The flame retardant mechanism of polyolefins modified with chalk and silicone elastomer

This paper presents the current understanding of the flame retardant mechanism of Casico?. The study includes the flame retardant effect of each individual component: ethylene–acrylate copolymer, chalk and silicone elastomer, as well as the formation of an intumescent structure during heating. The flame retardant properties were investigated by cone calorimetry and oxygen index tests. To obtain insight into the flame retardant mechanism, heat treatment under different conditions has also been performed. The results indicate that the flame retardant mechanism of Casico is complex and is related to a number of reactions, e.g. ester pyrolysis of acrylate groups, formation of carbon dioxide by reaction between carboxylic acid and chalk, ionomer formation and formation of an intumescent structure stabilized by a protecting char. Special emphasis is given to the formation of the intumescent structure and its molecular structure as evaluated from ¹³C MAS‐NMR and ²⁹Si MAS‐NMR, ESCA and XRD analysis. After treatment at 500°C the intumescent structure consists mainly of silicon oxides and calcium carbonate and after treatment at 1000°C the intumescent structure consists of calcium silicate, calcium oxide and calcium hydroxide. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamics modeling and analysis of a biped walking robot actuated by a closed-chain mechanism

We developed a new type of human-sized biped walking robot (BWR) driven by the closed-chain type of joint actuator. Each leg of the robot is composed of three pitch joints and one roll joint. In all, a 15 degree-of-freedom robot including four arm joints and three joints for the head was developed. The BWR was developed to walk autonomously such that all leg joints are actuated by small 90 W dc motors/drivers and dc batteries and controllers which are boarded. The joint actuator for the BWR is composed of the four-bar-link mechanism driven by the ball screw which has high strength and high gear ratio. A dynamics modeling of the developed BWR for forward walking is presented in which the revolute joint dynamics are transformed into the prismatic joint dynamics of the ball screw. Also, an analysis on the four-bar-link mechanism applied to the joint actuator and on the structure of the BWR is shown. The design specification of the actuating motor for the BWR is analyzed through the torque analysis of the four-bar-link actuator. Through walking experiments of the BWR, the walking performance and trajectory tracking ability is shown. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Associative properties of perfluorooctyl end‐functionalized polystyrene–poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymers

The synthesis of 2,2,3,3‐tetrahydro‐perfluoroundecanoyl end‐functionalized polystyrene–poly(ethylene oxide) block (PS‐block‐PEO‐R_F) copolymers and their matching PS‐block‐PEO diblock copolymers was carried out by sequential anionic polymerization. Viscometry and ¹⁹F NMR studies show that the PS‐block‐PEO copolymers, in contrast to their matching PS‐block‐PEO‐R_F copolymers, exhibit a micellar rather than the associative behavior seen for the latter. However, the presence of an excess of fluorinated acid, used for end‐functionalization, produces a reduction of the associative behavior above the overlap concentration, with the fluorinated acid acting like a surfactant. A competition may also occur between PS—and R_F—mediated micellization. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Methacryloxyethyl phosphate‐grafted expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membranes for biomedical applications

Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membranes were modified by graft copolymerization with methacryloxyethyl phosphate (MOEP) in methanol and 2‐butanone (methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)) at ambient temperature using gamma irradiation. The effect of dose rate (0.46 and 4.6 kGy h^?1), monomer concentration (1–40 %) and solvent were studied and the modified membranes were characterized by weight increase, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XPS was used to determine the % degree of surface coverage using the C? F (ePTFE membrane) and the C? C (MOEP graft copolymer) peaks. Grafting yield, as well as surface coverage, were found to increase with increasing monomer concentration and were significantly higher for samples grafted in MEK than in methanol solution. SEM images showed distinctly different surface morphologies for the membranes grafted in methanol (smooth) and MEK (globular), hence indicating phase separation of the homopolymer in MEK. We propose that in our system, the non‐solvent properties of MEK for the homopolymer play a more important role than solvent chain transfer reactions in determining grafting outcomes. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

A self-resonant frequency-modulated micromachined passive pressure transensor

In this paper, we report on the design, fabrication, and test of a passive pressure transensor. The sensor uses the self-resonant frequency modulation of an integrated coil to detect the pressure variations. This modulation is generated by the relative displacement of a ferrite core attached to a silicone rubber membrane. This scheme simplifies the packaging of the passive transensor by removing the requirement for a separate capacitor to form the resonator. A 30-turn 1.7-/spl mu/H coil having dimensions of 3/spl times/3 mm/sup 2/ is used in a prototype design yielding a sensitivity of 9.6 kHz/kPa with a cylindrical ferrite core of 0.95-mm diameter and 0.5-mm height. We also present a theoretical model of the sensor that shows good agreement with the experimental data. This model can be a useful tool for further optimization of the senors.     

Trenched‐Sinker LDMOSFET (TS‐LDMOS) Structure for 2 GHz Power Amplifiers

This paper proposes a new LDMOSFET structure with a trenched sinker for high‐power RF amplifiers. Using a low‐temperature, deep‐trench technology, we succeeded in drastically shrinking the sinker area to one‐third the size of the conventional diffusion‐type structure. The RF performance of the proposed device with a channel width of 5 mm showed a small signal gain of 16.5 dB and a maximum peak power of 32 dBm with a power‐added efficiency of 25% at 2 GHz. Furthermore, the trench sinker, which was applied to the guard ring to suppress coupling between inductors, showed an excellent blocking performance below ?40 dB at a frequency of up to 20 GHz. These results confirm that the proposed trenched sinker should be an effective technology both as a compact sinker for RF power devices and as a guard ring against coupling.     

Data retention characteristics of sub-100 nm NAND flash memory cells

In contrast to the conventional theories, we have revealed that the most distinguished mechanism in the data retention phenomenon after Fowler-Nordheim (FN) stress in sub-100 nm NAND Flash memory cells is the annihilation of interface states. Interface state generation rate increases rapidly as the channel width of NAND flash cell decreases. Comparison of interface states and stress-induced leakage current (SILC) component during retention mode shows that the annihilation of interface states strongly affects data retention characteristics of the programmed cells.     

Positively Thermo‐Sensitive Monodisperse Core–Shell Microspheres

In this paper, we report on a novel family of monodisperse thermo‐sensitive core–shell hydrogel microspheres that is featured with high monodispersity and positively thermo‐responsive volume phase transition characteristics with tunable swelling kinetics, i.e., the particle swelling is induced by an increase rather than a decrease in temperature. The microspheres were fabricated in a three‐step process. In the first step, monodisperse poly(acrylamide‐co‐styrene) seeds were prepared by emulsifier‐free emulsion polymerization. In the second step, poly(acrylamide) or poly[acrylamide‐co‐(butyl methacrylate)] shells were fabricated on the microsphere seeds by free radical polymerization. In the third step, the core–shell microspheres with poly‐ (acrylamide)/poly(acrylic acid) based interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) shells were finished by a method of sequential IPN synthesis. The proposed monodisperse core–shell microspheres provide a new mode of the phase transition behavior for thermo‐sensitive “smart” or “intelligent” monodisperse micro‐actuators that is highly attractive for targeting drug delivery systems, chemical separations, sensors, and so on.     

High‐Performance,Monolithic Polyaniline Electrochemical Actuators

New polyaniline (PANI) asymmetric membranes were fabricated using a phase‐inversion technique with hexane as the coagulation bath. These membranes exhibit a dense structure with macrovoids distributed asymmetrically throughout the cross‐section. A stress–strain study demonstrated that the Young's modulus (1.421 GPa) and strain at break (7.6 %) of the new PANI asymmetric membranes prepared from hexane are approximately 12 and 4 times higher, respectively, than the values reported previously for the PANI integrally skinned asymmetric membranes (ISAMs) (123 MPa Young's modulus and 1.8 % strain at break). Furthermore, monolithic electrochemical actuators based on a single PANI asymmetric membrane were constructed, and a bending movement of up to 20 Hz was experimentally recorded in a hydrochloric acid aqueous solution. A lifetime of over 329 500 cycles was determined for these actuators at a ± 2° angular displacement (5 Hz). The lifetime is limited by a bending fatigue that creates a transversal crack on the PANI membrane at the air–water interface. Control over the actuator movement is also manifested by the linear dependences of the bending angle on the charge and of the angular velocity on the current. These relationships are independent of both the kind of applied electric signal and the frequency used.     

Adaptive contour smoothing based on inter-region contrast

An adaptive contour smoothing algorithm designed as a preprocessor for shape coders is presented. In the method, the degree of the adaptive smoothing is controlled based on the significance of each contour point, which is quantified according to inter-region contrast in an intensity image. The actual smoothing consists of an expansion operator and a thinning algorithm.