• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.615-620
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• 2015

Polypropylene (PP)/bamboo fiber (BF) composites were fabricated by twin screw extruder in order to investigate effects of the compatibilizer on physical properties of PP/BF composites. The content of BF changed from 10 to 25 wt% and that of the compatibilizer was fixed at 3 wt%. Maleic anhydride grafted PP (PP-g-MAH) was used to increase the compatibility between PP and BF as a compatibilizer. Chemical structures of the composites were confirmed by the existence of carbonyl group (C=O) stretching peak at $1,700cm^{-1}$ in FT-IR spectrum. Considering the degradation and mechanical properties, the optimum extrusion conditions were selected to be $210^{\circ}C$ and 100 rpm, respectively. There was no distinct changes in melting temperature of the composites, but the crystallization temperature increased by $10-20^{\circ}C$ owing to the heterogeneous nuclei of BF. It was checked that the optimum BF content was in the range of 15-20 wt% from the results of tensile and flexural properties of the composites. The effect of the compatibilizer on mechanical properties was confirmed by SEM images of fractured surface and contact angles.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2010

To enhance the transport properties of gas separation membrane, we prepared 6FDA-6FpDA based polyimide membrane with PMMA-graft-silica nanoparticles. The silica was grafted PMMA which is miscible with 6FDA-based polyimide after surface treatment by 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane ($\gamma$-MPS). The untreated silica/6FDA-6FpDA membrane showed greater permeability and less selectivity than PMMA-g-silica/6FDA-6FpDA due to its low dispersion. The transport properties of PMMA-g-silica/6FDA-GFpDA membrane were measured as a function of filler concentration. These membranes were evaluated using pure gases (He, $O_2$, $N_2$, $CO_2$). The increase in permeation was attributed to changes in the free volume distribution until 1 wt%. After 1 wt%, the permeability was decreased by excess silica which decreased effective area in polymer matrix. The selectivity was decreased with increasing permeability on the whole. However, the selectivity of $CO_2$ showed more enhance value.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.318-323
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• 2014

In order to analyze the effect of maleic anhydride (MAH) content and styrene monomer (SM)/MAH mole ratio on reactive extrusion of maleic anhydride grafted random polypropylenes (MAH-g-rPP), MAH-g-rPPs were prepared by using a twin screw extruder. MAH contents were 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 phr and SM/initiator mole ratio was 0.0, 1.0, and 2.0. Dicumyl peroxide (DCP) was used as an initiator. The graft degree of MAH was confirmed by the existence of carbonyl group (C = O) stretching peak at $1700cm^{-1}$ from FT-IR spectrum. The degree of graft reaction increased up to 3.0 phr MAH and showed the optimum value at 1.0 SM/MAH mole ratio from the area ratio of C = O and C-H stretching peak. Thermal and crystallization properties of MAH-g-rPP and PP/MAH-g-rPP/pulp composites were investigated by DSC, TGA, XRD, and POM. There was a decrease in non-isothermal crystallization temperature of PP/MAH-g-PP/pulp composites. Based on tensile properties and SEM pictures for the fractured surface of PP/MAH-g-PP/pulp composites, MAH content of 1.0 wt% and SM/MAH mole ratio of 1.0 were the optimum formulation as the compatibilizer. The rheological properties of the composites were measured by dynamic Rheometer to compare the processability of the composites with and without compatibilizer. The power law index showed slightly low value at the composites with compatibilizer.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 2008

Biodegradable and elastic poly(L-lactide-co-$\varepsilon$-caprolactone) (PLCL) was electrospun to prepare nanofibers, and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) was then grafted onto their surfaces under aqueous conditions using $^{60}Co-{\gamma}$ irradiation. The graft yield increased with increasing irradiation dose from 5 to 10 kGy and the nanofibers showed a greater graft yield compared with the firms. SEM confirmed that the PLCL nanofibers maintained an interconnected pore structure after grafting with NIPAAm. However, overdoses of irradiation led to the excessive formation of homopolymer gels on the surface of thc PLCL nanofibers. The equilibrium swelling and deswelling ratio of the PNIPAAm-g-PLCL nanofibers (prepared with 10 kGy) was the highest among the samples, which was consistent with the graft yield results. The phase-separation characteristics of PNIPAAm in aqueous conditions conferred a unique temperature-responsive swelling behavior of PNIPAAm-g-PLCL nanofibers, showing the ability to absorb a large amount of water at < $32^{\circ}C$, and abrupt collapse when the temperature was increased to $40^{\circ}C$. In accordance with the temperature-dependent changes in swelling behavior, the release rate of indomethacin and FITC-BSA loaded in PNIPAAm-g-PLCL nanofibers by a diffusion-mediated process was regulated by the change in temperature. Both model drugs demonstrated greater release rate at $40^{\circ}C$ relative to that at $25^{\circ}C$. This approach of the temperature-controlled release of drugs from PNIPAAm-g-PLCL nanofibers using gamma-ray irradiation may be used to design drugs and protein delivery carriers in various biomedical applications.