Thermodynamic Properties and Kinetics of the Physical Ageing of Amorphous Glucose, Fructose, and Their Mixture

The physical ageing characteristics of glucose, fructose, and their mixtures were studied using standard differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The inflection, onset, midpoint,half-height, and endpoint glass transition temperature (T _g), fictive temperature (T _f), and relaxation enthalpy (H) were measured as a function of ageing time. The relationship between H and T _f was evaluated. The time dependence of H was fit using the Cowie and Ferguson model. The ageing rate was expressed in terms of the average relaxation time (<>) and the entropy production (P). It was found that the fructose component decreased the rate of ageing of the mixtures.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thermal study of an aged dredged sludge

A dredged sludge was studied to investigate the influence of ageing and of pretreatment on its drying rate, water sorption/retention, thermal mass loss, XRD and microstructure (SEM).Ageing caused change in particle thickness and specific surface, a gradual aggregation to form units of the size 10–50 m, formation of macropores of similar size, unhomogeneity and fissures between aggregates and super-aggregates. Macropores were detectable by the initial drying rate especially at 45°C. They indicated a tendency of collapsing at a lower drying rate at 30°C. This is consistent with SEM observations. With ageing the aggregates were more compact and less sensitive to drying.The aggregated system indicated a higher initial drying rate (higher permeability), whereas stirring induced a lower drying rate, favouring the formation of compact laminar structure.XRD peak intensity was lowered with ageing due to decrease in crystallinity (stacking faults and/or decrease in crystallite size). The content of amorphous material was lowered as well, reducing water sorption/desorption, which indicated that the specific surface is lower.From the suitable microstructure induced by ageing some new phases may form (feldspar, zeolites), preferably in the coarser fraction of the sludge. This is disturbed by stirring which operation expels also carbonates from the particle edges and this may reduce the structural strength of the sludge. In aged bentonite suspension a similar tendency was observed of formation of specific microstructures capable of phase transformation, e.g. to feldspar.     

高聚物的物理老化和链的凝聚缠结

本文基于高聚物在物理老化和拉伸变形过程中构象弛豫行为的实验结果,进一步阐明了高分子链局部凝聚缠结的观点。     

Evaluation of polymers for conservation treatments of outdoor exposed stone monuments. Part I: Photo-oxidative weathering

The commercial acrylic polymers, Paraloid B72 and Paraloid B67, and a silicon-based product, Dri-Film 104, commonly used as water repellents/consolidants in the restoration of stone artefacts, have been tested to evaluate their performances when submitted to ageing, simulating the outdoor conditions of treated stone. After full characterization, the three polymers were applied as thin films on slides, as thick film on petri dishes and on marble by brush or by imbibition and the resulting samples were submitted to photo-oxidative weathering (λ = 340 nm). The weathering evolution was checked by ultrasonic and colorimetric measurements and by FT-IR, NMR and SEC determinations. Removability tests were also performed. All the polymers underwent irreversible modifications with reduction of their conservative properties, colour change and, above all, impossibility of their complete removal.     

Impact of thermal ageing on sorption and diffusion properties of PTMSP

Gas and vapour permeability in both freshly cast and aged poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PTMSP) membranes were investigated in terms of solubility and diffusion coefficients for two probe molecules, a permanent gas (nitrogen) and an organic vapour (dichloromethane). To get reliable data for this study, we set up a fast and reproducible ageing procedure consisting of thermal treatment of the polymer films (100 °C during 24 h under vacuum). As expected, measurements recorded from time-lag experiments and isothermal sorption showed strong variations of the PTMSP transport properties before and after the thermal ageing procedure. Freshly cast membranes exhibited high permeability, whereas after ageing a 40–45% decrease of the permeability was recorded for both probes. The results demonstrated that only the glassy physical microstructure of PTMSP was affected by the ageing procedure, while the chemical structure was unchanged. Based on a dual-mode model for sorption and a Long's model for diffusion, the analysis of the data showed that the solubility and diffusion coefficients of the gas and the vapour were not affected in the same way. For nitrogen, only the diffusion coefficient decreased, whereas for dichloromethane, the thermal treatment mainly influenced the sorption coefficient. The lower permeability due to the combination of sorption and diffusion parameters could be attributed to a change of the PTMSP hole geometry or the hole connections.     

Pd/Al2O3催化剂的高温热烧结研究

以汽车尾气净化催化剂为背景，用溶胶－凝胶法和浸渍法制备了低负载量贵金属单钯燃烧催化剂。通过ＸＲＤ宽化法检测了在１２７３Ｋ的模拟反应气流中烧结２４ｈ后催化剂上Ｐｄ晶粒大小的变化。     

Cotton Cellulose Ageing in Sealed Vessels. Kinetic Model of Autocatalytic Depolymerization

In this paper, we propose a new kinetic model that describes the depolymerization of pure cotton cellulose, applicable to ageing experiments in sealed vessels. By recording the pH of the salt solutions used for controlling the relative humidity inside the vessels, we demonstrate that volatile acidic species are produced during the ageing of pure cellulose. Based on the proposition that the acids produced must have an autocatalytic effect on the depolymerization of cellulose, we theoretically developed equations describing the time dependence of the percentage of the broken glycosidic bonds, the folding endurance, tensile strength, tensile energy absorption, stretch at break and the L* and b* coordinates of the CIEL*a*b* color system. The experimentally determined values of these pure cellulose paper properties were fit into the model equations by use of a computer statistical package. The very high values of the regression coefficients indicate that the model equations work quite well. The experimental data and the model equations indicate that for long ageing times (up to 150 days at 80 °C), the deterioration of the sample properties accelerates and finally brings about an abrupt breakdown of the samples. Under the light of these findings, we believe that the useful life of the historical paper stored in archives and libraries is less than predicted by the existing models, and steps for its preservation should be taken immediately. As an additional preservation measure, we propose the ventilation of the storage areas so that the volatile acidic products of paper deterioration that accelerate its ageing are removed.     

Correlations between structure and accelerated artificial ageing of XLPE

The elucidation of the structural and morphological changes that occur during the crosslinking of polyethylene and the correlation of these changes with the physical, chemical and ageing resistance is very important to forecast the properties and the performance of the final material.The accelerated ageing of XLPE samples with various degrees of crosslinking has been carried out using two types of artificial weathering equipments, with UV or Xenon light bulbs with different cycles of temperature and humidity, varying time of exposition for both systems. The changes in the properties of the materials have been analyzed by Tensile Tests, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Dynamic-Mechanical Analysis (DMA), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The main degradation effects for each level of crosslinking is presented for the pristine XLPE.     

Statistical analysis of data from accelerated ageing tests of PES UF membranes

In this research, membrane life-time was evaluated by means of accelerated ageing experiments. A pressure pulse unit was used to perform the ageing experiments in an accelerated way. An experimental design has been set up and four ageing factors were varied at two levels. The four ageing factors studied were: fouling status of the membrane, cleaning agent concentration, magnitude of the back pulse and number of applied back pulses. The integrity of the membrane modules was evaluated by means of permeability testing, pressure decay tests and bubble tests. Also tensile tests were performed to investigate the mechanical properties of the membrane modules. The collected data was used for an analysis of variance to determine which ageing factors and which combination of ageing factors influence membrane life time. The analysis showed that the fouling status in combination with the number of applied pressure pulses were significant ageing factors. Additional tensile tests confirmed these results.