Preparation and properties of isobutylene–isoprene rubber–clay nanocomposites

Isobutylene isoprene rubber (IIR)‐clay nanocomposites have been prepared successfully by melt intercalation with maleic anhydride‐grafted IIR (Ma‐g‐IIR) and organophilic clay. In IIR‐clay nanocomposites, the silicate layers of the clay were exfoliated and dispersed into the monolayer. The nanocomposites exhibited greater gas barrier properties compared with those of Ma‐g‐IIR. When 15 phr clay was added, gas barrier properties were 2.5 times greater than those of Ma‐g‐IIR. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1182–1188, 2006     

A procedure for measuring the flexibility of single wood-pulp fibres

A way of determining the flexibility of wood-pulp fibres is developed, which involves i) a precise measurement of the topology of single-fibres by using a confocal laser scanning microscope and ii) the measurement of the elastic modulus of the fibres by using a single-fibre fatigue cell. Reported in this paper are the initial results of tests carried out on black spruce fibres, which have been subjected to three different levels of mechanical refining energy, namely ∼1100, 2300, and 3500 kWh/t. It is found that the fibre flexibility rises significantly between the first and second energy levels, but it does not change to the same degree between the second and third ones. The described procedure of measuring the flexibility of fibres may be used to establish the appropriate refiner energy necessary for the production of a specific grade of paper. Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 115–128, January–February, 2006.     

Algebraic Dirichlet-to-Neumann mapping for linear elasticity problems with extreme contrasts in the coefficients

The convergence of iterative based domain decomposition methods is linked with the absorbing boundary conditions defined on the interface between the sub-domains. For linear elasticity problems, the optimal absorbing boundary conditions are associated with non-local Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps. Most of the methods to approximate these non-local maps are based on a continuous analysis. In this paper, an original algebraic technique based on the computation of local Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps is investigated. Numerical experiments are presented for linear elasticity problems with extreme contrasts in the coefficients.     

The stress driven instability in elastic crystals: Mathematical models and physical manifestations

Summary Equilibrium equations and stability conditions for the simple deformable elastic body are derived by means of considering a minimum of the static energy principle. The energy is supposed to be sum of the volume (elastic) and the surface terms. The ability to change relative positions of different material particles is taken into account, and appropriate natural definitions of the first and second variations of the energy are introduced and calculated explicitly. Considering the case of negligible magnitude of the surface tension, we establish that an equilibrium state of a nonhydrostatically stressed simple elastic body (of any physically reasonable elastic energy potential and of any symmetry) possessing any small smooth part of free surface is always unstable with respect to relative transfer of the material particles along the surface. Surface tension suppresses the mentioned instability with respect to sufficiently short disturbances of the boundary surface and thus can probably provide local smoothness of the equilibrium shape of the crystal. We derive explicit formulas for critical wavelength for the simplest models of the internal and surface energies and for the simplest equilibrium configurations. We also formulate the simplest problem of mathematical physics, revealing peculiarities and difficulties of the problem of equilibrium shape of elastic crystals, and discuss possible manifestations of the above-mentioned instability in the problems of crystal growth, materials science, fracture, physical chemistry, and low-temperature physics.     

CTBN-TOUGHENED EPOXY RESINS——EFFECT OF CURING MECHANISM ON NETWORK STRUCTURE OF THE RUBBER PHASE

Epoxy resins toughened with carboxyl-terminated butadieneacrylonitrile copolymers (CTBN) are two-phase thermosets. The network of the in situ formed rubber particles depends upon the curing mechanism of the resin. When a primary polyamine such as triethylene tetramine was used as curing agent, the network of the rubber phase was quite incomplete, whereas a perfect rubber network was formed with 2-ethyl-4-methyl imidazole as the curing agent.     

甲基丙烯酸全氟烷基代乙酯对天然橡胶乳液辐射改性研究

天然橡胶的性能与其组成中的C C双键有密切关系,由于C C双键的存在,为天然橡胶的改性提供了便利,大多数天然橡胶的改性方法,如氯化、氢氯化、环化、环氧化、接枝共聚等皆是建立在这一思路基础上的.White等[1]认为接枝天然橡胶的目的是提高天然橡胶的机械强度,赋予特殊的功能.作     

NBR/ORGANOMODIFIED BENTONITE INTERCALATED HYBRIDS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE TOUGHNESS OF PVC

Hybrids of intercalative nitrile-butadiene rubber/organomodified bentonite (NBR/OMB) were prepared by thelatex intercalation technique. Investigation of their mechanical properties and the microstructore of NBR/OMB showed thatthe organomodified bentonite is an effective toughener for NBR. Transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) and X-rnydiffraction (XRD) tests showed that the NBR macromolecule could be intercalated into the galleries of bentonite.Incorporation of NBR/OMB hybrids as tougheners into poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) results in a substantial increase in theimpact strength of PVC, but little decrease in its tensile strength and flexural strength, compared to the unmodified PVC.     

动,静态硫化（NR＋SBR）／PE共混体系的结构与性能

用TEM研究了(NR SBR)/PE共混体系经动、静态硫化后的形态结构及其与力学性能的关系。未硫化和静态硫化体系的形态结构与其组成有关,均以含量大的组份为连续相;对动态硫化体系,当(NR=SBR)/PE<70/30时,均以PE为连续相,其性能主要依赖于构成连续相组份的性质。 动态硫化体系的T_g值低于静态体系,随PE组份含量的增加变化不大,而静态硫化体系的T_g值则随PE含量增加向高温方向迁移。用DSC测得动态硫化体系的结晶度比静态体系的大。前者的应力-应变性能也低于后者。     

Generalized Brownian motion and elasticity

We introduce a family of stochastic processes which are a natural extension of Brownian motion to a tensor form. This allows us to solve a Dirichlet problem of linear elasticity obeying Lamé's equation, [1–(d– 1)]²V(x)+ [·V(x)]=0.     

Depolymerization and ionic conductivity of enzymatically deproteinized natural rubber having epoxy group

Preparation of liquid epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) was made by oxidative depolymerization of ENR in latex stage without loss of epoxy group. Epoxidation of fresh natural rubber latex, which was purified by deproteinization with proteolytic enzyme and surfactant, was carried out with freshly prepared peracetic acid. The glass transition temperature (T_g) and gel content of the rubbers increased after the epoxidation, both of which were dependent upon an amount of peracetic acid. The gel content was significantly reduced by oxidative depolymerization of the rubber with (NH₄)₂S₂O₈ in the presence of propanal. The resulting liquid epoxidized rubber (M_n≈10⁴) was found to have well-defined terminal groups, i.e. aldehyde groups and α-β unsaturated carbonyl groups. The novel rubber was applied to transport Li⁺ as an ionic conducting medium, that is, solid polymer electrolyte.