Search results for "elastomer"
showing 10 items of 134 documents
Effects of functionalized carbon nanotubes in peroxide crosslinking of diene elastomers
2009
Abstract The crosslinking reaction of ethylene–propylene–diene terpolymer (EPDM) peroxide vulcanization filled with pristine and functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs and S/CNTs) was evaluated by rheometric tests. The functionalization of CNTs was carried out by diazonium salt methodology in acid medium. S/CNTs were characterised by means of TGA, EDX, Raman and elemental analysis. Pristine CNTs were found to gradually increase the delta torque as a function of loading fraction. Nevertheless, the vulcanization time, scorch and optimum cure time hardly varied on addition of CNTs. However, S/CNTs noticeably affected the cure process, reducing the vulcanization time and delta torque. This effec…
Resource or waste? A perspective of plastics degradation in soil with a focus on end-of-life options.
2018
‘Capable-of-being-shaped’ synthetic compounds are prevailing today over horn, bone, leather, wood, stone, metal, glass, or ceramic in products that were previously left to natural materials. Plastic is, in fact, economical, simple, adaptable, and waterproof. Also, it is durable and resilient to natural degradation (although microbial species capable of degrading plastics do exist). In becoming a waste, plastic accumulation adversely affects ecosystems. The majority of plastic debris pollutes waters, accumulating in oceans. And, the behaviour and the quantity of plastic, which has become waste, are rather well documented in the water, in fact. This review collects existing information on pla…
Oxazoline functionalization of polyethylenes and their blends with polyamides and polyesters
2001
The compatibilization of blends of polyamide-6 (PA6) with linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) with high density polyethylene (HDPE), by functionalization of the polyethylenes with oxazoline groups was investigated. Chemical modification of LLDPE and HDPE was carried out by melt free radical grafting with ricinoloxazoline maleinate. Blends preparation was made either with a two-steps procedure comprising functionalization and blending, and in a single step in which the chemical modification of polyethylene with the oxazoline monomer was realized in situ, during blending. The characterization of the products was carried out by FTIR spectroscopy an…
Oxazoline-containing compatibilizers for polyamide/SAN and polyamide/ABS blends
2002
Polyamide (PA) and acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene copolymer (ABS) may appear as a mixture in the recycled plastic stream. The incompatibility of these blends results in a blend with poor mechanical properties. The aim of this work is to partially convert the nitrile groups of the acrylonitrile/styrene copolymer (SAN) into oxazoline groups by reaction with aminoethanol (AE). Such modified SAN (SAN-m) can react with the amine or carboxylic acid end groups of PA, and therefore used as compatibilizers for blends of PA with ABS. SAN-m was found to reduce the SAN-domain size in the PA/SAN-blends. The initial acrylonitrile content of SAN-m had a strong influence on the degree of conversion into o…
Noninvasive monitoring of polymer curing reactions by dielectrometry
2011
A microwave sensor system for the noninvasive monitoring of the curing process of a thermoset material placed inside a metallic mold is described. The microwave sensor is designed as an open-ended coaxial resonator with a curved surface adapted to the mold inner shape. The analysis of the microwave resonator comprises a recently developed method for deembedding the effect of coupling network in overcoupled resonators, so the range of permitted measurements encompass both low and high dielectric losses of polymeric materials. Results show that noninvasive, continuous monitoring of the microwave dielectric properties of the thermoset material can be performed in real time, allowing one to che…
Applications of Liquid Crystalline Elastomers
2012
This chapter focuses on recent developments in the field of liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) that bring these materials closer to the world of real applications, concentrating on their actuation properties. First, we briefly introduce different LCE materials that show actuation behavior and explain how they can be synthesized. In the second part, we focus on materials in which a shape change is triggered by a phase transition. In particular, we discuss how the chemistry of the polymeric material influences the strength and direction of the shape change. We review the efforts made to trigger the actuation event by stimuli other than temperature variation. Subsequently, we summarize prepa…
A thermotropic liquid crystal elastomer micro-actuator with integrated deformable micro-heater
2014
We present a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) actuator with large stroke and fast reaction time. LCEs show a large macroscopic shape change when heated above the phase transition (≈120°C). Buried wafer-level fabricated micro-heaters offer optimal thermal reaction times and compact design of the actuators. A relative length change of λ = 1.28 was obtained with 320 mW power consumption. Heating the device from room temperature takes τrise = 19.7 s, cooling below the phase transition temperature from the fully contracted state needs τfall - 5.6s. We verify that the displacement may be accurately controlled by varying electrical input power.
Bioinspired actuated adhesive patterns of liquid crystalline elastomers.
2012
Gecko-inspired arrays of micropillars made of a liquid crystalline elastomer display thermoswitchable adhesive behavior as a consequence of elongation changes caused by reorientation of the mesogens at the nematic-isotropic (N-I) phase transition.
Co-flow microfluidic synthesis of liquid crystalline actuating Janus particles
2016
A microfluidic synthesis of stimuli-responsive actuating Janus particles composed of a liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) and a polymeric hydrogel is reported. , In this article the microfluidic synthesis and characterization of micrometer sized actuating Janus particles containing a liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) is presented. On one side these Janus particles consist of a hydrophobic liquid crystalline part, featuring strong shape changes during the thermotropic phase transition, whereas the other side contains a hydrophilic polyacrylamide network. The synthesis is based upon the dispersion of two immiscible monomer mixtures in a continuously flowing silicone oil, using two glass capi…
Microfluidic Synthesis of Actuating Microparticles from a Thiol-Ene Based Main-Chain Liquid Crystalline Elastomer.
2016
In this article the microfluidic synthesis of strongly actuating particles on the basis of a liquid crystalline main-chain elastomer is presented. The synthesis is carried out in a capillary-based co-flow microreactor by photo-initiated thiol-ene click chemistry of a liquid crystalline monomer mixture. These microparticles exhibit a deformation from a spherical to a rod-like shape during the thermal-initiated phase transition of the liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) at which the particles’ aspect ratio is almost doubled. Repeated contraction cycles confirm the complete reversibility of the particles’ actuation properties. The transition temperature of the LCE, the temperature range of the …