Spray coating process variable and property analysis of UV-curable polyurethane acrylate coating on polycarbonate substrate

A series of spray coating experiments were conducted on an UV-curable, polyurethane-modified, acrylate-based coating formulation with the aim to control defects, coating thickness, and thickness variation. Statistical approaches including design of experiment, residual examination, analysis of variance, and t-test were used in designing the experiments and analyzing data. Viscosity of formulation, atomizing pressure, liquid feeding pressure, distance between nozzle and substrate, and travel speed of substrate were the process variables studied. The ranges of process variables that gave defect-free coating were identified and used in the subsequent experiments to determine process variables and interactions that had significant contribution to the changes in coating thickness and thickness variation. All process variables studied were found to have contribution to the change in coating thickness, but they showed no significant contribution to the variation of coating thickness. No interaction displayed significant contribution. Confirmation tests performed on extra samples prepared with varying coating thicknesses indicated a good agreement with the experimental results. Additional samples were tested for total transmittance, transmission haze, adhesion, surface roughness, hardness, scratch hardness, abrasion resistance, and durability to attack of car wash chemicals. Spray coated samples showed slight improvement in the total transmittance over the uncoated samples, while maintaining the transmission haze and exhibiting rougher surfaces. Only samples with thin coatings were found to possess sufficient adhesion to the substrate. These thin coatings gave improved hardness, scratch hardness, and durability to car wash attack to the level comparable to commercial coated polycarbonate headlamp lenses, whilst giving better abrasion resistance.     

Study of the synergistic effect of boron nitride and carbon nanotubes in the improvement of thermal conductivity of epoxy composites

The enhancement of the thermal conductivity, keeping the electrical insulation, of epoxy thermosets through the addition of pristine and oxidized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and microplatelets of boron nitride (BN) was studied. Two different epoxy resins were selected: a cycloaliphatic (ECC) epoxy resin and a glycidylic (DGEBA) epoxy resin. The characteristics of the composites prepared were evaluated and compared in terms of thermal, thermomechanical, rheological and electrical properties. Two different dispersion methods were used in the addition of pristine and oxidized CNTs depending on the type of epoxy resin used. Slight changes in the kinetics of the curing reaction were observed in the presence of the fillers. The addition of pristine CNTs led to a greater enhancement of the mechanical properties of the ECC composite whereas the oxidized CNTs presented a greater effect in the DGEBA matrix. The addition of CNTs alone led to a marked decrease of the electrical resistivity of the composites. Nevertheless, in the presence of BN, which is an electrically insulating material, it was possible to increase the proportion of pristine CNTs to 0.25 wt% in the formulation without deterioration of the electrical resistivity. A small but significant synergic effect was determined when both fillers were added together. Improvements of about 750% and 400% in thermal conductivity were obtained in comparison to the neat epoxy matrix for the ECC and DGEBA composites, respectively. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Relationship between the adhesion properties of UV-curable alumina suspensions and the functionalities and structures of UV-curable acrylate monomers for DLP-based ceramic stereolithography

Digital light processing (DLP)-based ceramic stereolithography has attracted significant attentions due to the high printing speed and high dimensional accuracy of DLP printers. However, undesired dropping of unfinished ceramic parts during printing, owing to inadequate adhesion between the first cured layer and the substrate of the building platform, still remains a challenge. In this study, the relationship between the adhesion properties of ultraviolet (UV)-curable alumina (α-Al₂O₃) suspensions and the functionalities and structures of UV-curable acrylate monomers was investigated. With an increase in the proportions of monofunctional monomers, the adhesion abilities of UV-curable alumina suspensions enhanced because of reduced volume shrinkage, however, inferior curing performances were observed due to a decrease in the double bond densities. Furthermore, the large-volume branched chain structures in monofunctional monomers and ethyoxyl groups in polyfunctional monomers effectively decreased the volume contraction, improving the adhesion performances of UV-curable alumina suspensions and facilitating the conversion of double bonds to provide excellent curing properties, further guaranteeing strong adhesion of these suspensions to the substrate.     

Polarity Effect and Electromagnetic Radiation of Partial Discharge Accompanying Growth of Electrical Tree

We have investigated the characteristics of radiated electromagnetic (EM) waves from positive and negative partial discharges (PD) in epoxy resin and cross‐linked polyethylene. We found that there is a correlation among the EM level from PD, the positive PD current, and electrical trees. Therefore, the growth of an electrical tree produces a lot of positive PD. We have also investigated the characteristics of the frequency region of EM waves from PD in air, insulating oil, and liquid epoxy in addition to the above insulators. EM waves were detected in the frequency region of 40 MHz to 300 MHz from positive and negative PD in epoxy resin and cross‐linked polyethylene. EM waves were also detected in the frequency region of 40 MHz to 150 MHz from positive and negative PD in air. In the case of insulating oil and liquid epoxy, EM waves were detected in the frequency regions of 40 MHz to 150 MHz from positive PD, and 40 MHz to 250 MHz from negative PD. The frequency region differed depending on the material and the discharge polarity. Our investigation indicates that the cause is differences in electric field strength at the time of PD occurrence.     

Study of the effect of BDMA catalyst in the epoxy novolac curing process by isothermal DSC

Epoxy novolac/anhydride cure kinetics has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry under isothermal conditions. The system used in this study was an epoxy novolac resin (DEN431), with nadic methyl anhydride as hardener and benzyldimethylamine as accelerator. Kinetic parameters including the reaction order, activation energy and kinetic rate constants, were investigated. The cure reaction was described with the catalyst concentration, and a normalized kinetic model developed for it. It is shown that the cure reaction is dependent on the cure temperature and catalyst concentration, and that it proceeds through an autocatalytic kinetic mechanism. The curing kinetic constants and the cure activation energies were obtained using the Arrhenius kinetic model. A suggested kinetic model with a diffusion term was successfully used to describe and predict the cure kinetics of epoxy novolac resin compositions as a function of the catalyst content and temperature. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

新型壳聚糖/纳米二氧化硅杂化材料的制备与性能

在纳米S iO2颗粒表面引入羟丙基氯活性基团,得到功能化S iO2颗粒,再将羟丙基氯化的S iO2颗粒交联固定在壳聚糖上,制备了一种新型的壳聚糖/纳米S iO2杂化材料(简称杂化材料);通过傅里叶变换红外光谱、透射电镜、扫描电镜方法对杂化材料进行表征,采用热重(TG)分析研究杂化材料的热性能;考察了杂化材料的沉降速率和对金属离子Ca2+和M g2+的吸附能力。电镜分析结果表明,杂化材料微粒为纳米尺度的无机S iO2加强化的微粒,S iO2颗粒分散在材料中,形成均匀的表面;TG分析结果表明,杂化材料的热性能有所提高;沉降实验测得壳聚糖和杂化材料作为吸附剂的沉降时间分别为130.3,68.5s,表明杂化材料的沉降速率比壳聚糖的沉降速率快了近一倍;杂化材料对金属离子Ca2+和M g2+的吸附量分别可达到0.289 3,1.445 6mm ol/g。     

T-ZnO晶须增强环氧树脂复合材料的力学行为

研究了以四脚状氧化锌（T-ZnO）晶须为增强剂，环氧树脂复合材料的力学行为。结果表明，由具有三维空间结构的T-ZnO晶须为增强剂所制备的环氧树脂复合材料具有各向同性的力学性能，T-ZnO晶须填加质量分数为6%时，就可使材料的力学性能改善；拉伸强度提高到169%，拉伸功几乎提高了100%，冲击强度提高到300%，抗弯的断裂功提高到158%，而压缩强度略有下降。     

环氧树脂及其增强材料回顾

本文回顾了PCB制造常用的环氧树脂及其增强材料的性能和用途。同时,还介绍了代用树脂材料和代用增强材料的最新进展,如改性环氧树脂、无卤树脂、Thermount、PTFE、氰酸酯等,并就其性能进行了探讨。     

环境友好阻燃环氧树脂覆铜板研究进展

论述了环境友好阻燃环氧树脂覆铜板研究开发的意义。提出通过开发并使用含氮、磷或硅的非卤阻燃型环氧树脂,含磷、氮或磷-氮的功能性阻燃固化剂和在体系中添加有机磷阻燃剂、氢氧化铝等无机阻燃剂等途径来开发环境友好阻燃环氧树脂覆铜板。并对我国在今后该领域的研究作了展望。