Ai Lu

Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of Fiber/Polylactic Acid Composites and Morphology

The isothermal crystallization behavior of fiber including glass fiber, carbon fiber and basalt fiber reinforced PLA composites was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).The morphology of isothermally crystallized fiber/PLA composites was observed by polarized optical microscope (POM) equipped with a hot stage. The results showed that the presence of fiber greatly accelerated the bulk crystallization rate of PLA and changed the crystalline morphology of PLA from the spherulites to transcrystallization. And the reason for the development of transcrystallization was considered to be relevant to the compatibility of the interface between fibers and PLA.

Microstructure and Properties of Microcellular Poly (phenylene sulfide) Foams by Mucell Injection Molding

A series of microcellular poly (phenylene sulfide) (PPS) foams were prepared by Mucell injection molding. The cell structure, mechanical properties, crystallization behavior and dielectric property of microcellular PPS foams were systemically investigated. The results showed that the longer the length of flow passage of injection mold, the larger cell size of microcellular PPS foams. The injection parameter of shot size played an important role in relative density of microcellular PPS foams. When the relative density of microcellular PPS foam reached to 0.658, the tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength of PPS foam materials achieved 10.82 MPa, 52.99 MPa and 0.305 J/cm2, respectively. Meanwhile, with the relative density decreasing, the dielectric constant of PPS foam materials reduced, while the volume resistivity of its uprated.

Non-isothermal crystalliztion kinetics of poly(phenylene sulfide) with low crosslinking levels

Poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) with different crosslinking levels was successfully fabricated by means of high-temperature isothermal treatment (IT). The crosslinking degree of PPS was increased with IT time as revealed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and dynamic viscosity measurements. Its influence on the non-isothermal crystallization behaviors of PPS was studied by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The crystallization peak temperature of PPS with 6 h IT was 15 K higher than that of the one with 2 h IT at 30 K/min cooling rate. The non-isothermal crystallization data were also analyzed based on the Ozawa model. The Ozawa exponent m decreased from 3.5 to 2.2 at 232°C with the increase of the IT time, suggestive of intensive thermal oxidative crosslinking reducing the crystallite dimension as PPS crystal grew. The reduced cooling crystallization function K(T) was indicative of the larger activation energy of crosslinked PPS chain diffusion into crystal lattice, resulting in a slow crystal growth rate. Additionally, the overall crystallization rate of PPS was also accelerated with the increase of crosslinking degree from the observation of polarized optical micrograph. These results indicated that the chemical crosslinked points and network structures formed during the high-temperature isothermal treatment acted as the effective nucleating sites, which greatly promoted the crystallization process of PPS and changed the type of nucleation and the geometry of crystal growth accordingly.

Dependence of the Avrami Exponent on Supercooling During Nonisothermal Crystallization of Poly(phenylene sulfide)

The nonisothermal crystallization behavior of poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) was studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at various cooling rates. The nonisothermal crystallization data were analyzed by the Ozawa theory. The Avrami exponent n was determined at several constant cooling rates. A notable variable trend of the Avrami exponent with the temperature was found. Within 215–238°C and 243–255°C, the Avrami exponent of PPS increases markedly with the increase of temperature, respectively, while within narrow temperature range from 238°C to 243°C, a sharp decrease of the Avrami exponent can be seen. It has been suggested that the nuclei formation and the geometry of spherulite growth in the nonisothermal crystallization of PPS are strongly affected by the temperature and correlated with the Regime Transition (the regime II→III transition for PPS).

Establishment of Constitutive Model of Silicone Rubber Foams Based on Statistical Theory of Rubber Elasticity

In this study, a constitutive model based on microscopic physical mechanism of silicone rubber foams was established. A theoretical statistical model of rubber elasticity considering the effect of dangling chains was modified to build this model. When a strain amplification factor (X) was introduced, the theoretical model could fit the tensile stress-strain data of mono- and bi-modal foam matrix well (Adj. R-Square = 0.9989, 0.9983). Parameters related to the polymer network, namely, average molecular weight (Mc) and volume fraction (ϕ) of chain segments between adjacent cross-linking points (network strands), were calculated by probabilistic method from the number-average molecular weight (Mn), vinyl content (wVi) of the primary polysiloxanes and percent conversion (q) of vinyl groups. The primary and infinite strain amplification factors (X0, X∞) and decay exponent (z), introduced by X and related to the nanoparticles, were obtained by fitting. Inspired by the fact that the actual strain of matrix was lower than that of the foams’, we introduced another item, strain hysteresis item (H, related with the foam porosity and cell structure), into the statistical model as well. With the same above values of Mc, ϕ, X0 and X∞, the model could also fit the compressive stress-strain data of mono- and bi-modal foams well (Adj. R-Square = 0.9948, 0.9985). Interestingly, the strain hysteresis items of the mono- and bi-modal foams almost completely coincided under all experimental strains, which may be attributed to the almost equal porosity and similar cell structure of the two foams. This constitutive model may connect the macroscopic stress-strain behaviour to the parameters of microscopic molecular structures, promisingly providing a basis for the performance improvement and optimization of silicone rubber foams.