STUDY ON PREPARATION OF UNIFORM POLYSTYRENE HOLLOW PARTICLES

Uniform polystyrene hollow particles were prepared successfully by employing SPG (Shirasu porous glass) emulsification technique. The oil phase composed of monomer [styrene (St) and N,N’-dimethylamino ethylmethacrylate (DMAEMA)], hexadecane (HD) and initiator was permeated through the uniform pores of SPG membrane into the aqueous phase (containing stabilizer, emulsifier and water-soluble inhibitor ) by a gas pressure to form uniform droplets. The droplets were then polymerized at 70℃. It was found that the hollow particles were obtained by adding a small amount of DMAEMA into the oil phase and by using NaNo2 as the water-soluble inhibitor, while only one-hole particles were obtained without adding DMAEMA, or when using diaminophenylene (DAP) or hydroquinone (HQ) as the inhibitor. The formation mechanism was discussed by the view of interfacial tensions between polymer and aqueous phase, HD and aqueous phase, and HD and polymer. Further more, it was found that hollow particles can be obtained even when DMAEMA content in the oil phase was very low, by increasing HD to high value.

Solid State NMR Study of Polystyrene Nanolatex Particles(I) ^(13)C Spin-Lattice Relaxation Time

C spin-lattice relaxtion times for polystyrene nanolatex particles have been investigated. It was found that the dramatic increase at 80℃ annealing temperature is well below the Tg temperature of bulk polystyrene, the increase of relaxation time of aromatic carbons is larger than that of for aliphatic carbons at transition annealing temperature.

Synthesis of crosslinked polystyrene particles by seeded batch polymerization with monomer absorption

A highly crosslinked, monodispersed polystyrene（PS） particle was prepared by a seeded batch dispersion polymerization with a monomer absorption method. Prior to polymerization, 1,9 lam monodispersed PS seed particles were treated under an optimum condition of monomer absorption. The effects of divinylbenzebe（DVB） concentration and polymerization temperature were examined for styrene（in PS seed）/styrene（in the second stage） mass ratio of 1：1 in the medium range of EtOH/water mass ratio of 100/0-80/20 and 2.3 μm uniform crosslinked PS particles containing 15%-20% （mass fraction） DVB were prepared at 60-70 ℃. The results show that monomer absorption before the second stage of polymerization is more effective to prepare highly crosslinked monodispersed PS particles.

Effects of Water Stress on the Mssbauer Spectrum of Fe^(2+) /Fe^(3+) Components in Cucumber PSⅡ Particles

There were four doublets in the Mssbauer spectrum of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) photosystemⅡ (PSⅡ) particles. According to the value of isomer shift and quadrupole splitting, they represented oxidized cytochrome b559 (Cyt_b559), reduced Cyt_b559, Fe 3+ _quinone (Q) complex, and Fe 2+ _Q complex respectively. After water_stress, the electron transport rate between Q A (primary quinone electron acceptor of PSⅡ)/Q B(secondary quinone electron acceptor of PSⅡ) was affected and the absorption doublets of Fe 2+ disappeared, suggesting that the reduced Cyt_b559 and Fe 2+ _Q complex had been oxidized. The results indicated that water_stress had changed the redox status of iron in the iron_quinone complex. Iron took part in electron transport through the change from a state of reduction to oxidation.

Controlling Shell Thickness of PS/SiO_2 Core-Shell Particles and Their Crystallization into 3-D Ordered Thin Film

PS/SiO2 particles with core-shell structure were synthesized by coating silica on surface of polystyrene(PS) colloidal particles.The reaction parameters,such as initial tetraethyl orthosilicate(TEOS) concentration,water concentration and reaction temperature,have been investigated to control the thickness of silica shells.The shell thickness was prepositional to the square root of the initial concentration of TEOS and first increased with increasing water concentration,reached a maximum at about 2.0 mol/L and then started decreasing beyond that concentration.It was also found that the shell thickness decreased firstly with the reaction temperature added,then tended to a constant.The so-synthesized PS/SiO2 core-shell particles were directly crystallized into 3-D ordered thin film,then sintered at 570℃ into the ordered macroporous thin film.Compared with the conditional method,the present approach avoids repeatedly filling the precursor in the templetes and save time more.

IR STUDY ON MONOMOLECULAR PARTICLE AGGLOMERATES OF POLYSTYRENE OBTAINED BY FREEZE-DRYING OF ITS DILUTE SOLUTION

The monomolecular particle agglomerates of polystyrenes were obtained by freeze-drying of its very dilute solutions of 1.3 x 10(-5)-2.0 x 10(-5) g/mL in benzene:cylcohexane (100:1) solvents, and they were annealed at room temperature for hundred days before use. According to C-13-NMR measurement the polystyrenes should be practically atactic. The number average molecular weights of the samples are 2.80 x 10(3), 2.00 x 10(4), and 1.55 x 10(6), respectively. The freeze-dried aPS with a molecular weight higher than 10(4) show two new IR absorption bands at 1098 and 1261 cm(-1), which are absent in the normal aPS and freeze-dried styrene oligomer. It was also found that the low molecular weight samples can only form powders, whereas the freeze-dried aPS with higher molecular weight form a mixture of powders and fibrils, of which the longer fibrils show a much stronger 1261 cm(-1) band than the shorter fibrils and the powder. It seems that the 1261 cm(-1) band corresponds to the stacking behavior of monomolecular particles.

PREPARATION OF Fe_3O_4/PSt MAGNETIC PARTICLES IN THE PRESENCE OF MAGNETIC FLUID IN ETHANOL/WATER MIXTURE

Fe_3O_4/Polystyrene(PSt) magnetic particles with core/shell structure have been prepared in thepresence of Fe_3O_4 magnetic fluid in ethanol/water medium by dispersion polymeriation of styrene. A Fe_3O_4particle formation mechanism was proposed. According to this mechanism, the size of particle nuclei isdetermined by the extent of aggregation of Fe_3O_4 /oligomer. Magnetic particles with diameter ranging from 5to 200 μm were prepared under different reaction conditions. Some polymerization parameters such as theconcentration of monomer, stabilizer, initiator, and ethanol which affect particle size and size distribution arediscussed and their effect on particle formation are explained by the proposed mechanism.

EFFECT OF PARTICLE SIZE ON THE FILMING PROCESS OF POLYSTYRENE LATEX STUDIED BY AFM

The film formation process of micro-PS particles (diameter 742 nm) and nano-PS particles (diameter 29 nm) was studied by atomic force microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. During a step heating process, the particles were annealed for 0.5 h at each selected temperature. It was found that the deformation and interdiffusion temperatures of the micro-PS particles are ca. 120-130degreesC and 140-150degreesC, that of the nano-PS particles are 90degreesC and 100-110degreesC respectively. The DSC traces of nano-PS particles showed that there was an exothermic peak near T-g after annealing for 0.5 h at the selected temperatures below 90degreesC; otherwise, the exothermic peak disappeared after annealing at 100degreesC or above. Compared with the micro-PS particles, the sintering process of nano-PS particles occurs at much lower temperature determined by the confined state of polymer chains with higher conformational energy in nano-particles, and completes in a much narrower temperature range driven mainly by the larger total surface energy.

Preparation of Fe_3O_4/PS Magnetic Particles by Dispersion Polymerization

Fe_3O_4/PS magnetic particles with core/shell structure has been prepared in the presence of Fe3O4 magnetic fluid in ethanol/water mixture.Magnetic particles with diameter size range from 5. 54 t0 187. 32 μm were obtained by different reaction conditions.Some parameters such as ethanol, PEG and monomer which affect particle size diameter and size distribution are discussed briefly in this paper.

Wettability Control between Oleophobic/Superhydrophilic and Superoleophilic/Superhydrophobic Characteristics on the Modified Surface Treated with Fluoroalkyl End-Capped Oligomers/Micro-Sized Polystyrene Particle Composites

Fluoroalkyl end-capped vinyltrimethoxysilane-N,N-dimethylacrylamide cooligomer [RF-(CH2-CHSi(OMe)3)x-(CH2-CHC(=O)NMe2)y-RF;RF = CF(CF3)OC3F7: RF-(VM)x-(DMAA)y-RF] was synthesized by reaction of fluoroalkanoyl peroxide [RF-C(=O)O-O(O=)C-RF] with vinyltrimethoxysilane (VM) and N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA). The modified glass surface treated with the cooligomeric nanoparticles [RF-(VM-SiO3/2)x-(DMAA)y-RF] prepared under the sol-gel reaction of the cooligomer under alkaline conditions was found to exhibit an oleophobic/superhydrophilic property, although the corresponding fluorinated homooligomeric nanoparticles [RF-(VM-SiO3/2)n-RF] afforded an oleophobic/hydrophobic property on the modified surface under similar conditions. RF-(VM-SiO3/2)n-RF/RF-(VM-SiO3/2)x-(DMAA)y-RF/PSt (micro-sized polystyrene particles) composites, which were prepared by the sol-gel reactions of the corresponding homooligomer and cooligomer in the presence of PSt particle under alkaline conditions, provided an oleophobic/superhydrophilic property on the modified surface. However, it was demonstrated that the surface wettability on the modified surface treated with the RF-(VM-SiO3/2)n-RF/RF-(VM-SiO3/2)x-(DMAA)y-RF/PSt composites changes dramatically from oleophobic/superhydrophilic to superoleophilic/superhydrophilic and superoleophilic/superhydrophobic characteristics, increasing with greater feed ratios (mg/mg) of the RF-(VM)n-RF homooligomer in homooligomer/cooligomer from 0 to 100 in the preparation of the composites. Such controlled surfac

Prediction of Sintering Strength for Selective Laser Sintering of Polystyrene Using Artificial Neural Network

In the present work,a study is made to investigate the effects of process parameters,namely,laser power,scanning speed,hatch spacing, layer thickness and powder temperature, on the tensile strength for selective laser sintering( SLS) of polystyrene( PS). Artificial neural network( ANN) methodology is employed to develop mathematical relationships between the process parameters and the output variable of the sintering strength. Experimental data are used to train and test the network. The present neural network model is applied to predicting the experimental outcome as a function of input parameters within a specified range. Predicted sintering strength using the trained back propagation( BP) network model showed quite a good agreement with measured ones. The results showed that the networks had high processing speed,the abilities of error-correcting and self-organizing. ANN models had favorable performance and proved to be an applicable tool for predicting sintering strength SLS of PS.

“Cutting effect” of organoclay platelets in compatibilizing immiscible polypropylene/polystyrene blends

In this work, polypropylene (PP)/polystyrene (PS) blends with different organoclay concentrations were prepared via melt compounding. Differing from the results of previous reports, the organoclay platelets are mostly located in the dispersed PS phase instead of the interface. The dimensions of the dispersed PS droplets are greatly reduced and apparent compatibilization effect still exists, which cannot be explained by the traditional compatibilization mechanism. A novel compatibilization mecha- nism, "cutting" to apparently compatibilize the immiscible PP/PS blends was proposed. The organoclay platelets tend to form a special "knife-like structure" in the PS domain under the shear stress of the continuous PP phase during compounding. The "clay knife" can split the dispersed PS domain apart and lead to the dramatic reduction of the dispersed domain size.

Synthesis of monodisperse crosslinked polystyrene microspheres

Monodisperse crosslinked polystyrene （CPS） particles were prepared through the normal emulsion polymerization method by adding crosslinker--divinylbenzene （DVB） into the reaction system after polystyrene （PS） particles grew to -80% of the final size. When the amount of crosslinker DVB added was less than 6.17 wt% based on styrene, the prepared CPS particles were spherical and uniform and the size of the CPS particles could be predicted through the normal emulsion method. The glass transition temperature （Tg） of the prepared CPS particles was higher than that of un-crosslinked PS particles and, the more crosslinker that was added, the higher the Tg of CPS Particles. The prepared CPS particles had strong resistance to organic solvents.

Application of Polymerizable Surfactant in the Preparation of Polystyrene/Nano-Fe_3O_4 Composite

Monooctadecyl maleate, as a polymerizable surfactant, was synthesized by the mono-esterification of maleic anhydride and octadecanol, and was utilized to surface-modify nano-Fe3O4 particles. A polymerizable magnetic fluid was obtained by directly dispersing modified nano-Fe3O4 particles into styrene monomer, and the polystyrene/nano-Fe3O4 composite was prepared through free radical polymerization of polymerizable magnetic fluid. The structure and dispersion status in different dispersion phases of modified nano-Fe3O4 particles were studied by Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectrometry, X-ray diffraction （XRD） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, respectively. The experimental results show that the nano-Fe3O4 particles modified by monooctadecyl maleate with the size of about 7-10 nm can be uniformly dispersed into styrene and fixed in the composite during the procedure of polymerization. Thermogravimetric analysis （TGA） and vibrating sample magnetometry （VSM） indicate that the thermal stability of polystyrene/nano-Fe3O4 composite is improved compared to that of pure polystyrene, and the composite is a sort of superparamagnetic materials.

Prediction of long-term creep behaviour and lifetime of polystyrene by linear extrapolation

The universal creep function derived from the kinetic equations is successful in relating the creep (ε) to the aging time (t a), coefficient of retardation time (β), and intrinsic time (t 0). The relation was used to treat the creep experimental data for polystyrene (PS) specimens which were aged at a given temperature and different times (short term) and tested at a certain temperature and different stress levels. Then unified master lines were constructed with the treated data and curves according to the universal equation. The master lines can be used to predict the long term creep behaviour and lifetime by extrapolating to a required ultimate strain. The verifications of results obtained with this method were shown as well.

SYNTHESIS AND PROPERTIES OF POLYSTYRENE/LAPONITE NANOCOMPOSITES

Exfoliated polystyrene (PS)/laponite nanocomposites were prepared successfully. The characteristic d001 diffraction peak of organo-laponite disappeared in the XRD patterns of nanocomposites, indicating that the laponite layers were exfoliated and the ordered crystal structure of laponite was destroyed because of the styrene polymerization. TEM observations showed that the exfoliated laponite primary particles were dispersed randomly in the PS matrix with lateral dimensions from 1 nm to 10 nm. SEM results showed that the PS/laponite nanocomposite particles were almost monodispersed spheres with the size of about 120 nm. Because of the interaction between PS and laponite nanolayers, the nanocomposites exhibited higher thermal stability and glass transition temperature when compared to pure PS.

A METHOD TO QUANTIFY CRAZING DEFORMATION BY TENSILE TESTS FOR POLYSTYRENE/POLYOLEFIN ELASTOMER IMMISCIBLE BLENDS

A method to quantify crazing deformations by tensile tests for polystyrene （PS） and polyolefin elastomer （POE） blends was investigated. The toughness of PS/POE blends, reflected by the Charpy impact strength, increased with the content of POE. SEM micrographs showed the poor compatibility between PS and POE. In simple tensile tests, it is very easy to achieve the ratio of crazing deformation, i.e. K by measuring the size changes of samples. The K values decreased with increasing the content of POE, and the deformations of PS/POE blends were dominated by crazing. The plots of the change of volume （△V） against longitudinal variation （△I） showed a linear relationship, and the slope of lines decreased with the content of POE. Measuring samples at the tensile velocities of 5 mm/min, 50 mm/min, and 500 mm/min respectively, the K values kept unchanged for each PS/POE blends.

Determination of Size Distribution of Nano-particles by Capillary Zone Electrophoresis

A new method was developed for the determination of the size distribution of nano-particles by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). Scattering effect of nanoparticles was studied . This method for the determination of size distribution was statistical.

Phosphatidylserine-positive particles in the apical domain of sensory hair cells

Apical membrane recycling has been proposed to be important for normal hair cell function. The current study reports an in vitro work that demonstrates the presence of phosphatidylserine (PS) and PS-positive vesicles labeled by Annexin V in the apical portion of hair cells. The following characteristics of the PS-positive vesicles were noticed using scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy:(1) variable sizes around 200 nm; (2) variable distribution patterns (either uniformly along individual stereocilia in the hair bundle or irregular) in the stereocilia from cell to cell; (3) variable sizes and numbers at locations along the border of the cuticular plate (CP), with a large number of them located at the vestigal kinocilial location; (4) motility with some of the vesicles during the observation period; (5) increase in PS labeling and the number of PS-positive vesicles after loud sound stimulation; and (6) decreased PS labeling and PS-positive vesicle numbers following treatment with LY-294002, a PI3 -kinase inhibitor. These results suggest that the presence of PS-positive vesicles at the apical area of hair cells may be indicative of vesicle shedding or transportation of a protein or rafts.

An energetic nano-fiber composite based on polystyrene and 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane fabricated via electrospinning technique

Electrospinning is a simple technique used to fabricate polymeric nano-fibrous membranes.These nano-fibers have found a wide range of valuable applications in the biomedical field.However,it has not been utilized with solid high explosives yet.Herein,the electrospinning technique has been used to fabricate polystyrene(PS)/1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane(RDX)composite nanofibers.The governed electrospinning parameters,voltage,distance from the collector,flow rate,mandrel rotating speed,time,and solution concentration,that greatly affect the morphology of the obtained nanofibers were optimized.The fabricated PS/RDX nano-fibers were characterized using scanning electron microscopy(SEM),X-ray diffractometer(XRD),and Fourier Transform Infrared(FTIR)spectroscopy.The impact and friction sensitivities of PS/RDX were also measured.The thermal behavior of the prepared composite and the pure materials were studied by the thermal gravimetric analysis technique(TGA).SEM results proved the fabrication of PS/RDX fibers in the nano-size via electrospinning.FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the existence of the characteristic functional groups of both PS and RDX in the composite nano-fibers.XRD sharp peaks showed the conversion of amorphous PS into crystalline shape via electrospinning and also confirmed the formation of PS/RDX composite.The PS fibers absorbed the heat and increased the onset decomposition of the pure RDX from 181.5 to 200.7℃in the case of PS/RDX fibers.Interestingly,PS/RDX nano-fibers showed the relatively low impact and friction sensitivities of 100 J and 360 N respectively.These results could introduce PS/RDX nanofibrous composite in the field of explosives detection with high levels of safety.