The linear viscoelastic properties of copolypropylene–clay nanocomposites

The linear viscoelastic properties of copolypropylene (cPP)–clay nanocomposites (cPPCNs) prepared by melt intercalating with different amounts of clay were extensively examined by rheological measurements. Meanwhile, the clay effects on the cPP confinements were first estimated by calculating the activation energy of different cPP moving units, including the whole molecular chain, the chain segment, and smaller unit such as chain link. The results showed that the stability of cPPCNs melts wrecked when the clay loading was above 5 wt %. An increase in clay loading of cPPCNs gave rise to a strong low frequency solid‐like response (G′ > G″). Unlike the matrix polymer, cPPCN5 (with 5 wt % clay) exhibited a relaxation plateau as relaxation time prolonged above 100 s, and displayed a maximal linear modulus. The variations of the activation energy of different cPP moving units revealed that the mobility of cPP molecular chains was restricted by clay layers, while these restrictions were not only related to the clay loadings but also largely depended on the clay dispersion status in the matrix. The motions of cPP chain segments were greatly limited at 3–5 wt % loading of clay, but drastically activated with the addition of 7 wt % clay due to the increasing stacks of clay layers within the matrix. However, it was found that the presence of clay had little effect on the mobility of small cPP moving units such as chain links. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 1523–1529, 2006     

Preparation and properties of (BATB–ODPA) polyimide–clay nanocomposite materials

A series of polymer–clay nanocomposite (PCN) materials consisting of 1,4‐bis(4‐aminophenoxy)‐2‐tert‐butylbenzene–4,4′‐oxydiphthalic anhydride (BATB–ODPA) polyimide (PI) and layered montmorillonite (MMT) clay were successfully prepared by an in situ polymerization reaction through thermal imidization up to 300°C. The synthesized PCN materials were subsequently characterized by Fourier‐Transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, wide‐angle powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effects of material composition on thermal stability, mechanical strength, molecular permeability and optical clarity of bulk PI and PCN materials in the form of membranes were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), molecular permeability analysis (GPA) and ultraviolet‐visible (UV/VIS) transmission spectra, respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 1072–1079, 2004     

Autonomous tactile perception: A combined improved sensing and Bayesian nonparametric approach

In recent years, autonomous robots have increasingly been deployed in unknown environments and required to manipulate or categorize unknown objects. In order to cope with these unfamiliar situations, improvements must be made both in sensing technologies and in the capability to autonomously train perception models. In this paper, we explore this problem in the context of tactile surface identification and categorization. Using a highly-discriminant tactile probe based upon large bandwidth, triple axis accelerometer that is sensitive to surface texture and material properties, we demonstrate that unsupervised learning for surface identification with this tactile probe is feasible. To this end, we derived a Bayesian nonparametric approach based on Pitman–Yor processes to model power-law distributions, an extension of our previous work using Dirichlet processes Dallaire et al. (2011). When tested against a large collection of surfaces and without providing the actual number of surfaces, the tactile probe combined with our proposed approach demonstrated near-perfect recognition in many cases and achieved perfect recognition given the right conditions. We consider that our combined improvements demonstrate the feasibility of effective autonomous tactile perception systems.     

利用高铝矾土研制低温耐磨氧化铝瓷

着重介绍了以高铝矾土为主要原料的85瓷的合理配方和所采用的生产工艺，并对吸水率、体积密度、耐磨性、显微硬度、抗折强度和断裂韧性等物理性能进行了测试。还探讨了低温烧成机理、提高耐磨性的途径。结合显微结构分析了生产工艺对产品性能的影响。     

结合方向纹理熵的Haar-like特征在线boosting跟踪算法

针对传统基于Haar-like特征的on-line boosting跟踪算法（HBT）需要产生大规模随机特征、占用大量计算资源和存储空间的缺点,提出结合方向纹理熵的Haar-like特征在线boosting跟踪算法（HBTT）。HBTT算法利用灰度共生矩阵的熵获得目标纹理的方向信息,在此基础上有针对性地产生具有方向纹理信息的Haar-like特征,从而可有效避免无效随机特征的产生,减小特征池容量;更进一步,可根据目标纹理的复杂程度自动调整特征数量,使得算法更灵活。在跟踪过程中,在线学习模块可以使错误率较高的特征被结合了目标纹理方向信息的Haar-like特征所替换。与HBT算法比较,HBTT算法的跟踪误差降低了10%以上;在相同特征池容量下,置信度提高了2%以上。实验结果表明,该算法不仅具有较高的鲁棒性,而且在跟踪效率和性能上都有所提高。     

Crystalline morphology and isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(ethylene terephthalate)/clay nanocomposites

A poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/montmorillonite clay nanocomposite was synthesized via in situ polymerization. Microscopic studies revealed that in an isothermal crystallization process, some crystallites in the nanocomposite initially were rod‐shaped and later exhibited three‐dimensional growth. The crystallites in the nanocomposite were irregularly shaped, rather than spherulitic, being interlocked together without clear boundaries, and they were much smaller than those of neat PET. With Avrami analysis, the isothermal crystallization kinetic parameters (the Avrami exponent and constant) were obtained. The rate constants for the nanocomposite demonstrated that clay could greatly increase the crystallization rate of PET. The results for the Avrami exponent were consistent with the observation of the rodlike crystallites in the PET/clay nanocomposite during the initial stage. Wide‐angle X‐ray scattering and Fourier transform infrared studies showed that, in comparison with neat PET, the crystal lattice parameters and crystallinity of the nanocomposite did not change significantly, whereas more defects may have been present in the crystalline regions of the nanocomposite because of the presence of the clay. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 94: 1381–1388, 2004     

Restricted chain segment mobility in poly(amide) 6/clay nanocomposites evidenced by quasi-isothermal crystallization

Modulated temperature differential scanning calorimetry is used to explore the interactions between a poly(amide) 6 matrix and various types of clay reinforcement. During quasi-isothermal crystallization of the polymer/clay nanocomposites, an excess contribution is observed in the recorded heat capacity signal, due to reversible melting and crystallization. It is proposed that the magnitude of this excess contribution can be used to qualify the polymer/clay interfacial interaction, as it is directly linked to the segmental mobility of the polymer chains in the interphase region, where both the crystalline and amorphous polymer fractions are affected. It is shown that the interfacial interaction strongly depends on the type of clay filler used. These interactions play a key role in the development of specific material properties for the different types of nanocomposites. A simple interphase model for the poly(amide) 6/clay nanocomposites is proposed.     

Study on the structure and properties of cyanate ester/bentonite nanocomposites

Cyanate ester (CE)/bentonite (BT) nanocomposites were prepared by melt blending of CE with NH₄⁺‐BT. The nanostructure of CE/BT nanocomposites was studied by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that partially intercalated and partially exfoliated structures coexisted in CE/BT nanocomposites containing 2.5 wt % BT with respect to that of bulk CE. Below 2.5 wt % BT content, a totally exfoliated and disordered structure was formed in the nanocomposites. The exfoliated BT enhanced the toughness of CE/BT nanocomposites. The impact strength showed a maximum of 7.1kJ/m² at 1 wt % BT, compared to 3.8kJ/m² of pure CE. Furthermore, results of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) suggest that CE/BT nanocomposites have higher thermal stability. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 632–637, 2005     

蒸汽夹套管设计中需注意的几个问题

在石油、化工生产中 ,蒸汽夹套管作为保温管道类型之一常常在实际生产广泛运用。针对蒸汽夹套管在设计、安装中经常忽视的一些问题 ,分别从不同侧面加以比较分析 ,概括出它们在不同工况下的共同特点。在实际生产中 ,可有效提高管道运行的可靠性 ,降低投资     

利用广西气刀土原料研制高档卫生陶瓷

在对广西气刀土原料性能研究的基础上,进行了在卫生陶瓷坯料、釉料中的应用研究。坯料中加入4%～7%的广西气刀土原料替代等量的2#苏州土,在釉料中引入4～6%的气刀土原料替代1#苏州土,可以生产出理化性能和外观质量达到了美国ASMEA112.19.2M-1998标准要求的高档卫生陶瓷产品。引入广西气刀土原料使泥浆性能增强、厚化系数降低、湿坯硬度特别是内硬度明显提高、干坯抗折强度增大;制品体积密度增加、气孔率和吸水率降低;增强釉面乳浊效果、提高釉面白度,保证和提高产品的热稳定性能。