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DIMENSIONAL STABILITY OF REINFORCED MATRICES.

Particulate fillers are often used to improve the dimensional stability of polymeric items obtained through processing techniques such as injection molding, deep drawing, hot stamping, etc. In these operations the material undergoes large multiaxial deformations which result in molecular orientation and remain as frozen-in stresses during cooling of the material. Once the formed objects are exposed to sufficiently high temperatures, various degrees of spring-back take place and subsequent changes in shape and dimension occur (1).

NMR-investigation of the mechanism of silver mercaptide thermolysis in amorphous polystyrene

Polymer-embedded silver clusters have been prepared by thermal decomposition of silver dodecylmercaptide previously dissolved in amorphous polystyrene. The morphology and structure of silver clusters have been determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and large angle X-ray diffractometry (XRD), respectively. The mechanism involved in the thermolysis reaction was elucidated by different NMR techniques. The thermolysis produced thiol-derivatized silver clusters (i.e., silver clusters coated with a self-organized thiol monolayer, Agx(SC12H25)y) and had the effect of increasing the branching degree of polystyrene due to enhanced cross-linking.

JABB: taking stock after 8 years activity