Search results for "fluid"

Effect of physical aging on the low-frequency vibrational density of states of a glassy polymer

2003

The effects of the physical aging on the vibrational density of states (VDOS) of a polymeric glass is studied. The VDOS of a poly(methyl methacrylate) glass at low-energy (<15 meV), was determined from inelastic neutron scattering at low-temperature for two different physical thermodynamical states. One sample was annealed during a long time at temperature lower than Tg, and another was quenched from a temperature higher than Tg. It was found that the VDOS around the boson peak, relatively to the one at higher energy, decreases with the annealing at lower temperature than Tg, i.e., with the physical aging.

Simulations of Polymers in Confined Geometries

1991

The properties of flexible polymers moving inside porous structures are believed to be relevant to practical problems such as filtration, gel permeation chromatography, heterogeneous catalysis, oil recuperation, etc.1. Similarly the adsorption of macromolecules on interfaces plays an important role for problems such as adhesion, flocculation and stabilisation of colloid particles, biological membrane function, artificial organs in medicine, etc. 2. Aside from this eventual practical application, the configurational statistics of polymers in such confined geometries is a challenging problem of theoretical physics. The present brief review will be concerned with the study of a single long fle…

Extension of the Concept of Intrinsic Viscosities to Arbitrary Polymer Concentration: From [η] via {η} to Intrinsic Bulkiness

2019

The capabilities of an alternative definition of intrinsic viscosities [η] published some years ago is being studied by means of comprehensive viscometric data reported in the early days of polymer science. It introduces the generalized intrinsic viscosity {η} as the specific hydrodynamic volume at arbitrary polymer concentration c. {η} quantifies the size of the flow unit and decreases monotonously for T ≫ Tg (glass transition temperature) as a function of c but passes a pronounced minimum as T approaches Tg. In the limit of the pure polymer melt, {η} becomes ; this newly introduced property is termed intrinsic bulkiness, by analogy to the intrinsic viscosity, and provides noncalorimetric …

2018

Star-shaped polymers show a continuous change of properties from flexible linear chains to soft colloids, as the number of arms is increased. To investigate the effect of macromolecular architecture on the flow properties, we employ computer simulations of single chain and star polymers as well as of their mixtures under Poiseuille flow. Hydrodynamic interactions are incorporated through the multi-particle collision dynamics (MPCD) technique, while a bead-spring model is used to describe the polymers. For the ultradilute systems at rest, the polymers are distributed uniformly in the slit channel, with a weak dependence on their number of arms. Once flow is applied, however, we find that the…

Topology-Sensitive Microfluidic Filter for Polymers of Varying Stiffness

2017

The separation of polymers based on their size, rigidity, and topology is an essential but also highly challenging task for nanoscience and engineering. Using hybrid molecular dynamics simulations that correctly take into account hydrodynamics, we have designed microfluidic channels for separating linear from ring polymers in dilute solutions. We establish that the transport velocity of the polymers is independent of their topology and rigidity when the channel walls are smooth and repulsive. However, when the walls are decorated with attractive spots arranged on lines parallel to the flow, ring polymers exhibit an order of magnitude higher transport velocity compared to linear chains. The …

Rheological behavior of a semirigid liquid crystal polymer

1993

The rheological behavior of liquid crystal polymers is still far from completely clarified from both experimental and theoretical points of view. In this paper, the shear flow and the non-isothermal elongation flow behavior of a semi-rigid liquid crystal copolyester is discussed. The viscosity strongly decreases when the test temperature is increased above the crystal-nematic transition temperature; below this temperature the viscosity is very high. The thermal history strongly affects the shear viscosity. The elongational flow behavior depends also on temperature. Above the crystal-nematic transition temperature and the mesophase is easily spinnable, whereas below this temperature, the spi…

Preparation of Soft Microactuators in a Continuous Flow Synthesis Using a Liquid-Crystalline Polymer Crosslinker

2012

We present the synthesis of a polymeric liquid crystalline (LC) crosslinker and its usage in the preparation of soft microactuators. The microactuators, composed of thermoresponsive liquid crystalline elastomers (LCE), are fabricated in a microfl uidic device in a continuous “on the fl y” process. The LC polymer crosslinker is miscible with the LC monomer and provides for a rapid polymerization and crosslinking. Most importantly, it promotes an enantiotropic mesophase of the mobile monomer phase, which is not provided by conventional nonmesogenic crosslinkers. This allows an isothermal handling inside the microfl uidic setup. Temperature-driven shape changes up to 65% could be achieved by j…

Pressure-induced formation of diblock copolymer "micelles" in supercritical fluids. A combined study by small angle scattering experiments and mean-f…

2004

We developed a simple time-dependent mean-field theory to describe the phase separation kinetics of either homopolymers or AB-diblock copolymers in supercritical (SC) fluids. The model, previously used to describe the phase behavior of AB-block copolymers under the assumption of strong solvent selectivity for just one copolymer chain, has been extended to study the kinetics of the phase separation process. Time resolved small angle x-ray scattering (TR-SAXS) measurements have been performed on different AB-diblock copolymers containing a perfluorinated chain and dissolved in SC-CO2. The data obtained over a wide range of pressure and temperature confirm our theoretical predictions. Particul…

QENS from polymer aggregates in supercritical CO2

2000

Abstract We report QENS measurements from PS-b-PFOA aggregates in supercritical CO2. Line shapes are dominated by localized diffusive modes and segmental dynamics of the anchored, finite-length PFOA chains. For Q⩽0.6 A−1, we obtain effective diffusion coefficients of ≅0.8 10−6 cm2/s. At higher Q, a single component is not sufficient as shown by excess intensity on the flanks. For Q⩾1.5 A−1, the wings reflect contributions due to a distribution of faster, more localized chain modes.

The morphology of block copolymer micelles in supercritical carbon dioxide by small-angle neutron and x-ray scattering

1997

Above its critical point, carbon dioxide forms a super-critical fluid, which promises to be an environmentally responsible replacement for the organic solvents traditionally used in polymerizations. Many lipophilic polymers such as polystyrene (PS) are insoluble in CO2, though polymerizations may be accomplished via the use of PS-fluoropolymer stabilizers, which act as emulsifying agents. Small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering have been used to show that these molecules form micelles with a CO2-phobic PS core and a CO2-philic fluoropolymer corona. When the PS block was fixed in length and the fluorinated corona block was varied, the number of block copolymer molecules per micelle (six to …