Ufuk Abaci

Mechanical, electrical, and melt flow properties of polyurethane elastomer/surface-modified carbon nanotube composites:

Carbon nanotube-reinforced polyurethane elastomer composites were prepared by melt-mixing. Nitric acid oxidation and silanization were applied to carbon nanotube surfaces to achieve better interfacial interactions with polyurethane elastomer. Tensile and hardness tests, differential scanning calorimetry, melt flow index test, dielectric measurements, and morphological studies of composites were reported. The best results were obtained for surface-modified carbon nanotubes containing composites with lower loading levels. Addition of carbon nanotubes leads to almost two-fold increase in strain and modulus compared to pristine polyurethane elastomer. Tensile strength of composites was also improved by inclusion of carbon nanotubes. However, strength values drop down with increasing carbon nanotube content. Shore hardness increased with the inclusion of modified carbon nanotube to polyurethane elastomer while pristine carbon nanotube caused remarkable decrease in hardness of polyurethane elastomer. Relatively higher melting points and slightly lower glass transition temperatures were observed for carbon nanotube-loaded composites compared to polyurethane elastomer because of plasticizing effect of carbon nanotube. Incorparation of carbon nanotube to polyurethane elastomer matrix caused reduction in melt flow index values due to formation of agglomarates, and n the contrary, surface modifications of carbon nanotube exhibited increase in melt flow index thanks to enhanced interfacial interactions between carbon nanotube and polyurethane elastomer. Significant increase in dielectric constant of composites was observed. Better dispersion of surface modified carbon nanotubes into polyurethane elastomer was also concluded from SEM micrographs of composites.

Synthesis of new 2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)furan-3-carbonitrile derivatives and investigation of the electrochromic properties of homopolymers and co-polymers with EDOT

New 2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)furan-3-carbonitriles as thiophene–furan–thiophene type monomers (2a and 2b) were synthesized by the oxidation of 2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-4,5-dihydrofuran-3-carbonitriles which were prepared by the reaction of 3-oxopropanenitriles with alkenes mediated with manganese(III) acetate using DDQ (2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone). The monomers and their copolymers with EDOT were electrochemically polymerized in acetonitrile (AN)/LiClO4. The electrochemical, spectroelectrochemical and morphological properties of the resulting polymer and copolymer films were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, UV-visible spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. Observed differences in cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis spectroscopy and neutral state absorption (π–π* transition) have been accepted as evidence for the copolymerization. Copolymer films have distinct electrochromic properties according to superposition of the contained polymer properties. In addition the dissolution problem thats causing the instability of poly2b has been fixed with copolymerization. Switch time measurements showed that copolymer films are candidates for ECD applications due to their stability, fast response time and good optical contrast.

Effect of LiClO4 Salt on Dielectric Properties of Acrylonitrile-Methyl Methacrylate and Acrylonitrile-Isobutyl Methacrylate Copolymers

Poly(acrylonitrile-co-isobutyl methacrylate), PAN-co-PIBMA, and poly(acrylonitrile-co-methyl methacrylate), PAN-co-MMA copolymers are synthesized by emulsion polymerization. The structural characterization is done by FTIR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy and thermal analyses are performed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). After various amounts of LiClO4 salt loading into copolymer films, the dielectric properties of these films at different temperatures and frequencies are determined. The effects of different methacrylate groups and salt content on the dielectric properties of copolymers are investigated. It is found that the dielectric constant increases systematically with increasing MMA and IBMA content in the copolymer. The samples with higher salt content show higher ac-conductivities.

Non‐reproducible Electrical Properties Of Semiconductor PVDF‐HFP (Hexafluoropropylenevinylidenefluoride) Copolymer

The I‐V characteristic of carbon black‐filled PVDF‐HFP copolymer has been investigated as functions of electrical field, temperature and time. In addition, the conductivity has been measured by applying fixed voltage at different temperature. Electrical properties of the carbon‐black‐filled PVDf‐HFP have been compared with the electrical properties of pure PVDF and PVDF‐HFP samples. The variation of conductivity with respect to electrical field and temperature has been obtained experimentally. Although the conductivity has been especially increasing with using temperature as semiconductor, it tends to decrease after a certain electrical field. Because of the dipolar structure, the I‐V characteristic of the material has shown non‐reproducible and hysteresis behavior. It has observed that the variation of conductivity as a function of temperature under fixed electrical field followed different exponential ways which depends on time after a certain temperature value.

Evaluation of the (Allyl alcohol 1,2-butoxylate-block- etoxylate)-b-PMMA Copolymers Composition by the Dielectric Measurements

Redox initiated free‐radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with allyl alcohol 1,2‐butoxylate‐block‐etoxylate (AABE) was carried out to yield AABE‐b‐PMMA copolymers at elevated temperatures. The composition of the copolymers depending on the polymerization temperature was qualitatively estimated by the dielectric measurements. It has been seen that AABE segment quantity decreased and PMMA segment quantity increased with increasing the polymerization temperature. The dielectric constant and the dissipation factor of the copolymers were investigated as a function of frequency and temperature. The dielectric constant and the dissipation factor were found to be strongly affected by the polymerization temperature. The highest dielectric constant in all studied temperatures and frequencies was obtained in the case of the copolymer which was prepared at 313 K. The dipolar C‐O and OH groups of the AABE segment have the primary effect on the dielectric constant. The copolymer which was prepared at 323 K, showed the highest dissipation factor near the relaxation temperature of PMMA.