Experimental and Numerical Investigation of a Novel Spiral Micromixer with Sinusoidal Channel Walls

A novel spiral micromixer with sinusoidal channel walls was designed to enhance the mixing index in the low to intermediate Reynolds number range (1 < Re < 100). To analyze the fluid flow, a set of numerical simulations were performed using the finite-difference method. The microchip was fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane, employing the soft-lithography technique. The degree of mixing was increased by 99.11 % when using the proposed micromixer, compared to 59.44 % for a simple spiral micromixer. The introduced microchannel drastically reduced the mixing length, increasing the mixing index of a 0.5-loop spiral-sinusoidal microchannel compared to that of the simple spiral microchannel with 1.5 loops. The mixing index of the 3-loop mixer was higher than that of the microchannel with 1.5 loops, and its pressure drop was increased.     

电场作用下磺化聚苯乙烯微球在弹性体中梯度结构构建及性能研究

先采用硫酸对聚苯乙烯微球经过磺化得到带正电荷的磺化聚苯乙烯(s PS),将s PS分散在聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)预聚体中,在高压直流电场下通过电泳作用形成梯度结构,再通过PDMS的热固化后将梯度结构固定下来。采用马尔文Zeta电位仪分析了s PS微球电荷,扫描电镜(SEM)对s PS以及s PS/PDMS梯度膜的结构进行表征,动态热机械分析仪测试了材料的动态力学行为和介电损耗。结果表明,电压强度为500 V/mm时,s PS能够在PDMS预聚体中通过电泳作用形成梯度结构,s PS总质量分数为20%时,s PS/PDMS梯度膜相比相同组成的均匀膜断裂伸长率提高了9. 41%,损耗因子在所测得温度范围(-70~200℃)均提高。在s PS的玻璃化转变温度附近,s PS/PDM S梯度膜比均匀膜损耗因子提高了30%。进一步对梯度结构膜力学行为及介电损耗增强效应进行了详细分析。     

聚二甲基硅氧烷在过氧化氢溶液中的伽玛辐射效应

研究了6%过氧化氢(H_2O_2)溶液中的聚二甲基硅氧烷(Polydimethylsiloxane,PDMS)橡胶材料的g辐射效应。首先利用拉伸实验测试了辐照前后PDMS橡胶材料力学性能的变化,然后利用甲苯平衡溶胀法,差示扫描量热分析和傅里叶变换衰减全反射红外光谱分析(Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared,ATR-FTIR)法对其辐照前后的化学结构变化进行了表征。结果表明,在H_2O_2溶液中辐照的PDMS仍发生以辐射交联为主的反应,且在相同的吸收剂量下,相较于空气中辐照的PDMS,在H_2O_2溶液中辐照的PDMS的断裂伸长率较高,弹性模量较小,交联密度较低。这可能是由于H_2O_2溶液在辐照过程中产生的氧化性活性物质能够捕获PDMS辐照生成的大分子活性自由基,从而降低了PDMS发生交联反应的概率。ATR-FTIR结果则进一步表明,随着吸收剂量的增加,PDMS表面出现一定程度的氧化,而相较于空气中辐照的样品,在H_2O_2溶液中辐照的样品表面氧化程度并未明显增强。     

Facilitation of water management in low Pt loaded PEM fuel cell by creating hydrophobic microporous layer with PTFE,FEP and PDMS polymers: Effect of polymer and carbon amounts

Microporous layers (MPLs) were prepared with different hydrophobic polymers to establish water management in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Besides conventionally used polymers polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), two different molecular weights (MW) of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer were used as hydrophobic materials in MPL. Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) having MPLs with low MW PDMS polymer exhibited the best fuel cell performance compared to the PTFE and FEP based ones. Thus it is concluded that PDMS polymer has a great potential to be used as hydrophobic material for MPL to reduce flooding phenomena in PEM fuel cell.     

Optical properties and aging of gasochromic WO3

The limits of WO₃ as an optical gas sensor were derived by establishing the change in optical constants induced by 2% H₂ in Ar. Using Langmuir's adsorption equation, it was found that at low H₂ concentrations a high sensitivity is predicted, but the coloration could saturate at 57.9% of the material's maximum ion adsorption. The air poisoning problem observed in these devices was shown to be remedied by coating with a permeable polydimethylsiloxane layer, thus eliminating common atmospheric gases as the possible poisoning agents.     

Morphology and thermomechanical properties of main-chain polybenzoxazine-block-polydimethylsiloxane multiblock copolymers

The main-chain polybenzoxazine-block-polydimethylsiloxane multiblock copolymers were synthesized via the Mannich polycondensation among 4,4′-dihydroxyldiphenylisopropane, 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane, aminopropyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane and paraformaldehyde. The multiblock copolymers were characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) showed that the multiblock copolymers displayed microphase-separated morphology. Owing to the presence of the main-chain polybenzoxazine blocks, the multiblock copolymers are thermally-crosslinkable. The curing behavior of the multiblock copolymers was investigated according to the analysis of non-isothermal curing kinetics. The measurement of static contact angles showed that with the inclusion of polydimethylsiloxane blocks, the polybenzoxazine thermosets resulting from the multiblock copolymers displayed the improved surface hydrophobicity.     

Piezoresistive effects of copper-filled polydimethylsiloxane composites near critical pressure

Piezoresistive properties of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) filled with copper particles in volume fraction above the electrical percolation threshold (25.3–50.7 vol%) were investigated. Piezoresistive behavior of the PDMS-copper composites under compressive pressure showed not only a change in resistance by approximately six orders of magnitude (∼1.5 MPa), but also a change in the critical pressure due to variations in the hardness of the composites. Resistivity relaxation was observed near the critical pressure and was explained through a stress relaxation and percolation mechanism. The mean tunneling distance was calculated by using a theoretical equation for percolation under compression. When the gauge factors of the composites were plotted versus strain, a universal curve was obtained regardless of the copper contents. Finally, the PDMS-copper composite demonstrated good repeatability, showing only small differences in the relative resistance after five successive tests.     

Polysiloxane-poly(fluorinated acrylate) interpenetrating polymer networks: Synthesis and characterization

Combinations of fluorinated and silicone based elastomers were elaborated through the in situ synthesis of interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs). The PDMS network was formed by dibutyltindilaurate catalyzed addition between the hydroxy end groups of α,ω-(3-hydroxypropyl)polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and a pluriisocyanate cross-linker. The poly(fluorinated acrylate) (polyAcRf6) network was obtained from free-radical copolymerization of a fluorinated acrylate with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate in the presence of dicyclohexyl peroxydicarbonate as the initiator. IPNs with different relative weight proportions of the fluorinated vs silicone partners were characterized by DMTA and DSC. Density refractive index and contact angle measurements reveal a satisfactory interpenetration degree of PDMS and polyAcRf6 networks. In addition, these materials present an unusual variation of density values and of the surface properties as a function of the relative weight composition.     

Sorption behavior and preliminary pervaporation results of cross-linked polyvinylalcohol and polydimethylsiloxane membranes prepared for the separation of water-ethylacetate mixtures

Since pervaporation process is the coupling of solution and diffusion mechanisms, a sorption study was carried out with membranes prepared by cross-linking polyvinylalcohol (PVA) and polidimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Tartaric acid (Tac) was used as the cross-linking agent for PVA, and a commercial cross-linking agent was used for PDMS. Sorption experiments were carried out at 30-50°C temperature range in pure water and ethyl acetate using the films prepared. The PVA and PDMS films prepared preferentially sorb water and ethylacetate, respectively. A pervaporation study at 30°C was carried out for pure ethylacetate and pure water, and mixtures of ethylacetate containing 2 and 2.5 wt% water using 100 w m thick PVA membrane. The results indicate that the PVA membrane prepared is extremely selective for water.