornstarch/poly(vinyl alcohol) blend film

The main shortcomings of biodegradable starch/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) film are hydrophilicity and poor mechanical properties. With an aim to overcome these disadvantages, cornstarch was methylated and blend films were prepared by mixing methylated-cornstarch (MCS) with PVA. The mechanical properties, water resistance and biodegradability of the MCS/PVA film were investigated. It was found that MCS/PVA film had higher water resistance than the native starch/PVA film. However, the water resistance of MCS/PVA films did not have significant difference with the increase in the degree of substitution (DS) of the methylated starch from 0.096 to 0.864. Enzymatic, microbiological and soil burial biodegradation results indicated that the biodegradability of the MCS/PVA film strongly depended on the starch proportion in the film matrix. The degradation rate of starch in the starch/PVA film was hindered by blending starch with PVA. Both tensile strength and percent elongation at break of the MCS/PVA film were improved as DS of the methylated starch increased. Conversely, increasing the methylated starch proportion in film matrix deteriorated both tensile strength and percent elongation at break of the film.     

Response surface methodology (RSM) of chicken skin gelatin based composite films with rice starch and curcumin incorporation

This study aims to optimize the formulation of composite films based on chicken skin gelatin with incorporation of rice starch (10–20%, w/w) and curcumin (0.03–0.10%, w/v). The effect of their interaction on film's tensile strength (TS), elongation at break (EAB), water vapor permeability (WVP) and antioxidant properties (DPPH%) were investigated using a response surface methodology-central composite design (RSM-CCD). The optimized film formulation was further validated to indicate the validity of the prediction model. The optimum conditions of the film were selected with incorporation of rice starch at 20% (w/w) and curcumin at 0.03% (w/v). The optimized film formulation has revealed better mechanical properties with low WVP value and good antioxidant activity. The results showed that optimized composite films formulation based on chicken skin gelatin with the incorporation of rice starch and curcumin has proving good validation of model prediction and can be effectively utilized in food packaging industry.     

Studies on Rheological,Thermal, and Mechanical Properties of Polylactide/Methyl Methacrylate-Butadiene-Styrene Copolymer/Poly(propylene carbonate) Polyurethane Ternary Blends

Polylactide(PLA), methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene copolymer(MBS), and poly(propylene carbonate) polyurethane(PPCU) were blended and subjected to blown film process. The rheological, mechanical, morphological, thermal, and crystalline properties of the PLA/MBS/PPCU ternary blends and the mechanical properties of the resulting films were studied. Results of mechanical test showed that PPCU and MBS could synergistically toughen PLA. The impact strength of 50/10/40 PLA/MBS/PPCU blend(74.7 k J/m~2)was about 7.5 times higher than that of the neat PLA(10.8 k J/m~2), and the elongation at break of 50/10/40 PLA/MBS/PPCU blend(276.5%) was higher by about 45 times that of PLA(6.2%). The tear strength of PLA/MBS/PPCU films was 20 k N/m higher than that of PLA, and the elongation at break(MD/TD) of 50/10/40 PLA/MBS/PPCU films was 271.1%/222.3%, whereas that of PLA was only 2.7%/3.0%. POM observations displayed that the density of spherulite nucleation increased and the size of crystalline particles decreased with the addition of MBS. With increasing PPCU content from 5% to 20%, the density of spherulite nucleation increased and the size of crystalline particles decreased continuously, but the nucleation density of spherulites was slightly lowered with increasing PPCU content from 30% to 40%. The PLA/MBS/PPCU films exhibited excellent mechanical properties, which expanded the application range of these biodegradable films.     

胶原蛋白-葡甘聚糖-软骨素共混膜的结构表征和物理性能研究

用溶液共混法制备了胶原蛋白-葡甘聚糖-软骨素共混膜。并进行了FPIR，XRD，SFM分析及透光率抗张强度、断裂伸长率、吸水率、透汽性、吸附性和渗透性测试。结果表明：共混膜中胶原蛋白、葡甘聚糖及软骨素之间存在着强烈的相互作用和良好的相容性，三者共混明显改善了几种材料及二元共混膜的性能。该共混膜可望用作生物医用材料。     

Relationship between the polymer/silica interaction and properties of silica composite materials

Cast film composites have been prepared from aqueous polymer solutions containing nanometric silica particles. The polymers were polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and a blend of PVA‐HPMC polymers. In the aqueous dispersions, the polymer–silica interactions were studied through adsorption isotherms. These experiments indicated that HPMC has a high affinity for silica surfaces, and can adsorb at high coverage; conversely, low affinity and low coverage were found in the case of PVA. In the films, the organization of silica particles was investigated through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS). Both methods showed that the silica particles were well‐dispersed in the HPMC films and aggregated in the PVA films. The mechanical properties of the composite films were evaluated using tensile strength measurements. Both polymers were solid materials, with a high‐elastic modulus (65 MPa for HPMC and 291 for PVA) and a low‐maximum elongation at break (0.15 mm for HPMC and 4.12 mm for PVA). In HPMC films, the presence of silica particles led to an increase in the modulus and a decrease in the stress at break. In PVA films, the modulus decreased but the stress at break increased upon adding silica. Accordingly, the polymer/silica interaction can be used to tune the mechanical properties of such composite films. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1134–1146, 2006     

Influence of crystal polymorphism on mechanical and barrier properties of poly(l-lactic acid)

The effect of crystal polymorphism on barrier and mechanical properties of PLLA is detailed in this contribution. PLLA films containing different amounts of α and α′ crystal forms were prepared by annealing quenched PLLA at different temperatures. The polymorphic structure of the films was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. Mechanical properties and permeability to water vapor were investigated as a function of degree of crystallinity (w_C) and related to crystal polymorphism developed during annealing. The polymorphic structure of PLLA significantly affects mechanical and barrier properties. The α crystal modification provides a better barrier to water vapor and a higher Young’s modulus, compared to films containing the α′ modification, but a lower elongation at break. The varied barrier and mechanical properties were correlated to the different packing of PLLA chains in the two analyzed polymorphs. The conformational disorder of the α′ form makes this structure a mesophase (condis crystal), with remarkable effects on material properties.     

Probing the interface in vapor-deposited bimetallic Pd-Au and Pt-Au films by CO adsorption from the liquid phase

Bimetallic Pd-Au and Pt-Au and monometallic Pd, Pt, and Au films were prepared by physical vapor deposition. The resulting surfaces were characterized by means of XPS, AFM, and CO adsorption from the liquid phase (CH2Cl2) monitored by ATR-IR spectroscopy. CO adsorption combined with ATR-IR proved to be a very sensitive method for probing the degree of interdiffusion occurring at the interfaces whose properties were altered by variation of the Pd and Pt film thickness from 0.2 to 2 nm. Because no CO adsorption was observed on Au, the evaporation of Pt-group metals on Au allowed us to study the effect of dilution on the adsorption properties of the surfaces. At equivalent Pd film thickness, the evaporation of Au reduced the amount of adsorbed CO and caused the formation of 2-fold bridging CO, which was almost absent in monometallic surfaces. Additionally, the average particle size on Pd-Au surfaces was smaller than that on monometallic Pd surfaces. The results indicate that a Pd/Au diffuse interface is formed that affects the Pd particle size even more drastically than the simple decrease in Pd film thickness in monometallic surfaces. Pt-Au surfaces were less sensitive to CO adsorption, indicating that the two metals do not mix to a significant extent. The difference in the interfacial behavior of Pd and Pt in the bimetallic gold films is traced to the largely different Pd-Au and Pt-Au miscibility gaps.     

Mechanical properties degradation of polyimide films irradiated by atomic oxygen

Mechanical properties of polyimide films are degraded by exposure to a low earth orbit environment. The main environmental factor for that degradation is atomic oxygen (AO). Using tensile tests, AO-irradiated surface topography observations, and fracture surface analyses, this study investigated the degradation behavior of polyimide films’ mechanical properties by increased AO fluence and its accompanying degradation mechanisms. Tensile strength and elongation of polyimide films were reduced concomitantly with increased AO fluence. Furthermore, AO-irradiated polyimide films fractured from the AO-irradiated surfaces, of which roughness became marked as AO fluence increased. These results reflect that reduction of mechanical properties is attributable to the roughness increase in AO-irradiated surfaces. Polyimide films coated with indium tin oxide (ITO) were also evaluated to confirm the degradation behavior of AO protective films. Surfaces of ITO-coated polyimide films remained smooth even after AO irradiation. However, undercut cavities were formed at ITO coating defect sites. Rupture of ITO-coated polyimide films initiates from the undercut cavities, engendering large reduction of tensile strength and elongation. The degradation of the mechanical properties of ITO-coated polyimide films increased substantially until the undercut cavities fully penetrated the film.     

Chitin/graphene oxide composite films with enhanced mechanical properties prepared in NaOH/urea aqueous solution

Chitin/graphene oxide (GO) composite films with excellent mechanical properties were prepared in NaOH/urea solution using a freezing/thawing method. The structure, thermal stability and mechanical properties of the composite films were investigated. Use of an atomic force microscope and transmission electron microscopy indicated that GO was successfully exfoliated to a single layer by ultrasonication. The results revealed that GO nanosheets were homogeneously dispersed and embedded in the chitin matrix. Due to the strong interactions between GO and the chitin matrix, the tensile strength and elongation at break of the composite film possessing 1.64 wt% GO were significantly improved by 98.7 and 114.5 %, respectively, compared with pure chitin film.     

Modification of mechanical and thermal property of chitosan–starch blend films

Chitosan–starch blend films (thickness 0.2 mm) of different composition were prepared by casting and their mechanical properties were studied. To improve the properties of chitosan–starch films, glycerol and mustard oil of different composition were used. Chitosan–starch films, incorporated with glycerol and mustard oil, were further modified with monomer 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) using gamma radiation. The modified films showed improvement in both tensile strength and elongation at break than the pure chitosan–starch films. Water uptake of the films reduced significantly than the pure chitosan–starch film. Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) showed that the modified films experience less thermal degradation than the pure films. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and FTIR were used to investigate the morphology and molecular interaction of the blend film, respectively.     

Evaluation of Morphology and Deformation Micromechanisms in Multilayered PP/PS Films: An Electron Microscopy Study

Nanostructured polymers and ultra-thin polymer layers are used more and more in technical applications like nanotechnology and microelectronics. Therefore, it is really important to understand the size-scale dependent properties as bulk polymers become thinner and more two-dimensional. Here the morphology as well as the macroscopic and the microscopic deformation behaviour of multilayered films of polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) have been investigated. For investigation different microscopic techniques and tensile testing were used. The films were prepared by multilayer coextrusion, whereas the composition of PP and PS and the film thickness – and therefore the thickness of each layer – varied. The thinnest calculated thickness of a single layer was about 5 nm. It is shown that the PP/PS films consist usually of homogeneous layers with only few defects. As the composition of PP/PS deviates strongly from 50/50 or the films get thinner the number of defects increases and the layered system turns to irregular lamellar system. In macroscopic tensile tests the small PS layers affect the elongation at break enormously: Most of the samples are brittle. For the films with a composition of PP/PS 90/10 and the film PP/PS 70/30 with a film thickness of 25 µm an elongation at break of 66% and higher could be reached. Transmission electron microscopy on these samples shows that the layers are characterized by plastic yielding in local deformation zones.     

Simultaneous Enhancement of Toughness and Strength of Stretched iPP Film via Tiny Amount of β-Nucleating Agent under "Shear-free"Melt-extrusion

Herein,isotactic polypropylene films with small β-nucleating agent content were fabricated via a melt-extrusion-stretched technology with intended "shear-free" in barrel and die.Compared with neat films,the tensile strength,elongation at break and strain energy density at break of iPP film with 0.05 wt％ β-nucleating agent are significantly improved by 13.8％,39.6％ and 90.6％,respectively,indicating the simultaneously enhanced toughness and strength.Additionally,the β-crystal content gradually increases with increasing β-NA content,while the relative total daughter content of α-and β-crystal exhibits opposite tendency.Moreover,nucleation and crystal growth induced by various β-NA contents are different.This work proves an efficient strategy to enhance mechanical properties of isotactic polypropylene film via controlling elongation flow and addition of appropriate β-NA content.     

海藻酸钠-硫酸软骨素共混膜的结构及性能研究

利用溶液共混法成功制备了新型生物膜材料-硫酸软骨素共混膜,通过红外光谱、X-射线衍射、原子吸收光谱和扫描电镜对共混膜的结构进行了表征,并测定了不同配比共混膜的抗张强度、断裂伸长率,吸水率,同时考察了介质pH值和离子强度对共混膜吸水率的影响。结果表明:共混膜中海藻酸钠、软骨素之间具有较强的相互作用和良好的相容性,共混膜具有良好的力学性能。作为一种潜在的生物材料可望在生物医学领域得到应用。     

Synthesis and properties of thermoplastic polyimides with ether and ketone moieties

A series of polyimides containing ether and ketone moieties were synthesized from 1,3‐bis(4‐fluorobenzoyl) benzene and several commercially available dianhydrides via a conventional two‐step polymerization. The inherent viscosities of Polyamide acids ranged from 0.46 to 0.73 dL/g. Thermal properties, mechanical properties, and thermalplasticity of the obtained polimide films were investigated by focusing on the chemical structures of their repeat units. These films were amorphous, flexible, and transparent. All films displayed low T_gs (184–225 °C) but also excellent thermal stability, the 5% weight loss temperature was up to 542 °C under nitrogen. The films showed outstanding mechanical properties with the modulus up to 3.0 GPa and the elongation at break in the range of 8–160%. The uniaxial stretching of PI‐a at high temperature was studied owing to its excellent flexibility. The PI‐a had an elongation at break up to 1600% at 245 °C and the uniaxially stretched film exhibited a much higher modulus (3.9 GPa) and strength (240 MPa) than undrawn film. The results indicated that PI‐a can potentially be used to prepare materials such as fiber, ultra‐thin film or ultra‐high modulus film. All the obtained films also demonstrated excellent thermoplasticity (drop of E′ at T_g > 10³) which made the polyimides more suitable for melt processing. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2878–2884, 2010     

尿素/乙醇胺复配增塑聚乙烯醇性能的研究

采用尿素/乙醇胺为复合增塑剂,利用流延法制备了增塑改性的PVA膜.通过FTIR法研究了尿素/乙醇胺复合体系与PVA的相互作用,采用XRD、DSC考察了增塑改性PVA膜的结晶性能和热性能.研究结果表明,乙醇胺作为尿素的良溶剂,能有效抑制尿素从PVA基体中析出.由尿素、乙醇胺组成的复合增塑剂能破坏PVA分子中的氢键作用、降低PVA的结晶度和熔点,对PVA的增塑作用显著.增塑改性后的PVA膜在水中的溶胀率(DS)下降,溶失率(S)增加.力学性能测试表明增塑改性后的PVA膜拉伸强度(TS)降低,断裂伸长率(E%)提高.含30phr尿素/乙醇胺的PVA膜的拉伸强度、断裂伸长率分别为23.89MPa和542.88%.     

Preparation,Characterization and Antibacterial Property Analysis of Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC) and Chitosan Nanoparticles Fine-Tuned Starch Film

To improve the mechanical and antibacterial properties of traditional starch-based film, herein, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and chitosan nanoparticles (CS NPs) were introduced to potato starch (PS, film-forming matrix) for the preparation of nanocomposite film without incorporation of additional antibacterial agents. CNCs with varied concentrations were added to PS and CS NPs composite system to evaluate the optimal film performance. The results showed that tensile strength (TS) of nanocomposite film with 0, 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1% (w/w) CNCs incorporation were 41, 46, 47 and 41 MPa, respectively. The elongation at break (EAB) reached 12.5, 10.2, 7.1 and 13.3%, respectively. Due to the reinforcing effect of CNCs, surface morphology and structural properties of nanocomposite film were altered. TGA analysis confirmed the existence of hydrogen bondings and electrostatic attractions between components in the film-forming matrix. The prepared nanocomposite films showed good antibacterial properties against both E. coli and S. aureus. The nanocomposite film, consist of three most abundant biodegradable polymers, could potentially serve as antibacterial packaging films with strong mechanical properties for food and allied industries.     

用可再生原料合成聚氨酯脲水分散液——成膜后的结构与性能研究

以不同组成的蓖麻油和二官能度聚醚多元醇 (GE 2 10 )等原料合成了聚氨酯脲 (PUU)水分散液 ,研究了蓖麻油 GE 2 10的组成对PUU膜结构与性能的影响 .结果表明 ,由GE 2 10合成的PUU虽软硬段间存在一定的相容性 ,但其中脲羰基的氢键化程度高 ,硬段形成较好的有序结构 ,导致PUU膜具有较高的拉伸强度及断裂伸长率 ,但弹性模量和硬度下降 .在蓖麻油合成的PUU中脲羰基的氢键化程度及硬段有序结构均受到化学交联结构的抑制 ,故PUU膜的拉伸强度和断裂伸长率降低 ,但弹性模量及硬度较高 .由蓖麻油与GE 2 10在一定的组成范围内合成的PUU膜 ,具有优良的综合平衡的力学性能 ,后者与材料的结构形态相符     

Effect of Bee Pollen on the Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Starch Films

The use of casein, starch and bee pollen as biodegradable materials has been promise. The objective of this work was the development and characterization of films containing casein, pollen and starch. The films were obtained by casting process and the solvent evaporation was performed at 40 °C/24 h. The films characterization was carried out by microscopy, thermal analysis, opacity test, mechanical properties and barrier methods. The starch films presented heterogeneous on microscopy analysis. The thermal behaviors of pollen films were similar. The formulation containing only pollen 3% was unable to form film. The introduction of pollen in starch film formulation improved the mechanical characteristic and thermal stability of films.     

Investigating aluminum thin films properties by stochastic analysis

In this article, we investigate about stochastic properties of a thin film such as aluminum thin film that is formed by thermal evaporation in high vacuum. So we prepare thin films with different thicknesses on glass surfaces in high vacuum chamber with 10^?6 torr. Then, we use Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), for determining the height fluctuations of aluminum thin films in different growth stages and use an inverse method that utilizes data from AFM to construct a simple equation that governs the stochastic process and a relation between stochastic parameters such as roughness, correlation and Markov length, drift, and diffusion coefficients during the growth process. Also we show that aluminum thin films, during growth by evaporating in high vacuum chamber, have a mono fractal behavior in small distances(little than 100 nm) on the surfaces. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.