Cooling stiffness

Flexural modulus increases by a factor of five as crystallinity increases from 50 to 90% with a void content of 0.2% however, recovery decreases with increasing crystallinity. Therefore, the balance between stiffness and recovery depends on the appHcation requirements. Crystallinity is reduced by rapid cooling but increased by slow cooling. The stress—crack resistance of various PTFE insulations is correlated with the crystallinity and change in density due to thermal mechanical stress (118). 

All polymers, if really solid, should have moduli above the lowest level we have calculated - about 2 GN m - since they are held together partly by Van der Waals and partly by covalent bonds. If you take ordinary rubber tubing (a polymer) and cool it down in liquid nitrogen, it becomes stiff - its modulus rises rather suddenly from around lO GNm" to a proper value of 4GNm . But if you warm it up again, its modulus drops back to 10 GNm . ... 

Aromatic resins. Fully aromatic resins are used in block copolymer and ethylene copolymer systems. In the former they are soluble in the styrenic end blocks upon cooling where they serve to increase the strength, stiffness, and creep... 

At temperatures above or near the eutectic temperature of the polymer phase, CSEi values are typically in the range of 0.1-2 pFcm-2 [5], However, for stiff CPEs or below this temperature, CSEI can be as low as 0.001 pFcm 2 (Fig. 16). When a CPE is cooled from 100 °C to 50 °C, the CSE1 falls by a factor of 2-3, and on reheating to 100 °C it returns to its previous value. This is an indication of void formation at the Li/CPE interface. As a result, the apparent energy of activation for ionic conduction in the SEI cannot be calculated from Arrhenius plots of 1// sei but rather from Arrhenius plots of 7SE)... 

Nylons are semicrystalline polymers whose properties are controlled primarily by their amide concentration, molecular orientation, crystallization conditions, and the level of absorbed water. As discussed earlier, the level of crystallinity and hence product stiffness, is maximized by high concentrations of amide groups, high orientation, slow cooling, and the absence of absorbed water. 

We can manipulate the properties of nylon products by changing the conditions under which we crystallize them. The degree of crystallinity is increased by slow cooling, annealing, and by crystallization from highly oriented melts. As we increase the crystallinity level, stiffness and yield strength increase at the expense of impact strength. 

The sodium salts of the higher fatty acids are sparingly soluble in cold water but more readily in hot. Dissolve a small piece of soap in the minimum amount of boiling water in a beaker and allow the solution to cool a stiff jelly is formed. 

When polymer melts, rubbers, or elastomers are cooled down below Tg, they may freeze to glasses (noncrystalline amorphous phases). The rotations motions of the chain segments (micro-Brownian motions) are almost stopped now, and the transparent materials become stiff and (in most cases) brittle. 

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