Polymer Engineering and Science articles from April 2009

Polymer Engineering and Science archives from April 2009

In memory of Prof. Robert Simha (1912-2008).(In memoriam)
April 1, 2009... This issue of Polymer Engineering and Science includes papers from the International Symposium on Polymer Physics, held October 17-18, 2007 at the National Research council Canada in Boucherville, Quebec, on the occasion of Prof. Robert Simha's...

Characterization of twin-screw-extruder-compounded polycarbonate nanoclay composites.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Over the past decade in research and development, a great deal of attention has been paid to polymer nanocomposites, especially polymer-layered mineral clay composites. Polymer nanocomposites represent an attractive...

Estimation of stresses required for exfoliation of clay particles in polymer nanocomposites.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Polymer/clay nanocomposites are materials composed of a polymer matrix and nanometer size clay particles. They exhibit significant improvements in tensile modulus and strength and reduced permeability to gases and liquids, in...

Potential of ball milling to improve clay dispersion in nanocomposites.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Since the last decade, much emphasis has been put to study polymer nanocomposites (PNC) in which the incorporation of a small amount of high aspect ratio nanoscale fillers to the polymer matrix can create significant...

Preparation and properties of epoxy nanocomposites. I. The effect of premixing on dispersion of organoclay.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION The dispersion of organoclay in epoxy resin is a complex process, which takes place during the premixing step and the curing step. Both pristine and commercially treated clays tend to form stacks rather than individual...

Maleic anhydride-grafted linear low-density polyethylene with low gel content.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Polyethylene (PE) occupies an important position in the commodity thermoplastics market, and is widely used in automobiles, household appliances, construction, and electrical industries. Especially, the development on...

Mechanical and thermal properties of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes/cyanate ester composite.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Cyanate ester resins (CEs) are among the most important engineering thermosetting polymers and have received attentions because of their outstanding physical properties such as low water absorptivity and outgassing, excellent...

Polyurethanes from tung oil: polymer characterization and composites.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Polyurethane polymers can be used in different applications to offer a wide range of properties from those of flexible elastomers to rigid crosslinked polymers. Although the main polyols used for polyurethanes production are...

Mechanical properties of carbon black-filled polypropylene/polystyrene blends containing styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION In addition of being a cost-effective and easy methodology in developing new polymeric materials (1-3), polymers blending is an elegant strategy to reduce the electrical percolation threshold, which is the minimum filler...

Structure and property of injection-molded polypropylene along the flow direction.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Injection molding is one of the most widely used processing methods for the manufacture of plastic products. Because of the different thermomechanical history the melt undergoes, the injection-molded parts often show a...

High-strength composites based on tung oil polyurethane and wood flour: effect of the filler concentration on the mechanical properties.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION The new trend in the polymer composite industry and academy is the search for alternative products that can be prepared from renewable resources, offering also the possibility to decompose by biodegradation. In the plastic...

Electrical conductivity and optical properties of poly(3-thiophene boronic acid) organic semiconductor.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION The semiconducting and conducting polymers, which have conjugated structure such as polyaniline, polypyrrole, and polythiophene, have been used in an increasing number of applications (1). The electrical and optical properties...

Role of the interphase in the flow stability of reactive coextruded multilayer polymers.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Coextrusion is an industrial process used to form multi-layered sheets or films that are suitable for various products ranging from food packaging materials to reflective polarizers. The main problem is to simultaneously...

Diffusion and morphological properties of syndiotactic polypropylene (sPP) films.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Syndiotactic polypropylene (sPP) was first synthesized by Natta et al. in 1960s (1), (2), and improved sPP was reported by Ewen et al. (3) in the 1980s using a metallocene catalytic system. The improved sPP has high...

Organoclay-filled caprolactam-blocked methylenediphenyl diisocyanate-toughened epoxy interpenetrating network matrices.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Nanostructured hybrid organic-inorganic composites have attracted considerable attention recently, both from the perspectives of fundamental research and their technological applications (1-3). One approach to prepare these...

Thermoplastic toughened layered silicate epoxy ternary nanocomposites--preparation, morphology, and thermomechanical properties.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Epoxy resins have been widely used as adhesives, coatings, and a matrix resin for the reinforced composites owing to their excellent mechanical properties, low price, good adhesion and chemical stability (1). However, their...

Study of application of ultrasonic wave to injection molding.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Injection molded precision products have consistently improved in performance and function over the past years. However, it is difficult to mold precision products using conventional injection molding techniques. For that...

Application of gentle annular gas veil for electrospinning of polymer solutions and melts.(D)(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Electrospun nanofibers and membranes exhibit many potential applications, including filtration, drug delivery, sensors, protective clothing, etc (1-6). To date, hundreds of different polymers have been successfully electrospun...

Optimization of preform temperature distribution for the stretch-blow molding of PET bottles: infrared heating and blowing modeling.(polyethylene terephthalate)(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Among the techniques devoted to the manufacture of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, the two-stage stretch-blow molding (SBM) process is probably the most popular. This process involves the manufacture of structurally...

Weathering properties of elastic rubber concrete comprising waste tire solution.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION At the beginning of the twentieth century, 500 tons of natural rubber was used annually. Toward the end of the century, the consumption of natural and synthetic rubbers reached about 12 million tons a year. As the rubber...

Preparation and characterization of poly(butylene terephthalate)/silica nanocomposites.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Recently, the composites of polymer/inorganic nano-particles have attracted more and more attention due to its tremendously improved properties compared with conventional materials, such as electrical/magnetic properties,...

Surface characterization of air plasma treated poly vinylidene fluoride and poly methyl methacrylate films.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION In recent years, plasma surface modification of polymeric material has been intensively investigated. The interaction of plasma with the surface of polymer films changes their chemical and physical properties. It is the...

Solubility of terephthalic acid in the reaction system oligomeric bishydroxybutyl terephthalates--1, 4-butanediol.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Terephthalic acid (TPA) is primarily used in the manufacture and production of various polyester (1), such as poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) which is a widely used industrial plastic. PBT has been synthesized from direct...

Nylon 66/clay nanocomposite structure development in a twin screw extruder.(Report)
April 1, 2009... INTRODUCTION Polymer/clay nanocomposites (PCN) have attracted great attention both in industry and in academia because of significantly improved properties when compared with conventional composites (1-7). Layered inorganic clay or...