The SPE Library contains thousands of papers, presentations, journal briefs and recorded webinars from the best minds in the Plastics Industry. Spanning almost two decades, this collection of published research and development work in polymer science and plastics technology is a wealth of knowledge and information for anyone involved in plastics.
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Michael Jaffe , George Collins , Anthony J. East , Willis Hammond , Zohar Ophir , Xianhong Feng , Paul Friedhoff, May 2010
Corn (sugars) may be viewed as a chemical feedstock to produce new monomers, polymers and additives for a broad range of chemical intensive industries. Corn based chemicals are attractive because they as generally regarded as safe (GRAS), are a renewable resource and can be made readily available at competitive pricing. Interest is focused on isosorbide which offers molecular geometry and chemical functionality compatible with many existing commercial chemistries. Applications ranging from the creation of new polymer backbones for use as thermoplastics or thermosets to the identification of low molar mass compounds that can act as plasticizers, stabilizers or compatiblizers are under investigation. Of special interest is the impact of asymmetric reactivity, chirality and controlled stereochemistry in the design and performance of new, cost-effective structures with commercial potential. As petroleum becomes more expensive and the assurance of long range, cost-effective supply questionable, creation of alternative chemistries from renewable resources such a corn (glucose) becomes more attractive.
Miguel A. Corona-Rivera , Jorge Flores , Jorge E. Puig , Eduardo Mendizábal, May 2010
In this work the kinetics of microemulsioncopolymerization of styrene-methyl methacrylate usingdodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) wasfollowed on line by low-resolution Raman spectroscopy.Reactions were carried out in a three-mouth reactor at 60oC. Raman spectra were taken every 30 seconds. Becausethe spectrophotometer has low resolution the C=C peakoverlaps with the aromatic ring stretch vibration and curve deconvolution was necessary. Overall conversion obtained by Raman spectroscopy agrees with that obtained by gravimetry. Because the overlap of the C=C peaks ofstyrene and methyl methacrylate it was not possible tofollow the individual monomer conversion by thistechnique.
S.B. Tan, P.R. Hornsby, M. McAfee, M.P. Kearns, M. McCourt, P.R. Hanna, May 2010
The cooling process in conventional rotational
moulding has a relatively long cycle time. It is normally
accomplished by external forced air convection and
external water spray cooling. In some instances, an
evaporative cooler is employed to create atomised fog
external to the mould during the cooling cycle. Internal
water spray cooling is an attractive approach to reduce the
cycle time and enhance the product properties in rotational
moulding. It is shown that water spray cooling of
polymers is affected by water droplet size and water
droplet velocity. This paper outlines an introduction to the
characterisation of water droplets. The effects of these
parameters on water spray cooling of polymers are also
presented, using a purpose built experimental test rig.
With the growing demand for environmentally friendly biorenewable resources, there has been a parallel growth in the development of bioplastics. These include commercially available starch-derived plastics and plastics derived from renewable oil and proteins. As with any plastic, these new materials must often be joined to produce final products. This paper reviews impulse and ultrasonic welding of PLA as well as friction welding of plant protein-based plastics. It was found that each of these plastics can be welded with weld strengths matching the parent material strengths.
S.B. Tan , P.R. Hornsby , M. McAfee , M.P. Kearns , M. McCourt , P.R. Hanna, May 2010
The cooling process in conventional rotational moulding has a relatively long cycle time. It is normally accomplished by external forced air convection and external water spray cooling. In some instances, an evaporative cooler is employed to create atomised fog external to the mould during the cooling cycle. Internal water spray cooling is an attractive approach to reduce the cycle time and enhance the product properties in rotational moulding. It is shown that water spray cooling of polymers is affected by water droplet size and water droplet velocity. This paper outlines an introduction to the characterisation of water droplets. The effects of these parameters on water spray cooling of polymers are also presented, using a purpose built experimental test rig.
The paper deals with methods of measurement of company performance and identification of key factors that influence it. It is based on the results from a research involving managers of selected companies, which took place within the scope of cooperation of the university with a cluster of plastic processing companies. Further in the contribution is presented the possibility of increasing performance of companies using benchmarking tools for the identification of strengths and weaknesses, which affect the company performance. This is shown on a practical example of a cluster activity.
Shih-Po Sun , Montgomery T. Shaw , Mei Wei , James Olson, May 2010
The aim of this study was to investigate the interealtions between the design processing and properties of hydroxyapatite-poly(lactide) composites intended?ÿ as biodegradable bone grafts for joining fractured bone tissues.?ÿ Poly(lactide) fibers were employed to increase the axial strength and toughess of the composite.?ÿ The hydroxyapatite nano rods are also aligned in the axial direction during the pultrusion process to increase the low-strain modulus of the composite.?ÿ The resulting composite with a composition of HA: PCL:?ÿ PLA= 3: 34: 63 (vol%) had a tensile modulus of 6.6 GPa.
Spencer Seung Kim , Bok Hee Kim , Joshua Knies, May 2010
There is a global interest in replacing petroleum based synthetic composites with biodegradable hybrid materials in order to use renewable resources and to reduce the amount of persistent non-biodegradable plastics waste. Fillers (or reinforcements) play an important role to improve various characteristics in biodegradable hybrid composites. Various types of inorganic fillers are used to modify the properties of biodegradable composites in industrial applications. This paper attempts to investigate the effects of inorganic fillers (such as halloysite nano clay and calcium carbonate (CaCO3)) on the mechanical properties (tensile testing) and microstructures of hybrid thermoplastic cornstarch (TPS) material systems.
The textile insert molding technique has been proven to be effective in enhancing the impact resistance of predominantly brittle materials such as poly(lactic acid). In this study, knitted fabrics produced from two different grades of polyester fibers (i.e. amorphous and crystalline fibers) were used as inserts for injection-compression molded poly(ethyelene terephthalate) (PET) substrates. It was found that the textile inserts made from amorphous fibers disintegrated during molding as a result of the high resin temperature.Inserts made from crystalline fibers, however, maintained their integrity and appeared to be more resistant to the resin temperature. Without textile inserts, the neat PET moldings exhibited high impact resistance and yielded considerably without any evidence of radial crack propagation upon fracture.Contrary to expectations, however, the presence of textile inserts did not enhance but instead reduced the impact resistance of the bulk significantly. It is thought that the insertion of textiles had induced notches onto the surface of the moldings, which acted as stress concentrators. This highlights the sensitivity of PET to notches and surface irregularities.
Ionic complexes were prepared by reacting cassava starch (S) or carboxymethyl starch (CMS) with alkyltrimethyl ammonium bromides with different alkyl chain lengths (12, 14, and 18) in aqueous medium. Degrees of substitution (DS) between 0.06 and 0.72 were obtained as the length of the alkyl chain was increased. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Wide angle X-Ray Difraction (WAXS) experiments showed the crystallization of the grafted lateral chain having 18 carbon atoms and it was shown that the introduction of this lateral chain leads to a reduction of water absorption of up to 50% in comparison with the corresponding CMS precursor.
E. Lizundia , P. Landa J.J. González , J. R. Sarasua, May 2010
The non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly (Llactide)
(PLLA) from the melt was studied in presence and
absence of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) by
differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized
light optical microscopy (PLOM). The results indicate that
SWCNT acting as nucleation sites for PLLA
crystallization have a significant effect on all the
crystallization parameters studied: crystallinity index (Xc)
crystallization temperature (Tc) spherulite growth rate
(G) morphology and Avrami’s kinetics parameters (n k
and t1/2). The existence of a critical concentration of
SWCNT that provides the maximum changes in
crystallization behavior of PLLA was determined.
E. Lizundia , P. Landa , J.J. González , J. R. Sarasua, May 2010
The non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly (L-lactide) (PLLA) from the melt was studied in presence and absence of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized light optical microscopy (PLOM). The results indicate that SWCNT acting as nucleation sites for PLLA crystallization have a significant effect on all the crystallization parameters studied: crystallinity index (Xc), crystallization temperature (Tc), spherulite growth rate (G), morphology, and Avramiƒ??s kinetics parameters (n, k and t1/2). The existence of a critical concentration of SWCNT that provides the maximum changes in crystallization behavior of PLLA was determined.
Supaphorn Thumsorn , Yew Wei Leong , Hiroyuki Hamada, May 2010
Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET)
recycled polypropylene (RPP) and CaCO3 were blended
and compatibilized with SEBS copolymer. The effects of
compatibilization on morphological thermal and
mechanical properties were investigated. The results
indicated that the dispersed phase in compatibilized blends
is significantly smaller in size as compared to
uncompatibilized blends. The crystallization temperature
and crystallinity of the blends were affected by the
incorporation of compatibilizers while tensile and impact
properties depended on the content of CaCO3 and
compatibilizer.
Supaphorn Thumsorn , Yew Wei Leong , Hiroyuki Hamada, May 2010
Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET),recycled polypropylene (RPP) and CaCO3 were blendedand compatibilized with SEBS copolymer. The effects of compatibilization on morphological, thermal and mechanical properties were investigated. The results indicated that the dispersed phase in compatibilized blends is significantly smaller in size as compared to uncompatibilized blends. The crystallization temperature and crystallinity of the blends were affected by the incorporation of compatibilizers while tensile and impactproperties depended on the content of CaCO3 and compatibilizer.
Byoung-Ho Choi, Rajen Patel, A. Willem deGroot, Mehmet Demirrors, Kenneth Anderson, May 2010
There is very severe difference of tear property of polyethylene blown films observed depending on the location of tear sampling sometimes. Tear values of some polyethylene blown films are very scattered, and those data are statistically meaningless. Especially, it is known that the formation of haze bands can affect the tear property of polyethylene blown films. So, in this study, for understanding of the variation of tear property of polyethylene blown films, various scientific analyses based on both of fracture mechanics (for macroscale) and materials science (for microscale) are used to analyze the effect of haze bands of polyethylene blown films.
Bernard Chukwuemeka Ogazi-Onyemaechi, Masanori Okano, Yew Wei Leong, Hiroyuki Hamada, May 2010
Talc filled polypropylene (PP) composites filled with different loadings of talc were die-drawn at 15?øC below the melting temperature using different draw rates. The objective was to study the effect of draw rate on polymer orientation and flexural modulus achieved in the presence of particles, along with void growth and deformation. A lower extent of crystalline orientation was achieved in the drawn PP-talc composite with 7.8 vol% of talc than in the drawn composite with 3.5 vol% of talc and in the drawn neat PP. The crystalline c-axis orientation was independent of draw rate over the range studied while the void volume fraction, the mean void aspect ratio and the flexural modulus leveled off only at higher draw rates. The effect of voiding in drawn composites appeared to be offset by the increased orientation in amorphous polymer regions.
Bernard Chukwuemeka Ogazi-Onyemaechi , Masanori Okano , Yew Wei Leong , Hiroyuki Hamada, May 2010
The effect of notches was investigated by introducing
single-edge hairline cracks and V-shaped notches of
different depths on dumbbell samples to ascertain the
fracture behavior at the skin and core parts of virgin and
recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (V-PET/R-PET)
injection-moldings. Investigation shows that the fracture
behavior of the materials responded differently to both
hairline crack and V-shaped notch. Results revealed that a
mere 5?m deep critical hairline crack caused a drastic
change in the fracture behavior of the materials. In
contrast a standard V-shaped notch would only cause
drastic change in toughness at a much higher critical notch
depth of 600?m. V-shaped notch also provided a gradual
transition in fracture behavior from the skin to the core
regions which suggests that the fracture behavior can be
dependent on the skin and core sizes of PET injection
moldings.
Bernard Chukwuemeka Ogazi-Onyemaechi , Masanori Okano , Yew Wei Leong , Hiroyuki Hamada, May 2010
The effect of notches was investigated by introducing single-edge hairline cracks and V-shaped notches of different depths on dumbbell samples to ascertain the fracture behavior at the skin and core parts of virgin and recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate), (V-PET/R-PET), injection-moldings. Investigation shows that the fracture behavior of the materials responded differently to both hairline crack and V-shaped notch. Results revealed that amere 5?¬m deep critical hairline crack caused a drasticchange in the fracture behavior of the materials. In contrast, a standard V-shaped notch would only cause drastic change in toughness at a much higher critical notch depth of 600?¬m. V-shaped notch also provided a gradual transition in fracture behavior from the skin to the core regions, which suggests that the fracture behavior can be dependent on the skin and core sizes of PET injection moldings.
A. Lejardi , E. Meaurio , N. Monasterio , E. Zuza , A. Etxeberria , J. R. Sarasua, May 2010
Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) has been esterified
with lactic glycolic and butyric acids to modify its
compatibility with poly (?-caprolactone) (PCL). The
extent of the chemical reaction in PVA was followed by
13C NMR. The analysis of miscibility of the blends was
conducted by differential DSC FTIR and AFM. Phase
separation was observed by DSC and FTIR suggesting
that auto-association of the H-donor counterpart is a key
negative factor impairing its miscibility with polylactide.
In addition AFM results show a finely dispersed phase of
decreasing size as the extent of the modification of the
PVA increases suggesting improved compatibility for the
modified systems.
A. Lejardi , E. Meaurio , N. Monasterio , E. Zuza , A. Etxeberria , J. R. Sarasua, May 2010
Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) has been esterified with lactic, glycolic and butyric acids to modify itscompatibility with poly (?æ-caprolactone) (PCL). Theextent of the chemical reaction in PVA was followed by13C NMR. The analysis of miscibility of the blends wasconducted by differential DSC, FTIR, and AFM. Phase separation was observed by DSC and FTIR, suggesting that auto-association of the H-donor counterpart is a key negative factor impairing its miscibility with polylactide.In addition, AFM results show a finely dispersed phase of decreasing size as the extent of the modification of the PVA increases, suggesting improved compatibility for the modified systems.
Wade DePolo , Ronald D. Moffitt , Frederick L. Beyer , James M. Sands, May 2010
Flow simulations and coextrusion experiments were employed to characterize layer sequencing effects on the interfacial stability of coextruded five-layered films incorporating ballistic-resistant materials. A simple model of coextrusion was able to rank the relative coextrusion stability of multilayered structures qualitatively in terms of viscosity matching and viscoelastic considerations. However thermal analyses and coextrusion experiments revealed that the overriding factor determining coextrusion performance was the thermal stability and degradation characteristics of the materials utilized to produce the multilayered films. Therefore any predictive analysis of coextrusion should also consider appropriate degradation mechanisms and their affect upon melt rheology.
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Any article that is cited in another manuscript or other work is required to use the correct reference style. Below is an example of the reference style for SPE articles:
Brown, H. L. and Jones, D. H. 2016, May.
"Insert title of paper here in quotes,"
ANTEC 2016 - Indianapolis, Indiana, USA May 23-25, 2016. [On-line].
Society of Plastics Engineers
Available: www.4spe.org.
Note: if there are more than three authors you may use the first author's name and et al. EG Brown, H. L. et al.