C. Y. Yue

CO2-laser micromachining of PMMA: the effect of polymer molecular weight

This paper reports an investigation on the effects of laser power and processing speed on the depth, width and surface profiles of microchannels manufactured from polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) of various molecular weights. The CO2 laser employed has a wavelength of 10.6 µm and a maximum power of 25 W. The power used for channel fabrication varied between 0.275 and 2.5 W and the cutting speed ranged from 7.0 to 64 mm s−1. It is observed that the channel depth varies linearly with an increase in laser power at a particular speed. For a prescribed laser power, the channel depth decreased with an increase in laser speed for all the grades of PMMA. The channel width increased with an increase in laser power but decreased with an increase in speed. There is a decrease in the depth of the microchannels with an increase in the molecular weight of PMMA. Though the width decreases with an increase in molecular weights of PMMA, 96.7 kDa PMMA has a smaller width than 120 kDa PMMA which is due to the formation of bulges on the channel rim. The surface profiles of the microchannels were examined by a scanning electron microscope. It is observed that pore formation increased with an increase in molecular weight.

Modeling the curing kinetics for a modified bismaleimide resin

The kinetics of curing for a modified bismaleimide (BMI) has been investigated to ascertain a suitable cure model for the material. The experimental data for characterizing the curing kinetics for a modified bismaleimide resin were determined using a DSC isothermal scan method and indicated a curing mechanism involving multiple reactions. The reaction process was shown to be dominated by a different mechanism at different stages of the cure process, with an initial autocatalytic reaction shifting into an nth order reaction as the reaction proceeded.

Enhanced Molecular Level Dispersion and Interface Bonding at Low Loading of Modified Graphene Oxide To Fabricate Super Nylon 12 Composites

Development of advanced graphene based polymer composites is still confronted with severe challenges due to its poor dispersion caused by restacking, weak interface bonding, and incompatibility with polymer matrices which suppress exertion of the actual potential of graphene sheets in composites. Here, we have demonstrated an efficient chemical modification process with polyethylenimine (PEI) to functionalize graphene oxide which can overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks and also can remarkably increase the overall strength of the nylon 12 composites even at very low graphene loading. Chemical modification was analyzed by various surface characterizations including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Addition of only 0.25 and 0.35 wt % modified GO showed 37% and 54% improvement in tensile strength and 65% and 74% in Youngs modulus, respectively, compared with that of the neat polymer. The dynamic mechanical analysis showed ∼39% and 63% increment in storage modulus of the nanocomposites. Moreover, the nanocomposites exhibited significantly high thermal stability (∼15 °C increment by only 0.35 wt %) as compared to neat polymer. Furthermore, the composites rendered outstanding resistance against various chemicals.

Association Behavior of Star-Shaped pH-Responsive Block Copolymer: Four-Arm Poly(ethylene oxide)-b-Poly(methacrylic acid) in Aqueous Medium

A four arm pH-responsive poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(methacrylic acid) block copolymer was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization technique. The conformation transition over the course of neutralization was investigated using a combination of potentiometric and conductometric titrations, dynamic and static light scattering, and transmission electron microscopy. The multiarm block copolymer existed as an extended unimer at high pH due to the negatively charged carboxylate groups and hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) segments. The block copolymers self-assembled into core-shell micelles and large spherical aggregates that flocculated at low degree of neutralization (alpha). Such behavior is controlled by the fine balance of electrostatic, hydrophobic, and hydrogen bond interactions. The hydrodynamic radius (R(h)) of the aggregates was approximately 84 nm at alpha of 0.3, and it decreased to 63 and 46 nm at alpha approximately 0.2 and 0.1, respectively, as a result of the reduced electrostatic interaction between ionized carboxylate groups. The thermodynamic parameters obtained from isothermal titration calorimetric technique in different salt concentrations indicated that the energy to extract a proton from a charged polyion was reduced by the addition of salt, which favors the neutralization process.

Improved Polymer Encapsulation on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes by Selective Plasma Induced Controlled Polymer Grafting

Surface graft polymerization on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with several grafting mechanisms is nowadays a demanding field of nanocomposites in order to enhance the load carrying capacity, thus improving the overall performance of the composites. Here, we demonstrate the covalent grafting of a sulfonic acid terminated monomer, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid onto sidewalls of MWCNTs via a comparative study between oxygen plasma induced grafting (OPIG), nitrogen plasma induced grafting (NPIG), and nitrogen + oxygen plasma induced grafting (NOPIG) with the aim to identify the most effective process for the preparation of polymer encapsulated carbon nanotubes. From the detail surface analysis, it has been noticed that NOPIG offered much better surface grafting than that of the OPIG and NPIG. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that MWCNTs modified by NOPIG possess much thicker and uniform polymer coatings throughout. From thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the grafting degree was found to be ~80 wt % for the NOPIG sample.

Effect of shear heating during injection molding on the morphology of PC/LCP blends

Fiber relaxation of liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) in the mold during injection molding was investigated. A blend of LCP and polycarbonate was used. The LCP used, namely LC5000, is a thermotropic LCP consisting of 80% and 20% of hydroxybenzoic acid and ethylene terephthalate, respectively. The filling of the mold and the temperature profile of the melt in the mold, after the mold has been completely filled, were computed using the finite element/finite difference method (FE/FDM). The morphology of the fibers was greatly influenced by the temperature of the different layers in the sample. This was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination of the injection-molded specimen. When shear heating caused the temperature of the melt to increase above 280 °C, relaxation of the fibers was rapid. This resulted in a final morphology where the LCP existed in short fibers or ellipsoids. It was concluded that the high shear rate, which is needed for fiber deformation, must be accompanied by fast cooling to minimize the effects of shear heating, so that the fibers formed could be retained.

High performance of cyclic olefin copolymer-based capillary electrophoretic chips.

This paper demonstrates a simple, one step, and low cost surface modification technique for producing cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) polymer-based microcapillary electrophoresis chips consisting highly hemocompatible microchannels by UV-photografting with N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) monomer. An optimal condition has been identified to achieve the best surface grafting process. It has been found that this surface treatment enables extremely high surface wettability, hemocompatibility, and bond strength to the microchannels. The surface grafting was confirmed by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopic (ATR-FTIR) study. In vitro protein adsorption using fluorescent labeled bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA) into the COC microchannel results indicates that the modified chips have excellent protein resistance ability because of the increase of surface hydrophilicity. Hence, the modified chips showed fast, reproducible and high efficient separations of proteins (up to 51,000 theoretical plates per meter). Moreover, this surface modification process show no loss in the optical transparency to the modified microchannel surfaces: an important requirement for real capillary electrophoresis since the fluorescent intensity is directly related to the amount of adsorbed protein on the surface. Therefore, we believe that this simple and promising route of surface modification could be very useful for developing high performance COC microfluidic devices for the separation of proteins, amino acids, and other biomolecules.

Manufacturing of an aluminum alloy mold for micro-hot embossing of polymeric micro-devices

In micro-hot embossing of polymeric micro-devices, e.g. microfluidic devices, the quality of the mold plays an important role in determining not only the product quality but also the overall production cost. Often the mold is made of silicon, which is brittle and fails after producing a limited number of parts. Metallic molds produced by micro-machining have a much longer life; however, the surface finish of the mold is not ideal for producing polymeric devices that require good surface finish. The metallic glass mold produced by micro-hot embossing with a silicon master is a recent development, which could produce high quality and high strength molds with long life span. However, metallic glasses are rather costly. In an attempt to reduce the production cost of the mold with acceptable quality, strength and life span, we explore here the manufacture of an aluminum alloy (AA6061-T6) mold by hot embossing using a silicon master. Using a set of channels to be produced on the aluminum alloy as the benchmark, we examine the orientation effect of the channels on the AA6061-T6 mold produced by hot embossing. Finally, to examine the effectiveness of the AA6061-T6 mold, it is employed for the hot embossing of polymeric (TOPAS 8007) substrates.

Effects of polymer melt compressibility on mold filling in micro-injection molding

In conventional injection molding, the molten polymer in the filling stage is generally assumed to be incompressible. However, this assumption may not be valid in micro-injection molding, since high injection pressure is normally required to avoid short shots. This paper presents both numerical and experimental investigations on the effects of polymer melt compressibility on mold filling into a micro-thickness impression. The study was conducted on six different part thicknesses ranging from 920 to 370 µm. A high-flow COC TOPAS 5013L-10 polymer was chosen as the TOPAS family has recently attracted significant interest for its use in microfluidic applications. A combined finite element/finite difference/control volume approach was adopted to simulate the compressible flow. The shear viscosity of a polymer melt was characterized by the Cross-WLF model, while the melt compressibility was modeled with a double-domain Tait equation. The results obtained indicated that the compressibility of the polymer melt has significant effects on impression pressure and density distribution in the fully filled part with thickness smaller than 620 µm and that the effects become more pronounced with a decrease in part thickness.

Annealing effects on the dynamic mechanical properties of aromatic polyphenylene sulphide fibre reinforced composite

Abstract Polyphenylene sulphide is one of the recently developed aromatic semi-crystalline thermoplastic materials which, unlike conventional thermoset composites, can be hot-worked repeatedly. However, for the same reason, the degree of crystallinity is affected. This paper reports on the effects of annealing temperature and time on the storage modulus and the damping factor, as measured by the loss factor obtained from a three-point bending dynamic mechanical analyzer. Results indicate that quenching decreased the dynamic modulus values, but increased the damping factor significantly. Subsequent annealing had the effect of increasing the modulus values, but reducing the damping factor. A sharp decrease in the damping factor occurred after a critical annealing time, with the critical annealing time increasing with decreasing annealing temperature. A lower annealing temperature process would be more likely to successfully produce materials with a specified degree of crystallinity.