Fluorinated polymers are niche macromolecules that play an essential role in modern life. The special properties of fluorine, including among others, a large electronegativity (ca 3.98), low polarisability, small van der Waal’s radius (135 pm) and the strong C-F bond (ca 485 kJ · mol−1), impart unique properties to organofluorine compounds. Flu-oropolymers exhibit a combination of desirable traits, including high thermal stability, low coefficient of friction, chemical inertness, oleo- and hydrophobicity, and low surface tension. Among the fluoropolymers, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and copolymers of vinylidene fluoride (VDF) and hexafluoropropylene (HFP), have found applications in the coatings industry as the binder in exterior coatings. The chemical inertness of poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer, however, prevents disper-sion of pigments into the coating and also inhibits adhesion of the coating onto substrates. An acrylic modifier polymer is typically added to the poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer to improve the dispersion of pigments and the adhesion of the coating. This acrylic copoly-mer is physically blended with the poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer on a macromolecular scale (i.e. it forms a thermodynamically miscible blend). The loading of acrylic copolymer in commercial PVDF coatings is often in the range of 20 to 30 % by weight of polymer solids. Typically, copolymers of methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate and methacrylic esters are employed. Alternative strategies to overcome the adhesion problem include, among others, chem-ical modification of the surface of the fluoropolymer film. This can be achieved by graft copolymerisation or core shell emulsion polymerisation. These methods are used to funcionalise the polymer chains, while maintaining the desirable properties of the parent polymer. Due to environmental regulations, industry focus has shifted towards develop-ing coatings with a low volatile organic compound (VOC) content. Aqueous, low VOC, air-drying coatings can be formulated directly from the acrylic modified fluoropolymer (AMF) latex and have superior properties to solvent based, high VOC, air-dry coatings. Their advantages include low viscosities, reduced flammability, reduced odour and easy application using conventional equipment. A large portion of the aqueous coatings are sold into the architectural market with over 70 % of architectural paints used in the United States being classified as aqueous. Arkema Inc. has developed a commercial aqueous fluoropolymer latex using the method of seeded emulsion polymerisation. VDF and HFP monomers are randomly copolymerised via emulsion polymerisation. This poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer may be used as the seed material in a core-shell polymerisation using acrylic monomers. Kato et al. [49] discloses the preparation of an AMF formulation for poly(VDF-co-HFP) copoly-mer. Preliminary testing of membrane textiles coated with such formulations showed that the AMF coatings degrade under UV irradiation more rapidly than is is expected for poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer. The patent indicates that the nature of the product formed by the emulsion polymerisation is not well understood and the product my be either a graft copolymer of a core-shell system. The aim of this research reported in this dissertation was to shed light on the nature of the final product, and to verify the claims made in the above-mentioned patent. Various acrylic monomers were copolymerised via seeded emulsion polymerisation us-ing commercial poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer as the seed material. The concentration and the ratios of the monomers were varied according to the formulation guidelines in Kato et al.[49]. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and19F NMR spectroscopy was used to de-termine the microstructure of the resultant latexes. ATR-FTIR spectra confirmed the presence of C=C and C=O bonds in latexes. This indicates that unreacted acrylic com-ponents are present. The ATR-FTIR spectra of the films indicated the disappearance of the C=C bonds from the latex, which indicates that the monomers are evaporated easily from the latexes during film formation. The 19F NMR spectra confirmed that no modi-fication of the poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer backbone took place during the reactions. The particle size distribution graphs showed an increase particle sizes and this suggested that some self polymerisation of the monomer occurred. The viscosity of the latexes were lower compared to the due to the experiments being conducted under dilution. The flow characteristics of the poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer was also influenced with some reactions yielding shear thickening latexes as compared to the shear thinning poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymerc. The reactions also yielded latexes which displayed lower and higher surface tensions than the poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer. Therefore, the conclusion may be drawn from this work that core-shell formation occurred during the emulsion copolymerisation, as opposed to grafting of the monomer onto the poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer backbone. The claims made in the literature could not be substantiated; in particluar, the reported improvements in film forming ability were not realised. No commercially useful advantage exists for the emulsion copolymerisation of poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer with acrylic monomers over the solution blending of poly(VDF-co-HFP) copolymer with acrylic copolymers. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Chemical Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness amongst the elderly. Macular pigment (MP) in the retina has been established to protect individuals against AMD. Improving levels of MP by diet or supplements is the constant quest of clinical practitioners and researchers, thus necessitating development of instruments capable of repeatable and reliable MP measurement. Cataract, a consequence of the rising opacity levels of the lens with age is one of the other major causes of blindness in the world. Mapcatsf, a LED-based microprocessor-controlled heterochromatic flicker photometer (HFP) using photopic vision is capable of measuring the levels of MP and the opacity of the lens in terms of optical density. Test-retest measurements conducted on 83 subjects were analyzed for repeatability in macular pigment optical density (MPOD) measurements. Reliability of the lens optical density (LOD) measurements were tested and compared with those obtained at absolute scotopic thresholds for 25 individuals. A supplement study with 32 individuals both in the young (50) age groups for 6 months further established Mapcatsf’s capacity to monitor changing levels of MP in individuals. As an overall outcome, high levels of repeatability and reliability were obtained in MPOD and LOD measurements establishing Mapcatsf as an instrument for use in clinical settings in the future.

<p>Some molecular complexes exhibiting bistability between two different spin states have been subject to vast investigations. Spin crossover and valence tautomerism interconversion molecular compounds are such examples showing this dynamic switching behavior and are a route toward designing molecular devices with a facile readout due to the change in the spin state that accompanies the change in conductance. Due to their extensive potential applications in industry and research, they are among the most interesting topics in spintronics. Spin state switching processes provide the foundation for applications in molecule-based devices. The main goal is to study the parameters that affect the intramolecular electron transfer between different spin states in spin crossover molecular thin films and the electron transfer between the metal center and redox-active ligands in valence tautomer thin films. </p> <p>Because substrate effects are important for any molecular-based device, there are increasing efforts to study the influence of the substrate on spin state transition. While some non-metallic substrates like graphite seem to be promising from experimental measurements, theoretical and experimental studies indicate that 2D semiconductor surfaces will have minimum interaction with spin crossover molecules.</p> <p>In this work, the functionality of two different spin crossover molecules sublimated on the ferroelectric Polyvinylidene Fluoride Hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) layer and 2D Ti3C2 MXene thin film is studied. We report the temperature-dependent spin state transition of spin crossover molecules, [Fe{H2B(pz)2}2 (bipy)], thin films, and valance tautomer [Co(sq)(cat)(3-tpp)2] thin films. Using a UV-Vis spectrometer and a specific lab-built sample holder we were able to perform the measurement at temperatures as low as 90 K and as high as 440 K. Temperature-dependent UV-Vis data show that the transition temperature from the high spin state to the low spin state and vice versa is well below the room temperature. However, for isothermal switching purposes, we designed and fabricated a bilayer device with PVDF-HFP thin films as the substrate to facilitate isothermal switching close to room temperature. The retention of voltage-controlled nonvolatile changes to the electronic structure in bilayers of PVDF-HFP/[Fe{H2B(pz)2}2(bipy)] and PVDF-HFP/[Co(sq)(cat)(3-tpp)2] strongly depends on the thickness of the PVDF-HFP layer. </p> <p>While the electric transport measurement revealed that doping the SCO layer with Ti3C2 MXene flakes can significantly improve the conductivity of the spin crossover molecular thin films, the temperature-dependent UV-Vis measurements represent that the adjacent MXene layer can cause a lock in the given spin state or a change in the transition temperature dramatically.</p> <p><br></p>

Les piles à combustible à électrolyte membranaire utilisent actuellement une membrane perfluorée sulfonée commercialisée par Dupont : la membrane Nafion. L'objectif de cette thèse consiste à préparer des membranes fluorées par modification chimique de copolymères poly(VDF-co-HFP) commerciaux. De part leurs remarquables propriétés, ces copolymères greffés par des amines semblent être d'excellents candidats pour cette application. Une première étude a consisté à réticuler par une diamine aliphatique de tels copolymères conduisant à de bonnes propriétés thermiques, chimiques et mécaniques. L'étude du greffage d'amines contenant un cycle aromatique (aniline, benzylamine, phénylpropylamine) a permis d'une part d'identifier les sites de greffage des amines, mais également d'étudier la cinétique de greffage de ces trois amines et d'évaluer l'influence de divers paramètres expérimentaux. Finalement, l'influence du bras espaceur entre le cycle aromatique et le groupe amino, sur la cinétique de greffage a montré l'intérêt d'avoir au moins deux groupements méthylénés. L'étude suivante concernant la déshydrofluoration puis l'addition de phényléthylamine sur une molécule modèle fluorée a permis de mieux comprendre le mécanisme de greffage des amines sur des copolymères poly(VDF-co-HFP). Une amine originale contenant un cycle aromatique sulfoné a été synthétisée par télomérisation du styrène sulfoné avec un mercaptan comme agent de transfert. Après modification, cette amine originale a été greffée sur des copolymères poly(VDF-co-HFP) commerciaux. Les propriétés des membranes obtenues sont convenables pour une application comme électrolyte pour PAC, même si la conductivité protonique reste faible. Finalement, nous avons étudié le greffage d'un phénol sulfoné sur des copolymères poly(VDF-co-HFP) commerciaux et avons montré des propriétés équivalentes à celles de copolymères greffé par l ‘amine, avec des taux de gonflements à l'eau plus faibles et plus proches de ceux de la membrane Nafion.

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Bluetooth is used in modern cars to connect smartphones to stream music, to access internet and for phone services such as phone book contacts and making calls. Similar features are now requested by customers of maximatecc's products, e.g. display computers, for offroad vehicles. This thesis is aimed to investigate what is needed to support these features in maximatecc's Linux based displays and how the features can be used in a Qt application. For instance, the connectivity features in personal cars most commonly utilizes the Bluetooth profiles: Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) Personal Area Network (PAN) Profile Hands Free Profile (HFP) Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP) Message Access Profile (MAP). In Linux operating system the Bluetooth stack Bluez is used in the lower level implementation. Open source software components recommended to implement the above profiles includes: Obexd (for MAP and PBAP) PulseAudio (for A2DP and HFP) oFono (for HFP) Connman (for PAN) all of which help to implement the top level profiles of the Bluetooth stack needed, easily controlled by a Qt application through DBus. Most of the external software components were not possible to add to the Linux image on the CCpilot VA display during the period of the thesis. Instead some features of the profiles have been tested, through a Qt demo and python test scripts, on a Virtual Machine in an environment similar to the CCpilot VA. All profiles tested had some functionality verified except for AVRCP, which is not supported until later versions of Bluez, not available for the Linux kernel on the CCpilot VA. However, the audio in the HFP only occasionally worked. On the CCpilot VA only PBAP was tested successfully.

Improved fabrication of poly(vinylindenefluoride)-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) thin films is of particular interest due to the high electric coercivity found in the beta-phase structure of the thin film. We show that it is possible to obtain high-quality, beta-phase dominant PVDF-HFP thin films using a direct approach to Langmuir-Blodgett deposition without the use of annealing or additives. To improve sample quality, an automated Langmuir-Blodgett thin film deposition system was developed; a custom dipping trough was fabricated, a sample dipping mechanism was designed and constructed, and the system was automated using custom LabVIEW software. Samples were fabricated in the form of ferroelectric capacitors on substrates of glass and silicon, and implement a unique step design with a bottom electrode of copper with an aluminum wetting layer and a top electrode of gold with an aluminum wetting layer. Samples were then characterized using a custom ferroelectric measurement program implemented in LabVIEW with a Keithley picoammeter/voltage supply to confirm electric coercivity properties. Further characterization using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy confirmed the improvement in thin film fabrication over previous methods.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Improved fabrication of poly(vinylindenefluoride)-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) thin films is of particular interest due to the high electric coercivity found in the beta-phase structure of the thin film. We show that it is possible to obtain high-quality, beta-phase dominant PVDF-HFP thin films using a direct approach to Langmuir-Blodgett deposition without the use of annealing or additives. To improve sample quality, an automated Langmuir-Blodgett thin film deposition system was developed; a custom dipping trough was fabricated, a sample dipping mechanism was designed and constructed, and the system was automated using custom LabVIEW software. Samples were fabricated in the form of ferroelectric capacitors on substrates of glass and silicon, and implement a unique step design with a bottom electrode of copper with an aluminum wetting layer and a top electrode of gold with an aluminum wetting layer. Samples were then characterized using a custom ferroelectric measurement program implemented in LabVIEW with a Keithley picoammeter/voltage supply to confirm electric coercivity properties. Further characterization using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy confirmed the improvement in thin film fabrication over previous methods.