Blends of styrene butadiene styrene TRI block copolymer/polyaniline-Characterization by WAXS

Electrically conductive blends based on polyaniline-dodecylbenzene sulphonic acid (Pani.DBSA)/styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) block copolymer have been prepared by two methods namely melt mixing and polymerization of aniline in the presence of SBS using in situ polymerization method. The influence of composition and synthetic methods on the performance of SBS/Pani blends was established. The obtained SBS/Pani blends have been characterized by mechanical, morphological and electrical properties. A great reduction in volume resistivity values with increase in Pani content was noticed for in situ polymerization method compared to melt mixing method. The microstructural parameters were also computed using Wide Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS). The results are compared with mechanical and electrical properties.     

Investigation on microstructural behavior of styroflex/polyaniline blends by WAXS

Styroflex/polyaniline (STF/PAni) blends were prepared by two routes namely by in situ and thermo mechanical processing method with various PAni compositions, namely, 0, 15, 30, and 45 wt %. The influence of volume fraction of PAni in the blends and synthetic routes of the STF/PAni blends on the volume resistivity and microcrystalline parameters have been investigated. The microcrystalline parameters such as the nanocrystal size (<N>), lattice disorder (g), interplanar distance (d_hkl), width of the crystallite size distribution, surface weighted crystal size (D_s), and crystallite area were evaluated from the wide angle X‐ray scattering profiles. The different asymmetric column length distribution functions namely, exponential, reinhold, and lognormal distribution methods were employed to probe the microcrystalline behavior of the STF/PAni blends and the results are compared. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Influence of natural polymer coating on novel colon targeting drug delivery system

A novel colon targeted tablet formulation was developed using natural polysaccharides such as chitosan and guar gum as carriers and diltiazem hydrochloride as model drug. The prepared blend of polymer-drug tablets were coated with two layers, inulin as an inner coat followed by shellac as outer coat and were evaluated for properties such as average weight, hardness and coat thickness. In vitro release studies of prepared tablets were carried out for 2 h in pH 1.2 HCl buffer, 3 h in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer and 6 h in simulated colonic fluid (SCF) in order to mimic the conditions from mouth to colon. It was observed that 4% w/v of rat cecal contents in saline phosphate buffer (SCF) incubated for 24 h provides suitable conditions for in vitro evaluation of the formulations prepared. The drug release from the coated system was monitored using UV/ Visible spectroscopy. In vitro studies revealed that the tablets coated with inulin and shellac have controlled the drug release in stomach and small intestinal environment and released maximum amount of drug in the colonic environment. Among the polymers used, chitosan was found to be the suitable polymer for colon targeting. The study revealed that polysaccharides as carriers and inulin and shellac as coating materials can be used effectively for colon targeting of drugs for treating local as well as systemic disorders.     

Mechanical and three-body abrasive wear behaviour of three-dimensional glass fabric reinforced vinyl ester composite

The mechanical and three-body abrasive wear behaviour of two- and three-dimensional E-glass woven fabric reinforced vinyl ester composites were studied in this article. The mechanical properties were evaluated using universal testing machine as per ASTM D-638. Three-body abrasive wear tests were conducted using rubber wheel abrasion tester (RWAT) under different abrading distances at two loads, wherein the wear volume loss were found to increase and that of specific wear rate decrease. The results indicate that the three-dimensional glass woven fabrics in vinyl ester (G_3D–V) have significant influence on wear under varied abrading distance/loads. Further, it was found that G_3D–V composite exhibited lower wear rate compared to two-dimensional glass woven fabric reinforced vinyl ester (G_2D–V) composite. The worn surface features, as examined through scanning electron microscope (SEM), show ruptured glass fiber in G_2D–V composite compared to G_3D–V composites.