In an effort to be able to use photoinitiators to their maximum potential, the sequence of events that occurs in an ink formulation during the UV curing process has have been studied and information presented to allow more effective formulation. Emphasis has been placed on highlighting the variables that have the greatest impact both on photoinitiator efficiency and on the suitability of individual photoinitiators and synergists for use in particular applications. These variables were found to be photoinitiator thermal stability, UV light utilisation, reaction mechanisms and cure reactivity. A wide range of photoinitiators and synergists were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and thermogravimetric analysis-mass spectroscopy (TGA-MS) to define both their thermal stability and whether under heating they thermally decompose or merely evaporate. Differential photocalorimetry (DPC) was used to determine which wavelengths from a typical medium pressure mercury curing lamp are the most important for providing cure, with both theoretical and practical methods being used to define the extent to which these wavelengths penetrate into pigmented and non-pigmented coatings. A procedure was devised and validated for this purpose. The reaction mechanism and photodecomposition products of a range of photoinitiators were investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and radical trapping experiments. The reaction mechanisms are discussed in terms of available literature knowledge. Evidence is also presented suggesting that, with only particular exceptions, cleavage photoinitiators can also react by a hydrogen abstraction mechanism in the presence of an amine synergist. A real time infrared spectrometer (RTIR) was set up and a method validated for following the UV curing reaction through changes in the acrylate double bond concentration. The advantages and disadvantages of this instrument are discussed in terms of other similar instruments reported in the literature, and the technique subsequently used to measure the reaction rates of a wide range of photoinitiators. Other factors such as photoinitiator concentration, amine synergist type I level and formulation viscosity were also investigated to determine their influence on the cure process.

No description available.

Organic coatings are widely used to lower the corrosion rate of metallic structures. However, penetration of water, oxygen and corrosive ions through pores present in the coating results in corrosion initiation and propagation once these species reach the metal substrate. Considering the need for systems that offer active protection with self-healing functionality, composite coatings containing polyaniline (PANI) conducting polymer are proposed in this study. In the first phase of my work, PANI was synthesized by various methods and characterized. The rapid mixing synthesis method was chosen for the rest of this study, providing PANI with high electrical conductivity, molecular structure of emeraldine salt, and morphology of spherical nanoparticles. PANIs doped with phosphoric and methane sulfonic acid revealed hydrophilic nature, and I showed that by incorporating a long-chain alkylphosphonic acid a hydrophobic PANI could be prepared. The second phase of my project was dedicated to making homogenous dispersions of PANI in a UV-curable resin based on polyester acrylate (PEA). Interfacial energy studies revealed the highest affinity of PEA to PANI doped with phosphoric acid (PANI-PA), and no attractive or long-range repulsive forces were measured between the PANI-PA surfaces in PEA.This is ideal for making conductive composites as, along withno aggregation tendency, the PANI-PA particles might come close enough to form an electrically connected network. Highly stable PEA/PANI-PA dispersions were prepared by pretreatment of PANI-PA in acetone followed by mixing in PEA in small portions under pearl-milling. The third phase of my project dealt with kinetics of the free radical polymerization that was utilized to cure the PEA/PANI-PA mixture. UV-vis absorption studies suggested a maximum allowed PANI-PA content of around 4 wt.% in order not to affect the UV curing behavior in the UV-C region. Real-time FTIR spectroscopy studies, using a laboratory UV source, revealed longer initial retardation of the photocuring and lower rates of crosslinking reactions for dispersions containing PANI-PA of higher than 3 wt.%. The presence of PANI-PA also made the formulations more sensitive to changes in UV light intensity and oxygen inhibition during UV curing. Nevertheless, curing of the dispersions with high PANI-PA content, of up to 10 wt.%, was demonstrated to be possible at either low UV light intensities provided the oxygen replenishment into the system was prevented, or by increasing the UV light intensity to very high levels. In the last phase of my project, the PEA and PEA/PANI-PA coatings, cured under high intensity UV lamps, were characterized. SEM analysis showed small PANI-PA particles to be closely packed within the matrix, and the electrical conductivity of the composite films was measured to be in the range of semiconductors. This suggested the presence of a connected network of PANI-PA, as confirmed by investigations of mechanical and electrical variations at the nanoscale by PeakForce TUNA AFM. The data revealed the presence of a PEA-rich layer at the composite-air interface, and a much higher population of the conductive network within the polymer matrix. High current signal was correlated with a high elastic modulus, consistent with the level measured for PANI-PA, and current-voltage studies on the conductive network showed non-Ohmic characteristics. Finally, the long-term protective property of the coatings was characterized by OCP and impedance measurements. Short-term barrier-type corrosion protection provided by the insulating PEA coating was turned into a long-term and active protection by addition of as little as 1 wt.% PANI-PA. A large and stable ennoblement was induced by the coatings containing PANI-PA of up to 3 wt.%. Higher content of PANI-PA led to poorer protection, probably due to the hydrophilicity of PANI-PA facilitating water transport in the coating and the presence of potentially weaker spots in the film. An iron oxide layer was found to fully cover the metal surface beneath the coatings containing PANI-PA after final failure observed by electrochemical testing. / <p>QC 20141103</p>

Depuis une dizaine d'années, les polymères hyperbranchés sont apparus dans la littérature. Ils possèdent un grand nombre de branchements ainsi qu'un grand nombre de groupes terminaux. La structure globulaire des polymères hyperbranchés les empêche de former des enchevêtrements. Il en résulte un avantage décisif pour leur application sous forme de revêtement de surface: les polymères hyperbranchés ont une viscosité plus faible à l'état fondu que les polymères linéaires. Cela permet aisément de les étaler sous forme de films minces sans utiliser de solvant. De plus, les polymères hyperbranchés possèdent un grand nombre de groupes terminaux qui peuvent être fonctionnalisés avec des monomères photoréticulables. Le but du travail de thèse est d'obtenir de nouveaux revêtements de surface, à partir de polymères hyperbranchés ou de polymères fortement branchés, qui trouveront leur application dans l'industrie chimique. La thèse s'articule autour de trois chapitres de synthèse suivis d'un chapitre traitant de la photoréactivité des oligomères linéaires, fortement branchés, et hyperbranchés. La première approche de synthèse envisagée est la copolymérisation alternante radicalaire. Divers maléimides ont été engagés dans des copolymérisations radicalaires avec des allyléthers sans succès. Lorsque ces derniers sont remplacés par des vinyls éthers, une copolymérisation alternante est observée. Néanmoins, une importante irreproductibilité est constatée, certains batchs donnant lieu à une gélification. La seconde voie de synthèse étudiée est l'approche classique de polycondensation de monomères de type AB2 . Le monomère AB2 est obtenu par addition de Michael de la diéthanolamine sur l'acrylate de méthyle. La polycondensation est concomitante avec l'acrylation des fonctions alcools. La compétition entre ces deux réactions limite les masses molaires accessibles bien que les réactions de transestérification soient catalysées par des dérivés du Zr et que la stoechiométrie ait été variée. La troisième voie de synthèse se base aussi sur la réaction de Michael. Des oligomères fortement branchés sont obtenus à partir de 1,6-hexanedioldiacrylate et d'éthylènediamine. Leurs analogues linéaires sont synthétisés en remplaçant l'éthylènediamine par la propylamine. Lors de ces synthèses, il est apparu que les oligomères fortement branchés ont une viscosité supérieure à celle des oligomères linéaires! Les oligomères hyperbranchés et acrylés, les oligomères linéaires et leurs analogues fortement branchés ont été étudiés du point de vue de leur photoréticulation sous rayonnement UV. Contrairement à ce qui était attendu, ils se sont montrés moins réactifs que les produits les plus performants de Cytec-Surface Specialties. Lors de cette étude, l'effet bénéfique des mines tertiaires sur l'inhibition par l'oxygène est apparu plus complexe que décrit dans la littérature.

Focused Ion Beam (FIB) has several advantages such as high sensitivity, high material removal rates, low forward scattering and directing fabrication. Without any etched mask, processing time can be reduced. Pyrex glass etched by FIB is used for fast fabrication of 3-D submicron structure mold. In this study, glass is used as substrate. The UV-cured resin that spin-coated onto a mold has 3-D structure patterns. 3-D structure patterns are transferred on the plate to investigate the effects of parameters of UV cured, pressure and exposure time on the occurrence of defects. The relationship of these processing parameters for the imprinting process is also realized. Besides, the material property of UV-cured resin is investigated. UV-Cured resin is investigated by thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) to measure the degradation temperature (Td). The hardness and modulus of UV-Cured resin was measured by nanoindentation to realize deformed ability of material for the imprinting process. Moreover, the contact angle of Pyrex glass is measured to investigate its surface quality for the imprint process.

Cellulose-based materials are widely used in a number of important applications (e.g. paper, wood, textiles). Additional developments are suggested by the growing interest for natural fibre-based composite and nanocomposite materials. The motivation is not only in the economic and ecological benefits, but is also related to advantageous properties and characteristics. The objective of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of process-structure-property relationships in some novel cellulose network materials with advanced functionalities, and showing potential large-scale processability. An important result is the favourable combination of mechanical properties observed for network-based cellulose materials. Compression-moulding of cellulose pulp fibres under high pressure (45 MPa) and elevated temperature (120 – 180 oC) provides an environmentally friendly process for preparation of stiff and strong cellulose composite plates. The structure of these materials is characterized at multiple scales (molecular, supra-molecular and microscale). These observations are related to measured reduction in water retention ability and improvement in mechanical properties. In a second part, cellulose nanofibrils (NFC) are functionalized with in-situ precipitated magnetic nanoparticles and formed into dense nanocomposite materials with high inorganic content. The precipitation conditions influence particle size distributions, which in turn affect the magnetic properties of the material. Besides, the decorated NFC network provides high stiffness, strength and toughness to materials with very high nanoparticle loading (up to 50 vol.%). Subsequently, a method for impregnation of wet NFC network templates with a thermosetting epoxy resin is developed, enabling the preparation of well-dispersed epoxy-NFC nanocomposites with high ductility and moisture durable mechanical properties. Furthermore, cellulose fibrils interact positively with the epoxy during curing (covalent bond formation and accelerated curing). Potential large scale development of epoxy-NFC and magnetic nanocomposites is further demonstrated with the manufacturing of 3D shaped compression-moulded objects. Finally, the wet impregnation route developed for epoxy is adapted to prepare UV-curable NFC nanocomposite films with a hyperbranched polymer matrix. Different chemical modifications are applied to the NFC in order to obtain moisture durable oxygen barrier properties. / <p>QC 20131111</p>

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Grain Science and Industry / X. Susan Sun / A demand in sustainable polymers has been increased because of the environment concerns and saving finite petroleum resources. Plant oils are promising renewable resources to produce environmentally friendly polymer applications. Soybean oil-based resins such as epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) have been well-known functionalized plant oils, but relatively low performances of their polymers and a competition with food production have been disadvantages. Thus, in this study, we designed new plant oil-based acrylates using non-food resources and achieved excellent properties of the acrylates for coatings and thermoset applications. Firstly, we developed coating materials with high mechanical, thermal and coating performances using acrylated epoxidized camelina oil (AECO) as a main acrylate monomer with various meth(acrylates) as reactive diluents Next, acrylated epoxidized cardanol modified fatty acids from camelina oil (AECFA) was successfully synthesized, and a phenolic structure with long aliphatic side chains with acrylic groups was obtained. The novel structure of AECFA provided rigidity into its polymer maintained with flexibility, and AECFA coating material showed better performances in terms of all properties such as mechanical, thermal, viscoelastic, and coating performances, as compared to commercial AESO resin. Finally, acrylated epoxidized allyl 10-undecenoate (AEAU) was developed from 10-undecenoic acid, castor oil derivative. The single fatty ester structure with di-functional acrylates of AEAU had very lower viscosity and showed better thermoset performances than those of triglyceride-based acrylates such as AESO and AECO. Thus, AEAU had a potential to an alternative to AESO for thermoset applications.

No description available.

Diplomová práce je zaměřena na přípravu koloidních suspenzí, vytvrditelných UV zářením, jenž jsou určeny k 3D tisku komplexních keramických vláknových struktur. Rovněž jsou v práci představeny techniky následného tvarování vytisknutých a vytvrzených struktur. Z hydroxyapatitu ve formě prášku a komponent, vytvrditelných UV zářením, byly vytvořeny pasty, určené k 3D tisku komplexních keramických vláknových struktur a multivrstev. U takto vytisknutých a vytvrzených struktur bylo navíc dosaženo zlepšení kvality povrchu a soudržnosti vláken. Pro výrobu past, určených k 3D tisku, s vhodnými reologickými vlastnostmi je nezbytné důkladné pochopení interakcí mezi částicemi, surfaktantem a monomerní/oligomerní směsí. Za použití lineárních a zesíťujících oligomerů jako disperzního média vznikají po tisku a UV vytvrzení velmi flexibilní vláknové mřížky, které lze dále tvarovat a takto vytvářet rozmanité struktury. Tyto struktury jsou následně slinuty, bez významných vad na povrchu či delaminace vrstev, za vzniku složitých keramických těles. Vysoké kvality povrchu je dosaženo UV vytvrzením vytisknutých struktur v argonové atmosféře, která brání kyslíkové inhibici radikálů v blízkosti povrchu vláken. Výhody kombinace 3D tisku s UV vytvrzováním jsou demonstrovány v této práci za užití dvouvrstvých flexibilních struktur, určených k následným metodám 3D tvarování. Takto vytvořených složitých 3D struktur je jen velmi obtížné, ne-li nemožné, dosáhnout pouze užitím přímého 3D tisku. Na základě této práce může být v budoucnu odvozena univerzální teorie k přípravě past, určených k 3D tisku komplexních keramických struktur pro různé aplikace.