• Title/Summary/Keyword: polymer melts

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Chain Ordering Effects in the Nematic-Isotropic Phase Transition of Polymer Melts

  • Han Soo Kim;Hyungsuk Pak;Song Hi Lee
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.199-206
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    • 1991
  • A statistical thermodynamic theory of thermotropic main-chain polymeric liquid crystalline melts is developed within the framework of the lattice model by a generalization of the well-known procedure of Flory and DiMarzio. According to the results of Vasilenko et al., the theory of orientational ordering in melts of polymers containing rigid and flexible segments in the main chain is taken into account. When the ordering of flexible segments in the nematic melt is correlated with that of rigid mesogenic groups, the former is assumed to be given as a function of the ordering of rigid mesogenic cores. A free energy density that includes short-range packing contributions is formulated. The properties of the liquid-crystalline transiton are investigated for various cases of the system. The results calculated in this paper show not only the order-parameter values but also the first-order phase transition phenomena that are similar to those observed experimentally for the thermotropic liquid-crystalline polymers and show the transitional entropy terms which actually increase upon orientational ordering. In the orientational ordering values, it is shown that mesogenic groups, flexible segments, and gauche energy (temperature) may be quite substantial. Finally, by using the flexibility term, we predict the highly anisotropic mesophase which was shown by Vasilenko et al.

Electroactive Polymer Composites as a Tactile Sensor for Biomedical Applications

  • Kim GeunHyung
    • Macromolecular Research
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    • v.12 no.6
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    • pp.564-572
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    • 2004
  • Modem applications could benefit from multifunctional materials having anisotropic optical, electrical, thermal, or mechanical properties, especially when coupled with locally controlled distribution of the directional response. Such materials are difficult to engineer by conventional methods, but the electric field-aided technology presented herein is able to locally tailor electroactive composites. Applying an electric field to a polymer in its liquid state allows the orientation of chain- or fiber-like inclusions or phases from what was originally an isotropic material. Such composites can be formed from liquid solutions, melts, or mixtures of pre-polymers and cross-linking agents. Upon curing, a 'created composite' results; it consists of these 'pseudofibers' embedded in a matrix. One can also create oriented composites from embedded spheres, flakes, or fiber-like shapes in a liquid plastic. Orientation of the externally applied electric field defines the orientation of the field-aided self-assembled composites. The strength and duration of exposure of the electric field control the degree of anisotropy created. Results of electromechanical testing of these modified materials, which are relevant to sensing and actuation applications, are presented. The materials' micro/nanostructures were analyzed using microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques.

Strain hardening behavior of linear polymer melts

  • Hong Joung Sook;Ahn Kyung Hyun;Lee Seung Jong
    • Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.213-218
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    • 2004
  • Linear high-density polyethylene (PE) was controlled to induce strain-hardening behavior by introducing a small amount of second component with an anisotropic structure. In order to form an anisotropic structure in the PE matrix, the polymer was extruded through a twin-screw extruder, and the structure was controlled by varying the extrusion conditions. Depending on conditions, the second component formed a film, thread and droplet structure. If the second component was kept rigid, the morphology evolution could be delayed and the second component could maintain its film or thread structure without further relaxation. In par­ticular, the second component of the thread structure made a physical network and gave rise to remarkable strain hardening behavior under high extension. This study suggests a new method that induces strain hard­ening behavior by introducing a physically networked second component into the linear polymer melt. This result is anticipated to improve the processibility of linear polymers especially when extensional flow is dominant, and to contribute to our understanding of strain hardening behavior.

Non-isothermal Effect on the Flow Behavior of Polymer Melts in a Coextrusion Die (고분자의 Coextrusion에서 유동에 대한 비등온 효과)

  • 정인재
    • The Korean Journal of Rheology
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.129-138
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    • 1994
  • 공압출되는 sheet die에서 고분자 물질의 비등온 유동유동을 수치모사하였다. 유변학 적 식으로 power-law model을 사용하였고, 격자생성법을 이용한 유한차분법을 사용하였다. 수치계산을 통해 수축채널에서의 온도 분포를 구해보고 점도가 채널에서의 온도 분포를 구 해 보고 점도가 채널에서의 압력강하 및 신장속도에 미치는 영향을 알아보았다. 압력강하는 외부 유체의 점도 및 heat dissipation의 영향을 크게 받았다. 신장속도는 외부 유체의 점도 가 증가함에 따라 커진 반면 내부 유체의 점도가 증가함에 따라 커진반면, 내부 유체의 점 도증가에 따라 감소하였고, heat dissipation에 의해 증가하였다.

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Fabrication of Nanoporous Carbon Fibers by Electrospinning (상 분리 폴리머 혼합액의 전기 방사에 의한 나노 포러스 탄소 파이버 제작)

  • Kim, Hong-Yeun;Lee, Dae-Hee;Moon, Joo-Ho
    • Korean Journal of Materials Research
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    • v.19 no.10
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    • pp.562-568
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    • 2009
  • Electrospinning is a technique that produces sub-micron sized continuous fibers by electric force from polymer solutions or melts. Due to its versatile manufacturability and the cost effectiveness, this method has been recently adopted for the fabrication of one-dimensional materials. Here, we fabricated polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymer fibers, from which uniform carbon fibers with diameters of 100-200 nm were obtained after carbonization at 800 $^{\circ}C$ in N$_2$. Special emphasis was directed to the influence of the phase separated polymer solution on the morphology and the microstructure of the resulting carbon fiber. The addition of poly(stylene-co-acrylonitile) (SAN) makes the polymer solution phase separated, which allows for the formation of internal pores by its selective elimination after electrospinning. XPS and Raman Spectroscopy were used to confirm the surface composition and the degree of carbonization. At the PAN:SAN = 50:50 in vol%, the uniform carbon fibers with diameters of 300$\sim$500 nm and surface area of 131.6 m$^2$g$^{-1}$ were obtained.

Mathematical Properties of the Differential Pom-Pom Model

  • Kwon, Youngdon
    • Macromolecular Research
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    • v.9 no.3
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    • pp.164-170
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    • 2001
  • Recently in order to describe the complex rheological behavior of polymer melts with long side branches like low density polyethylene, new constitutive equations called the pom-pom equations have been derived by McLeish and Larson on the basis of the reptation dynamics with simplified branch structure taken into account. In this study mathematical stability analysis under short and high frequency wave disturbances has been performed for the simplified differential version of these constitutive equations. It is proved that they are globally Hadamard stable except for the case of maximum constant backbone stretch (λ = q) with arm withdrawal s$\_$c/ neglected, as long as the orientation tensor remains positive definite or the smooth strain history in the now is previously given. However this model is dissipative unstable, since the steady shear How curves exhibit non-monotonic dependence on shear rate. This type of instability corresponds to the nonlinear instability in simple shear flow under finite amplitude disturbances. Additionally in the flow regime of creep shear flow where the applied constant shear stress exceeds the maximum achievable value in the steady now curves, the constitutive equations will possibly violate the positive definiteness of the orientation tensor and thus become Hadamard unstable.

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Measurement of the interfacial tension value for the polymer blends by breaking thread method (섬유사 붕괴 법(breaking thread)에 의한 고분자 블렌드의 계면장력 측정)

  • Son, Young-Gon
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.8 no.5
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    • pp.1211-1214
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    • 2007
  • In this paper, the experimental details of the interfacial tension measurement by breaking thread method, which measures the interfacial tension between different polymer pairs, are described. The apparatus needed are a hot state, which melts the polymers, and an optical microscopy. The measured interfacial tension values are in goog agreement with the literature's values.

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Effects of Melt-viscosity of Polyethylene Mixtures on the Electrospun-fiber Diameter Using a Oil-circulating Melt-electrospinning Device (열매유형 용융전기방사장치를 이용한 폴리에틸렌 혼합물의 용융점도와 섬유직경의 상관관계 연구)

  • Yang, Hee-Sung;Kim, Hyo-Sun;Na, Jong-Sung;Seo, Young-Soo
    • Polymer(Korea)
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    • v.38 no.4
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    • pp.518-524
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    • 2014
  • Electrospinning has gained interests as a polymer processing technique for nanofiber fabrications. It is well known that both polymer solutions and polymer melts can be electrospun. Among them, melt electrospinning is environmentally friendly technique due to the absence of solvent. However, the diameter of melt-electrospun fibers is typically thicker than solution-electrospun fibers. By using a home-made melt-electrospinning device, micron-sized fibers with smooth and even surfaces were electrospun successfully. We demonstrate that low-density polyethylene fibers can be reduced in diameter with a viscosity-reducing additive such as low molecular weight polyethylene monoalcohol and polyethylene wax. The diameter was further reduced by blending it with oxidized polyethylene wax due to polarity increment. Additionally, parameters affecting the diameter were analyzed such as an applied voltage and a spinning distance.

The role of extensional rheology in polymer processing

  • Baird, Donald G.
    • Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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    • v.11 no.4
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    • pp.305-311
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    • 1999
  • The shear behavior of polymers obtained by means of devices such as capillary and cone-and-plate rheo-meters is commonly used to assess their processing performance and as a characterization tool. However, the number of instances when two polymers have the same shear properties but perform differently during certain types of processing operations (e.g. film blowing and sheet extrusion) indicate that shear properties alone may not be sufficient to characterize polymeric fluids. We begin by defining the kinematics of shear-free or extensional flow and the associated material functions. The extensional and shear behavior of three different types of polyethylene (PE) are then compared to illustrate the points that one cannot ascertain the extensional properties of polymer melts from their shear properties and, furthermore, there may not be a simple relation between properties obtained from one type of extensional flow and those of another type. The kinematics of most processing flows are extensional rather than shear in nature, and , hence, the performance of polymers during processes such as fiber spinning, film casting, film blowing, thermoforming, blow molding, and even extrusion is more readily accounted for through extensional viscosity measurements. Methods for carrying out extensional flow measurements are then reviewed including approximate methods. To illustrate the sensitivity of extensional viscosity measurements to subtle changes in the molecular architecture of PEs, results are presented for samples with a narrow molecular weight distribution but with varying numbers of long chain branches. Finally, constitutive equations which allow one to separate shear and extensional flow behavior are discussed as any attempts to simulate the subtle processing differences between two polymers will require constitutive equations of this nature.

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