Synthesis and properties of fluorinated aromatic poly(amide imide)s based on 4,4′‐bis(4‐amino‐2‐trifluoromethylphenoxy)benzophenone and various bis(trimellitimide)s

A CF₃‐containing diamine, 4,4′‐bis(4‐amino‐2‐trifluoromethylphenoxy)benzophenone ( 2 ), was synthesized from 4,4′‐dihydroxybenzophenone and 2‐chloro‐5‐nitrobenzotrifluoride. Imide‐containing diacids ( 3 and 5B_a – 5B_g ) were prepared by the condensation reaction of aromatic diamines and trimellitic anhydride. Then, two series of novel soluble aromatic poly(amide imide)s (PAIs; 6A_a – 6A_k and 6B_a – 6B_g ) were synthesized from a diamine ( 4A_a – 4A_k or 2 ) with the imide‐containing diacids ( 3 and 5B_a – 5B_g ) via direct polycondensation with triphenyl phosphate and pyridine. The aromatic PAIs had inherent viscosities of 0.74–1.76 dL/g. All of the synthesized polymers showed excellent solubility in amide‐type solvents, such as N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone and N,N‐dimethylacetamide (DMAc), and afforded transparent and tough films by DMAc solvent casting. These polymer films had tensile strengths of 90–113 MPa, elongations at break of 8–15%, and initial moduli of 2.0–2.9 GPa. The glass‐transition temperatures of the aromatic PAIs were in the range 242–279°C. They had 10% weight losses at temperatures above 500°C and showed excellent thermal stabilities. The 6B series exhibited less coloring and showed lower yellowness index values than the corresponding 6A series. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102:3641–3653, 2006     

Crosslinking of cotton cellulose in the presence of alkyl diallyl ammonium salts. I. Physical properties and agent distribution

We used three kinds of alkyl diallyl ammonium salts (methyl, ethyl, and propyl) in combination with dimethyloldihydroxyethyleneurea (DMDHEU) as crosslinking agents. The nitrogen content, dry crease recovery angle (DCRA), moisture regain, and wicking height for the DMDHEU/alkyl diallyl ammonium salts were in the order of ? CH₃ > ? C₂H₅ > ? C₃H₇, but the wet crease recovery angle (WCRA) and tensile strength retention (TSR) were in the opposite order at the same resin concentration. For the same DCRA and TSR, the WCRA values for only DMDHEU were lower than those for DMDHEU/alkyl diallyl ammonium salts, and the WCRA values for DMDHEU/alkyl diallyl ammonium salts were in the order of ? C₃H₇ > ? C₂H₅ > ? CH₃. Both the ? OH group of the cellulose and DMDHEU could react with the vinyl or epoxy groups of the alkyl diallyl ammonium salts during the pad–dry–cure process. The surface migration for DMDHEU/alkyl diallyl ammonium salts was in the order of ? CH₃ > ? C₂H₅ > ? C₃H₇. Fabrics treated with DMDHEU/alkyl diallyl ammonium salts showed good antibacterial properties. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 1662–1669, 2003     

Modification of a carbon/carbon composite with a thermosetting resin precursor as a matrix by the addition of carbon black

Carbon/carbon composites were made through the pyrolysis of stabilized PAN felt and phenolic resin with the addition of 5 or 10 wt % carbon black to the matrix and then heat treatment at 600–2500°C. The effects of adding carbon black to the matrix precursor on the physical properties, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the resultant composites were investigated. Adding carbon black not only reduced the weight loss but also limited the shrinkage of the resultant composites. Adding carbon black also accelerated the formation of carbon basal planes in the matrix. At 2500°C, the crystalline stacking height in the composite with 10 wt % added carbon black was 200% greater than that with no additive. The flexural strength of the composite also increased from 15 to 42 MPa (almost 300%). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 333–337, 2006     

Physical properties of polycaproamide/cationic dyeable poly(ethylene terephthalate) polyblended fibers

Polycaproamide (PCA) and cationic dyeable poly(ethylene terephthalate) (CDP) polymers were blended mechanically (in ratios of 75/25, 50/50, and 25/75) in a melt twin‐screw extruder to prepare three PCA/CDP polyblended materials. The blends of PCA and CDP were spun into fibers. The molar ratio of dimethyl 5‐sulfoisophthalate sodium salt for CDP was 2%. This study investigated the physical properties of PCA/CDP polyblended fibers with nuclear magnetic resonance, gel permeation chromatography, gas chromatography, potentiometer, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), extension stress–strain measurements, density gradient analysis, and rheometry. The experimental results of DSC proved that PCA and CDP formed an immiscible system. In an SEM image of a 50/50 PCA/CDP blend, the morphological aggregation of a larger size, from 3 to 5 μm in diameter, was observed. The rheological behavior of the PCA/CDP polyblended materials exhibited negative‐deviation blends, and the 50/50 blend of the PCA/CDP polyblended fibers showed a minimum tenacity value. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 1710–1715, 2004     

An Improved Procedure for Determining the Work of Adhesion for Polymer-Solid Contact

Force-balance experiments in conjunction with the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) theory have been used to determine the work of adhesion between solid systems. It has been shown that deficiencies in understanding the deformation behavior can lead to erroneous results. A modified procedure for determining the work of adhesion by force-balance experiments and JKR theory using normal displacement behavior has been introduced to address these deficiencies. This procedure involves improved experiental and data analysis protocols and has been applied to give more precise work of adhesion values for PDMS poly(dimethylsiloxane)-PDMS, PDMS-F(fluorinated silicon) and PDMS-Si (silicon) systems. The work of adhesion determinations are consistently less than those estimated by contact angle measurements.     

Preparation and application of fluorocarbon polymer/SiO2 hybrid materials,part 1: Preparation and properties of hybrid materials

For this study, we first prepared a fluorocarbon polymer and its hybrid materials. We found that fluorocarbon copolymers can produce hydrogen bonds with SiO₂ to form hybrid materials. We also used thermogravimetric analyzer and tested the thermostabilities of the four products, which were ranked as follows: fluorocarbon copolymer/SiO₂ hybrid material > fluorocarbon polymer/SiO₂ hybrid material > fluorocarbon copolymer > fluorocarbon polymer. In addition, we found that, due to the inorganic SiO₂ used, the number of pores and the specific surface areas of the hybrid materials both increased. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 1140–1145, 2007     

Relationship Between Interfacial Water Layer Adhesion Loss of Silicon/Glass Fiber-Epoxy Systems: A Quantitative Study

Water at the polymer/substrate interface is often the major cause of adhesion loss in coatings, adhesives, and fiber-reinforced polymer composites. This study critically assesses the relationship between the interfacial water layer and the adhesion loss in epoxy/siliceous substrate systems. Both untreated and silane-treated Si substrates and untreated and silane-treated E-glass fibers were used. Thickness of the interfacial water layer was measured on epoxy/Si systems by Fourier transform infrared-multiple total internal reflection (FTIR-MTIR) spectroscopy. Adhesion loss of epoxy/Si systems and epoxy/E-glass fiber composites was measured by peel adhesion and short-beam shear tests, respectively. Little water accumulation at the epoxy/Si substrate interface was observed for silane-treated Si substrates, but about 10 monolayers of water accumulated at the interface between the epoxy and the untreated Si substrate following 100 h of exposure at 24 °C. More than 70% of the initial epoxy/untreated Si system peel strength was lost within 75 h of exposure, compared with 20% loss after 600 h for the silane-treated Si samples. Shear strength loss in composites made with untreated E-glass fiber was nearly twice that of composites fabricated with silane-treated fiber after 6 months of immersion in 60 °C water. Further, the silane-treated composites remained transparent, but the untreated fiber composites became opaque after water exposure. Evidence from FTIR-MTIR spectroscopy, adhesion loss, and visual observation strongly indicated that a water layer at the polymer/substrate interface is mostly responsible for the adhesion loss of epoxy/untreated siliceous substrate systems and epoxy/untreated glass fiber composites and that FTIR-MTIR is a viable technique to reliably and conveniently assess the adhesion loss attributable to water sorption at the interface.     

A Truncated Sum of Processing‐Times–Based Learning Model for a Two‐Machine Flowshop Scheduling Problem

Scheduling with learning effects has gained increasing attention in recent years. A well‐known learning model is called “sum‐of‐processing‐times‐based learning” in which the actual processing time of a job is a nonincreasing function of the jobs already processed. However, the actual processing time of a given job drops to zero precipitously when the normal job processing times are large. Moreover, the concept of learning process is relatively unexplored in a flowshop environment. Motivated by these observations, this article addresses a two‐machine flowshop problem with a truncated learning effect. The objective is to find an optimal schedule to minimize the total completion time. First, a branch‐and‐bound algorithm incorporating with a dominance property and four lower bounds is developed to derive the optimal solution. Then three simulated annealing algorithms are also proposed for near‐optimal solution. The experimental results indicated that the branch‐and‐bound algorithm can solve instances up to 18 jobs, and the proposed simulated annealing algorithm performs well in item of CPU time and error percentage. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Synthesis,characterization, and application of PVP/chitosan blended polymers

The purpose of this study was to research the compatibility and application of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/chitosan blended polymers. The polymers were synthesized at different weight ratios and tested using techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis to evaluate the compatibility of the blended materials. Incompatibility occurred when the quantity of chitosan exceeded 75%. The addition of PVP was beneficial for the thermal stability of chitosan, but resulted in inferior strength performance. Furthermore, the blended polymers did not show a color‐enhancement effect, but did show elevated water absorption, chlorine resistance, and colorfastness. In addition, the treated fabrics with a higher chitosan ratio in the blended polymer had antimicrobial properties. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 885–891, 2006     

Enhanced corrosion prevention effect of polysulfone–clay nanocomposite materials prepared by solution dispersion

A series of polymer–clay nanocomposite (PCN) materials containing polysulfone (PSF) and layered MMT clay were successfully prepared by effectively dispersing inorganic nanolayers of MMT clay in an organic PSF matrix via a solution dispersion technique. The synthesized PCN materials were subsequently investigated with a series of characterization techniques, including Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, wide‐angle powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The prepared PCN coatings with low clay loading (1 wt %) on cold‐rolled steel (CRS) were found to be superior in corrosion prevention to those of bulk PSF, based on a series of electrochemical measurements of corrosion potential, polarization resistance, corrosion current and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in a 5 wt % aqueous NaCl electrolyte. The effects of material composition on the molecular barrier, mechanical strength and optical clarity of PSF and PCN materials, in the form of membranes, was also studied by molecular permeability analysis (GPA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and UV‐Visible transmission spectra, respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 631–637, 2004