Characterization of thermo-oxidative stability of polymer optical fibers using chemiluminescence technique

The thermo-oxidative stability of commercially available polymer optical fibers (POFs) and their components (cores and claddings) was investigated. All the bare POFs (core and cladding only) studied here were based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) core. The fibers were exposed to 100 °C/low humidity for about 4200 h. Chemiluminescence (CL) technique was applied to investigate the thermo-oxidative stability and for measuring the transmission loss during exposure a prototype device called multiplexer was used. POFs exhibited variation in thermo-oxidative stability although they possessed identical core material PMMA. This was due to difference in the chemical compositions of claddings. Claddings were more susceptible to the thermo-oxidative degradation compared to cores. The thermo-oxidative degradation of both the cladding and the core was found in POFs as a result of climatic exposure. POFs showed an early drop-off followed by a slow decline of transmission. The early drop-off of transmission was attributed to physical changes like thermal expansion and the slow decline of transmission to chemical changes like oxidative degradation of POFs. A good linear relationship between optical transmission stability and thermo-oxidative stability of POFs was established from these studies.     

TiO2-SiO2光催化纸业废水有色有机物的降解

研究了TiO2-SiO2混合氧化物对纸业废水中有色有机物的吸附与光催化降解效率．常温下．TiO2对纸业废水中有色有机物的吸附符合Freundlich模型，Qe=0．239Ce^0.791。TiO2-SiO2混合氧化物对纸业废水中有色有机物的吸附与光催化降解效率与催化剂样品的组成有关，光催化降解效率也与TiO2-SiO2表面总酸量有关．     

Thermal degradation behavior of multi-walled carbon nanotubes/polyamide 6 composites

This paper focuses on the thermal degradation behavior of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)/polyamide 6 (PA6) composites under air and nitrogen atmosphere using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results show that the dispersion of amino-functionalized MWNTs (f-MWNTs) in PA6 is more homogeneous than purified MWNTs (p-MWNTs). The presence of MWNTs improves the thermal stability of PA6 under air obviously, but has little effect on the thermal degradation behavior of PA6 under nitrogen atmosphere. The activation energies for degradation under air, E_a, estimated by Kissinger method, are 153, 165 and 169 kJ/mol for neat PA6, p-MWNTs/PA6 and f-MWNTs/PA6 composites, respectively. The p-MWNTs/PA6 composites show two-step degradation not only under air but also under nitrogen atmosphere, however, neat PA6 and the f-MWNTs/PA6 composites exhibit two-step degradation only under air.     

4-氯酚在TiO2纳米膜上光催化降解及反应动力学特征

氯酚(ＣＰ)化合物被广泛应用于木材防腐、金属防锈及杀虫剂等,因其毒性大、难降解,对环境造成严重污染[1,2]。目前用于ＣＰ的光催化降解的ＴｉＯ2粉体悬浮体系,催化剂不易回收利用。本文采用Ｓｏｌ Ｇｅｌ法制备的负载型ＴｉＯ2纳米粒子膜作为光催化剂,对4 ＣＰ进行了降解实验研究。同时应用ＸＲＤ法表征了不同实验条件下薄膜中ＴｉＯ2的晶相结构和粒度,考察了不同层数ＴｉＯ2膜的光催化活性,并对4 ＣＰ的降解条件及反应动力学特征进行了探讨。1　实验部分1.1　玻璃负载ＴｉＯ2膜的制备与表征[3-5]按照钛酸四丁酯∶无水乙醇∶水=3∶12∶…     

Micro construction of poly(epsilon-caprolactone)/poly(L-lactic acid) blend film by solution casting under microwave irradiation

The micro construction of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) blend films fabricated by solution casting under microwave irradiation was investigated by selective enzymatic degradation and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results were totally different from the blends obtained by conventional methods. The blend was more homogeneous and the PCL continuous phase more compact as no spherulites and tiny zone separation were observed from the film surface and no PCL network was observed inside the film, and the degradation of a PCL plank by Pseudomonas lipase was significantly retarded. The distributed PLLA micro spheres were enlarged and amorphous. The thermal behavior of the blend by microwave heating revealed that PCL and PLLA underwent a melting process, which induced the variations of the PCL phase and PLLA spheres. The weight loss caused by degradation of the PCL/PLLA blend obtained by conventional methods (B50c) is greater than that of the blend obtained by microwave methods (B50m), which reflects the change in morphology from a loose PCL network (B50c) to a dense PCL plank (B50m).     

Degradation Kinetics of an Epoxy/Cycloaliphatic Amine Resin Under Isothermal and Non-isothermal Conditions

A study of an epoxy-cycloaliphatic amine system has been realized using a thermogravimetric technique (TG). Isothermal and non-isothermal (dynamic) methods were employed to determine the kinetic data of this system. Five methods were used for determining the activation energies of this system in the dynamic heating experiments. In two of them (Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, and Kissinger) it is not necessary to have a prior knowledge of the reaction mechanism of the degradation behaviour for this system. In the other ones (Coats and Redfern, Horowitz and Metzger, and Van Krevelen et al.) it is necessary to know this reaction mechanism, besides Criado et al. method was used for determining it. The results have shown that good agreement between the activation energies obtained from all methods can be achieved if it is assumed that the degradation behaviour of this system is of sigmoidal-rate type. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Influence of operational parameters on retention of ultra-high molecular weight polystyrenes in thermal field-flow fractionation

Summary The influence of various parameters (concentration of the injected polymer solution, flow rate, temperature gradient, relaxation conditions) on the retention and shape of the fractogram of ultra-high molecular weight polystyrenes in thermal field-flow fractionation was investigated. Under the operating conditions adopted, reproducible oscillations in the peak shape are observed for molecular weights larger than a few millions, especially at relatively high polymer concentration. They are attributed to some hydrodynamic instabilities. The retention of ultra-high molecular weight polystyrenes at high flow rate is strongly dependent on the initial relaxation period. All of the investigated operational variables have a complex effect on the resulting shape of the fractogram. Consequently, the confirmation of the shear-induced focusing of macromolecules across the channel thickness requires further study. Experiments on reinjection of fractions collected after an initial high speed pass through the separation system leads to the conclusion that shear degradation of the ultra-high molecular weight polymers did not occur under the investigated experimental conditions even at the highest flow rates.     

The non-oxidative thermal degradation of poly (Di-2-chloroethyl itaconate)

The non-oxidative thermal degradation of poly (di-2-chloroethyl itaconate) (PD2CEI) was studied by TG and by analysing the thermal products. The major processes occurring during thermal analysis are crosslinking, depolymerisation and carbonisation. The thermal degradation activation energy increased with increasing sample mass loss. The thermal degradation of PD2CEI was compared to that of the structurally similar poly(2-chloroethyl methacrylate) (P2CMA).     

光催化降解染料ZnO催化剂的性能

光催化法是20世纪70年代发展起来的新型水处理技术，即以某些半导体材料为催化剂，利用光催化法来降解环境污染物。该方法工艺简单，成本较低，在常温下能使大多数不能或难于生物降解的有毒有机物彻底氧化分解。近年来研究最多的是TiO2，由于其带隙较宽(3．2eV)，只能吸收波长λ≤387nm的紫外光，因此研制新型光催化剂仍是重要课题。