Flexible fillers has recently been implemented as corrosion protection for post-tensioning tendons used in bridge structures in Florida. There are two different explanations why corrosion could take place: 1. water is able to reach the steel 2. Microbiologica l ly Influenced Corrosion. The aim of this research is to evaluate corrosion protection effectiveness of five differe nt microcrystalline waxes under different environmental conditions. Specimens tested ranged from 7-wire steel strands to single wires (12-16 cm). Another aim is the appraisal of wax degradation by fungi species. Single wires coated with each of the investigated protection materials, were sprayed with suspensions of three different fungi species and a mix of them. For single wires, independent of the environmental condition the specimen with more corrosion was Nontribos, as well as the filler coated wires contaminated with Fungi. Fungi species investigated were able to utilize the waxes as carbon source and caused differe nt extents of MIC. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Degradation of the Carbon Fiber/Vinylester (CF/VE) polymer matrix composites due to different electrochemical interactions when exposed to seawater or at high temperature had been experimentally investigated. Water uptake behavior of composite specimen was examined based on weight gain measurement. Three point bending test was performed to quantify the mechanical degradation of composite immersed in seawater with different environmental and electrochemical interactions. Finally, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was used to better understanding of the degradation process in CF/VE composite produced by interactions between electrochemical and different environmental conditions. A detailed equivalent circuit analysis by using EIS spectra is also presented in an attempt to elucidate the degradation phenomenon in composites. / by Md Hasnine. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

In fabrication of nanoparticle-reinforced polymers, two critical factors need to be taken into account to control properties of the final product; nanoparticle dispersion/distribution in the matrix; and interfacial interactions between nanoparticles and their surrounding matrix. The focus of this thesis was to examine the role of these two factors through experimental methodologies and molecular-level simulations. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and vinyl ester (VE) resin were used as nanoparticles and matrix, respectively. In a parametric study, a series of CNT/VE nanocomposites with different CNT dispersion conditions were fabricated using the ultrasonication mixing method. Thermomechanical properties of nanocomposites and quality of CNT dispersion were evaluated. By correlation between nanocomposite behavior and CNT dispersion, a thermomechanical model was suggested; at a certain threshold level of sonication energy, CNT dispersion would be optimal and result in maximum enhancement in properties. This threshold energy level is also related to particle concentration. Sonication above this threshold level, leads to destruction of nanotubes and renders a negative effect on the properties of nanocomposites. In an attempt to examine the interface condition, a novel process was developed to modify CNT surface with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS). In this process, a chemical reaction was allowed to occur between CNTs and POSS in the presence of an effective catalyst. The functionalized CNTs were characterized using TEM, SEM-EDS, AFM, TGA, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy techniques. Formation of amide bonds between POSS and nanotubes was established and verified. Surface modification of CNTs with POSS resulted in significant improvement in nanotube dispersion. In-depth SEM analysis revealed formation of a 3D network of well-dispersed CNTs with POSS connections to the polymer. In parallel, molecular dynamics simulation of CNT-POSS/VE system showed an effective load transfer from polymer chains to the CNT due to POSS linkages at the interface. The rigid and flexible network of CNTs is found to be responsible for enhancement in elastic modulus, strength, fracture toughness and glass transition temperature (Tg) of the final nanocomposites. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The tensile strength of the fiber/matrix interface was determined through the development of an innovativetest procedure.Aminiature tensile coupon with a through-thickness oriented, embedded single fiberwas designed. Tensile testing was conducted ina scanning electron microscope (SEM)while the failure process could be observed.Finite element stress analysis was conducted to determine the state of stressat the fiber/matrix interface in the tensile loaded specimen, and the strength of the interface.Test specimensconsistingof dry E-glass/epoxy and dry and seawater saturatedcarbon/vinylester510Awere preparedand tested.The load at the onset of debondingwascombined withthe radial stressdistributionnear thefree surface of the specimento reducethe interfacial tensile strength. For glass/epoxy, was 36.7±8.8MPa.For the dryand seawater saturated carbon/vinylester specimensthetensilestrengthsof the interface were 23.0±6.6 and 25.2±4.1MPa, respectively.The difference is not significant. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:43:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gisele Stasievski.pdf: 4714308 bytes, checksum: b2c52f5edeedbfaeb8a4ba4c4fc12ff1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-30 / The composites with wood load have been gaining space among the materials of this class because their good mechanical properties, dimensional stability, low cost, and contribute for the environmental factor. For a good adhesion of wood particles in polymeric matrix, a compatibility process are required, because wood have polar characteristic meanwhile polymers have a-polar groups. The process used in this study is a chemical treatment by acetylation, where the purpose is to reduce the polarity of wood and ensure strong adhesion between components. A mixture of equal proportions of acetic acid and acetic anhydride catalyzed by sul-furic acid are the reagents of the pine wood acetylation. The treated wood was processed with polypropylene and infrared spectroscopy was used to analyze composite effective chemical modification. The thermal and mechanical proper-ties were compared to virgin polymer and adhesion between fiber-matrix was ver-ified by microscopic analysis. / Os compósitos com carga de madeira vêm ganhando espaço dentre os materiais dessa classe devido suas boas propriedades mecânicas, estabilidade dimensio-nal, baixo custo, e por contribuírem com o fator ambiental. Para que a adesão das partículas de madeira seja adequada em matriz polimérica se faz necessário um processo de compatibilização, isso porque a madeira possui característica polar e os polímeros grupos apolares. O processo usado no presente estudo tra-ta-se de um tratamento químico por acetilação, onde o objetivo é reduzir a pola-ridade da madeira e garantir adesão forte entre os componentes. Uma mistura de igual proporção entre acido acético e anidrido acético catalisada por acido sul-fúrico são os reagentes para a acetilação da madeira de pinus. A madeira tratada foi processada com polipropileno e espectroscopia por infravermelho foi utilizada para analisar a efetiva modificação química do compósito. As propriedades tér-micas e mecânicas foram comparadas ao polímero virgem e a adesão fibra-matriz foi verificada através de analise microscópica.

Polymer nanocomposites (PNCs), mixtures of nanometer-sized particles and polymeric matrices, have attracted continuing interest over the past few decades, primarily because they offer the promise of significant property improvements relative to the pure polymer. It is now commonly accepted in the community that the spatial organization of nanoparticles (NPs) in the polymer host plays a critical role in determining the macroscopic properties of the resulting PNCs. However, till date there is still dearth of cost-effective methods for controlling the dispersion of NPs in polymeric hosts. In this dissertation, we are dedicated to developing practically simple and thus commercially relevant strategies to controllably disperse NPs into synthetic polymer matrices (both amorphous and semicrystalline). We first investigate the influence of casting solvent on the NP spatial organization and the thermomechanical properties in a strongly attractive PNC consisting of bare silica NPs and poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) hosts cast from two different solvents - methylethylketone (MEK) or pyridine. In MEK, we show that P2VP strongly adsorbs onto the silica surface, creating a stable bound polymer layer and thus helping sterically stabilize the NPs against agglomeration. On the contrary, in pyridine, P2VP does not adsorb on the silica NPs, and the phase behavior in such case is a subtle balance among electrostatic repulsion, polymer-induced depletion attraction, and the kinetic slowdown of diffusion-limited NP aggregation. Using Brillouin light scattering, we further show that in pyridine-cast films, there is a single acoustic phonon, implying a homogeneous mixture of silica and P2VP on the mesoscopic scales. However, in MEK-cast samples, two longitudinal and two transverse acoustic phonons are probed at high particle content, reminiscent of two metastable microscopic phases. These solvent-induced differences in the elastic mechanical behavior disappear upon thermal annealing, suggesting that these nanocomposite interfacial structures in the as-cast state locally approach equilibrium upon annealing. Next, to disperse silica NPs into an energetically unfavorable polystyrene (PS) matrix in a controllable fashion, we have proposed a simple and robust strategy of adsorbing a monolayer of PS-b-P2VP block copolymer onto the silica surface, where the short P2VP block is densely coated around the silica particles and thus helps to reduce the inter-core attraction while the long PS block provides a miscible interface with the matrix chains. As a result, we have found that the silica particles can be uniformly dispersed in the PS matrices at a low grafting density of 0.01 chains/nm2. Even more interestingly, we have shown that the BCP coated NPs are remarkably better dispersed than the ones tethered with bimodal PS-P2VP brushes at comparable PS grafting characteristics. This finding can be reconciled by the fact that in the case of BCP adsorption, each NP is more uniformly coated by a P2VP monolayer driven by the strongly favorable silica-P2VP interactions. Since each P2VP block is connected to a PS chain we conjecture that these adsorbed systems are closer to the limit of spatially uniform sparse brush coverage than the chemically grafted case. Finally, we have examined the interplay between NP organization and polymer crystallization in a melt-miscible model semicrystalline nanocomposite comprised of poly(methyl methacrylate) or poly(methyl acrylate) grafted silica NPs in poly(ethyleneoxide) matrices. Here we have achieved active NP organization at a length scale of 10-100 nm by isothermal polymer crystallization. We have shown that the melt-miscible spherical NPs are engulfed by the polymer crystals and remain spatially well-dispersed for crystallization faster than a critical growth rate (G > Gc ~ 0.1 um/s). However, anisotropic sheet-like NP ordering results for slower G - the NPs are preferentially segregated into the interlamellar zone of the multiscale, hierarchical polymer crystal structure spanning lamellae (10-50 nm), fibrils (um) and spherulites (mm). This NP ordering is found to favorably impact the elastic modulus while leaving fracture toughness unaffected. We thus conclude that polymer crystal growth kinetics coupled to the unusual morphology of semicrystalline polymers represent a novel handle for in-situ fabricating hierarchical, anisotropic NP structures in a synthetic semicrystalline polymer, which could inspire significant applications.

Orientador: Maria Isabel Felisberti / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-27T12:44:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Contar_LiviaBarbosa_M.pdf: 1831028 bytes, checksum: 9dc6aca0cd0794c653af2498ac17227d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: A incorporação de cargas em matrizes poliméricas, visando o desenvolvimento de compósitos e nanocompósitos poliméricos, tem sido foco de intensos estudos e apresentado interesse crescente na área industrial nos últimos anos em função do acréscimo conferido às suas propriedades mecânicas, térmicas e elétricas, dependendo da natureza da carga, e também devido à simplicidade, rapidez e baixo custo na obtenção destes materiais. A associação de cargas de diferentes naturezas em uma mesma matriz polimérica, além de conferir múltiplas funcionalidades ao material, pode contribuir com propriedades sinérgicas, antagônicas ou meramente aditivas. Neste trabalho, foram preparados em diferentes concentrações, compósitos binários de poliamida 6 (PA 6) com argila organicamente modificada, Cloisite® 30 B (C30B) e PA 6 com grafite puro, bem como compósitos ternários de PA 6, argila C30B e grafite, através da mistura mecânica no estado fundido, utilizando extrusora de duas roscas cônicas co-rotacionais, com o objetivo de desenvolver materiais com elevado desempenho mecânico e térmico. Corpos de prova moldados por injeção foram submetidos a ensaios para determinação de suas propriedades mecânicas (ensaios de tração e de resistência ao impacto), térmicas (DMA, TGA e DSC), morfológicas (SEM e TEM) e estruturais (XRD). Tanto os nanocompósitos de PA 6 e argila C30B, quanto os compósitos de PA 6 e grafite, apresentaram maior resistência à tração do que a PA 6 pura, assim como ocorreu com os compósitos ternários. Porém, nestes últimos, foram observados os maiores ganhos na rigidez do material, devido ao efeito co-reforçante de ambas as cargas e suas prováveis interações mútuas que favorecem a dispersão na matriz. As análises morfológicas das misturas binárias e ternárias revelaram a formação de estruturas esfoliadas e de agregados, no caso da argila, enquanto que no caso da grafite apenas se observou partículas correspondentes a agregados de multilaminas de grafeno, mesmo nos sistemas ternários. Apesar disso, contatou-se que a presença da grafite nos nanocompósitos ternários proporciona um aumento da extensão de delaminação da argila. A grafite atua como agente nucleante para a cristalização da poliamida, sem alterar a forma cristalina, no caso a forma 'alfa'. Enquanto que a argila induz a formação da fase 'gama'. / Abstract: The incorporation of fillers in polymeric matrices in order to develop polymer composites and nanocomposites has been highlighted in many works and has showed increasing interest in industrial area in the last years because of enhaced mechanical, thermal and electrical properties, depending on the filler nature, and also because of simplicity, velocity and low costs in the preparation of these materials. The association of different fillers in the same polymeric matrix, beyond multiple functionalities attributed to the material, can also contribute to synergistic, antagonistic or additive properties. In this work, binary composites of polyamide 6 (PA 6) with organic modified clay, Cloisite® 30 B (C30B), and PA 6 with pristine graphite, were prepared in different concentrations as well as ternary composites of PA 6, clay and graphite, through mechanical mixture in the molten state, using a conical co-rotational twin-screw extruder, in order to develop materials with enhaced mechanical and thermal properties. The materials were injection molded to investigate their mechanical (Tensile properties, Izod Impact resistance), thermal (DMA, TGA and DSC), morphological (SEM and TEM) and structural (XRD) properties. Both binary composites, PA 6 with C30B clay and PA 6 with graphite, showed higher tensile properties in relation to pure PA 6, and the same happened with ternary composites. But in these last one the highest gain in the material stiffness was observed, because of the co-reinforcement effect of both fillers and their mutual interations that favoured fillers dispersion. The morphological analysis of binary and ternary systems have revealed the formation of exfoliated structures and aggregates, in the case of the clay, while in the graphite case only particles refered to aggregates of graphene multi-platelets were observed even in the ternary systems. Nevertheless, it was detected that the presence of graphite in the ternary composites promotes an increase in the exfoliation degree of the organoclay. Thermal studies showed that the graphite acts as a nucleating agent for the crystallization of polyamide, without change in the crystalline 'alpha' phase, while the organoclay promotes the 'gama' phase / Mestrado / Físico-Química / Mestra em Química

Thesis (M.S.M.E.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: James Glancey, Dept. of Bioresources Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.

This study focuses on the processing, structure and properties of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/ carbon nanotube (CNT) composite carbon fibers. Small diameter PAN/CNT based carbon fibers have been processed using sheath-core and islands-in-a-sea (INS) fiber spinning technology. These methods resulted in carbon fibers with diameters of ~3.5 μm and ~1 μm (for sheath-core and INS respectively). Poly (methyl methacrylate) has been used as the sheath or the sea component, which has been removed prior to carbonization. These fibers have been stabilized and carbonized using a batch process. The effect of stabilization has been characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A non-isothermal extent of cyclization (Mcyc) from the DSC kinetics study was developed in order to obtain an unbiased method for determining the optimal stabilization condition. The results of Mcyc were found to be in good agreement with the experimental FTIR and WAXD observations. The carbon fiber fracture surfaces have been examined using SEM. Various test parameters that affect the tensile properties of the precursor fiber (both PAN and PAN/CNT), as well as carbon fiber have been studied. In an attempt to validate single filament tests, fiber tow testing has also been done using standard test methods. Batch processed carbon fibers obtained via sheath-core geometry exhibited tensile strengths as high as 6.5 GPa, while fibers processed by islands-in-a-sea geometry exhibited strength values as high as 7.7 GPa.

A liquid crystal (LC) at its boundary surface adopts a preferential alignment, which is referred to as anchoring. The direction of this alignment (i.e., anchoring direction) may be perpendicular, parallel or tilted with respect to the surface. Transitions from one anchoring condition to another may occur when the parameters (e.g., temperature) charactering the surface change, as referred to as anchoring transitions. In the LC-polymer composite systems under our study, the anchoring and temperature- driven anchoring transitions of nematic fluids is very sensitive to the structure of the side chain of poly (alkyl acrylate) matrixes that encapsulate the LC. We have shown that the anchoring transition temperature of these systems can be tuned far below the nematic-to-isotropic transition temperature, by varying either the length, branching structure of the side chains of homopolymers, or the composition of copolymer of two dissimilar monomers. Both sharp and broad anchoring transitions with respect to the temperature range over which a transition occurs were observed. It is postulated that microscopic interactions between the polymer side chains and LC molecules play an important role in determining the anchoring. In particular, the conformation of the polymer side chain is proposed to have important control over the anchoring. Anchoring strength and tilt angle as a function of temperature during the anchoring transitions were also experimentally investigated, which contribute to understanding of the microscopic mechanism for such transitions. Based on the LC-polymer composites with controlled anchoring, a LC display with reverse switching mode and a novel electrically switchable diffraction grating have been demonstrated. The advantages of these devices are ease of manufacturing, low operation voltage, and mechanical stability offered by polymer matrix. Moreover, a detailed study of the director configuration of wall defects found in these composite films was carried out using fluorescence confocal polarized microscopy.