Band 32, Heft 2

Starch-g-poly(acrylic acid)/organo-mordenite superabsorbent composite microsphere, was prepared by grafting partially neutralized acrylic acid onto starch in the presence of organo-mordenite as an inorganic component. The morphology was characterized with scanning electron microscope (SEM). The swelling properties of the superabsorbent composite microsphere were evaluated in distilled water, various NaCl solutions, solutions with different pH values, and urea solutions. Swelling kinetics of the superabsorbent composite microsphere in above environments were discussed by means of a Schott's second-order model. The results showed that the incorporation of 10 wt% organo-mordenite enhanced the water absorbency by 144% (from 268 to 655 g · g −1 ) and possessed the maximum swelling absorbency (75 g · g −1 ) in the 0.9% NaCl solution and (667 g · g −1 ) in 0.04 mol · l −1 urea solution. Moreover, swelling of starch-g-poly(acrylic acid)/organo-mordenite (with 10 wt% organo-mordenite) in distilled water and in all other environments followed Schott's second order kinetics. Swelling was extremely environmental-responsive to the concentration of the NaCl solution, the pH values, and urea solutions, respectively. The overall results inferred that the novel superabsorbent composite can be exploited for many potential applications.

In recent years, porous materials are gaining in popularity for engineering applications, due to their special characteristics, such as low density, large specific surface area, and excellent permeability. In this study, powder processing technique was used to prepare ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene UHMWPE porous materials. Sintering temperature was obtained by combining differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis and tensile tests. The surface morphology of sintering necks and tensile fracture were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Finally, single factor tests and orthogonal experiments were conducted to optimize three main processing parameters for a better permeability. It is found that the proper sintering temperature range would be from 143 to 153.1°C. According to the significance of influence, processing factors come in the sequence of the particle size, the compaction strength and the sintering temperature. Porous materials were successfully prepared, under the optimized parameters as the particle size >250 μm, the compaction strength of 2.5 MPa and the sintering temperature of 152°C.

A Fresnel lens is characterized by a micrometer-sized v-grooved structure, and its microstructure quality and curvature accuracy strongly influence its illuminance performance. In this study, a mold is designed for fabricating a Fresnel flash lens involving injection compression molding (ICM). The Taguchi method and parametric analysis are applied to examine the effect of process parameters (mold temperature, melt temperature, injection speed, packing pressure, compression pressure, and time) on the molding quality. Increasing the mold temperature and packing pressure generally improves the polymer melt fill in microsized cavities. ICM enables the realization of v-grooved microstructures with an accurate height replication rate (96.1%) as well as high curvature accuracy (6 μm), creating good optical qualities of the fabricated Fresnel lens with respect to maximum illuminance and illuminance uniformity.

The pattern surface structure of a thin blend polymer film of Poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) – Poly ethylene glycol (PEG) induced by Ar + ion etching (5 keV) has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Blend polymer films have been obtained consisting of a hydrophilic PEG and a hydrophobic PMMA distributed in co-continuous phases. Four different compositions of the two polymers are dissolved in chloroform and irradiated with gamma rays ( 60 Co) at 20 kGy to produce transparent films of blend polymer PMMA-PEG after casting. Self-assembled of PMMA-PEG film is obtained because of the high contrast between the two polymers. Ion-polymer interaction with a hydrophilic polymer (Ar + +PEG) rather than the high etch resistance of hydrophobic polymer (Ar + −PMMA) was observed. The results are discussed in terms of significant destruction of bonds in the blend polymer films as a result of which one polymer undergoes rapid dissociation rather than the other one. This means that etching with Ar + ions of the PMMA domains are stable and PEG can be selective. The ATR-FTIR spectrum shows the absence of hydrogen bonds and XRD/DSC curves show the crystanility of PMMA depending on the PEG contents and gamma radiation effect, irradiated blend polymer PMMA/PEG has shown more resistant at thermal degradation than irradiated PMMA. This indicates that the PEG contents have an effect on the thermal stability of PMMA/PEG as detected by TGA. Finally, the pattern surface of irradiated blend polymer (PMMA-2%PEG) was plated with two coaxial layers subsequently of copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) using sputter technique.

A continuous extrusion devulcanization process has been developed by using supercritical CO 2 . Experiments have been carried out on an industrial scale twin screw extruder to study the effects of processing conditions on the properties of devulcanized rubber. Using a fractional factorial design in three levels, the effects of process temperature, screw speed, and feed rate on the sol fraction, degree of devulcanization, Mooney viscosity, and tensile properties of devulcanized rubber have been investigated. The significance of the effects of the processing conditions decreases in the following order: flow rate, screw speed, and process temperature. Similar trends are noted for different responses with the exception of tensile properties. The observed relationship between the sol fraction and the degree of crosslinking in the rubber samples before and after devulcanization points to a highly selective disruption of the sulfur crosslinks in the rubber network during devulcanization rather than a random network scission. Mooney viscosity has been found to be in excellent agreement with the network structure properties, sol fraction, and degree of devulcanization.

New processes for continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastics (“organo-sheets”) offer new possibilities e. g. for the production of closed hollow bodies. In the Twin-O-Sheet Process the forming is done via gas pressure without separate diaphragms. This brings new demands on the organo-sheets with respect to gas density. In this article the influence of the forming parameters blank holder temperature and sheet temperature on the achievable gas pressure and drawing ratios with twill-weave PA6/GF organo-sheets are investigated. The results show that higher blank holder temperatures lead to higher drawing ratios despite of lower pressures. Compared to the blank holder temperature the influence of the sheet temperature on the drawing ratio is minor.

During research, injection molded samples were prepared from recycled poly(ethylene-terephthalate) granulate, and their mechanical properties were investigated as a function of time. To understand the changes in mechanical properties, both morphology of injection molded samples and recycled granulates were investigated. A three-phase morphological model was applied for the evaluation of morphological properties while mechanical properties were determined by tensile and impact tests. Relationship was found between morphological and mechanical characteristics as a function of time elapsed since production. Crystalline ratio, tensile strength, and modulus of injection molded specimens increased while impact strength decreased in the four weeks after production.

The multidimensional output-pressure behavior of non-Newtonian fluids in single-screw extrusion can only be determined by using numerical methods. We present two methods which employ mathematical models building on analytic equations developed using an evolutionary heuristic optimization algorithm. Both allow fast and stable calculation of the 2-dimensional throughput–pressure gradient relationship of single-screw extruders, rendering cost-intensive CFD simulations of the output-pressure behavior redundant. A performed error analysis showed that our methods yield good approximations of the numerically determined data.

For simulation of thin-wall injection molding, accurate viscosity data measured at shear rates up to 800,000 s −1 and more are important, but not available in any commercial material database. Such data can be measured on conventional injection molding machines with the help of a rheological mold, which is constructed like a standard injection mold with interchangeable dies. It enables operators to measure viscosity in time on their own machines at practically relevant shear rates (from 10 2 s −1 to 2 × 10 6 s −1 ). A special feature allows measuring the pressure dependency of viscosity using closed-loop counter pressure control. Experimental data are evaluated taking into account the melt temperature rise due to dissipative heating. Using capillary dies having different diameters, D, and length-to-diameter L/D ratios, a full rheological characterization has been carried out for a polypropylene-filled nanocomposite, and the experimental data have been fitted both with a viscous model (Cross) and a viscoelastic one (the Kaye – Bernstein, Kearsley, Zapas/Papanastasiou, Scriven, Macosko or K-BKZ/PSM model). Four injection molding dies have been also used to reach apparent shear rates up to 800,000 s −1 . Particular emphasis has been given on the pressure-dependence of viscosity. It was found that only the viscoelastic simulations were capable of reproducing the experimental data well, while any viscous modeling always underestimates the pressures, especially at the higher apparent shear rates and L/D ratios.

A review is given of the work in the field of flow induced crystallization in polymer melts, as has been carried out during the last twenty five years mostly in Linz. A concise discussion of some results of a recent monograph is given. In this connection polymer melt rheology provides insights into the differences of information, as provided by shear and extensional flow. These differences show up with increased degrees of deformation. One finds four important pictures in this report: An electron micrograph of the crystalline structure in a cross-section perpendicular to the previous flow direction. No branching is found of the tracks, which are lines of intersection with the plane of the cross-section. A ring-shaped sample of polypropylene is shown, which fits into a newly developed apparatus. Because of the large radius secondary flow is avoided. A picture, which was obtained already a long time ago, shows that the relaxation of flow induced structures occurs with polypropylene only at temperatures between 210 and 190°C. Below the latter temperature no relaxation of crystalline structures occurs. The sharp boundary between a highly oriented zone near the duct wall and the spherulitic structure in the interior of samples, which have been extruded through ducts of rectangular cross-section, can readily be explained.

An experimental investigation of injection molding was conducted to assess the high infrared radiation (IR) transmittance with an opaque state (low visibility ray (VR) transmittance) necessary for IR system lenses as a target high-density polyethylene (HDPE) IR transmission material. In our earlier investigation, experimental investigations of injection molding and injection press molding were conducted using the mold cavity of a disk-shaped finished mirror-like surface. For high mold temperature and long cooling time, the increased core-layer thickness improved the IR transmittance. Simultaneously, the VR transmittance decreased because the crystallinity became higher. Furthermore, when injection press molding was done, the VR transmittance decreased because the crystallinity increased. Using a 0.5-mm-thick mold cavity with disk shapes having different surface roughness, an injection molding experiment was conducted for this study while changing only the mold temperature of 20 to 80°C. Results show that when the mold surface roughness became high, the surface roughness of molded parts became high, too. Thereby the IR and VR transmittance were decreased. However, when the mold temperature was high, the influences of the so-called skin-core structure and crystallinity were stronger than the influence of the surface roughness of molded parts. The IR transmittance increased because of the decrease of the skin layer. Furthermore, the VR transmittance decreased because of a simultaneous rise of the crystallinity. The minimum value of obtained VR transmittance was 9.3% at mold temperature of 80°C using a mold of the highest surface roughness. This molded part reached an opaque state. Furthermore, a higher IR transmittance of 64.9% was obtained. When injection molding was conducted using a mold of a mirror-like surface with the same conditions as those in this investigation in our earlier investigation, the obtained IR and VR transmittances were 65.4% and 0.6%, respectively. Consequently, when the mold temperature was high, a few differences were found with transmittance of the molded parts using the mold of the mirror-like surface. Results showed that no difficulty arises when a mold having higher surface roughness is used at a higher mold temperature.

Beside the surface properties of the tool material, its temperature is an important parameter influencing the wettability of the tool surface by polymer melts in extrusion technology and injection molding. The temperature and time dependence of the contact angle of a polypropylene and a polymethylmethacrylate melt on polished tool steel was studied in this work at close to process conditions. The experiments were conducted by placing the polymeric sample on the hot tool material substrate in a high temperature chamber and recording the drop shape dependence on time. Based on the experimental results, a novel model was developed which allows a description of the contact angle dependent on temperature and time. The contact angle of the investigated polymer melts exhibits a linear decrease with rising temperature, which means that the wettability of the tool material by the polymer melt is improved with increasing temperature. Furthermore, the model proposed herein enables a complete mathematical description of the contact angle of polymer melts on the tool material dependent on temperature and time. The parameters of this function are the initial contact angle θ 0 , the contact angle when time approaches infinity θ ∞ and a characteristic material time B. The time dependency is incorporated by an exponential function. The characterizing contact angle parameters (θ 0 , θ ∞ ) follow a linear decrease with rising temperature. The characteristic material time B obeys an exponential law dependent on the reciprocal value of temperature similar to Arrhenius' law.

The influence of gamma irradiation on the structural and optical properties of polystyrene/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS/PMMA = 50/50 w/w %) blend films have been investigated. A dose range of 20 kGy to 400 kGy is covered. Applying the viscometry technique, the dose dependence of the intrinsic viscosity was investigated. In addition, the variation of refractive index with gamma dose was studied. The observed increase in the intrinsic viscosity from 0.45 up to 0.69 and the refractive index in the high dose range indicates that the predominant induced process by gamma irradiation is crosslinking, which reduces the free volume and increases the average molecular weight leading to a more compact structure of PS/PMMA samples. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectroscopies were applied to identify the chemical structure and to investigate the major process that is induced by irradiation. Moreover, using UV-vis spectroscopy, optical energy gap, Urbach energy and color changes were evaluated. The results reveal that the optical energy gap has arisen from direct transitions. The color intensity ΔE was significantly decreased with increasing the dose up to 400 kGy.

The polypropylene (PP) samples were prepared at different molding temperature and their properties and structures were studied. The nearby melting point extrusion and molten extrusion were used to mold PP samples. The tensile strength of PP samples with molding nearby melting point extrusion had a 20.46% increase compared with samples with conventional extrusion. The same phenomenon occurred in Vicat softening temperature and there was a 13.9% increase. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed the degree of crystallinity for samples by nearby melting point extrusion increased 2.74% compared with samples by molten extrusion. The nearby melting point extrusion molding was beneficial to refine crystalline grain and the results can be proved in XRD, DSC and SEM tests.