• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.288-293
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• 2013

Crosslink characteristics of maleic anhydride-grafted EPDM (MAH-g-EPDM)/zinc oxide composite were investigated by weight losses after dichloroacetic acid (DCA)/toluene cosolvent extraction at different temperatures and by measurement of crosslink densities. The chemical changes were analyzed using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The weight losses by extraction at high temperature ($90^{\circ}C$) were remarkably greater than those at room temperature and those by DCA/toluene cosolvent extraction were greater than those by toluene one by more than 5 times. The crosslink densities were measured after the solvent extraction, and the second crosslink densities were higher than the first ones. The first crosslink density was lower when the extraction temperature was high, and it was much lower for the toluene extraction than for the DCA/toluene cosolvent extraction. The second crosslink density of the sample extracted with DCA/toluene cosolvent was greater than that extracted with toluene. The extracted components were depending on the extraction solvents and temperatures, for example; only strong crosslinked networks were remained when extracting with DCA/toluene cosolvent at high temperature, while only uncrosslinked polymer chains were extracted when extracting with toluene at room temperature. Therefore, crosslink characteristics of the MAH-g-EPDM/zinc oxide composite can be analyzed by comparison of the extracted components according to the extraction solvents and temperatures and by measurement of successive crosslink densities.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.698-706
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• 2019

Over the last few decades, there have been a lot of efforts to develop soft actuators, which can be external stimuli-responsive and applied to the human body. In order to fabricate medical soft actuators with a dynamic precision control, the 3D crosslinked poly(acrylic acid) (PAAc)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels were synthesized in this study by using a radiation technique without noxious chemical additives or initiators. After irradiation, all hydrogels showed high gel fraction over 75% and the ATR-FTIR spectra indicated that PAAc/PVA/PEG hydrogels were successfully synthesized. In addition, the gel fraction, equilibrium water content, and compressive strength were measured to determine the change in physical properties of PAAc/PVA/PEG hydrogels according to the irradiation dose and content ratio of constituents. As the irradiation dose and amount of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) increased, the PAAc/PVA/PEG hydrogels showed a high crosslinking density and mechanical strength. It was also confirmed that PAAc/PVA/PEG hydrogels responded to electrical stimulation even at a low voltage of 3 V. The bending behavior of hydrogels under an electric field can be controlled by changing the crosslinking density, ionic group content, applied voltage, and ionic strength of swelling solution.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.463-471
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• 2014

While poly(styrene)-based anion exchange membranes have the advantage like easy and simple manufacturing process, they also possess the disadvantage of poor durability due to their brittleness. Acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber was used here as an additive to make the membranes have improved flexibility and durability. For the preparation of the anion exchange membranes, a PP mesh substrate was immersed into monomer solutions with vinylbenzyl chloride, styrene, divinylbenzene and benzoyl peroxide, then thermally polymerized & crosslinked. The prepared membranes were subsequently post-aminated using trimethylamine to result in $-N+(CH_3)_3$ group-containing composite membranes. Various contents of vinylbenzyl chloride and acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber were investigated to optimize the membrane properties and the prepared membranes were evaluated in terms of water content, ion exchange capacity and electric resistance. It was found that the optimized composite membranes showed higher IEC and lower electric resistance than a commercial anion exchange membrane(AMX) and have excellent flexibility and durability.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.9-14
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• 2022

Silica aerogel is a porous material with a very low density and high specific surface area. Still, its application is limited due to its weak mechanical properties due to structural features. To solve this problem, a method of complexing it with various polymers has been proposed. We synthesized polyimide cross-linked silica aerogel by the sol-gel process to obtain high mechanical properties. Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) was used as a precursor to make silica aerogel, and 3- aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was used as a coupling agent for cross-linking polyimide. Polyimide was synthesized using pyromellitic dianhydride and 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid, and mechanical properties were improved by crosslinking polyimide with 10 repeating units in the polyimide chain using the reaction formula ${\frac{n_1}{n_2}}={\frac{n}{n+1}}$ To realize silica aerogel, polyimide having various weight ratios was added before gelation, resulting in a 19-fold or greater increase in maximum compressive strength compared to pure silica aerogel. From this study, an enhancement of silica aerogel could be enhanced through polymer cross-linking bonds.