Manipulating the phase morphology in PPS/PA66 blends using clay

By adding a small amount of clay into poly(p‐phenylene sulfide) (PPS)/polyamide 66 blends, the morphology was found to change gradually from sea–island into cocontinuity and lamellar supramolecular structure, as increasing of clay content. Clay was selectively located in the PA66 phase, and the exfoliated clay layers formed an edge‐contacted network. The change of morphology is not caused by the change of volume ratio and viscosity ratio but can be well explained by the dynamic interplay of phase separation between PPS and PA66 through preferential adsorption of PA66 onto the clay layers and through layer–layer repulsion. This provides a means of manipulating the phase morphology for the immiscible polymer blends. The mechanical and tribological properties of PPS/PA66 blends with different phase morphologies (different clay contents) were studied. Both tensile and impact strength of the blends were found obviously increased by the addition of clay. The antiwear property was greatly improved for the blends with cocontinuous phase form. Our work indicates that the phase‐separating behavior of polymer blends contained interacting clay can be exploited to create a rich diversity of new structures and useful nanocomposites. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

熔融插层制备聚合物／层状粘土纳米复合材料研究进展

从流变性能、加工操作过程对熔融插层制备聚合物纳米复合材料的影响、分散机理的研究进展等方面对熔融插层制备聚合物 /层状粘土进行了综述 ,并对今后的研究提出了展望。     

基于微观孔隙通道的饱和/非饱和土渗透系数模型及其应用

从微观角度揭示土体变形对饱和/非饱和渗透系数的影响机理,建立相应的预测方法,对于饱和/非饱和土的渗流分析及水力耦合研究具有重要的科学意义。利用流体力学理论,建立了微观孔隙通道渗透系数与等效孔径的关系,在此基础之上,结合毛细理论建立了饱和/非饱和渗透系数与土-水特征曲线的关系模型,并利用已有试验数据验证了模型的合理性。结合该模型与变形条件下土-水特征曲线预测方法,对变形条件下武汉黏性土饱和/非饱和渗透系数进行预测,结果表明黏性土在压缩变形条件下:饱和渗透系数呈数量级的减小,预测值与实测值均吻合较好;双对数坐标下,非饱和相对渗透系数在进气值之后随基质吸力增加而减小,不同初始孔隙比条件下其斜率近似不变,整体呈现"毛刷型"分布,相同基质吸力条件下,初始孔隙比越小,相对渗透系数越大;非饱和渗透系数,进气值之前近似为饱和渗透系数,进气值之后随基质吸力增大而减小,不同初始孔隙比的变化线近似重合。     

Preparation and properties of heterocyclically conjugated poly(3‐hexylthiophene)–clay nanocomposite materials

A series of heterocyclically conjugated polymer–clay nanocomposite (PCN) materials that consisted of organic poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and inorganic montmorillonite (MMT) clay platelets were prepared by in situ oxidative polymerization with FeCl₃ as an oxidant. The as‐synthesized PCN materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, wide‐angle powder X‐ray diffraction (WAXRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effects of the material composition on the anticorrosion, gas barrier, thermal stability, flammability, mechanical strength, and electrical conductivity properties of the P3HT and PCN materials were studied by electrochemical corrosion measurements, gas‐permeability analysis (GPA), thermogrametric analysis (TGA), limiting oxygen index (LOI) measurements, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and a four‐point probe technique, respectively. The molecular weights of extracted and bulk P3HT were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) with THF as an eluant. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 3438–3446, 2004     

Homogeneous versus heterogeneous catalytic reactions to eliminate organics from waste water using H2O2

Homogeneous (Cu²⁺ ions) and heterogeneous (Cu²⁺-pillared clay) Fenton-like catalysts have been compared in the conversion of p-coumaric acid. The performances of the two classes of catalysts are similar for an analogous amount of copper, but there are some relevant differences in terms of (i) the presence of an induction time, (ii) the turnover frequency, (iii) the efficiency in the use of H₂O₂, (iv) the initial attack of p-coumaric acid (hydroxylation on the aromatic ring or oxidative attack on the double bond of the lateral chain), and (v) the effect of dissolved oxygen on the removal of total organic carbon (TOC). These differences were interpreted in terms of reaction network of generation of radical oxygen species and of organics conversion. The possible formation of a surface peroxo adduct coordinated to a copper binulcear site was also evidenced for the solid heterogeneous catalyst.     

Enhanced properties of innovative laponite‐filled waterborne acrylic resin dispersions

In view of the possible future applications of waterborne automotive coatings, acrylic‐based nanocomposite dispersions were investigated by the simple mixing of aqueous laponite nanoparticle dispersions with acrylic resin dispersions. The mechanical, flow, and leveling properties of waterborne nanocomposite dispersion formulations containing increasing concentrations of silicate and nonvolatile components (nvc) in the acrylic dispersions were investigated. The results obtained were related to the morphological information obtained from transmission electron microscopy and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering measurements in liquid suspension or on the cured films. At low synthetic silicate loading when flow, leveling, and appearance properties were still acceptable for processing and application, a large increase in the modulus of the cured coating films was observed, which was a result of the special morphology of the laponite‐rich regions of the cured film. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 687–697, 2007     

De-oiling contaminated bleaching clay by high-pressure extraction

The disposal and re-use of spent bleaching clay from the vegetable oil processing industry is a problem of growing importance. Although today the only practical way of removal of the spent material is disposal, extraction with organic solvents is a well-known method of de-oiling contaminated bleaching clay. In our investigations we compare the extractibility of two different types of bleaching clays with CO₂ as a solvent. All experiments were carried out with a high-pressure extraction plant. The extraction and separation conditions, temperature and pressure, as well as the CO₂ mass flow, were varied during experiments. The aim of our investigations was a complete separation of the oil from the adsorbent. The latter should then be re-used as bleaching clay. The oil and the bleaching clay were analyzed and tested, respectively. The results show that oil of good quality can be recovered and the bleaching clay still has an activity approximately 50% of fresh clay.     

改性凹凸棒土净化含铬废水的研究

将凹凸棒土进行改性处理，用于对含铬废水中铬离子的吸附。本文研究了改性方式、凹凸棒土用量、吸附时间、pH值对含铬废水中铬离子净化率的影响。     

粘土结合耐火浇注料的研制

选用山东特级焦宝石、贵州焦宝石、河南三级高铝矾土熟料和山西阳泉特级高铝矾土熟料为骨料 ,河南三级高铝矾土熟料和山西阳泉特级高铝矾土熟料的球磨粉为基质 ,广西软质粘土为结合粘土 ,三聚磷酸钠、六偏磷酸钠、柠檬酸钠、酒石酸钠、酒石酸钾钠、碳酸钠 6种钠盐作分散剂 ,铝 60高铝水泥作促凝剂 ,配制了 4种不同组成的粘土结合耐火浇注料。在试验研究的基础上 ,分析了不同分散剂对广西软质粘土的分散效果 ,分散剂在粘土 -水体系中的分散机理和不同骨料对粘土结合耐火浇注料性能的影响。结果表明 :分散剂的分散效果以六偏磷酸钠为最好 ;以广西软质粘土作结合剂 ,用烧结良好的特级高铝矾土熟料作耐火骨料研制的粘土结合耐火浇注料 ,用水量少 ,气孔率低 ,结构致密 ,强度高     

Thermooxidative degradation of natural rubber/clay composite

The clay is treated with a reducing agent and an acid so as to obtain a clay containing various metal components with a variable‐valence state. Then, the clay is coprecipitated with natural rubber (NR) latex to prepare a vulcanized NR/clay composite. The degradation process of the NR/clay composite under hot air condition was studied dynamically by using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer attaching an in situ sample cell and was also investigated using the TGA method. The test result obtained from the infrared spectrometry indicated that under low decomposition temperature, the decomposition products of the test samples mainly are ethylene, low molecular olefinic hydrocarbon, and carbonyl compounds. As the decomposition temperature rises, the low molecular olefinic hydrocarbon content decreases, the olefine with longer chain is formed, and a lot of alkane decomposition products are formed at the same time. When the content of the metal components with a variable‐valence state in clay such as Cu, Mn, Co, and Fe increases, the oxidation products containing the carbonyl group, the olefinic hydrocarbon, and CO₂ in the decomposition product of the test sample also increase. The TGA result clearly shows a shoulder peak that appears by the side of the main peak on the DTG curve of NR/clay composite. With the increase in the content of metal components with variable‐valence state in clay, the initial degradation temperature of the test sample (T₀), the degradation peak temperature (T_p1), and the final degradation temperature (T_f1) in first‐stage reaction, as well as the degradation peak temperature (T_p2) and the last final degradation temperature (T_f) in second‐stage reaction of all the test samples more or less shift to the direction of low temperature; besides, the activation energy (E) of the reaction of the test samples more or less decreases. This means that the metal components with variable‐valence state promote the oxidative degradation of the clay–rubber masterbatch. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 3809–3815, 2006