Dinghai Huang

New insights into the fragility dilemma in liquids

A compilation of data for small molecule organic, polymeric, and inorganic glass-forming liquids shows that the original expectation, that there be a positive correlation between the thermodynamic measure of fragility Cpl/Cpg (or Cpl/Cpc) and the dynamic fragility index m, is not generally true. The results are consistent with three classes of behavior: (1) a decrease in m with increasing Cpl/Cpg for the polymeric glass formers; (2) a nearly constant value of m independent of Cpl/Cpc for small molecule organics and hydrogen bonding small molecules; (3) an increasing value of m with increasing Cpl/Cpc for inorganic glass formers as originally considered by Angell.

Dynamic fragility in polymers: A comparison in isobaric and isochoric conditions

The dynamic fragilities of six polymeric materials have been compared for isobaric (constant pressure) and isochoric (constant volume) conditions. Data were taken from the published literature for dynamic experiments performed at elevated pressures. Published pressure–volume–temperature (PVT) data were then used to determine the dynamic response as a function of temperature for both the isochoric and isobaric conditions. It is found that the pressure and volume dependences of the dynamic fragility vary greatly among the polymers for which data were available. For poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) and poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA), the dynamic fragility is independent of the pressure and specific volume and the isochoric and isobaric fragilities are almost the same. On the other hand for poly(vinylchloride) (PVC), polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA), the dynamic fragility is sensitive to changes of pressure and volume and the isobaric behavior is more fragile than the isochoric behavior when referenced ...

Chain length dependence of the thermodynamic properties of linear and cyclic alkanes and polymers

The specific heat capacity was measured with step-scan differential scanning calorimetry for linear alkanes from pentane (C(5)H(12)) to nonadecane (C(19)H(40)), for several cyclic alkanes, for linear and cyclic polyethylenes, and for a linear and a cyclic polystyrene. For the linear alkanes, the specific heat capacity in the equilibrium liquid state decreases as chain length increases; above a carbon number N of 10 (decane) the specific heat asymptotes to a constant value. For the cyclic alkanes, the heat capacity in the equilibrium liquid state is lower than that of the corresponding linear chains and increases with increasing chain length. At high enough molecular weights, the heat capacities of cyclic and linear molecules are expected to be equal, and this is found to be the case for the polyethylenes and polystyrenes studied. In addition, the thermal properties of the solid-liquid and the solid-solid transitions are examined for the linear and cyclic alkanes; solid-solid transitions are observed only in the odd-numbered alkanes. The thermal expansion coefficients and the specific volumes of the linear and cyclic alkanes are also calculated from literature data and compared with the trends in the specific heats.

Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of porogens for the preparation of ultralow-dielectric-constant films

Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of poly(propylene glycol) porogen from poly(methylsilsesquioxane) (PMSSQ) cured to temperatures adequate to initiate matrix condensation, but still below the decomposition temperature of the porogen, is demonstrated to produce nanoporous, ultralow-dielectric-constant thin films. Both closed and open cell porous structures were prepared simply by varying the porogen load in the organic/inorganic hybrid films. 25 and 55 wt % porogen loads were investigated in the present work. Structural characterization of the samples conducted using transmission electron microscope, small angle x-ray scattering, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, confirms the extraction of the porogen from the PMSSQ matrix at relatively low temperatures (⩽200 °C). The standard thermal decomposition process is performed at much higher temperatures (typically in the range of 400 °C–450 °C). The values of dielectric constants and refractive indices measured are in good agreement with the stru...

Equilibrium heat capacity of the glass-forming poly(α-methyl styrene) far below the Kauzmann temperature: The case of the missing glass transition

The absolute specific heat capacity of poly(α-methyl styrene) and mixtures with its pentamer were found to be independent of concentration at temperatures from 240 to 480 K. Extrapolation to 100% polymer yielded the equilibrium specific heat capacity for the polymer at temperatures as much as 180 K below the glass temperature or 130 K below the Kauzmann temperature. We find no evidence of a second order transition or a smeared transition in the equilibrium heat capacity, the entropy, the excess configurational entropy or the enthalpy over the entire range of temperatures investigated. The observations indicate that the Kauzmann paradox must be resolved without invoking a thermodynamic glass transition.

Supercritical CO2 Extraction of Porogen Phase: An Alternative Route to Nanoporous Dielectrics

We present a supercritical CO{sub 2} (SCCO{sub 2}) process for the preparation of nanoporous organosilicate thin films for ultra low dielectric constant materials. The porous structure was generated by SCCO{sub 2} extraction of a sacrificial poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) from a nanohybrid film, where the nanoscopic domains of PPG porogen are entrapped within the crosslinked poly(methylsilsesquioxane) (PMSSQ) matrix. As a comparison, porous structures generated by both the usual thermal decomposition (at ca. 450 C) and by a SCCO{sub 2} process for 25 wt% and 55 wt% porogen loadings were evaluated. It is found that the SCCO{sub 2} process is effective in removing the porogen phase at relatively low temperatures (< 200 C) through diffusion of the supercritical fluid into the phase-separated nanohybrids and selective extraction of the porogen phase. Pore morphologies generated from the two methods are compared from representative three-dimensional (3D) images built from small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) data.

Impact behavior of phenolphthalein poly(ether sulfone) ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene blends

This work presents the structure and impact properties of phenolphthalein poly(ether sulfone) blended with ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (PES-C/UHMWPE) at different compositions. The addition of UHMWPE can considerably improve the Charpy and Izod impact strength of the blends. The fracture surface is examined to demonstrate the toughening mechanics related to the modified PES-C resin

Creating Nanoporosity by Selective Extraction of Porogens Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide/Cosolvent Processes

This work presents a novel approach using supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO 2 ) to selectively extract poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) porogen from a poly(methylsilsesquioxane) (PMSSQ) matrix, which results in the formation of nanopores. Nanoporous thin films were prepared by spin-casting a solution containing appropriate quantities of PPG porogen and PMSSQ dissolved in PM acetate. The as-spun films were thermally cured at temperatures well below the thermal degradation temperature of the organic polymer to form a cross-linked organic/inorganic polymer hybrid. By selectively removing the CO 2 soluble PPG porogen, open and closed pore structures are possible depending upon the porogen load and its distribution in the matrix before extraction. In the present work, two different loadings of PPG namely 25 wt.% and 55 wt.% were used. Both static SCCO 2 and pulsed SCCO 2 /cosolvent treatments were used for PPG extraction. The initial results indicate that the pulsed SCCO 2 /cosolovent treatment was more efficient. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and refractive index measurements further corroborate the successful extraction of the porogens at relatively low temperatures (2000C). For the pure PMSSQ film, the k value is 3.1, whereas it is 1.46 and 2.27 for the open and closed pore compositions respectively after the static SCCO 2 extraction and 430°C subsequent annealing. The reduction in the k-value is attributed to the formation of nanopores. The pore structure was verified from transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and from small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements, the pore size was determined to be 1-3 nm for these films.