Processing of poly(lactic acid): Characterization of chemical structure, thermal stability and mechanical properties

The processing of poly(lactic acid) (injection and extrusion/injection) as well as annealing of processed materials were studied in order to analyze the variation of its chemical structure, thermal degradation and mechanical properties. Processing of PLA was responsible for a decrease in molecular weight, as determined by GPC, due to chain scission. The degree of crystallinity was evaluated by means of differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. It was found that mechanical processing led to the quasi disappearance of crystal structure whereas it was recovered after annealing. These findings were qualitatively corroborated by means of FTIR. By analyzing ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR chemical shifts and peak areas, it was possible to affirm that the chemical composition of PLA did not change after processing, but the proportion of methyl groups increased, thus indicating the presence of a different molecular environment. The thermal stability of the various materials was established by calculating various characteristic temperatures from thermograms as well as conversion and conversion derivative curves. Finally, the mechanical behaviour was determined by means of tensile testing (Young modulus, yield strength and elongation at break).     

Kinetic characterization of barium titanate–bismuth oxide–vanadium pentoxide glasses

The glasses with the composition (80 − x)V₂O₅·20Bi₂O₃·xBaTiO₃ with x = 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 mol % were prepared by a melting technique. The crystallization behavior and the microstructure of the glasses were investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mean value of the activation energy of structural relaxation (〈E_g〉) decreased from 395 ± 3 to 369 ± 1.83 kJ/mol when BaTiO₃ increased from 2.5 to 10 mol %. The activation energies obtained by the methods Kissinger and Ozawa were in the range from 213 ± 0.65 to 256 ± 1.23 kJ/mol. Different analysis methods were used to estimate the Avrami exponents. Their values range from 4.26 ± 0.6 to 2.62 ± 0.11 for the exothermic peak of the prepared glasses. Moreover, synthesized glasses-ceramic containing BaTi₄O₉ and Ba₃TiV₄O₁₅ were estimated by using XRD.     

Organic acid catalyzed production of platform chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from fructose: Process comparison and evaluation based on kinetic modeling

Fructose was converted to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), an important biomass-derived platform chemical, under mild conditions (100–130 °C) with several organic acids including p-toluene sulfonic (pTSA), oxalic, maleic, malonic and succinic acids as the catalysts. The process kinetics was compared considering fructose dehydration to HMF as the objective reaction and condensation of fructose and HMF to humin and rehydration of HMF as the main side reactions. DMSO was found to be the most effective solvent reaction medium to obtain high fructose conversion and HMF yield. Observed kinetic modeling illustrated that the rehydration and condensation of HMF in DMSO actually could be neglected, especially for the oxalic acid catalyzed system. The determined observed activation energy for fructose conversion to HMF and humin in DMSO medium was 33.75 and 24.94 kJ/mol for pTSA catalyzed system, and 96.51 and 78.39 kJ/mol for oxalic acid-catalyzed system, respectively. HMF yields of 90.2% and 84.1% were obtained for pTSA and oxalic acid catalyzed systems, respectively.     

Multiple melting behavior of poly(butylene succinate)

The multiple melting behavior of poly(butylenes succinate) (PBS) isothermally crystallized from the melt was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), temperature modulated DSC (MDSC) and polarized optical microscopy. PBS exhibits at most four melting endotherms (denoted as T_m1, T_m2, T_m3, and T_m4 from high to low temperatures) and a crystallization exotherm (denoted as T_re) in the DSC heating trace. Multiple melting endotherms were observed even at high heating rates. The origins of each endothermal and exothermal peak were discussed in detail. It is suggested that: (i) the crystallization exothermic peak, T_re, relates to the recrystallization of the melt of the crystallites with lower thermal stability; (ii) the T_m1 is ascribed to the melting of crystallites formed through recrystallization; (iii) two crystal populations with different thermal stability are responsible for the T_m2 and T_m3; (iv) the T_m4, which is the annealing peak, represents the transition of the rigid amorphous fraction (RAF) from solid-like RAF into liquid-like amorphous fraction.     

Morphological behaviour of poly(lactic acid) during hydrolytic degradation

The hydrolytic degradation and the morphological behaviour of a packaging grade of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) were characterized by a series of techniques. During the initial degradation process (stage 1) at a temperature near the glass transition temperature (T_g), the molecular weight of PLA decreased as degradation time increased following a bulk erosion mechanism while the crystallinity increased simultaneously, but no observable weight loss occurred at stage 1. Mainly α-form PLA crystal structure was formed for the crystalline PLA with a low content of d stereo-isomers, but the material displayed a lower regularity, smaller domain size, lower melting temperatures T_m and different motional dynamics as compared to the original PLA with a similar level of crystallinity achieved by annealing. The amorphous PLA with a higher amount of d stereo-isomers also yielded the α crystalline phase as well as stereo-complex crystals at stage 1. When the molecular weight and the crystallinity reached a stable level, PLA started erosion into the degrading aqueous medium. During this stage of degradation (stage 2), the crystalline structure in PLA residues was further modified and both pH and temperature influenced the modification. The degradation at stage 2 was likely to follow a surface erosion mechanism with lactic acid as the major product of the weight loss. Besides the crystallinity effect on the degradation, temperature also played a key role in determining the rate of PLA degradation in both stages. The process was very slow at temperatures below the T_g of PLA but the rate was greatly enhanced at temperatures above the T_g.     

Studies on the kinetics of synthesis of TiC by calciothermic reduction of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> in presence of carbon

Reaction kinetics of the formation of TiC by calciothermic reduction of TiO₂ in presence of carbon have been investigated using thermal analysis (TG-DTA) of a powder mixture of TiO₂, Ca, and C in argon atmosphere at different heating rates. Both the reaction initiation and the peak temperatures are found to increase with heating rates. The appearance of exothermic peaks in the DTA plots after Ca melting indicates the reduction of TiO₂ by liquid calcium and formation of TiC by in-situ reaction of Ti with C. The apparent activation energy of the process has been found to be 170.8±0.5 kJ mol^–1.     

Nucleophilic attack by bromide ions as a first step of conversion of Se(VI) to Se(IV)

Numerous commonly used analytical methods allow only determination of a total amount of selenium in a given sample. Electroanalytical methods as well as those based on hydride generation or on formation of piazselenol allow only determination of Se(IV). To determine Se(VI) by these procedures, present alone or in mixtures with Se(IV), it is first necessary to convert Se(VI) to Se(IV). Such conversion is effective in the presence of excess of halides in acidic media or by photoreduction. In the often used conversion of Se(VI) in the presence of chlorides or less frequently of that of bromides, it has been assumed that the halide ion acts as a reducing agent. Kinetic studies of conversion of Se(VI) in acidic solutions containing an excess of bromide ions indicated that the rate determining first step of the reaction with Se(VI) is a nucleophilic substitution of the OH₂⁺ group in the protonated form of H₂SeO₄ by bromide ions. For the overall reaction with rate −d[Se(VI)]/dt = k₁[H⁺][Br⁻]^1.15[Se(IV)] the rate constant 1 × 10⁻³ L² mol⁻² s⁻¹ was found. The following formation of Se(IV) from the bromo derivative is a fast reaction probably resulting in elimination of HBrO.     

Statistical analysis of the influence of synthesis conditions on the properties of hierarchical zeolite Y

Commercial zeolite USY (CBV500, Si/Al = 2.6) was dealuminated with oxalic acid, desilicated with ammonium hydroxide assisted by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, and acid washed with lactic acid for obtaining hierarchical zeolite Y. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, N₂-physisorption, temperature programmed desorption of NH₃, transmission electronic microscopy and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy Ppyridine adsorption. A central composite experimental design was used for obtaining the influence of the concentration of the three solutions used in each step of the synthesis, on the relative crystallinity (%RC), mesopore volume (V_meso), and total acidity of the synthesized materials. All the materials conserved the %RC and total acidity between 51-89% and 51–80%, respectively; modified materials showed an increase of up to 300 m²/g of external surface area and 0.17 cm³/g of the V_meso with respect to the CBV500 sample. The statistical analysis showed that all the properties are influenced by oxalic acid concentration, whereas ammonium hydroxide concentration affects V_meso, and lactic acid concentration affects %RC and total acidity in the modified samples. According to the optimization of the process, the material synthesized and labeled as MZ-OP, showed a %RC = 82%, V_meso = 0.21 cm³/g, and total acidity of 1.430 mmol/g. The catalytic cracking of n-dodecane was tested over CBV500, MZ-OP, and MZ-10-100-500 and the obtained conversion at 300 min was 65%, 95% and 82%, respectively. Deactivation rate of the modified samples was significantly lower than the values obtained with CBV500, showing that the modified samples were more stable under tested reaction conditions.     

Influence of acid–base properties of cobalt–molybdenum catalysts supported on magnesium orthophosphates in isomerization of 3,3-dimethylbut-1-ene

Synthesis and physico-chemical characterization of a pure magnesium phosphate (MgP) prepared by coprecipitation, and MgP modified by introduction of cobalt–molybdenum (4–12 wt.% of MoO₃ with the Co/Mo ratio fixed at 0.5) have been carried out. The structural properties of these catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, their textural properties were determined by N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms and the dispersion of cobalt–molybdenum was studied by XPS spectroscopy. Their acid properties have been investigated by in situ FT-IR spectroscopy of adsorbed molecules, often, 2,6-dimethylpyridine (pK_a = 6.7), pyridine (pK_a = 5.3). Co–Mo incorporation leads to a modification in the MgP acid–base properties, especially on the acid sites type and number. Thus, lower loading of cobalt–molybdenum species decreased the number of strong Lewis acid sites whereas higher loading increased it. It was found that Lewis acid sites on magnesium phosphates play an important role in the isomerization of 3,3-dimethylbut-1-ene.The 3,3-dimethylbut-1-ene (33DMB1) conversion increases with the reaction temperature from 493 to 653 K for MgP, but decreases after 573 K for MgP supported by Co–Mo. A linear relationship between both types of acid sites and conversion values was found. The deactivation of the catalysts appears at high reaction temperature (>573 K).     

Mechanistic investigation, kinetic modeling and analysis parameters of poly(3-hexylthiophene) degradation to fullerenes

Thermal degradation of Poly (3-hexylthiopene) (P3HT) was studied under nitrogen environment. Kinetic parameters of thermal degradation were determined using Vyazovkin model free method and model fitting method. Vyazovkin model free kinetic analysis is carried out to understand the variation of activation energy (E_α) required for degradation of polymer with conversion (α). Various reaction models have been tested for probable reaction mechanism using hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA). Diffusion model and nucleation & growth with n = 2/3 has prominent role in thermal decomposition of P3HT. A plausible degradation route is proposed based on the experimental details acquired from gas chromatography (GC), Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Degradation of P3HT starts at around 195 °C with release of lighter units like CS. Further increase in the temperature results in detachment of the hexyl chain from P3HT and the residue obtained at 1050 °C contains fullerenes mixed with amorphous carbon.     

Crystal modifications and multiple melting behavior of poly(L‐lactic acid‐co‐D‐lactic acid)

The crystal modifications and multiple melting behavior of poly(L ‐lactic acid‐co‐D ‐lactic acid) (98/2) as a function of crystallization temperature were studied by wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that the disorder (α′) and order (α) phases of poly(L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) were formed in cold‐crystallized poly(L ‐lactic acid‐co‐D ‐lactic acid) samples at low (<110 °C) and high (≥110 °C) temperatures, respectively. A disorder‐to‐order (α′‐to‐α) phase transition occurred during the annealing process of the α′‐crystal at elevated temperatures, which proceeded quite slowly even at the peak temperature of the exotherm P_exo but much more rapidly at higher temperature close to the melting region. The presence or absence of an additional endothermic peak before the exotherm in the DSC thermograph of the α′‐crystal was strongly dependent on the heating rate, indicating that a melting process involved during the α′‐to‐α phase transition. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Spectroscopic analysis of post drawing relaxation in poly(lactic acid) with oriented mesophase

Uniaxial deformation of amorphous poly(lactic acid) (PLA) film was performed at 60 °C (around the glass transition temperature). The deformed samples revealed a strain-induced mesophase, and its fraction and thermal stability increased with draw strain. Further annealing was performed in situ at constant length, at the drawing temperature for the films drawn to strains of 100% and 230%. Interestingly, the orientation of amorphous phase relaxed more rapidly for the 100% sample compared with the 230% one. This could be ascribed to the constraint effect of mesophase on the amorphous chains. In addition, the chains of mesophase relaxed slightly for the 100% sample while it retained high orientation for the 230% sample. Meanwhile, the mesophase fraction decreased, and the trend was more significant for the sample drawn to 100%. These effects can be ascribed to the melting of mesophase and the different thermal stabilities of the mesophases.     

Hydrolysis of poly(l-lactic acid) using microwave irradiation

Poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) was hydrolyzed using microwave irradiation, and yields of the resultant lactic acid and reaction time were compared with those obtained by conventional heating. In both cases, the reaction temperature was maintained at 170 °C and the weight ratio of PLLA:H₂O was 3:1. Under conventional heating, the lactic acid yield reached saturation after 800 min at 45%, whereas only 120 min was required to reach the same yield level under microwave irradiation. The optical purity under conventional heating decreased with hydrolysis of the PLLA and dropped to 94%ee when the lactic acid yield reached at 45%. Under microwave irradiation, however, the optical purity decreased only after the equilibrium state of hydrolysis was attained. Therefore, to maintain the optical purity at 98%ee, it was necessary to stop microwave irradiation when the lactic acid yield reached 45%.     

Probing the imine silylenoid HN=SiNaF and its insertions reaction with R–H (R=F,OH, NH<Subscript>2</Subscript>, CH<Subscript>3</Subscript>) using DFT

The geometries and isomerization of the imine silylenoid HN=SiNaF as well as its insertion reactions with some R–H molecules have been systematically investigated theoretically, where R=F, OH, NH₂, and CH₃, respectively. The barrier heights for the four insertion reactions are 67.7, 115.6, 153.5, and 271.5 kJ/mol at the B3LYP/6-311+G* level of theory, respectively. Here, all the mechanisms of the four reactions are identical to each other, i.e., a stable intermediate has been formed during the insertion reaction. Then, the intermediate could dissociate into the substituted silylene (HN=SiHR) and NaF with a barrier corresponding to their respective dissociation energies. Correspondingly, the reaction energies for the four reactions are 71.8, 95.5, 123.3, and 207.6 kJ/mol, respectively, which are linearly correlated with the calculated barrier heights. Furthermore, the effects of halogen substitutions (F, Cl, and Br) on the reaction activity have also been discussed. As a result, the relative reactivity among the four insertion reactions should be as follows: H–F > H–OH > H–NH₂ > H–CH₃.     

Electrochemical studies of the interaction of Basic Brown G with DNA and determination of DNA

A new method of electrochemical probe has been proposed for the determination of Herring Sperm DNA (DNA) based on its interaction with Basic Brown G (BBG). The electrochemical behavior of interaction of BBG with DNA was investigated on Hg electrode. In 0.1 mol L⁻¹ NH₃-NH₄Cl buffer solution (pH 8.0), BBG can be reduced on Hg electrode with a well-defined voltammetric peak at −0.67 V (versus SCE). In the presence of DNA, the reduction peak current of BBG decreases and the peak potential shifts to a more positive potential without the appearance of new peak. The study shows that a new BBG-DNA complex is formed by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and spectrophotometry. The decrease of the second order derivative of reductive peak current (Δi^″p) of BBG is proportional to the concentration of DNA in the range of 0.10-36 μg mL⁻¹. Limit of detection of DNA is 0.04 μg mL⁻¹. DNA of Hepatitis B Virus in serum samples was determined satisfactorily. Additionally, the binding mechanism was preliminarily discussed. The mode of interaction between BBG and DNA was found to be intercalation binding.     

Enhanced general analytical equation for the kinetics of the thermal degradation of poly(lactic acid) driven by random scission

An enhanced general analytical equation has been developed in order to evaluate the kinetic parameters of the thermal degradation of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) at various linear heating rates and at constant rate conditions. This improvement consisted of replacing the n-order conversion function by a modified form of the Sestak-Berggren equation f(α) = c(1?α)ⁿα^m, which led to better adjustment of experimental data, and also adequately represented the conventional mechanisms for solid-state processes. The kinetic parameters so obtained have been compared to those determined by conventional differential and isoconversional methods. Given that the thermal degradation of PLA has been argued to be caused by random chain scission reactions of ester groups, the conversion function (α) = 2(α^1/2?α), corresponding to a random scission mechanism, has been tested.     

Evaluation of the 3-hydroxy pyridine antioxidant effect on the thermal-oxidative degradation of HTPB

The effect of the mixture of two antioxidants has been evaluated on the thermal-oxidant degradation of the hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) because of its importance in the coatings and adhesives industries. 2,2-Methylene bis(4-methyl-6-tertiarybutylphenol) or A.O.2246 and 3-hydroxy pyridine have been considered as antioxidants in this study as a common HTPB antioxidant and an active antioxidant, respectively. The thermal-oxidant degradation behavior of the HTPB has been investigated in the presence of a mixture of two antioxidants by TGA and DTG tests, and, subsequently, the results of these tests have been interpreted by two model-free methods, e.g., Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose and Friedman methods. The results revealed that the mixture of two antioxidants affected the activation energy of the thermal-oxidant degradation reaction of the HTPB. The calculated activation energy value obtained from the Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose method was about 199 ± 1 kJ⋅mol⁻¹. In addition, the E_a value at various conversion rates has also been calculated by using the Friedman method. This method showed that the highest E_a value in the thermal-oxidant degradation reaction belonged to the initiation step of the reaction (about 299 kJ⋅mol⁻¹). Moreover, the lowest activation energy value was correlated to the second step of the degradation reaction at a conversion rate of 0.6 (about 184 kJ⋅mol⁻¹).     

Decomposition kinetic of carbonaceous materials used in a mold flux design

Mold fluxes develop important functions during steel continuous casting process. To obtain a free-defect product the melting rate of mold flux is an important property to be controlled. The melting rate depends on the reactivity of carbonaceous material added to these powders as carbon source. In this article, the decomposition kinetic of two carbonaceous materials added to mold flux: petroleum coke and synthetic graphite, was analyzed. By measuring mass loss at different heating rates the decomposition reaction was determined on both types of materials. Applying several kinetic models of non-isothermal decomposition, the average activation energy E = 48 kJ/mol to mold powder with 15 wt% coke and E = 67 kJ/mol to one with 15 wt% graphite was determined. A first order of reaction (n = 1) associated to the decomposition process was assumed to both types of materials. The lower activation energy presented by mold powder-15 wt% petroleum coke indicated a higher reactivity of this material. A higher level of variation of E and n values with decomposition degree and temperature observed in the powder with petroleum coke was associated to a less thermally stable material along with a more complex degradation process.     

Orientation and structural development of semicrystalline poly(lactic acid) under uniaxial drawing assessed by infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction

The effects of drawing temperature (T_d) and draw strain on the orientation and structure of semicrystalline poly(lactic acid) (PLA) films were investigated by wide angle X-ray diffraction and polarized Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Semicrystalline PLA samples with two initial levels of crystallinity, X_c = 1% and 11%, were prepared by cold crystallization at 80 ^°C. Whatever X_c and T_d, the total amount of the ordered phases (i.e. crystalline + mesophase) increased with draw strain, which could be ascribed to the formation of strain-induced mesophase at T_d = 60 or 70 ^°C but crystalline at 80 ^°C. Also, the molecular orientation of both the amorphous and ordered phases increased with draw strain. Whatever X_c, the orientation of the ordered phases was insensitive to T_d, whereas higher orientation in the amorphous phase was achieved at lower T_d, and the trend was more significant for X_c = 1% compared with 11%.     

Extension of the two-dimensional mass channel cluster plot method to fast separations utilizing low thermal mass gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Implementation of a data reduction and visualization method for use with high-speed gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS) is reported. The method, called the “2D m/z cluster method” facilitates analyte detection, deconvolution, and identification, by accurately measuring peak widths and retention times using a fast TOFMS sampling frequency (500 Hz). Characteristics and requirements for high speed GC are taken into consideration: fast separations with narrow peak widths and high peak capacity, rapid data collection rate, and effective peak deconvolution. Transitioning from standard GC (10–60+ minute separations) to fast GC (1–10 min separations) required consideration of how to properly analyze the data. This report validates use of the 2D m/z cluster method with newly developed GC technology that produces ultra-fast separations (∼1 min) with narrow analyte peak widths. Low thermal mass gas chromatography (LTM-GC) operated at a heating rate of 250 °C/min coupled to a LECO Pegasus III TOFMS analyzed a 115 component test mixture in 120 s with peak widths-at-base, w_b (4σ), of 350 ms (average) to produce a separation with a high peak capacity, n_c ∼ 340 (at unit resolution R_s = 1). The 2D m/z cluster method is shown to separate overlapped analytes to a limiting R_s ∼ 0.03, so the effective peak capacity was increased nearly 30-fold to n_c ∼10,000 in the 120 s separation. The method, when coupled with LTM-GC-TOFMS, is demonstrated to provide unambiguous peak rank (i.e. the number of analytes per overlapped peak in the total ion current (TIC)), by visualizing locations of pure and chromatographically overlapped m/z. Hence, peak deconvolution and identification using MCR-ALS (multivariate curve resolution – alternating least squares) is demonstrated.