Molecular Simulation of the Water Uptake and Glass Transition of Sulfonated Copolyimides as Polyelectrolytes for Fuel Cell Applications

2004 ◽  
Vol 856 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Hu ◽  
A.T. Hsu

ABSTRACTMolecular dynamics and Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations have been used to obtain the glass transition temperatures and the water uptake for polyimides synthesized from Naphthalene-1, 4, 5, 8-tetracaboxylic dianhydride (NTDA), 2, 2'-benzidinedisulfonic acid (BDSA), 4, 4'-diaminodiphenylether-2, 2'-disulfonic acid (ODADS), and non-sulfonated diamine monomers. The glass transition temperature Tgs of these polyimide copolymers have been determined from plots of specific volumes versus temperatures above and below Tgs. The simulation results suggest that the ODADS-based polyimide membranes have lower Tgs and better mechanical properties than the BDSA-based polyimides, which can be attributed to high mobility of the backbones of ODADS as supported by the vectorial autocorrelation function (VACF) results of this study. In addition, comparisons of the simulated Tgs for ODADS-based polyimides of various degrees of hydration show that water content in polyimides may enhance their mechanical properties by lowering the Tgs. In the case of water uptake of these polyimide copolymers, the GCMC simulation results indicate better water solubility for more sulfonated polymers.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 419-430
Author(s):  
Ankur Bajpai ◽  
James R. Davidson ◽  
Colin Robert

The tensile fracture mechanics and thermo-mechanical properties of mixtures composed of two kinds of epoxy resins of different chemical structures and functional groups were studied. The base resin was a bi-functional epoxy resin based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) and the other resins were (a) distilled triglycidylether of meta-amino phenol (b) 1, 6–naphthalene di epoxy and (c) fluorene di epoxy. This research shows that a small number of multifunctional epoxy systems, both di- and tri-functional, can significantly increase tensile strength (14%) over neat DGEBA while having no negative impact on other mechanical properties including glass transition temperature and elastic modulus. In fact, when compared to unmodified DGEBA, the tri-functional epoxy shows a slight increase (5%) in glass transition temperature at 10 wt.% concentration. The enhanced crosslinking of DGEBA (90 wt.%)/distilled triglycidylether of meta-amino phenol (10 wt.%) blends may be the possible reason for the improved glass transition. Finally, the influence of strain rate, temperature and moisture were investigated for both the neat DGEBA and the best performing modified system. The neat DGEBA was steadily outperformed by its modified counterpart in every condition.


Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Lamya Zahir ◽  
Takumitsu Kida ◽  
Ryo Tanaka ◽  
Yuushou Nakayama ◽  
Takeshi Shiono ◽  
...  

An innovative type of biodegradable thermoplastic elastomers with improved mechanical properties from very common and potentially renewable sources, poly(L-lactide)-b-poly(2-methyl-1,3-propylene glutarate)-b-poly(L-lactide) (PLA-b-PMPG-b-PLA)s, has been developed for the first time. PLA-b-PMPG-b-PLAs were synthesized by polycondensation of 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol and glutaric acid and successive ring-opening polymerization of L-lactide, where PMPG is an amorphous central block with low glass transition temperature and PLA is hard semicrystalline terminal blocks. The copolymers showed glass transition temperature at lower than −40 °C and melting temperature at 130–152 °C. The tensile tests of these copolymers were also performed to evaluate their mechanical properties. The degradation of the copolymers and PMPG by enzymes proteinase K and lipase PS were investigated. Microbial biodegradation in seawater was also performed at 27 °C. The triblock copolymers and PMPG homopolymer were found to show 9–15% biodegradation within 28 days, representing their relatively high biodegradability in seawater. The macromolecular structure of the triblock copolymers of PLA and PMPG can be controlled to tune their mechanical and biodegradation properties, demonstrating their potential use in various applications.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1261
Author(s):  
Catarina S. P. Borges ◽  
Alireza Akhavan-Safar ◽  
Eduardo A. S. Marques ◽  
Ricardo J. C. Carbas ◽  
Christoph Ueffing ◽  
...  

Short fiber reinforced polymers are widely used in the construction of electronic housings, where they are often exposed to harsh environmental conditions. The main purpose of this work is the in-depth study and characterization of the water uptake behavior of PBT-GF30 (polybutylene terephthalate with 30% of short glass fiber)as well as its consequent effect on the mechanical properties of the material. Further analysis was conducted to determine at which temperature range PBT-GF30 starts experiencing chemical changes. The influence of testing procedures and conditions on the evaluation of these effects was analyzed, also drawing comparisons with previous studies. The water absorption behavior was studied through gravimetric tests at 35, 70, and 130 °C. Fiber-free PBT was also studied at 35 °C for comparison purposes. The effect of water and temperature on the mechanical properties was analyzed through bulk tensile tests. The material was tested for the three temperatures in the as-supplied state (without drying or aging). Afterwards, PBT-GF30 was tested at room temperature following water immersion at the three temperatures. Chemical changes in the material were also analyzed through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was concluded that the water diffusion behavior is Fickian and that PBT absorbs more water than PBT-GF30 but at a slightly higher rate. However, temperature was found to have a more significant influence on the rate of water diffusion of PBT-GF30 than fiber content did. Temperature has a significant influence on the mechanical properties of the material. Humidity contributes to a slight drop in stiffness and strength, not showing a clear dependence on water uptake. This decrease in mechanical properties occurs due to the relaxation of the polymeric chain promoted by water ingress. Between 80 and 85 °C, after water immersion, the FTIR profile of the material changes, which suggests chemical changes in the PBT. The water absorption was simulated through heat transfer analogy with good results. From the developed numerical simulation, the minimum plate size to maintain the water ingress unidirectional was 30 mm, which was validated experimentally.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1745
Author(s):  
Tamaki Hada ◽  
Manabu Kanazawa ◽  
Maiko Iwaki ◽  
Awutsadaporn Katheng ◽  
Shunsuke Minakuchi

In this study, the physical properties of a custom block manufactured using a self-polymerizing resin (Custom-block), the commercially available CAD/CAM PMMA disk (PMMA-disk), and a heat-polymerizing resin (Conventional PMMA) were evaluated via three different tests. The Custom-block was polymerized by pouring the self-polymerizing resin into a special tray, and Conventional PMMA was polymerized with a heat-curing method, according to the manufacturer’s recommended procedure. The specimens of each group were subjected to three-point bending, water sorption and solubility, and staining tests. The results showed that the materials met the requirements of the ISO standards in all tests, except for the staining tests. The highest flexural strength was exhibited by the PMMA-disk, followed by the Custom-block and the Conventional PMMA, and a significant difference was observed in the flexural strengths of all the materials (p < 0.001). The Custom-block showed a significantly higher flexural modulus and water solubility. The water sorption and discoloration of the Custom-block were significantly higher than those of the PMMA-disk, but not significantly different from those of the Conventional PMMA. In conclusion, the mechanical properties of the three materials differed depending on the manufacturing method, which considerably affected their flexural strength, flexural modulus, water sorption and solubility, and discoloration.


2013 ◽  
Vol 401-403 ◽  
pp. 563-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Han Li ◽  
Wei Jian Wang ◽  
Yu Fei Chen ◽  
Lei Wang

Containing pyrimidine and pyridine monomers were incorporated respectively into the main chain of a sulfonated polyimide in order to investigate the effect of nitrogen-containing heterocycles on membrane properties such as water uptake and proton conductivity. With increasing content of the nitrogen-containing heterocycles, water uptake of membranes and dimensional changes remarkable decrease. The copolymer showed higher thermal stability (desulfonation temperature up to 330 °C) and reasonable good mechanical properties. These membranes also showed higher proton conductivity, which was comparable or even higher than Nafion 117.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Dislaire ◽  
Yves Grohens ◽  
Bastien Seantier ◽  
Marion Muzy

AbstractThis study was carried out using bleached softwood Chemi-Thermo-Mechanical Pulp to evaluate the influence of Molded Pulp Products’ manufacturing process parameters on the finished products’ mechanical and hygroscopic properties. A Taguchi table was done to make 8 tests with specific process parameters such as moulds temperature, pulping time, drying time, and pressing time. The results of these tests were used to obtain an optimized manufacturing process with improved mechanical properties and a lower water uptake after sorption analysis and water immersion. The optimized process parameters allowed us to improve the Young’ Modulus after 30h immersion of 58% and a water uptake reduction of 78% with the first 8 tests done.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (14) ◽  
pp. 2553-2564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yating Jia ◽  
Weizhong Wang ◽  
Xiaojun Zhou ◽  
Wei Nie ◽  
Liang Chen ◽  
...  

A poly(glycerol sebacate)-based elastomeric copolyesters with improved mechanical properties and higher water uptake capacity.


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