Fibrillar structures

In an earlier study (44) on the effect of viscosity ratio on the morphology of PP-LCP blends we found that the viscosity ratio is a critical factor in determining the blend morphology. The most fibrillar structure was achieved when the viscosity ratio (i7lcp i7pp) ranged from about 0.5-1. At even lower viscosity ratios the fiber structure was coarser, while at viscosity ratios above unity, the LCP domains tended to be spherical or clusterlike (Fig. 1)=... 

In addition, it was found that the blends with highly fibrillar structure exhibited a significantly lowered viscosity. Increased shear rate caused slight changes in the blend morphology but did not enhance the fiber formation. Thus, in addition to shear, elongational forces are needed to achieve a well-fibrillated blend structure and significant mechanical reinforcement. 

During a steady-state capillary flow, several shear-induced effects emerge on blend morphology [4-6]. It is, for instance, frequently observed that TLCP domains form a fibrillar structure. The higher the shear rate, the higher the aspect ratio of the TLCP fibrils [7]. It is even possible that fibers coalesce to form platelet or interlayers. 

The formation of a fibrillar structure in TLCP blends makes the mechanical properties of this kind of composites similar to those of conventional fiber reinforced thermoplastics [11,26]. However, because the molecular orientation and fibrillation of TLCPs are generally flow-induced, the formation, distribution, and alignment of these droplets and fibers are considerably more processing-dependent. We do not know ... 

PET fibers and filaments are characterized by a fibrillar superstructure that corresponds to the general concept of the fibrillar structure of synthetic fibers. The fibrillar... 

Model peptides that could build up quarternary fibrillar structures are not yet known. Though complete explanation of the interdependence between the primary structure and the stability of the quarternary structure has not yet been possible, i.e. the role of the different amino acids in collagen could be understood completely only in correlation with the fibril formation (formation of polar and hydrophobic clusters ). 

Hence, the main aim of the technological process in obtaining fibres from flexible-chain polymers is to extend flexible-chain molecules and to fix their oriented state by subsequent crystallization. The filaments obtained by this method exhibit a fibrillar structure and high tenacity, because the structure of the filament is similar to that of fibres prepared from rigid-chain polymers (for a detailed thermodynamic treatment of orientation processes in polymer solutions and the thermokinetic analysis of jet-fibre transition in longitudinal solution flow see monograph3. ... 

Hence, the extension of an isotropic unoriented partially crystalline polymer leads to the formation of a highly organized material with a characteristic fibrillar structure. The anisotropy of the sample as a whole is expressed by a higher modulus, tenacity and optical anisotropy. It would seem that the increase in strength in the drawing direction suggests that the oriented samples consist of completely extended chains. However, while the strength of such perfect structure for polyethylene has been evaluated as 13000 MPas), the observed values for an oriented sample are 50 to 30 MPa. 

The formation of fibrillar structures during the crystallization of deformed solutions and melts under various conditions of mechanical treatment was observed by many authors22,24,25 who studied the crystallization in stirred or flowing solutions. In all cases... 

Many authors studying the formation of ECC from melts and solutions suggested that preliminary unfolding and extension of macromolecules occurs. Keller and Maehin25 have shown that in all known cases (including such extreme variants as the crystallization of natural rubber under extension and a polyethylene melt under flow) the same initial process of linear nucleation occurs and fibrillar structures is formed by the macromolecu-lar chains oriented parallel to the fibrillar axes27. ... 

Stage II Discontinuous transformation in the neck, of the spherulitic into the fibrillar structure ... 

Stage III Plastic deformation of the fibrillar structure after neck formation is complete. 

The neck is more or less fully developed and a fibrillar structure is obtained. This structure is less susceptible to degradation because of its high degree of orientation and high crystallinity. This explains the drop and then levelling off of the carbonyl content in this latter stage. 

In summary, two different Gain-of-Interaction models have been proposed for the fibrillar structure of /12m. The cross-(3 spine model (Ivanova et al., 2004) proposes a core composed of C-terminal /1-hairpins, and the direct-stacking model (Benyamini et al., 2003) proposes a core of native-like /12m molecules with their N- and C-terminal strands displaced. 

FIGURE 2.17 Crystalline polymer structures formed under applied tension including flow conditions. The center shows the tertiary monofibriUar structure including platelets, the left shows these mono-fibrillar structures bundled together forming a quaternary structure fibril, and the right shows the distorted shish kebab formed with more rapid flow. 

Fig. 6 Dynamic combinatorial peptide library that expioits enzyme reactions to control self-assembly processes under thermodynamic controi. (a) Emergence of the potentiai peptide derivatives of varying length in a library of interconverting molecules formed from the staring materials of Fmoc L/L2 system. Fmoc-Ls is preferentially formed. Corresponding AFM images of the fibrillar structures formed at 5 min after the addition of enzyme, and the sheet-like structures observed after 2000 h show that redistribution of the derivatives is accompanied by the remodelling from fibres (Fmoc L3) to sheet-like structures (Fmoc L5). (b) HPLC analysis of the composition of the system reveals the formation and the stabilisation of Fmoc-Ls over time. Modified from [21]...

Fibrillar structures (presence) Fibr Possible genotoxic parameter Genotoxic compounds Liver tissue 16-32... 

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