Search results for "Chemical engineering"
showing 10 items of 5892 documents
Dithienopyrrolobenzotriazole-based organic dyes with high molar extinction coefficient for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells
2016
Abstract Four novel organic dyes DT1-DT4 containing a dithienopyrrolobenzotriazole unit were synthesized and applied in dye sensitized solar cells, where dithienopyrrolobenzotriazole moiety was introduced as a π-spacer for the first time. The four dyes exhibited good light harvesting efficiency with high molar extinction coefficients and broad spectral response. The influence of the different electron donor on the photovoltaic performance was evaluated. The effects of the linear and branched alkyl chains in the π-bridge on the photophysical, electrochemical and photovoltaic performance were systemically investigated. The results show that branched alkyl chains are better than linear alkyl c…
Anti-/Pro-Oxidant Behavior of Naturally Occurring Molecules in Polymers and Biopolymers: A Brief Review
2019
Polymers and biopolymers are continuously subjected to the action of different stress factors, such as oxygen, heat, UV light, mechanical stress, humidity, etc., during their processing and service life, undergoing overall oxidative degradation, that causes performance and property deterioration. To improve the resistance at high temperatures and long-term weatherability of the polymers and biopolymers, usually, during their manufacturing, synthetic antioxidants and UV-light stabilizers are added. In the past decade, several concerns related to the impact of the synthetic stabilizers have emerged, and to reduce their negative effect on human health and the environment, their replacement wit…
On the compatibilization of PET/HDPE blends through a new class of copolyesters
2000
Polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) and polyethylene are incompatible polymers and their blends show, in general, poor properties. Compatibilization is then a necessary step to obtain blends with good mechanical and barrier properties. In this work different compatibilizing agents were used, i.e. a maleic anhydride elastomer and some new products containing graft-copolymers having polyester segments grafted onto polyethylene backbone chains. Both the functionalized elastomer and the new products drastically improve the morphology and the ductility of the blend. In the case of the modified elastomer the compatibilizing action has been attributed to the formation of H-bonds whereas the copolymers…
A bonding evolution theory study of the mechanism of [3+2] cycloaddition reactions of nitrones with electron-deficient ethylenes
2015
The mechanism of zw-type [3+2] cycloaddition (32CA) reactions of nitrones with electron-deficient (ED) ethylenes has been studied using density functional theory (DFT) methods at the MPWB1K/6-31G(d) level of theory. An exploration of the potential energy surfaces associated with the four competitive reactive channels of the 32CA reaction between C-phenyl-N-methyl nitrone and acrolein indicates that the cycloaddition reaction takes place through a one-step mechanism. This cycloaddition reaction presents a moderate meta regioselectivity and a complete endo stereoselectivity, which is diminished in dichloromethane. Analysis of the DFT reactivity indices of the reagents allows an explanation of…
Analysis of plasticization and reprocessing effects on the segmental cooperativity of polylactide by dielectric thermal spectroscopy
2021
Abstract In the present study, the dielectric properties of both neat and plasticized polylactide submitted to repeated extrusion and injection processes to simulate recycling were analysed. The dielectric relaxation spectrum, consisting of β and α relaxation, revealed the relevance of both acryl-PEG based plasticization and thermo-mechanical degradation induced by repeated extrusion and grinding-injection reprocessing cycles on polylactide (PLA). The β-relaxation has its origin in the intramolecular local motions of pendant groups of the PLA backbone, while the α-relaxation is representative of the intermolecular large-scale segmental motions of the PLA backbone. The addition of acryl-PEG …
Amino acid-based cholinium ionic liquids as sustainable catalysts for pet depolymerization
2021
Chemical recycling to monomers is one of the key strategies in tackling the issues deriving from persistent plastic pollution in the environment, and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is among the most used polymers in modern society. In this context, we herein describe the glycolysis of PET to bis-hydroxyethyl terephthalate (BHET), promoted by basic cholinium salts differing for the anions, also comprising amino acid anions. We investigated the optimal reaction conditions, finding that the best-performing catalyst is [Ch][Gly], in the presence of which a conversion of 85% and a yield of 51% are achieved at 150 °C after 6 h, from PET deriving from a clear water bottle. We used our protocol…
Freely-Suspended and Transferred Freely-Suspended Films of Polymeric Liquid Crystals
1993
Freely-suspended (FS) liquid-crystal (LC) films of a polymethylsiloxane homo- and a copolymer with different mesogenic side groups have been prepared and investigated. For both substances the preparation of the films succeeded only in the isotropic phase but the higher ordered phases were reached after cooling. The films of the homopolymer have only been obtained with thicknesses estimated to be in the pm-range and with an unusual “Book-Shelf” orientation of the smectic layers. In contrast, the films of the copolymer were thinner and showed a homeotropic orientation of the mesogens in the smectic A phase. Interestingly, this material exhibited a different layer spacing in film and bulk, alt…
Preparation of actuating fibres of oriented main-chain liquid crystalline elastomers by a wetspinning process
2011
We present a versatile method to prepare oriented fibres with a defined thickness from main-chain liquid crystalline elastomers. A microfluidic setup is utilized to inject a solution of a photocrosslinkable smectic A main-chain polymer into a co-flowing stream of silicone oil. Diffusion of the solvent into the oil yields solid polymer filaments that are crosslinked in a continuous way by UV-irradiation. The obtained fibres are highly oriented and show a reversible and significant contraction during the liquid crystal's phase transition.
I. Glass Transition. Theoretical concepts on the glass transition of polymers and their test by computer simulation
1996
Various organic molecules, in particular polymers, are extremely good glass formers and allow the study of supercooled melts near the glass transition in metastable equilibrium. Theories of the glass transition imply such an equilibrium (e.g. mode-coupling theory, or Gibbs-di Marzio theory) and can hence be tested in these systems. Simplified lattice models for polymer melts (e.g. the bond fluctuation model) have been developed that can very efficiently be studied by Monte-Carlo simulation, and although they fail to accurately describe the local structure, they describe many features of the experiments very well. In this model, the mechanism of the glass transition is a competition between …
1982
The synthesis and phase behaviour of a series of polymers having liquid crystalline sidechains and a poly(acrylic acid) backbone are described. These polymers show a dependence of the phase transition temperatures on molecular weight. In copolymers of two liquid crystalline acrylic esters, induced smectic phases occur. A comparison of the phase transitions of the different polyacrylates, with those of liquid crystalline polymethacrylates and polysiloxanes, published elsewhere, establishes that the spacer group achieves partial “decoupling” of liquid crystalline and polymer properties.