Surface properties of commercial polymer films following various gas plasma treatments

Surface properties of a number of commercial thermoplastic polymer films were investigated before and after brief exposures to RF induced, low temperature gas plasmas. Water wettability and adhesion of vapor deposited aluminum to thin films (8–12 micron) of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polysulfone, polycarbonate, and polyvinylidene fluoride films were studied before and after treatments with oxygen, 96% CF₄/4% O₂, and helium plasmas. Treatment with oxygen plasmas showed the greatest change in water wettability for polyvinylidene fluoride and polypropylene films, while treatment with 96% CF₄/4% O₂ showed dramatic changes in wettability of polycarbonate, polysulfone, and polystyrene. Excellent adhesion of aluminium was found for polymers that had been previously exposed to gas plasmas.     

Laser Specular Reflectance and the Optical rms Roughness of Alumina

Using laser specular reflectance, the optical rms roughnesses (σ₀'S) of 42 polycrystalline aluminas (PCA's) were determined. From these conventional experimental results, a nomogram was constructed so that single grazing angle (α) measurements could be used to predict σ₀. Subsequently, the nomogram was reassessed using five commercially important PCA's and one single-crystal sapphire (SC). The outcomes were twofold: that this nomogram was valid for PCA's over the range of 0.28 σ₀ 0.10 μm, but that the nomogram was invalid for SC sapphire. When the conventional experimental method was compared with the nomogram method at three different single-angle values, a 1:1 correspondence was observed for α= 78°, 80°, and 82°. The present noncontact method is advocated for speed and cleanliness, particularly when a quality assurance method is desired.     

Determination of water in cooked cottonseed meats by a modified indirect conductivity method

Summary The modified indirect conductivities and oven-dry moisture percentages were determined on mine Samples of cooked cottonseed meats (1.8 to 13.9% water). Statistical treatment of the data yields the following results: (1) equation of the regression line, {fx177-1} (2) correlation coefficient, 0.998; (3) standard deviation from the regression line, 0.27% water. Ten replicate determinations made on each of two samples containing 2.7 and 7.7% water showed standard deviations of 0.07 and 0.08% water. These results show that the accuracy and precision of the modified indirect conductivity method are satisfactory for practical applications. For a consecutive series of determinations the average time required per determination was about 9 min. This time could be reduced to about 5 min. by using duplicate sets of stirring apparatus. Describes data obtained in research conducted cooperatively by the Cotton Research Committee of Texas and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station.     

Thermal degradation studies of several pyrrone films

The thermal degradation of several polyimidazopyrrolone (pyrrone) films was studied in air and in vacuum over the range of 100–1000°C. by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), with the use of both isothermal heating and programmed heating rates of 2, 3, 5, and 7.5°C./min. At pressures of 10^?6 torr or less, maximum weight losses average 30% at 800°C. Rates of volatilization and activation energies were derived to provide comparison between these ladder-type polymers. Mass spectrometric analysis of the pyrolysis gases evolved under vacuum conditions showed that CO, CO₂, and H₂O were the primary volatile products and that they were formed throughout the period of weight loss. Approximate correlation between changes in weight and changes in the total pressure for the vacuum tests indicates that mass spectrometric results could provide quantitative as well as qualitative data. The importance of sample history prior to heating and of sample geometry in developing meaningful and reproducible TGA results is aptly demonstrated. The ability of these materials to absorb readily 5–7 wt.-% of water under ambient conditions and the effect of this property upon weight loss measurements are shown.     

Characteristics of the lipase from the mold,Geotrichum candidum: A review

The moldGeotrichum candidum produces an extracellular lipase, readily concentrated by removal of the culture medium in which the microorganism is grown. The lipase is characterized by a unique, but not absolute, specificity for fatty acids containingcis-9 orcis,cis-9, 12 unsaturation, hydrolyzing both regardless of position within the triglyceride molecule. The enzyme also hydrolyzescis-9-16∶1,cis,trans-9,12-18∶2,trans,cis-9,12-18∶2, palmitoyl oleate and cholesteryl oleate. Digested at comparatively slow rates are:trans,trans-9,12-18∶2, double bond positional isomers of 18∶1 (other thancis-9), stearolic acid, oleoylpalmitate, dilinoleoyl phosphatidyl choline, and saturated acids. The enzyme has an optimum pH of 8.2, and the lyophilized powder is extremely stable, retaining activity for at least eight years when stored at-20 C. A purification of 81-fold has been achieved. One of five papers presented in the Symposium “Microbial Lipolytic Enzymes,” AOCS Spring Meeting, New Orleans, April 1973. Scientific contribution 556, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn. 06268.     

High temperature swelling of coal/tetralin mixtures in a high pressure microdilatometer

High pressure microdilatometer experiments were performed on a subbituminous (Wyodak) and a bituminous (Illinois no. 6) coal in helium and hydrogen atmospheres with and without added tetralin. Wyodak coal samples showed no swelling but contractions ranging between 24 and 40 vol% upon heating at 20 and 100 °C min^{− 1} under helium or hydrogen pressures between 150 and 1000 psig (˜1.0–6.9 MPa). Under the same conditions, Illinois no. 6 coals displayed contractions (25–60 vol%) prior to swelling up to 117 vol%. Upon tetralin addition (at 35–190 wt% of the coal), Wyodak coal samples did not swell but showed an increasing contraction with increasing helium or hydrogen pressure due to a slight softening and fusion of the coal particles. In contrast, addition of tetralin at much lower concentrations (5–35 wt%) had a marked effect on the contraction and swelling behaviour of Illinois no. 6. A maximum swelling of 200 vol% was obtained at a tetralin addition of 30 wt%. The increased swelling results from more extensive softening and fusion of coal particles in the presence of tetralin. Both coals showed a decreasing char yield with increasing tetralin concentration. The substantially lower extent of interaction observed between Wyodak coal samples and tetralin compared to Illinois no. 6 coal can be attributed to the differences in pore structure and/or chemical constitution of the two coal samples. Examination of the resultant solids by optical microscopy revealed the microstructural changes produced by thermal treatment in dilatometer experiments.     

Organolithium route to poly(arylsilane)s

Various poly(arylsilane)s The poly(carbosilane)s prepared in this way are of higher molecular weight than when prepared by the Wurtz-type condensation route previously reported. TG shows 40–50% overll weight loss attained at 500–600°C.     

Polymerization mechanisms and molecular weight distribution. II. AIBN-initiated polymerization of styrene at 60°C

An experimental study was carried out on the AIBN-initiated polymerization of styrene at 60°C. The kinetic rate constants were determined by the method of moments and the MWD method, which was proposed in a previous paper. The results compared favorably with the data in the literature and the MWD method was noted to yield more consistent results than the method of moments, which indicates the importance of considering the whole molecular weight distribution. The theoretical MWD was found to approximate the experimental MWD well. The chain-transfer constant to AIBN was found to be between 0.09 and 0.14.     

Theory and experiment on the three-dimensional motion of a freely suspended spherical particle at the entrance to a pore at low Reynolds number

This paper examines the three dimensional approach of a neutrally buoyant sphere of any size to a circular hole in a plane wall at very low Reynolds number. The analysis differs from previous studies, largely applied to the multipore filter, in that the authors investigate the three dimensional hydrodynamic interaction of the sphere with the entrance geometry of the pore in the limit of zero inertia. The problem is first exactly formulated as the linear superposition of fundamental Stokes flows for rotation and translation of the sphere and flow past a stationary sphere. Approximate solutions are then obtained for the deviation of sphere trajectories from fluid stream lines and the results compared with laboratory model experiments in a low Reynolds number settling tank. The theory and experiment show that because of the hydrodynamic interaction sphere trajectories and fluid streamlines deviate significantly as the opening is approached, that all spheres eventually enter the pore regardless of their initial position, but that a non-uniform concentration profile develops with large increases in concentration near the walls of the orifice in the vicinity of the opening. The results provide a basic mechanism to explain the onset of Fahraeus phenomenon for red cells entering small blood vessels and glass tubes.     

Aspects of the Softness and Hardness Concepts of Density-Functional Theory

In the density-functional theory of the ground state of an electronic system there arise the concepts of softness, hardness, local softness, and local hardness. Definitions of these quantities are reviewed, and then local softness and local hardness are discussed in some detail. The local softness of a species, the derivative , is a measure of the chemical reactivity of a site in the molecule. From it can be obtained the total global absolute softness in the sense of Pearson and a normalized chemical reactivity index of frontier type. Several formulas for s( r ) are obtained, including new fluctuation formulas, and its determinative role in chemisorption, catalysis, and frontier-controlled charge-transfer processes is briefly discussed. Local hardness is a corresponding appropriately defined functional derivative η(r) = [δμ/δp(r)]_v(r). Difficulties associated with ambiguities in this definition are discussed and resolved. It is concluded that for most purposes the best working formula for local hardness is , where η(r, r′) is the hardness kernel; , where F[p] is the usual Hohenberg-Kohn functional and f(r) is the Fukui function. With this definition, η(r) = η, a constant which is the global hardness. Just as the chemical potential equalizes in the ground state, so does the hardness. It is demonstrated that hardness can be taken to be an average of orbital contributions.