Search results for "Chemical engineering"

Isobornyl Methacrylate as a Reactive Solvent of Polyethylene

2004

Solutions containing 15 wt, -% of a low-molar-mass polyethylene (PE) in isobornyl methacrylate (IBoMA), containing 0, 5 or 10 wt.-% of 1,4 butanediol dimethacrylate (BDDMA) as crosslinker, were polymerized using either benzoyl peroxide (BPO), at 80°C, or dicumyl peroxide (DCPO), with a thermal cycle attaining 150°C, as initiators. Phase separation of an amorphous PE-rich phase took place when carrying out the reaction at temperatures higher than the PE melting temperature. Partial crystallization of PE was observed when cooling to room temperature. Depending on the initial amount of BDDMA, the fraction of PE that was phase separated varied between 57 and 66% of the initial amount, with crys…

Polymer mechanical recycling: downcycling or upcycling?

2004

Recycled plastics are considered as materials with physical, mechanical and aesthetic properties worse than the virgin ones. In fact, this is true because degradation during lifetime and during the recycling operations changes the structure and the morphology of the polymers and then the final properties of the secondary material. Several “strategies” are under investigation, and in some cases also applied, in order to avoid further degradation during recycling and, if possible, to repair the macromolecules broken during lifetime and then to restore or to improve the initial properties. In this paper the more important techniques, already used in industry or under investigation, according …

LC‐Polymers and Smectic Phases with Special Substructures/Nanophase Segregation

2021

Functional Polymer-Opals from Core-Shell Colloids

2007

Colloidal photonic crystals were prepared from monodisperse core-shell particles. The shell is hereby formed from a functional monomer, such as glycidylmethacrylate or different reactive ester monomers, which can perform chemical reactions and the core from a standard monomer, which yields highly monodisperse colloids. It was possible to crystallize the core-shell particles into artificial opals with excellent optical properties. Reactions on the functional surface of the colloids were carried out, which lead to a dramatic rise in the mechanical stability or to a functionalization of His-tagged silicatein, which acts as nanoreactor to synthesize and immobilize gold nanoparticles from auric …

Highly cross-linked imidazolium salt entrapped magnetic particles – preparation and applications

2012

Magnetic particles entrapped into highly cross-linked imidazolium salts were synthesized using a straightforward approach by radical polymerization of bis-vinylimidazolium salts in the presence of superparamagnetic iron oxide particles. Potential applications for these new materials as (i) catalysts for conversion of propylene oxide to propylene carbonate, (ii) supports for organocatalysts, and (iii) scavenger materials for palladium removal are outlined.

Superhydrophobic TiO2/Fluorinated Polysiloxane Hybrid Coatings with Controlled Morphology for Solar Photocatalysis

2021

Abstract Technological applications of polysiloxane coatings have been influenced by their intrinsic low surface energy, which increases their water repellence. Accurate control of composition and interfacial properties through the introduction of perfluorinated moieties further lowers the polysiloxane surface energy, while mixing with metal oxide nanoparticles enhances roughness, resulting in a great potential in the development of superhydrophobic materials for photocatalysis. Herein, a series of hydrophobic and superhydrophobic hybrid coatings were prepared by dehydrocoupling and hydrosilylation reactions of polymethylhydrosiloxane with 1H,1H,2H,2H‐perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane and 1,3-d…

Polymer, Metal, and Hybrid Nano- and Mesotubes by Coating Degradable Polymer Template Fibers (TUFT Process)

2000

). Selective reaction with the silver atoms at the interface of the particles occurred and the coated particles were then extracted from reverse micelles. The powder of coated nanocrystals thus obtained was then dispersed in hexane, giving an optically clear solution. The size distribution was still rather large (30 %), and to reduce it a size-selected precipitation process [20] was used. In this process two solvents, such as hexane and pyridine, are mixed. The first is a good solvent and the second a poor solvent for the alkyl chains. With this solvent mixture, the larger coated particles flocculated whereas the smaller ones remain in the solution, thus providing size selection. By repeati…

Proton Conducting Membrane Prepared by Cross-Linking Highly Sulfonated Peek for PEMFC Application

2009

The proton conducting membrane was prepared by cross-linking highly sulfonated and sulfinated poly(etheretherketone) (SsPEEK). The cross-linked membrane is low cost due to its use of non-expensive chemical and simple production procedure. The membrane exhibited high proton conductivity (0.04 S/cm at 60 °C), extremely reduced water uptake, enhanced strength and stability compared with that of non-cross-linked membrane. These results suggested that the cross-linked PEEK membrane is a suitable candidate of proton conducting membranes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications, particularly promising to be used in direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) due to its lower methanol c…

Insights into the Dynamics of Grotthuss Mechanism in a Proton-Conducting Chiral bioMOF

2016

Proton conduction in solids attracts great interest, not only because of possible applications in fuel cell technologies, but also because of the main role of this process in many biological mechanisms. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) can exhibit exceptional proton-conduction performances, because of the large number of hydrogen-bonded water molecules embedded in their pores. However, further work remains to be done to elucidate the real conducting mechanism. Among the different MOF subfamilies, bioMOFs, which have been constructed using biomolecule derivatives as building blocks and often affording water-stable materials, emerge as valuable systems to study the transport mechanisms involve…

Main dielectric relaxation of poly(methyl acrylate)–polystyrene interpenetrating polymer networks

2005

Abstract Two series of poly(methyl acrylate)–polystyrene sequential interpenetrating polymer networks were prepared by free radical polymerization using ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate as cross-linking agent. In one of them the cross-linking density was very low and the IPNs presented phase separation. The main dielectric relaxation appears in the IPNs in the same position in the frequency axis and almost with the same shape as in the pure PMA network. Nevertheless the ratio of the relaxation strength to the weight fraction of PMA in the IPN decreases slightly with the increase of polystyrene content. The other series of IPNs were highly cross-linked, in these IPNs a dielectric relaxation sti…