Influence of annealing and chain defects on the melting behaviour of poly(vinylidene fluoride)

The melting behaviour of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering in order to study the influence of the chain defects content and of the temperature of annealing on the crystallization and melting behaviour.All the DSC scans show a double endotherm and the analysis of the data suggests that the low temperature endotherm is due to the melting of a population of thin lamellae, whose thickness increases during the annealing, but a high content of chain defects prevents the lamellar thickening and the main effect in this case is the crystallization of thin lamellae from a portion of polymer which did not crystallize during the quenching from the melt. Furthermore, the two melting endotherms, which are observed, can be partially ascribed to a melting-recrystallization process.Furthermore, stepwise isothermal cooling was performed in a differential scanning calorimeter followed by melting scans of fractionated PVDF samples to point out the possible presence of a series of endothermic peaks.     

Poly(butylene terephthalate)/poly(ε-caprolactone) blends: Influence of PCL molecular mass on PBT melting and crystallization behavior

The isothermal crystallization kinetics and melting behavior of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) in binary blends with poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) was investigated as a function of PCL molecular mass by differential scanning calorimetry and optical microscopy. The components are miscible in the melt when oligomeric PCL (M_w = 1250) is blended with PBT, whereas only partial miscibility was found in mixtures with higher molecular mass (M_w = 10,000 and 50,000). The equilibrium melting point of PBT in the homopolymer and in blends with PCL was determined through a non-linear extrapolation of the T_m = f(T_c) curve. The PBT spherulitic growth rate and bulk crystallization rate were found to increase with respect to plain PBT in blends with PCL1250 and PCL10000, whereas addition of PCL50000 causes a reduction of PBT solidification rate. The crystallization induction times were determined by differential scanning calorimetry for all the mixtures through a blank subtraction procedure that allows precise estimation of the crystallization kinetics of fast crystallizing polymers. The results have been discussed on the basis of the Hoffman-Lauritzen crystallization theory and considerations on both the transport of chains towards the crystalline growth front and the energy barrier for the formation of critical nuclei in miscible and partially miscible PBT/PCL mixtures are widely debated.     

Thermal transitions of DODAB vesicular dispersions

Two endothermic transitions, at 36°C and 44°C, were observed with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) upon heating dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide vesicle dispersions that were equilibrated below 15°C while in samples kept at 25°C there was only the transition at 44°C, which was shown to be the gel to liquid–crystalline transition by ¹H-NMR measurements. The transition at 36°C was reversed in an exothermic transition around 13°C upon cooling. The slowness of this transition at ambient temperatures suggests that the presence of the transition at 36°C in a DSC upscan depends strongly on the sample history.     

Equations describing lamellar structure parameters and melting points of polyethylene-<Emphasis Type="Italic">co</Emphasis>-(butene/octene)s

Time- and temperature-dependent SAXS-experiments were used to determine the effect of octene and butene co-units on the lamellar structure and the melting properties of polyethylene. As expected, melting points decrease with increasing co-unit content, but crystal thicknesses are not affected and depend on the crystallization temperature only. Results can be cast into some simple equations which describe the dependence:

面心立方C60表面过程的计算机模拟

近年来发现的C60及其金属掺杂化合物形成一个新的材料族，其半导体性质、超导性质及非线性光学性质已受到广泛注意，但目前对这类材料的表面性质尚缺乏研究，我们曾采用参数化的Lenard－Jones6－12模型函数比较不同晶型C6o的相对稳定性　[1]，预测面心立方C60（FccC60）的声子散射频率和态密度[2]，并计算其表面能[3]，取得有意义的结果，表明这一简单模型势能函数是C60分子间有效范德华作用的一种合理抽提．本工作进一步将该势能函数应用于研究fccC60表面吸附分子的迁移机理，并用蒙特卡罗方法模拟fcC（110）及（100）晶面的熔化过程，…     

Selective water sorbents for multiple applications, 3. CaCl2 solution confined in micro- and mesoporous silica gels: Pore size effect on the “solidification-melting” diagram

In this communication we present a low-temperature “solidification-melting” phase diagram for CaCl₂/H₂O solutions confined in KSK and KSM silica gels. At salt concentrations of 0–48 wt. %, the diagram has been found to lie below the diagram reported for the bulk system by 15–30°C. It shows a depression of the solution melting point due to its confinment to the pores. Several other peculiarities of melting and solidification in this system are also reported and discussed. Beside fundamental interest, the data obtained could be of importance in many commercial areas such as refrigeration, accumulation of low temperature heat, frost prevention in building materials,etc.     

Polymer blends based on the β-modification of polypropylene

iPP/sPP, iPP/rPP, iPP/PVDF and iPP/PA-6 blends, and their β-nucleated forms were prepared in the present study. The components of iPP/sPP and iPP/rPP blends are compatible in the molten state. The phase structure of the melt of iPP/PVDF and iPP/PA-6 blends is heterogeneous. The melting and crystallisation characteristics as well as the structure and polymorphic composition of these blends were studied by polarised light microscopy (PLM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). When semicrystalline polymers are added to iPP, the most important factor of the formation a blend with β-crystalline phase is the α-nucleation effect of the second polymer. In the case of polymers with an α-nucleating effect, the temperature range of their crystallisation should be lower than that of β-iPP. β-nucleated iPP/PVDF and iPP/PA-6 blends are extreme examples showing that completely β-iPP matrix can not form even in the presence of a highly effective β-nucleant, because of the strong α-nucleating ability and higher crystallisation temperature range of PVDF and PA-6. We found that the β-crystallisation tendency of random propylene copolymers can be enhanced by adding an iPP homopolymer.     

Physicochemical Characterization of Hydrated 4-Sulphonato-Calix[n]arenes: Thermal,Structural, and Sorption Properties

In this study, the thermal behavior of three hydrated water-soluble 4-sulphonato calix[n]arenes was investigated. The melting points, heats of fusion, and heats of solution of the calix[4]arene, calix[6]arene and calix[8]arene were 277, 262, and 270°C; 192, 242 and 351 kJ/mol; and 30, 58 and 63 kJ/mol, respectively. Lower heat of fusion, smaller increase in entropy and smaller heat of solution of the calix[4]arene compared to the calix[6]arene and calix[8]arene showed that less heat was required to break up the crystal lattice of the smaller macromolecule. This apparent anomaly is rationalized in terms of smaller cooperativity of interaction between the molecules of calix[4]arene in the crystal lattice, although the strength of the individual interactions is stronger as evidenced by the higher melting point. TGA analysis indicated that about 17–20% of water was associated with the calix[n]arenes. Both TGA and hot stage microscopy results indicated that upon heating these molecules underwent stepwise water loss. TGA kinetics showed that the 4-sulphonato-calix[8]arene lost water easier than the other two calixarenes. The moisture adsorption behavior of all calixarenes followed type II isotherms. For the same amount of material, the calix[6]arene adsorbed more moisture than the calix[4]arene and the calix[8]arene. Moreover, dehydrated less crystalline 4-sulphonic-calix[n]arenes powders are hydroscopic.

     

Finite element modelling of natural-convection-controlled change of phase

The problem of phase change in the presence of natural convection has been investigated. A model has been proposed based on the treatment of the release/absorption of latent heat as a heat source/sink in combination with the standard Galerkin finite element method with a primitive variable formulation on a fixed grid. To demonstrate the capabilities of the model, three cases of phase change of an aluminium alloy in the presence of natural convection arc considered, i.e. solidification, melting and combined solidification and melting. The solidification of water in a square cavity is modelled as another example, taking into account the density extremum, and the results are compared with a previously published work.