Effects of the matrix crystallinity,dispersed phase,and processing type on the morphological,thermal, and mechanical properties of polylactide-based binary blends with poly[(butylene adipate)-co-terephthalate] and poly[(butylene succinate)-co-adipate]

In this study, we prepared immiscible blends of 75 wt % polylactide (PLA) with 25 wt % poly[(butylene adipate)-co-terephthalate] (PBAT) through an injection-molding (IM) process and a twin-screw extruder (TSE) followed by IM. An amorphous polylactide (A-PLA) and a semicrystalline polylactide (SC-PLA) were used as the matrixes to investigate the matrix crystallization effect on the morphology and property development of the blends with only IM. A blend of A-PLA with 25 wt % poly[(butylene succinate)-co-adipate] (PBSA) was also prepared through IM to compare its properties with those of the A-PLA–PBAT blends. The morphological, thermal, solid viscoelastic, tensile, and flexural properties of the blends were compared, and their dependency on the evolution of the blend morphology was analyzed. The tensile results show that when IM was used as the sole processing technique, the ductility and toughness were significantly improved only when SC-PLA was used as the matrix. Preprocessing through TSE also resulted in the enhancement of the blend ductility. In A-PLA–PBSA, the vitrification of PLA hindered the crystallization of PBSA to very low temperatures (<0°C) and resulted in a very nonuniform structure with weak intermolecular bonding between phases. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47636.     

HPLC analysis of eluted monomers released from dental composites containing bioactive glass

Objectives: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the released residual monomers from composite resins that contain different proportions of bioactive glass (BAG). Methods: Experimental resin composites were prepared by a resin matrix (50% BisGMA and 50% TEGDMA) and inorganic filler with BAG (5, 10 and 30%). Each resin composite was placed in the tooth cavity (n = 5). After polymerisation, samples were immediately immersed in 75% ethanol and 25% deionised water (6 ml) at 37 °C. Residual monomers (Bis-GMA, TEGDMA, HEMA and UDMA) that were eluted from the composites for 10 m, 1 h, 1 d, 7 d and 30 d were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The data were analysed with one-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD at a p < 0.05 significance level. Results: Among the time periods, the fastest released residual monomer was observed in the 10 m elution. The highest amount of released residual monomer from all groups (except the control group) was TEGDMA, whereas this was HEMA for the control group. The amounts of residual monomers eluted from BAG30 were significantly higher than other groups (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The release of the monomer increases in accordance with the increased BAG addition to the composite resins.     

Monitoring the Salt Stability of Layer-by-Layer Self-Assembled Films From Polyelectrolyte Blends by Quartz Crystal Microbalance-Dissipation and Their Ion Separation Performances

Our study is concerned with the development of a novel type of layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembled membrane from a single cationic polyelectrolyte (PE) and blended anionic PEs. Their synthetic seawater stability is investigated as a function of PE type and blend ratios using quartz crystal microbalance-dissipation (QCM-D). These materials adsorbed into multilayers with significant viscoelasticity. Poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(vinylamine hydrochloride) (PVA) based LbL blend films did not show any multilayer decomposition with the addition of synthetic seawater regardless of blend ratio while chitosan based multilayers disintegrated. The flux of PVA based blend membrane to water with 1,000 ppm NaCl was found to be 6.7 L/m².h at 40 bar and the flux properties of the membranes were highly dependent on both the thickness and hydrophilicity of multilayers. Ion rejection can be controlled with the charge of the top layer consistent with a Donnan exclusion approach. Sodium ion rejection of 60.5 layered LbL blend membrane was 98.4% at 40 bar and it was determined that sodium ion rejection improved 110.7% compared to a commercial nanofiltration membrane. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 60:1006–1018, 2020. © 2020 Society of Plastics Engineers