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Polymer Interfaces (polymer + interface)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Polymers and Materials Science	90%

Selected Abstracts

Polymer Foams Stabilized by Particles Adsorbed at the Air/Polymer Interface

MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS, Issue 15 2008
Prachi Thareja
Abstract In aqueous systems, partially hydrophobic particles are known to stabilize foams even in the absence of any added surfactant. This paper shows that the same principle can be applied to polymeric systems: particles that are partially wetted by a polymer melt can stabilize a foam of that polymer. The foam stability is attributable to the adsorption of the particles at the air/polymer interface. Remarkably, stable foams are realized even from polymers that are liquid at room temperature, and hence are otherwise unfoamable. The implications of this result to practical foaming operations are discussed. [source]

Role of surface in light induced degradation of porous silicon

PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (C) - CURRENT TOPICS IN SOLID STATE PHYSICS, Issue 6 2007
N. P. Mandal
Abstract Exposure of porous silicon (PS) to moisture is found to increase its photoluminescence (PL) intensity, whereas it decreases drastically upon light soaking. On the other hand, coating by a thin layer of polystyrene protects PS against light induced degradation without changing PL significantly. Further, polystyrene coating protects the PS from humidity also. FTIR shows appearance of new bonding configurations at the PS/polymer interface, whcih may account for the improved stability. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]

Polymer Foams Stabilized by Particles Adsorbed at the Air/Polymer Interface

Raman and Infrared Imaging of Dynamic Polymer Systems

MACROMOLECULAR MATERIALS & ENGINEERING, Issue 7 2007
Jack L. Koenig
Abstract This work reviews principles of Raman and infrared imaging, as well as applications of the art to understand physiochemical phenomena in polymer systems. Image sequences may be assessed in terms of spatial or spectral changes that occur over time, either within a specific region or across the field of view. As such, the methods have enabled the analysis of diffusion and dissolution processes at polymer interfaces, drug release from polymer matrices, and structural transitions among others. Despite analytical limitations imposed by resolution (spectral or spatial) and sample preparation, Raman and infrared imaging are powerful tools for relating performance attributes to molecular-level characteristics. [source]

Neutron reflectivity of polymer-plasticiser diffusion

MACROMOLECULAR SYMPOSIA, Issue 1 2002
J.S. Higgins
Neutron reflectivity (NR) has been widely exploited to look at polymer thin films and in many ways is an ideal technique for studying polymer interfaces and surfaces, providing high-resolution concentration - depth profiles across the film thickness. Most NR studies to date have concentrated on thin films of amorphous polymers which possess Tg values well above room temperature. These polymers are ideally suited to NR measurements, firstly because they form homogeneously flat films and, secondly, heat-quench cycles can be used to study time-dependent processes. This has been used to great effect in NR studies of the initial stages of polymer - polymer interdiffusion or the kinetics of surface segregated layers for instance. One of the biggest drawbacks to this approach is that in polymer systems where one or more of the components has a Tg close to or less than room temperature, the polymers can still move during the measurement time of an NR profile, which typically takes 1-2 h for a full profile. Therefore, in order to study such systems, we have developed an approach to NR measurements that allows us to investigate diffusion processes in situ. Our new approach allows us to take NR profiles in only 20 s. This paper describes the method of real-time NR measurements in detail and illustrates the capabilities of the technique with highlights from some of our recent work on the early stages of polymer-plasticiser interdiffusion. [source]

Interfacial Thermodynamics of Polymeric Mesophases

MACROMOLECULAR THEORY AND SIMULATIONS, Issue 8 2004
Alejandro D. Rey
Abstract Summary: A complete mechanical-thermodynamical formulation for multicomponent nematic polymer-isotropic fluid interfaces is derived, validated, and used to derive the structure and shape equations for these soft anisotropic polymer interfaces. The fundamental role of liquid crystalline order and long range effects in coupling bulk and interfacial effects, and in coupling thermodynamical/liquid crystalline order/geometrical variables is demonstrated, discussed, and validated. The Gibbs-Duhem nemato-thermodynamics equation emerges from an interfacial tension ,,=,,(,, ,, Q, ,sQ, k) that depends on temperature (,), chemical potential (,), nematic tensor order parameter Q, surface gradients of Q, and geometry k, and leads to new couplings in these enhanced phase spaces. The role of entropy and adsorption, and long range effects on interfacial shape and structure selection is revealed. For flat interfaces the preferred structure emerges from a competition between energy, entropy, and adsorption. [source]

Mesoscopic Modelling of Polymer-Based Optoelectronic Devices

PLASMA PROCESSES AND POLYMERS, Issue S1 2007
Hélder M. C. Barbosa
Abstract Substantial progress has been made in fabricating optoelectronic devices using polymers as an active material. In polymer light emitting diodes (PLEDs), a balanced injection of electrons and holes from the electrodes is fundamental to increase their performance. Using a mesoscopic model based on a generalized Monte-Carlo method, we studied the influence of changing zero-field barrier heights at both electrode,polymer interfaces in the performance of a PLED with an active layer of poly(para -phenylenevinylene) (PPV). Our results show that by controlling the electrodes work functions it is possible to tune the region inside the device where charge recombination preferentially takes place. [source]

Production of electrically conductive networks in immiscible polymer blends by chaotic mixing

POLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 1 2006
Dhawal P. Dharaiya
A minor polymer was deformed into lamellar and fibrillar morphological forms in a chaotic mixer, which rendered the resultant immiscible blend electrically conductive along the flow direction. This was demonstrated using a blend consisting of 10 wt% polypropylene (PP), polyamide 6 (PA6), and 1 wt% conductive carbon black (CB) particles. It was found that PP-phase containing CB particles deformed into lamellar and fibrillar morphological forms produced continuous networks in the flow direction, and provided conductivity by double percolation. Breakup of PP fibrils into droplets destroyed the continuous conductive networks, although conductivity was sustained purportedly due to migration of CB particles from the bulk to the surface of closely spaced PP droplets. This was augmented by the formation of much smaller PP droplets in the presence of CB particles. On continued mixing, the blend eventually turned into insulator as CB particles migrated from the polymer,polymer interfaces to PA6 phase. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 46:19,28, 2006. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers [source]

Understanding surfaces and buried interfaces of polymer materials at the molecular level using sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy

POLYMER INTERNATIONAL, Issue 5 2007
Zhan Chen
Abstract This paper reviews recent progress in the studies on polymer surfaces/interfaces using sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy. SFG theory, technique, and some experimental details have been presented. The review is focused on the SFG studies on buried interfaces involving polymer materials, such as polymer,water interfaces and polymer,polymer interfaces. Molecular interactions between polymer surfaces and adhesion promoters as well as biological molecules such as proteins and peptides have also been elucidated using SFG. This review demonstrates that SFG is a powerful technique to characterize molecular level structural information of complicated polymer surfaces and interfaces in situ. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

Role of the interphase in the flow stability of reactive coextruded multilayer polymers

POLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 4 2009
Khalid Lamnawar
Coextrusion technologies are commonly used to produce multilayered composite sheets or films for a large range of applications from food packaging to optics. The contrast of rheological properties between layers can lead to interfacial instabilities. Important theoretical and experimental advances regarding theses defects have, during the last decades, been made using a mechanical and numerical approach. This study deals with the influence of the physicochemical affinity between the neighboring layers on interfacial instabilities for functionalized incompatible polymers. It was experimentally confirmed, in this case, that weak disturbance can be predicted by considering an interface of nonzero thickness (corresponding to an interdiffusion/reaction zone interphase) instead of a purely geometrical interface between the two reactive layers. According to the rheological investigations, an experimental strategy was here formulated to investigate the parameters that controlled the stability of the reactive multilayer flows. The role of the viscosity ratio, elasticity ratio, and layer ratio of the stability of the interface was also investigated coupling to the reaction rate/compatibilization phenomenon. Hence, based on this analysis, guidelines for a stable coextrusion of reactive functionalized polymers can be provided coupling the classical parameters and the physicochemical affinity at the polymer/polymer interface. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers [source]