EFFECT OF MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF PDMS ON MORPHOLOGY AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF PP/PDMS BLENDS

 A series of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with varied molecular weights (Mw = 3  106, 1  106 and 0.5  106) were melt blended with PP to investigate the effect of PDMS molecular weight (MW) on the morphology and mechanical properties of PP/PDMS blends. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination showed that the size of PDMS domains was dependent on the MW of PDMS. It was found that the lower the value of PDMS MW, the better dispersion of the PDMS domains in the PP matrix. Tensile and Izod impact tests revealed that the addition of PDMS with lower MW would lead to a more significant increase in impact strength of the blends compared with the blends with higher MW ones, while the influence of the molecular weight on tensile strengths of the blends was relatively small in the MW range studied. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results also showed that the crystallization temperature of PP was increased with decreasing PDMS MW, indicating a better nucleation capability of lower MW of PDMS. Melting flow rate (MFR) measurements indicated that the processibility of PP could be enhanced by adding PDMS, and again the lower MW PDMS resulted in better data. Our work demonstrates that not only the processibility but also the mechanical properties of PP could be enhanced to a more significant degree by using low MW PDMS than the higher ones.     

Partial melting and recrystallization of isotactic polypropylene

<正>A relatively high predetermined crystallization temperature(135℃) was chosen to grow well developed iPP spherulites,then the partial melting was carried out at a temperature of 165℃,where the preformed spherulites were seen to only decrease their size but not completely melted.The crystallization behavior of partially melted isotactic polypropylene (iPP) has been carefully examined by different scanning calorimetry(DSC) and polarized light microscopy(PLM).The experimental results show that at a special annealing temperature(165℃) the melting behavior of iPP includes two parts with different mechanism,one part is the melting of iPP spherulite outside,another is the partial lamellae perfection during longer annealing time in the unmelted spherulite.The conformational orders of the iPP melt decrease with the increase of the annealing temperature.     

SPATIAL HIERARCHY AND INTERFACIAL STRUCTURE IN INJECTIONMOLDED BARS OF POLYPROPYLENE-BASED BLENDS AND COMPOSITES

The hierarchical structure and interfacial morphology of injection-molded bars of polypropylene （PP） based blends and composites have been investigated in detail from the skin to the core. For preparation of injection-molded bars with high-level orientation and good interfacial adhesion, a dynamic packing injection molding technology was applied to exert oscillatory shear on the melts during solidification stage. Depending on incorporated component, interfacial adhesion and processing conditions, various oriented structure and morphology could be obtained. First, we will elucidate the epitaxial behavior between PP and high-density polyethylene occurring in practical molded processing. Then, the shear-induced transcrystalline structure will be the main focus for PP/fiber composites. At last, various oriented clay structures have been ascertained unambiguously in PP/organoclay nanocomposites along the thickness of molded bars.     

SURFACE STRUCTURE AND BULK PROPERTIES OF FLUORINATED POLY(ETHER URETHANE)S AND POLY(ETHER URETHANE) BLENDS

INTRODUCTIONPolyurethanes (PU) have been widely used for manufacturing medical devices because of their excellentmechanical properties and moderate biocompatibility[1]. Although polyurethanes used in applications requiringall of the above properties have been successful for short-term use, the problems of long-term thromboresistanceand biostability in a biological environment still remain unsolved[2,3]. A legitimate approach to improving theproperties of polyurethanes is introduction of f…     

REINFORCEMENT OF POLYDIMETHYLSILOXANE NETWORKS BY NANOCALCIUM CARBONATE

Although a number of investigations have been devoted to the analysis of silica or carbon black filled elastomer networks, little work has been done on the reinforcement of CaCO3 filled elastomer network. In this work, the reinforcement of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) network by using CaCO3 nano-particles was investigated. We have found a simultaneous increase of tensile strength, modulus and elongation with the increase in nano-CaCO3 content, which suggests that nano-CaCO3 particles can indeed be used as a reinforcing agent, just like silica or carbon black. Interestingly, the tensile strength,modulus and elongation were seen to leave off for the first time when the content of nano-CaCO3 particles reaches to 80%.PDMS also showed an enhanced elastic modulus and storage modulus with the increase in nano-CaCO3 content, particularly for samples with high nano-CaCO3 content. SEM was used to investigate the dispersion of the filler in PDMS matrix. A better dispersion was found for samples with high nano-CaCO3 content. A great increase of viscosity was found for samples with higher filler content, which is considered to be the reason for the good dispersion thus the reinforcement, because high viscosity will be helpful for breaking the agglomerates of fillers into small size particles under effect of shear. Our work provides a new way for the reinforcement of elastomer by using an adequate amount of nano-CaCO3 particles instead of as mall quantity of silica, which is not only economically cheap but also very effective.     

Effects of matrix molecular weight on structure and reinforcement of high density polyethylene/mica composites

Three types of high-density polyethylene(HDPE)with different molecular weights(high,medium and low)were adopted to evaluate the influence of matrix molecular weight on the structure-property relation of injection-molded HDPE/mica composites through a combination of SEM,2d-WAXS,DSC,DMA and tensile testing.Various structural factors including orientation,filler dispersion,interfacial interaction between HDPE and mica,etc.,which can impact the macroscopic mechanics,were compared in detail among the three HDPE/mica composites.The transcrystallization of HDPE on the mica surface was observed and it exhibited strong matrix molecular weight dependence.Obvious transcrystalline structure was found in the composite with low molecular weight HDPE,whereas it was hard to be detected in the composites with increased HDPE molecular weight.The best reinforcement effect in the composite with low molecular weight HDPE can be understood as mainly due to substantially improved interfacial adhesion between matrix and mica filler,which arises from the transcrystallization mechanism.     

SOLUTION CRYSTALLIZATION OF METALLOCENE SHORT CHAIN BRANCHED POLYETHYLENE:MORPHOLOGY AND MECHANISM*

Solution crystallization of metallocene short chain branched polyethylene (SCBPE) was carried out and very nicesingle crystals were obtained. Compared with single crystals grown from linear polyethylene, SCBPE single crystals are dirtydue to intermolecular heterogeneity The crystal morphology changes with crystallization temperatures. Lozenge, truncatedlozenge, hexagonal, rounded and elongated crystal morphologies have been found at much lower crystallization temperaturethan in linear polyethylene. The electron diffraction shows there is a possibility that the single crystals may have hexagonalpacking in a crystallization temperature range. The lateral habits of single crystal are discussed based on roughening theories.     

EFFECT OF MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF PDMS ON MORPHOLOGY AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF PP/PDMS BLENDS

A series of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with varied molecular weights (M_w=3×10~6,1×10~6 and 0.5×10~6) were melt blended with PP to investigate the effect of PDMS molecular weight (MW) on the morphology and mechanical properties of PP/PDMS blends.Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination showed that the size of PDMS domains was dependent on the MW of PDMS.It was found that the lower the value of PDMS MW,the better dispersion of the PDMS domains in the PP matrix.Tensile and Izod impact tests reveale...     

EFFECT OF PROCESSING METHOD ON THE IMPACT STRENGTH OF POM/TPU/CaCO3 TERNARY COMPOSITES

Polyoxymethylene （POM）/elastomer/filler ternary composites were prepared, in which thermoplastic polyurethane （TPU） and inorganic filler, namely, CaCO3, were used to achieve balanced mechanical properties of POM. The dispersion and phase morphology of POM/elastomer/filler composites were found to depend largely on processing method, CaCO3 content in masterbatch and the filler size. Two processing methods were employed to prepare POM/elastomer/filler ternary composites. One is called the one-step method, in which elastomer and the filler directly melt blended with POM matrix. The other is called the two-step method, in which the elastomer and the filler were mixed to get masterbatch first, which was then melt blended with pure POM of different content. The effect of phase morphology and processing method on impact strength was investigated. It was found that the two-step method results in an increase in impact strength but not for the one-step method. Additionally, the impact strength of POM ternary composites decreases with the increase in the size of CaCO3 particles.     

BRITTLE-DUCTILE TRANSITION OF PP/EPDM/ELASTOMERIC NANO-PARTICLE TERNARY BLENDS

The brittle-ductile transition is a very important phenomenon for polymer toughening. Polypropylene （PP） is often toughened by using rubbers, e.g., ethylene-propylene diene monomer （EPDM） has often been used as a modifier. In this article, the toughening of PP by using a new kind of rubber, known as elastomeric nano-particle （ENP）, and the brittleductile transition of PP/EPDM/ENP was studied. Compared to PP/EPDM binary blends, the brittle-ductile transition of PP/EPDM/ENP ternary blends occurred at lower EPDM contents. SEM experiment was carried out to investigate the etched and impact-fractured surfaces. ENP alone had no effect on the impact strength of PP, however, with the same EPDM content, PP/EPDM/ENP ternary blends had smaller particle size, better dispersion and smaller interparticle distance in contrary to PP/EPDM binary blends, which promoted the brittle-ductile transition to occur earlier.