Modelling of addition polymerization processes — Free radical,ionic, group transfer,and ziegler–natta kinetics

A brief review of addition polymerization processes is presented with a summary of the key characteristics classified by kinetic mechanism (free-radical, anionic, cationic, group transfer, or Ziegler–Natta), phase behavior, and reactor type. A practical approach to modelling in the industrial R & D environment is discussed in terms of a CAD package for polymerization processes.     

Electrical and optical properties of oxygen doped GaN grown by MOCVD using N2O

Oxygen doped GaN has been grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using N₂O as oxygen dopant source. The layers were deposited on 2″ sapphire substrates from trimethylgallium and especially dried ammonia using nitrogen (N₂) as carrier gas. Prior to the growth of the films, an AIN nucleation layer with a thickness of about 300? was grown using trimethylaluminum. The films were deposited at 1085°C at a growth rate of 1.0 μm/h and showed a specular, mirrorlike surface. Not intentionally doped layers have high resistivity (>20 kW/square). The gas phase concentration of the N₂O was varied between 25 and 400 ppm with respect to the total gas volume. The doped layers were n-type with carrier concentrations in the range of 4×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ to 4×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ as measured by Hall effect. The observed carrier concentration increased with increasing N₂O concentration. Low temperature photoluminescence experiments performed on the doped layers revealed besides free A and B exciton emission an exciton bound to a shallow donor. With increasing N₂O concentration in the gas phase, the intensity of the donor bound exciton increased relative to that of the free excitons. These observations indicate that oxygen behaves as a shallow donor in GaN. This interpretation is supported by covalent radius and electronegativity arguments.     

DSC study on simultaneous interpenetrating polymer network formation of epoxy resin and unsaturated polyester

A kinetic study on simultaneous interpenetrating polymer network formation of epoxy resin based on diglycidyl ether of Bisphenol A (DGEBA) and unsaturated polyester (UP) was performed by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Isothermal DSC characterizations of neat resins and their mixture (in a weight ratio of 50/50) were performed at different temperatures. Dynamic DSC characterization of the systems were performed at three different heating rates. A lower total heat of reaction developed during simultaneous polymerization in dynamic DSC tests was found, compared to the total heats developed during pure resins network formation. This phenomenon can be interpreted as an effect of network interlock that could not be compensated for completely by an increase in curing temperature. The kinetics of the reactions was described by empirical models. The DGEBA, in a 50/50 UP/DGEBA blend, indicated a higher rate constant than the pure DGEBA. The obtained results suggests that the hydroxyl end group of UP in the blend provided a favorably catalytic environment for the DGEBA cure. The results are in good agreement with the literature data. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 2689–2698, 2002     

Application of degradation kinetics to the rheology of poly(hydroxyalkanoates)

The time‐dependent rheological behavior of a series of 3‐hydroxybuytrate‐based semicrystalline copolymers is employed to determine the expected rheological curves that would be generated in the absence of any polymer degradation. Both dynamic frequency sweep and shear rate sweep experiments were analyzed. A model for the degradation kinetics, coupled with standard rheological relationships, was employed to extrapolate the measured sweeps to predicted curves at time zero, prior to degradation. The model is broadly applicable over a wide range of frequencies or shear rates, and generates a single degradation rate constant k for each polymer studied. A similar, although ad hoc, procedure was applied to the dynamic storage and loss moduli. The model provides a method for determining the rheological behavior of degrading polymers over a time interval, typically found in processing applications. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102:1794–1802, 2006     

Kinetics of phenol oxidation in a trickle bed reactor over active carbon catalyst

The wet air oxidation of phenol over a commercial active carbon catalyst was studied in a trickle bed reactor (TBR) in the temperature and oxygen partial pressure ranges of 120–160 °C and 0.1–0.2 MPa, respectively. The performance of the active carbon was compared in terms of phenol and COD destruction. The weight change of active carbon due to reaction was also measured. Finally, oxic phenol adsorption isotherms were assessed in batch conditions at 25, 125 and 160 °C. In order to use the conversion data obtained from the TBR for a kinetic study, special care was taken to check the kinetic control in the TBR experiments. Several kinetic models including power law or Langmuir–Hinshelwood expressions were considered to describe the catalytic oxidation of phenol over active carbon. The simple power law model with first order dependence on both phenol and oxygen concentration predicted satisfactorily the experimental data not only over the entire range of operating conditions studied, but also outside its validity range. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Acidic and basic hydrolysis of poly(N‐vinylformamide)

Poly(N‐vinylformamide) (PNVF) was synthesized and hydrolyzed to poly(vinylamine) (PVAm) in both HCl and NaOH solutions. The hydrolysis kinetics and the equilibrium hydrolysis were examined experimentally at different temperatures, polymer concentrations, and acid‐ or base‐to‐amide molar ratios. The hydrolysis kinetics strongly depended on temperature, polymer, and HCl or NaOH concentrations, but showed little dependence on PNVF molecular weight. The acid hydrolysis of PNVF exhibited limited conversions because of the electrostatic repulsion among the cationic amine groups generated during hydrolysis and proton hydrates. In the basic hydrolysis, complete amide conversions were observed when the NaOH/amide molar ratios were greater than unity. The effects of temperature and PNVF concentration on the equilibrium amide conversion appeared to be negligible in both acidic and basic hydrolysis. The equilibrium conversions of base hydrolysis were higher than those of acidic hydrolysis under the same reaction conditions. At NaOH/amide ratios of less than unity, the equilibrium hydrolysis experiments revealed that one base molecule could induce the hydrolysis of more than one amide group. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 3412–3419, 2002     

溶胶－凝胶二氧化硅驻极体薄膜的物理化学改性

实验研究了由溶胶－凝胶法制备二氧化硅驻极体薄膜的工艺。用红外透射谱、扫描电子显微镜以及驻极体等温表面电位测量和热刺激放电等实验考察了热处理和化学表面修正两个关键工艺对溶胶－凝胶二氧化硅样品驻极体性能的影响。结果表明经过高温条件下一定时间的热处理和化学表面修正，可以制备出性能优良的驻极体薄膜     

In Situ FTIR Study of the Formation of an Organosilane Layer at the Silica/Solution Interface

An FTIR experiment especially designed to study the growth of an organosilane layer at the interface between a solution and a flat silica surface is presented. High sensitivity is achieved by using the attenuated total reflection (ATR) technique in a liquid flow cell. The ATR crystal, either silicon or germanium, is covered with a very thin silica layer. Chemical reactions of a mono-and a di-hydrolyzable silane with the silica substrate have been investigated. The grafting of a submonolayer of the first reagent has been monitored by following the C-H and SiO-H vibrations. The density of grafted molecules has been estimated and information on the nature of the chemical bonding has been achieved. Evidence for the chain-polymerization of the dihydrolyzable silane at the substrate/solution interface has been inferred from the appearance of a Si-O-Si absorption band.     

Expressing the equivalence of non‐isothermal and isothermal heat sterilization processes

Currently, the sterility of heat‐processed food and pharmaceuticals is assessed in terms of an F₀ value, based on the equivalence of the heat treatment to an isothermal process at a reference temperature. This F₀ value, however, has a meaning if, and only if, the inactivation kinetics of the targeted spores (or cells) follow a first‐order relationship and the temperature dependence of the D value, the reciprocal of the rate constant, is log‐linear. There is growing evidence that these conditions are not satisfied by many spores, including those of Clostridium botulinum and vegetative cells. Consequently, a replacement for the F₀ value is proposed in the form of a momentary equivalent time at the reference temperature based on the actual survival pattern of the spores, which need not be log‐linear. This equivalent time can be calculated together with the theoretical survival ratio in real time, thus enabling an operator to monitor the lethality of ongoing industrial heat processes. The concept is demonstrated with published survival data of C. botulinum, for which the Weibullian and log‐logistic models served as primary and secondary models, respectively. The safety factor according to the proposed method is in the number of added minutes of processing, beyond the theoretical time needed to reduce the survival ratio of the targeted spores or cells to a level that would produce practical (or commercial) sterility. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry