Dispersions particle processing

Dispersion Processing. A commercial aqueous dispersion of Teflon PEA 335 contains more than 50 wt % PEA particles, about 5 wt % surfactants and fillers. This dispersion is processed by the same technique as for PTEE dispersion. It is used for coating various surfaces, including metal, glass, and glass fabrics. A thin layer of Teflon PEA coating can also serve as an adhesive layer for PTEE topcoat. 

Emulsion Polymerization. When the U.S. supply of natural mbber from the Far East was cut off in World War II, the emulsion polymerization process was developed to produce synthetic mbber. In this complex process, the organic monomer is emulsified with soap in an aqueous continuous phase. Because of the much smaller (<0.1 jira) dispersed particles than in suspension polymerization and the stabilizing action of the soap, a proper emulsion is stable, so agitation is not as critical. In classical emulsion polymerization, a water-soluble initiator is used. This, together with the small particle size, gives rise to very different kinetics (6,21—23). 

The technique of rapid soHdification enables relatively large amounts of insoluble metallic elements to be finely dispersed within atomized powders. Upon freezing very small intermetaUic particles are formed, resulting, after further processing, in a high volume fraction of finely dispersed particles within the aluminum matrix and hence a dispersion strengthened aUoy. The intermetaUic phases, or possibly oxidic species, responsible for the dispersion strengthening are probably binary Al-Fe and ternary Al—Fe—Ce compounds. 

Through these processes dissolved substances and/or finely dispersed particles can be separated from liquids. All five technologies rely on membrane transport, the passage of solutes or solvents through thin, porous polymeric membranes. 

Figure 9 The schematical representation of dispersion polymerization process, (a) initially homogeneous dispersion medium (b) particle formation and stabilizer adsorption onto the nucleated macroradicals (c) capturing of radicals generated in the continuous medium by the forming particles and monomer diffusion to the forming particles (d) polymerization within the monomer swollen latex particles, (e) latex particle stabilized by steric stabilizer and graft copolymer molecules (f) list of symbols.

Polyarylate (PAR)-b-PSt and PAR-b-PMMA for compatibiiizers are described 135,39,40). The addition of PAR-b-PSt (1-10 parts) to 100 parts of a blend of PAR-PSt (7w-3w) resulted in improvement of the tensile and flexural modulus (Fig. 4), and PSt dispersed particles were diminished from 1-5 microns to an order that is undetectable by SEM, indicating the excellent, compatibilizing effect of the block copolymer. The alloy thus formed exert the characteristic of PAR, an engineering plastic, as well as easy processability of PSt. Addition of PAR-b-PMMA (3 or 8 parts) to 100 parts of a blend of PAR-polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) (7w-3w) resulted in improved microdispersed state of PVDF due to compatibility of PMMA with PVDF, while segregation of PVDF onto the surface was controlled. 

Further work regarding the axial dispersion of gas in irrigated packed beds seems needed, and it may be noted, with particular regard to gas-liquid-particle processes, that no results have been reported for beds of cylindrically or spherically shaped packing materials. 

The formation of migration paths of dispersed particles as shown in Fig. 9 suggests a new approach for the modulation of polymer blends and morphology. It is expected that ER or MR effects show not only smartness but also unique anisotropy therefore, many workers are studying these effects from the point of view of polymer processing. 

These block copolymers can act as effective steric stabilizers for the dispersion polymerization in solvents with ultralow cohesion energy density. This was shown with some polymerization experiments in Freon 113 as a model solvent. The dispersion particles are effectively stabilized by our amphi-philes. However, these experiments can only model the technically relevant case of polymerization or precipitation processes in supercritical C02 and further experiments related to stabilization behavior in this sytem are certainly required. 

The rate of reduction of a vat dye depends partly on the intrinsic chemical properties of the dye and partly on the size and physical form of the dispersed particles undergoing this reaction. The physical factors are much less important than the chemical aspects [26]. The vatting process entails conversion of the insoluble keto form into the soluble sodium enolate (section 1.6.1). The reaction takes place in two stages at ambient temperature. Extremely rapid reduction to the hydroquinone is followed by slower dissolution in the alkaline solution. At higher temperatures, however, the dissolution rate approximates more closely to the rate of reduction. Temperature and dithionite concentration are the important variables and the rate of reduction is much less dependent on dye or alkali concentration. 

Process in which a precipitant is added incrementally to a highly dilute polymer solution and the intensity of light scattered by, or the turbidity due to, the finely dispersed particles of the polymer-rich phase is measured as a function of the amount of precipitant added. 

Process of contact and adhesion whereby dispersed particles are held together by weak physical interactions ultimately leading to phase separation by the formation of precipitates of larger than colloidal size. 

Emulsion polymerization refers to a unique process employed for some radical chain polymerizations. It involves the polymerization of monomers in the form of emulsions (i.e., colloidal dispersions). The process bears a superficial resemblance to suspension polymerization (Sec. 3-13c) but is quite different in mechanism and reaction characteristics. Emulsion polymerization differs from suspension polymerization in the type and smaller size of the particles in which polymerization occurs, in the kind of initiator employed, and in the dependence of polymer molecular weight on reaction parameters. 

Two-phase systems are often exposed to turbulent flow conditions in order to maximize the interfacial area of the fluids being contacted. In addition, turbulence is often present in wind tunnels and other laboratory equipment, as well as in nature where it can influence breakup processes (F5). Prediction of drop or bubble sizes in turbulent contacting equipment for any geometry and operating conditions is a formidable problem, primarily because of the inherent theoretical and experimental diflBculties in treating turbulent flows. To these difficulties, which exist in single phase systems, must be added the complexity of interaction of dispersed particles with turbulent flow fields. 

Finely divided fillers used as additives in polymers have a tendency to agglomerate into larger structures due to strong, inter-particle attractive forces. As mentioned earher, it is the purpose of the dispersive mixing process to reduce the size of these agglomerates through the application of a controlled shear stress. 

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