Obtaining Kinetic Parameters by Modulated Thermogravimetry

A new technique, called modulated thermogravimetry, is introduced as a tool for obtaining continuous kinetic information for decomposition and volatilization reactions. The approach makes use of an oscillatory temperature program to obtain kinetic parameters during a mass loss. MTGA™ may be used under quasi-isothermal conditions to observe a single mass loss or may be combined with linear heating rate or Hi-Res™ controlled rate thermogravimetry to scan from one mass loss region to another. Results obtained are in agreement with those obtained by other kinetic methods. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Vapor pressure,speciation, and chemical activities in highly concentrated sodium borate solutions at 277 and 317°C

The system H₂O-B₂O₃-Na₂O has been studied experimentally at 277 and 317°C. The activities of water and boric acid have been determined at mole ratios Na/B from 0 to 1.5, and total dissolved solids 3 to 80 weight percent. The activity of boric acid has been fitted to within experimental error using a speciation model with eight complex species. This model is consistent with the model previously published by Mesmer et al. The electrolyte properties of the liquid are modeled using the Pitzer-Simonson model of very concentrated electrolyte solutions. The calculated values of water activity agree with experiment, and the activity of NaOH and pOH have also been calculated. The potassium borate system also was briefly studied at 317°C, and is adequately described by a model with five complex species. The potassium borate liquid is more alkaline at K/B= 1 than a sodium borate liquid at the same mole ratio, but pOH in the two systems is the same at lower mole ratios.     

单分散纳米InVO4(正交相)的低温合成

InVO₄ is a new developed visible light responding photocatalyst for water decomposition, which is obtained by a solid-state reaction at high temperature traditionally. In this paper, pure InVO₄ nano-crystalline powder has been prepared by a hydrothermal process at low temperature and was characterized by TEM, IR, and X-ray diffraction. Many factors such as pH value, reaction time and temperature have been investigated. It is found that the optimal conditions for the preparation is: n_InCl3∶n_NaVO3=1∶2; temperature : 150 ℃; Reaction time: 4～8 h; pH=7.9～8.0. And the experimental result shows that it is a convenient way to get single dispersing InVO₄ nano-crystalline powder by flux in alkyl alcohol.     

Organic–inorganic nanocomposites prepared from fluoro-aramid and silica

Fluoro-aramid-based sol/gel-derived nanocomposites were synthesized by condensing a mixture of 4,4′-(hexafluoro-isopropylidene)dianiline and 1,3-phenylenediamine with terephthaloylchloride (TPC) in dimethylacetamide. TPC was added in slight excess to produce amide chains with carbonyl chloride end groups and then replaced with alkoxy groups using aminophenyltrimethoxysilane to develop bonding with the silica network. Mechanical, dynamic mechanical thermal, water absorption and morphological measurements were carried out on the thin hybrid films. Increase in the tensile strength and modulus was observed as compared to pristine polyamide. The thermal decomposition temperature was found in the range of 400–500 °C. The water absorption was found to be reduced with higher silica content. The glass transition temperature and the storage moduli increased with increasing silica concentration. The maximum increase in the T _g value (345 °C) was observed with 20 wt% silica. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the uniform distribution of silica in the matrix with an average particle size ranging from 8 to 50 nm.     

低分子量聚合物电解质的合成与性能

研究了低分子量梳状聚合物电解质的合成方法及结构，性能。首先合成了不同分子量的甲基丙烯酸聚乙二醇单甲醚酯，并进一步合成了分子量一万左右的梳状聚合物电解质，结果表明：反应严格按照反应方程进行，精制产物是非晶的梳状聚合物，本聚合物体系均存在两个玻璃化转变温度，一个在100℃左右，归属为梳状聚合物主链的玻璃化转变，另一个在－20摄氏度以下，归属于侧链玻璃化转变，在室温下侧链可以运动，有利于电活性物质的迁移和扩散，并用超微电极研究了该电解质的行为。     

Investigation of glow discharge plasma for surface modification of polypropylene

Material surface properties of polymers, plastics, ceramics and textiles can be modified by atmospheric or low‐pressure glow discharge plasma. The aim of the present work is to study the surface modification of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film in order to improve its hydrophilic and wetting properties. In this article we used low‐pressure, low‐temperature oxygen plasma for the surface treatment of BOPP. Scanning electron microscopy indicates that plasma treatment causes mainly physical changes by creating microcraters and roughness on the surface and increasing surface friction. Attenuated total reflectance infrared spectra show oxygen‐containing groups such as ? OH at 3513 cm^?1 and C?O at 1695 cm^?1. Microscopic investigations of water droplets on BOPP (treated, untreated) show that the interfacial adhesion of treated surfaces is increased. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phosphorescence lifetime of naphthalene and phenanthrene in aggregated aromatic molecule-β-cyclodextrin-precipitant complexes

Aggregated aromatic molecule--cyclodextrin-precipitant complexes exhibit long-lived phosphorescence at room temperature in water after the chemical binding of oxygen. The temperature dependences of the phosphorescence lifetimes of naphthalene-h₈, naphthalene-de, and phenanthrene in the aggregates were measured. For example, the phosphorescence lifetimes of naphthalene-d₈ aggregated with -cyclodextrin and cyclohexane are equal to 25.1, 17.6, and 6.8 s at 77, 276, and 347 K, respectively, and that of phenanthrene aggregated with isooctane and -cyclodextrin are 3.24, 3.06, and 1.26 s at 268, 274, and 335 K, respectively. The temperature dependences of the phosphorescence lifetimes at room temperature are determined by the rate constants of the radiative and nonradiative transitions from the triplet state of an aromatic molecule.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 2225–2228, September, 1996.     

Investigation of the thermophysical properties of polymers by the temperature wave technique

The technique of temperature waves to measure the complex thermophysical characteristics of materials has been proposed. The relations for the moduli and arguments of these characteristics for the case of plane temperature waves have been calculated. The temperature dependences of the moduli and arguments of complex thermophysical characteristics of polyvinylacetate (PVAc) at different frequencies and also the temperature dependences of its vibrational and configurational heat capacities have been determined. It has been shown that the vibrational heat capacity of PVAc in the region of softening grows sharply and its configurational heat capacity goes through a peak. The segmental mobility has been found to affect the heat transfer in the polymer in an ambivalent way causing both a decrease and increase of thermal conductivity.

---

Zusammenfassung Zur Bestimmung der komplexen thermophysischen Eigenschaften von Stoffen wurde eine Temperaturwellentechnik vorgeschlagen. Für den Fall zweidimensionaler Temperatur-wellen wurden die Verhältnisse von Moduli und Argumenten dieser Eigenschaften berechnet. Die Temperaturabhängigkeit von Moduli und Argumenten der komplexen thermophysischen Eigen-schaften von Polyvinylacetat (PVAc) bei verschiedenen Frequenzen und auch die Temperatur-abhängigkeit seiner Vibrations- und Konfigurations-Wärmekapazitäten wurden bestimmt. Es wurde gezeigt, daß die Vibrations-Wärmekapazität von PVAc im Erweichungsbereich scharf zunimmt und die Konfigurations-Wärmekapazität durch einen Peak geht. Man fand, daß die Segment-Mobilität den Wärmetransport im Polymer auf eine ambivalente Weise beeinflußt, in dem die Wärmeleit-fähigkeit entweder gesenkt oder angehoben wird.

     

Dielectric relaxation of polystyrene with side-chain- and chain-end-labels

Polystyrenes with different concentrations of side groups with cyano groups were prepared and complex dielectric constants were measured in the range of the glass transition temperature and the frequency range of 10^–2–10⁷ Hz.The GPC and DSC measurements showed that the molecular weight of these polystyrenes was about 10500 g/mole and the glass transition temperatures were 89.5°C for all samples.The dielectric relaxation spectra obtained for the side group polystyrene labels and also the chain-end polystyrene labels prepared before [9] were analyzed to find out the degree of coupling of the chain-end and side-group labels with the cooperative reorientation of the polymeric matrix. The analysis of the spectra was carried out using the analysis method developed by Mansour and Stoll [6].The results obtained showed that both end- and side-group labels are strongly coupled with the segmental reorientation and relax with relaxation times longer than that of the segments.The value of logf _m = (logf _m(label)) – logf _m(matrix)) was obtained from the recently designed comparison diagram suggested by Mansour and Stoll [6, 14]. The value of logf _m depends on the label length in the case of chain-end labels.It was surprising to find that the side groups relax slower than the segments by only 0.9 decades. These results obtained implied that the label relaxes through a multistep relaxation mechanism of the side and end groups and not through a diffusion mechanism of the whole chain. In addition, the effective lengths of the relaxing units were determined using the empirical equation obtained before in the case of rodlike molecules in polyisoprene [7].