Huatang Cao

Copper-mediated Homogeneous Living Radical Polymerization of Acrylamide with Waxy Potato Starch-based Macroinitiator

Cu0-mediated living radical polymerization (Cu0-mediated LRP) was employed in this research for the synthesis of starch-g-polyacrylamide (St-g-PAM). The use of a controlled radical grafting technique is necessary, as compared to the traditional free-radical polymerization methods, in order to obtain a well-defined structure of the final product. This is in turn essential for studying the relationship between such structure and the end-properties. Waxy potato starch-based water-soluble macroinitiator was first synthesized by esterification with 2-bromopropionyl bromide in the mixture of dimethylacetamide and lithium chloride. With the obtained macroinitiator, St-g-PAM was homogeneously synthesized by aqueous Cu0-mediated LRP using CuBr/hexamethylated tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (Me6Tren) as catalyst. The successful synthesis of the macroinitiator and St-g-PAM was proved by NMR, FT-IR, SEM, XRD and TGA analysis. The molecular weight and polydispersity of PAM chains were analyzed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) after hydrolyzing the starch backbone. Monomer conversion was monitored by gas chromatography (GC), on the basis of which the kinetics were determined. A preliminarily rheological study was performed on aqueous solutions of the prepared materials.

Plasma transferred arc surface alloying of Cr-Ni-Mo powders on compacted graphite iron

A Cr-Ni-Mo overlayer was deposited on the surface of compacted graphite iron (CGI) by the plasma transferred are (PTA) alloying technique. The microstructure of Cr-Ni-Mo overlayer was characterized by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Results show that the cross-section consists of four regions: alloying zone (AZ), molten zone (MZ), heat affected zone (HAZ), and the substrate (SUB). The microstructure of AZ mainly consists of cellular γ-(Fe,Ni) solid solution, residual austenite and a network of eutectic Cr7C3 carbide while the MZ area has a typical feature of white cast iron (M3 C-type cementite). The martensite/ledeburite double shells are observed in the HAZ. With decreasing the concentration of Cr-Ni-Mo alloys, the fracture mode changes from ductile in the AZ to brittle in the MZ. The maximum hardness of the AZ (450 HV0.2) is lower than that of the MZ (800 HV0.2). The eutectic M3 C and M7 C3 carbides increase the microhardness, while the austenite decreases that of the AZ.

Hard-yet-tough high-vanadium high-speed steel composite coating in-situ alloyed on ductile iron by atmospheric plasma arc

A graded high-vanadium alloy composite coating was synthesized from premixed powders (V, Cr, Ti, Mo, Nb) on ductile iron (DI) substrate via atmospheric plasma arc surface alloying process. The resulted cross-section microstructure is divided into three distinct zones: upper alloyed zone (AZ) rich with spherical primary carbides, middle melted zone (MZ) with fine white iron structure and lower heat affected zone (HAZ). Spherical or bulk-like primary carbides with diameter < 1 μmin the AZ are formed via in-situ reactions between alloy powders and graphite in DI. Microstructural characterizations indicate that the carbides are primarily MC-type (M=V, Ti, Nb) carbides combined with mixed hardphases such as M 2C, M7C3, M23C6, and martensite. Disperse distribution of spherical, submicron-sized metal carbides in an austenite/ledeburite matrix render the graded coating hard-yet-tough. The maximum microhardness of the upper alloyed zone is 950 HV0.2, which is five times that of the substrate. Significant plastic deformation with no cracking in the micro-indentations points to a high toughness. The graded high-vanadium alloy composite coating exhibits superior tribological performance in comparison to Mn13 steel and plasma transferred arc remelted DI.