Flow-induced crystallization by surface growth of polyethylene fibers

A series of experiments has been carried out investigating several features of the surface growth method for observing longitudinal growth of polyethylene fibers in Couette geometry. Attempts to obtain limiting steady-state takeup rates using a Teflon rotor were hampered by fiber breakage; however, maximum growth rates before breakage were found to be considerably higher than those observed in previous studies. Growth rates were also obtained using a static method, and for the Teflon rotor indicated above a critical concentration a linear growth rate equal to the stirrer velocity with rates essentially independent of temperature. With a silanized glass rotor, the same method gave much lower growth rates at comparable stirrer speeds and temperatures and showed a temperature dependence suggestive of a nucleation-controlled mechanism. The implications of these results for other studies of the mechanisms of growth by the surface method are also discussed.     

Polyethylene fiber formation in tubular flow. I. Observations of growth pattern and fiber properties

The process of seeded growth of fibrillar polyethylene crystals has been studied in a tubular flow geometry for 0.01-wt % solutions of a high-molecular-weight polyethylene in xylene. The transformation sequence has been followed visually by using polarized-light illumination in conjunction with a video camera. Data are presented to show that transformation is initiated by the formation of a concentrated, unoriented, amorphous precursor fiber within which oriented birefringent crystals subsequently grow in consequence of the stresses transmitted by the flowing solution. Time constants for the precursor formation, birefringence initiation, and completion of birefringence were measured as functions of temperature and flow rate over a range of growth conditions. Wide-angle x-ray diffraction, overall birefringence, and optical hot-stage melting data were also obtained on the grown fibers. The net result of these observations is to conclude that fibrillar crystal growth during flow is always preceded by the formation of a liquidlike phase transformation which produces the concentrated, unoriented precursor. Subsequent orientation is in consequence of stress-induced crystallization with overall fiber orientation showing an increase with solution flow rate at a fixed temperature and a decrease with temperature at a fixed flow rate. At higher temperatures and lower flow rates, birefringence develops in an oscillatory fashion, indicating a remelting process possibly due to slippage of trapped chain entanglements formed by flow. A discussion is given of the implications of these observations for the understanding of flow-induced structure development, phase transformation, and oriented crystallization; this is expanded upon in a companion paper, Part II.     

Electrospray deposition, model, and experiment: toward general control of film morphology

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) film formation with electrospray deposition has been studied with support of a droplet evaporation model. The input parameters of the model consist basically of the solvent, the solute concentration, the flow rate, and the solution conductivity. The model provides the droplet size, the solute concentration, the droplet velocity, and the shear stress of the droplet at impact as a function of the distance between the nozzle and the substrate. With some additional experimental information such as the size change of the film with spray distance and the viscosity of the solution, the growth rate of the film and the shear rate of the droplet at impact can be determined. Growth rate is shown to define distinct regimes of film formation. In those regimes, only a single factor or a limited number of factors controls the film morphology. The most important factors include the shear rate and the surface energy. It is found that at a specific range of growth rates only the shear rate determines the morphology of the polymer film. Growth rate, as the defining quantity of film morphology, is not limited to polymer solutions. Therefore, the growth rate, in combination with the control factors mentioned above, functions as a general framework through which understanding and control of film formation with electrospray deposition can be improved.     

Excitation of Langmuir and Ion–Acoustic Turbulence in the High-Latitude Ionosphere by a High-Power HF Radio Wave Simultaneously Below and Above the F2-Layer Maximum

Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics - We present the results of experimental studies of the generation peculiarities and features of the Langmuir and ion–acoustic turbulence in the F region...     

Cavitating Langmuir turbulence in the terrestrial aurora

Langmuir cavitons have been artificially produced in Earth's ionosphere, but evidence of naturally occurring cavitation has been elusive. By measuring and modeling the spectra of electrostatic plasma modes, we show that natural cavitating, or strong, Langmuir turbulence does occur in the ionosphere, via a process in which a beam of auroral electrons drives Langmuir waves, which in turn produce cascading Langmuir and ion-acoustic excitations and cavitating Langmuir turbulence. The data presented here are the first direct evidence of cavitating Langmuir turbulence occurring naturally in any space or astrophysical plasma.     

Thermodynamic studies of mixtures for topical anesthesia: Lidocaine–salol binary phase diagram

The lidocaine–salol binary system has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, direct visual observations, and X-ray powder diffraction, resulting in a temperature-composition phase diagram with a eutectic equilibrium. The eutectic mixture, found at 0.423 ± 0.007 lidocaine mole-fraction, melts at 18.2 ± 0.5 °C with an enthalpy of 17.3 ± 0.5 kJ mol^?1. This indicates that the liquid phase around the eutectic composition is stable at room temperature. Moreover, the undercooled liquid mixture does not easily crystallize. The present binary mixture exhibits eutectic behavior similar to the prilocaine–lidocaine mixture in the widely used EMLA^® topical anesthetic preparation.     

A search for the location of the HF excitation of enhanced ion acoustic and langmuir waves with eiscat and the tromsø heater

In an effort to understand the mechanisms which give rise to the enhanced ion acoustic and Langmuir waves in HF modification experiments, we perform measurements with the EISCAT Tromsø heater and the two incoherent scatter radars to locate the enhancement regions in space. Simultaneous measurements of the enhancements were made with both the VHF (224 MHz) and the UHF (933 MHz) radars, the latter being scanned in the magnetic meridian plane between vertical and field aligned through theSpitze angle. The results show that enhanced bottomside and topside ion acoustic and plasma waves at UHF and VHF are a common phenomena in these data. UHF topside enhanced plasma waves were not observed, possibly due to lack of radar sensitivity. At UHF the enhanced ion waves were strongest when the radar was pointed between theSpitze angle and geomagnetic field aligned direction. The topside features we believe give evidence for the production and propagation of Z-mode waves during this experiment. There is no evidence in these data for the decay of Z-mode waves into Bernstein and lower hybrid waves inside the overdense F layer as we believe to have observed previously.