Time and thermal stability improvement of polyethylene ferroelectrets

Ferroelectrets with good piezoelectric coefficients have been produced based on cellular polyethylene (PE) via extrusion film blowing. The quasi-static piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃) value obtained (935 pC/N) was well above typical values for cellular polypropylene (PP) considered as the workhorse of piezoelectric polymers. Here, a focus was made on increasing the time and thermal stability of cellular PE piezoelectric activity. To do so, specific thermal treatments were applied on the films to improve their microstructure. First, films crystallinity was increased via thermal annealing at 80 °C for 5 min leading to a 32% increase of the initial d₃₃ value as well as its time stability. However, thermal treatment did not give a significant thermal stability improvement because the treated films almost completely lost their piezoelectric activity (96%) at 80 °C. Therefore, the films were treated with orthophosphoric acid resulting in substantial charge stability improvements, especially at higher temperature. Overall, it was possible to increase the continuous service temperature (CST) of PE ferroelectrets from 40 to 80 °C, which is similar to the typical CST of PP. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47646.     

Effect of the inflation strategy on the piezoelectric response of cellular poly(vinylidene fluoride) ferroelectret

Cellular poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-montmorillonite (MMT)-calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) based piezoelectret films were produced using uniaxial stretching and various gas diffusion expansion (GDE) treatments followed by corona charging. The cross section micrographs revealed that a cellular structure was developed at the interface between the solid CaCO₃ particles and the polymer matrix. Sample characterization showed that the piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃) was a function of the external gas pressure and treatment temperature, as well as the way they were applied. The results also showed that the maximum d₃₃ was obtained when the inflation pressure was increased stepwise from 3 to 5 MPa at a constant treatment temperature of 130°C for a certain period of time. Finally, the overall electromechanical performance of the cellular PVDF piezoelectrets is discussed in terms of the GDE procedure and the developed microstructures. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47540.     

Fabrication and characterization of poly(vinylidene fluoride)–polytetrafluoroethylene composite membrane for CO2 absorption in gas–liquid contacting process

The wetting resistance of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane is a critical factor which determines the carbon dioxide (CO₂) absorption performance of the gas–liquid membrane contactors. In this study, the composite PVDF–polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated through dry-jet wet phase-inversion method by dispersing PTFE nanoparticles into PVDF solution and adopting phosphoric acid as nonsolvent additive. Compared with the PVDF membrane, the composite membranes presented higher CO₂ absorption flux due to their higher effective surface porosity and surface hydrophobicity. The composite membrane with addition of 5 wt % PTFE in the dope gained the optimum CO₂ absorption flux of 9.84 × 10⁻⁴ and 2.02 × 10⁻³ mol m⁻² s⁻¹ at an inlet gas (CO₂/N₂ = 19/81, v/v) flow rate of 100 mL min⁻¹ by using distilled water and aqueous diethanolamine solution, respectively. Moreover, the 5% PTFE membrane showed better long-term stability than the PVDF membrane regardless of different types of absorbent, indicating that polymer blending demonstrates great potential for gas separation. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47767.     

Study on CO2 facilitated separation of mixed matrix membranes containing surface modified MWCNTs

Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for CO₂-facilitated separation were prepared by incorporating different surface-modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in a fixed carrier membrane material. Polymer containing amino groups, poly(vinylalcohol-co-vinylamine) (VA-co-VAm) was synthesized as polymeric matrix. MWCNTs as well as MWCNTs surface-modified with  OH and  NH₂ were applied as nanofillers. The physical property, chemical structure, and membrane morphology were characterized by FT-IR, TG, XRD, DSC, CA, XPS, and SEM. The effects of content, functional group, temperature, and pressure on gas permselectivity were studied. Results show that the incorporation of nanofillers can effectively restrict the polymer chain packing and lead to low crystallinity. The MMMs exhibited higher CO₂ permselectivity than the pure polymeric membrane. For all the MMMs, the CO₂ permeance and selectivity increased with MWCNTs contents to a maximum and then decreased. MWCNT-NH₂ can be regarded as the most effective nanofiller. MMMs with 2.0 wt % MWCNT-NH₂ displayed the highest CO₂ permeance of 132 GPU and CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 74. Both CO₂ permeance and selectivity were decreased with feed gas pressure and temperature. The membrane exhibited good stability in the testing with the binary gas mixtures of CO₂/N₂ for 110 h under 0.54 MPa. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47848.     

Exploiting pyrolysis protocols on BTDA-TDI/MDI (P84) polyimide/nanocrystalline cellulose carbon membrane for gas separations

Tubular carbon membranes were fabricated by the blending of BTDA-TDI/MDI (P84) polyimide with nanocrystalline cellulose in a controlled pyrolysis process, specifically the pyrolysis environment (He, Ar, and N₂) and the thermal soak time (30–120 min). The carbon membrane layer on a tubular support is converted to carbon matrix at 800 °C with a heating rate of 3 °C min⁻¹. The effects of these controlled pyrolysis conditions on the gas permeation properties have been investigated. The results revealed that the pyrolysis under Ar gas environment at 120 min of thermal soak time have the best gas permeation performance with the highest CO₂/CH₄ selectivity of 68.2 ± 3.3 and CO₂ permeance of 213.6 ± 2.2 GPU. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 46901.     

Effects of preparation parameters on CO2/N2 gas permselectivity of polyether thin film composite membrane

In this work, ether oxide (EO)-based multilayer composite membranes were prepared via interfacial polymerization (IP) of trimesoyl chloride (TMC) and polyetheramine (PEA) on polydimethylsiloxane precoated polysulfone support membrane. The effects of preparation parameters, such as monomer concentrations, reaction time, and heat-treatment temperature on the membrane performance were investigated. The optimal preparation parameters have been concluded. The results showed the increasing monomers concentration of both PEA and TMC can lead to the decrease of CO₂ permeance and increase of CO₂/N₂ selectivity. The optimal monomers concentration was found. When monomer concentrations are higher than the optimal values, the CO₂ permeance decreases continually while CO₂/N₂ selectivity only shows a very limited improvement with the further increase of monomers concentration. The reaction time has similar effects on membrane performance as the monomers concentration. The effect of heat-treatment temperature was also studied. With the increasing heat-treatment temperature, the CO₂ permeance shows a decrease tendency, while the CO₂/N₂ selectivity shows a maximum at 80 °C. When PEA is 0.013 mol L⁻¹, TMC is 0.020 mol L⁻¹, reaction time is 3 min, and heat-treatment temperature is 80 °C, the optimum preparation conditions are achieved with CO₂ permeance of 378.3 gas permeation unit (GPU) and CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 51.7 at 0.03 MPa. This work may help to design and fabricate gas separation membranes with desired performance. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47755.     

High-speed CO2 transport channel containing carboxymethyl chitosan/hydrotalcite membrane for CO2 separation

A comprehensive understanding of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC)-based mixed matrix membrane (MMM) has been critically investigated. The present work elaborates the compatibility of hydrotalcite (HT) and CMC in terms of CO₂ separation application. Various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques have been utilized to characterize the respective properties of the prepared membrane. The temperature stability and moisture retention behavior of the membrane recognized itself as the flue gas separation membrane. The CO₂/N₂ separation experiment was performed on the MMM at different temperature (60–110 °C) and sweep/feed water flow to the saturator ratio (0.33 to 3). The membrane exhibited the optimum CO₂ permeance of 70 GPU at 90°C pertaining to water flow ratio of 2.33 (sweep/feed). The CO₂/N₂ selectivity observed at that same operating condition was 13. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48715.     

Preparation and characterization of CO2-selective Pebax/NaY mixed matrix membranes

CO₂-selective Pebax/NaY mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) were prepared by incorporating NaY zeolite into Pebax matrix. The morphology, chemical groups, thermal stability, and microstructure of the MMMs were investigated by scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The effects of zeolite loading amount, permeation temperature and pressure on the CO₂/N₂ separation performance of the resultant membranes were studied. The as-prepared MMMs are much superior to the pristine Pebax membranes in terms of permeability and selectivity. The CO₂ permeability and CO₂/N₂ selectivity can respectively reach to 131.8 Barrer and 130.8 for MMMs made by the starting materials containing 40 wt % NaY. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48398.     

Thermo- and CO2-triggered swelling polymer microgels for reducing water-cut during CO2 flooding

CO₂ has been widely used in the process of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) over decades. However, the heterogeneity of oil reservoirs renders CO₂ to flow preferentially into highly permeable zones, leaving tight areas unswept with oil unrecovered in these areas. While conventional water-swelling gels were used for blocking the “channeling” path, most of them experience the risks of shrinkage under high temperature and CO₂-induced acidic environment. Here, we developed double swelling smart polymer microgels (SPMs) triggered by both heat and CO₂. Such SPMs were prepared by copolymerization of acrylamide (AAm) in combination with N,N-2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and [2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl]dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide (SBMA), and with N,N′-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as the crosslinker. These SPMs swell when temperature is higher than 65 °C or in the presence of CO₂, with an ameliorative salinity tolerance ability. Artificial sand pack flooding carried by SMPs at 65 °C showed an elevated plugging efficiency at around 97% under a simulated pressurization at 5 MPa, proposing a valid candidate for future EOR applications during CO₂ flooding. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 48305.     

Fabrication of PEI-grafted porous polymer foam for CO2 capture

A polymer foam material with both the open-cell porous structure and the polyethylenemine (PEI)-grafted inner face was constructed for CO₂ capture. The porous poly(tert-butyl acrylate) foam was first prepared via a concentrated emulsion polymerization, and then the carboxyl groups were introduced on the interface of porous polymer after the hydrolysis reaction. Subsequently, the surface of the foam was grafted with PEI, and finally the PEI-grafted porous polymer foam designed as a CO₂ capture material was obtained. The structures of the foams were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, EDS, and SEM. The CO₂ adsorption properties were measured by adsorption/desorption cycles. As a result, the polymer foam contained a large number of amine groups (13.9 wt % N), and therefore possessed a high CO₂ adsorption capacity (5.91 mmol g⁻¹ at 40°C and 100 kPa). In addition, they also exhibited high CO₂ adsorption rate, good selectivity for CO₂-N₂ separation, and good stability according to CO₂ cyclic adsorption/desorption test. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47844.     

Amine-containing olefin copolymer with CO2-switchable oil absorption and desorption

Global decrease in crude oil resources and frequent crude oil leaks cause the energy crisis and ecological pollution. The absorption and release of leaked crude oil through absorption materials are a necessary process for environmental protection and recycling. In this article, a CO₂-responsive olefin copolymer was obtained by copolymerization of styrene and an amine-containing olefin monomer. The structure of resultant copolymer was characterized by FTIR; thermal properties and CO₂-responsive morphology changes were determined by DSC/TGA and SEM, respectively. Copolymers had certain absorption capacity for toluene with absorption rate up to 180.0%. The absorbed toluene could be released upon CO₂ stimulation with desorption rate up to 84.6%. The CO₂-responsive copolymer could be regenerated through a simple heating process and showed stable absorption–desorption performance even after being recycled for 4 times. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47439.     

Improved gas transport properties of polyurethane–urea membranes through incorporating a cadmium-based metal organic framework

The increasing need for more efficient separation processes has motivated the development of polymer membranes that can provide fast and selective transport. In this work, cadmium-based metal–organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles and a polyurethane–urea (PUU) elastomer were synthesized. New mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) were then fabricated from the nanoparticles and the PUU. SEM images verified that embedding the nanoparticles changes the morphology of the PUU and the nanoparticles disperse well in the PUU due to satisfactory compatibility of the polymer and nanoparticles. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the dispersion of the nanoparticles in the soft segment of the PUU. With increased temperature, gas permeabilities of the MMMs improved but their sieving ability deteriorated. An MMM incorporating 2.5 wt % of the MOF showed a CO₂ permeability of ~140 barrer and a CO₂/N₂ selectivity of ~30, which are 89 and 38% higher than those of the pristine membrane. Gas permeation tests showed that the higher CO₂/N₂ selectivity of the MMMs was due to improved solubility selectivity and the higher CO₂ permeability was a result of improved CO₂ diffusivity and solubility coefficients. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 137, 48704.     

Pyrene-based hypercrosslinked microporous resins for effective CO2 capture

Two hydrophobic pyrene-based hypercrosslinked microporous resins (ZLYs) with intrinsic hydroxyl groups on the pore-walls have been prepared by condensation of 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(p-formylphenyl)pyrene (TFPPy) with phloroglucinol (L₁) or 1,5-dihydroxynaphthalene (L₂). The resulting porous networks exhibited high thermal stabilities and moderate Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area with 647 and 243 m² g⁻¹ respectively. The experiments showed that the weak interactions between CO₂ and the intrinsic hydroxyl groups on the pore-wall of the resins could enhance CO₂ uptake and CO₂/CH₄ selectivity. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47448.     

Electromagnetic interference shielding behavior of chemically and thermally reduced graphene based multifunctional polyurethane nanocomposites: A comparative study

This article presents the effect of exfoliation, dispersion, and electrical conductivity of graphene sheets onto the electrical, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, and gas barrier properties of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) based nanocomposite films. The chemically reduced graphene (CRG) and thermally reduced/annealed graphene (TRG) having Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface areas of 18.2 and 159.6 m²/g, respectively, when solution blended with TPU matrix using N,N-dimethylformamide as a solvent. Graphene sheets based TPU nanocomposites have been evaluated and compared for EMI shielding in Ku band, electrical conductivity, and gas barrier property. TRG/TPU nanocomposite films showed excellent gas barrier against N₂ gas as compared to CRG/TPU. The EMI shielding effectiveness for neat CRG and TRG graphene sheets is found to be −80, −45 dB, respectively, at 2 mm thickness. The EMI shielding data revealed that TRG/TPU nanocomposites showed better shielding at lower concentration (10 wt %), while CRG displayed better attenuation at higher concentrations. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47666.     

CO2 separation performance by chitosan/tetraethylenepentamine/poly(ether sulfone) composite membrane

CO₂ separation from CO₂/N₂ (20:80) gas mixture has been demonstrated by tetraethylenepentamine blended with chitosan (CS‐TEPA) membrane. Optimization of CS and TEPA weight ratio were carried out based on characterization details involving thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, atomic force microscope, and field emission scanning electron microscope. Effects of water flow rate, pressure, and temperature were concurrently studied on CS‐TEPA membranes through gas permeation. Almost twofold increase in CO₂ permeance (24.7 GPU) was detected in CS blend with 30% (w/w) of TEPA (CS70) as compared to pure CS membrane (12.5 GPU). CS70 yielded CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 80 whereas CS demonstrated a maximum of 54 at 90 °C. The membrane also exhibited improved stability at temperatures less than 120 °C which was evident from TGA isotherm trace. The proposed composite membrane can be a promising candidate for flue gas separation. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45206.     

Effects of plasticization and hydrostatic pressure on tensile properties of PMMA under compressed carbon dioxide and nitrogen

We investigated the stress?strain behavior of PMMA films under compressed CO₂ and N₂. The elongation at break increased and the stress decreased with increasing CO₂ pressure at pressures above 3 MPa, indicating that the tensile property changed from brittle to ductile under compressed CO₂. In contrast, the material property became more brittle under compressed CO₂ at pressures below 2 MPa and under compressed N₂. By depressurizing the compressed gas and excluding the hydrostatic pressure, the property of the gas‐absorbed specimen changed from brittle to ductile. These results suggest that deformability by molecular orientation is enhanced by the plasticizing effect caused by a large amount of absorbed gas while it is suppressed by the effect of hydrostatic pressure caused by a small amount of absorbed gas. Conversely, the elastic modulus decreased under both compressed CO₂ and N₂, but the decrease under CO₂ was much larger than that under N₂, suggesting that distortion in the elastic region is dominated by the plasticization effect. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43431.     

Polymer ferroelectret based on polypropylene foam: Piezoelectric properties improvement using post‐processing thermomechanical treatment

In this work, the effect of post‐processing parameters (time, temperature, and pressure) on the morphology as well as mechanical and piezoelectric properties of foamed polypropylene (PP) films were studied. Two different post‐processing methods, based on the saturation of a foamed film with supercritical nitrogen (N₂), were used to obtain an optimized eye‐like cellular structure with a high cell aspect ratio (AR). The results showed that, when the PP‐foamed films were exposed to a gradual temperature and pressure increase, an appropriate cellular structure with high AR value (about 6.6) was obtained. This structure led to a high quasi‐static piezoelectric d₃₃ coefficient of 800 pC/N (45% higher than for untreated ones) indicating the importance of the post‐processing treatment on the piezoelectric behavior of these films. On the other hand, when the treatment was performed in steps, cell morphology changed from an eye‐like to a less elongated shape, resulting in lower d₃₃ values. The tensile characterization showed that higher cell aspect ratio led to lower Young's modulus, which is suitable to achieve higher piezoelectric properties. Finally, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was used as a simple method to correlate mechanical and piezoelectric properties of cellular PP. This was done via the ratio of the storage moduli in the longitudinal and transverse directions, which is directly related to film anisotropy (AR value) and thus to the piezoelectric behavior. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44577.     

Effect of stabilization temperature on gas permeation properties of carbon hollow fiber membrane

Carbon hollow fiber membranes (CHFMs) derived from polymer blend of polyetherimide (PEI) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were extensively prepared through stabilization under air atmosphere followed by carbonization under N₂ atmosphere. The effects of the stabilization temperature on the morphological structure, chemical structure, and gas permeation properties were investigated thoroughly by means of scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and single gas permeation system. The experiment results indicate that the transport mechanism of small gas molecules of N₂, CO₂, and CH₄ is dominated by the molecular sieving effect. Based on morphological structure and gas permeation properties, an optimum stabilization condition for the preparation of CHFM derived from PEI/PVP was found at 300°C under air atmosphere. The selectivity of ?55 and 41 for CO₂/CH₄ and CO₂/N₂, respectively, were obtained for CHFMs prepared at stabilization temperature of 300°C. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Star-shaped silicon-containing arylacetylene resin based on a one-pot synthesis using zinc powder catalysis with improved processing and thermal properties

Herein, reporting a simple, sustainable, and cost-effective chemical synthesis of a star-shaped silicon-containing arylacetylene (SSA) resin via a one-pot process using zinc powder as a catalyst. The as-prepared viscous liquid resins exhibited moderate rheological behavior. The thermal curing temperature was determined to be 203 °C using differential scanning calorimetry, which is much lower than that reported for polyimide and phthalonitrile (>300 °C), indicating the SSA resins are suitable for processing at a lower temperature. Thermogravimetric analysis also revealed the excellent thermal stability and extremely high carbon residue of the cured SSA resin (the temperature at 5% mass loss and residual yield at 800 °C under N₂ were 654 °C and 93%, respectively). The results showed the excellent processability and thermal stability of SSA resin. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 48248.     

Polyurethane-based poly (ionic liquid)s for CO2 removal from natural gas

Carbon dioxide separation from CH₄ is important to the environment and natural gas processing. Poly (ionic liquid)s (PILs) based on polyurethane structures are considered as potential materials for CO₂ capture. Thus, a series of anionic PILs based on polyurethane were synthesized. The effects of polyol chemical structure and counter-cations (imidazolium, phosphonium, ammonium, and pyridinium) in CO₂ sorption capacity and CO₂/CH₄ separation performance were evaluated. The synthesized PILs were characterized by NMR, DSC, TGA, dinamical mechanical thermo analysis (DMTA), SEM, and AFM. CO₂ sorption, reusability, and CO₂/CH₄ selectivity were assessed by the pressure-decay technique. The counter-cation and polyol chemical structure play an important role in CO₂ sorption and CO₂/CH₄ selectivity. PILs exhibited competitive thermal mechanical properties. Results showed that PILPC-TBP was the best poly (ionic liquid) for CO₂/CH₄ separation. Moreover, poly (liquid ionic) base polyol (polycarbonate) with phosphonium (PILPC-TBP) demonstrated higher CO₂ sorption capacity (21.4 mgCO₂/g at 303.15 K and 0.08 MPa) as compared to other reported poly (ionic liquids). © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47536.