Glass transition effect

S. M. Lievonen, T. J. Laaksonen, and Y. H. Roos, Nonenzymatic browning in food models in the vicinity of the glass transition effects of fructose, glucose, and xylose as reducing sugar, J. Agric. Food Chem., 2002, 50, 7034-7041. 

DeMaggio, W.E. Frieze, D.W. Gidley, M. Zhu, H.A. Hristov, and A.F. Yee, Interface and surface effects on the glass transition in thin polystyrene films, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 1524 (1997). " D.B. Hall, J.C. Hooker, and J.M. Torkelson, Ultrathin polymer films near the glass transition Effect on the distribution of a relaxation times as measured by second harmonic generation, Macro molecules 30, 667 (1997). 

Hall DB, Hooker JC, Torkelson JM (1997) Ultrathin polymer films near the glass transition effect on the distribution of alpha-relaxation times as measured by second harmonic generation. Macromolecules 30 667-669... 

N. W. Johnston, Sequence distribution—glass transition effects, J. Macromol. Sci. (Revs. 

The crystallization of blends tends to depend on the level of mutual miscibility of the components. In miscible blends, the general result is that suppression or otherwise of crystallization with miscibility is dependent on the relative glass transition temperatures of both phases [33, 34]. For example, in a blend of an amorphous and semicrystalline polymer, if the amorphous material has the higher Tg, the miscible blend will also have a higher Tg than that of the semicrystalline homopolymer and, at a given temperature, the mobility and thus the efficacy of the semicrystalline phase molecules to crystallize is reduced. The converse is often true if the amorphous phase has a lower glass transition. Effects such as chemical interactions and other thermodynamic considerations also play a role and the depression of the melting point in a miscible blend can be used to determine the Flory interaction parameter x [40]. 

Temperature, molecular weight, glass transition effects... 

The glass transition effect arises from a consideration of the speed of crack growth, which in turn depends on the velocity of sound in the material (3). In a plastic matrix having Young s modulus equal to 3 GPa, the velocity of a crack under impact conditions is about 620 m/s. If the crack radius is about 1000 A, an equivalent cyclic deformation frequency of about lO Hz can be calculated. 

The kinetic nature of the glass transition should be clear from the last chapter, where we first identified this transition by a change in the mechanical properties of a sample in very rapid deformations. In that chapter we concluded that molecular motion could simply not keep up with these high-frequency deformations. The complementarity between time and temperature enters the picture in this way. At lower temperatures the motion of molecules becomes more sluggish and equivalent effects on mechanical properties are produced by cooling as by frequency variations. We shall return to an examination of this time-temperature equivalency in Sec. 4.10. First, however, it will be profitable to consider the possibility of a thermodynamic description of the transition which occurs at Tg. 

Elastomeric Modified Adhesives. The major characteristic of the resins discussed above is that after cure, or after polymerization, they are extremely brittie. Thus, the utility of unmodified common resins as stmctural adhesives would be very limited. Eor highly cross-linked resin systems to be usehil stmctural adhesives, they have to be modified to ensure fracture resistance. Modification can be effected by the addition of an elastomer which is soluble within the cross-linked resin. Modification of a cross-linked resin in this fashion generally decreases the glass-transition temperature but increases the resin dexibiUty, and thus increases the fracture resistance of the cured adhesive. Recendy, stmctural adhesives have been modified by elastomers which are soluble within the uncured stmctural adhesive, but then phase separate during the cure to form a two-phase system. The matrix properties are mosdy retained the glass-transition temperature is only moderately affected by the presence of the elastomer, yet the fracture resistance is substantially improved. 

To erase information by the transition amorphous — crystalline, the amorphous phase of the selected area must be crystallized by annealing. This is effected by illumination with a low power laser beam (6—15 mW, compared to 15—50 mW for writing/melting), thus crystallizing the area. This crystallization temperature is above the glass-transition point, but below the melting point of the material concerned (Eig. 15, Erase). 

T is the glass-transition temperature at infinite molecular weight and is the number average molecular weight. The value of k for poly(methyl methacrylate) is about 2 x 10 the value for acrylate polymers is approximately the same (9). A detailed discussion on the effect of molecular weight on the properties of a polymer may be found in Reference 17. 

Qiana, introduced by Du Pont in 1968 but later withdrawn from the market, was made from bis(4-aminocyclohexyl)methane and dodecanedioic acid. This diamine exists in several cis—trans and trans—trans isomeric forms that influence fiber properties such as shrinkage. The product offered silk-like hand and luster, dimensional stabiUty, and wrinkle resistance similar to polyester. The yam melted at 280°C, had a high wet glass-transition temperature of - 85° C and a density of 1.03 g/cm, the last was lower than that of nylon-6 and nylon-6,6. Qiana requited a carrier for effective dyeing (see Dye carriers). 

Since successful commercialization of Kapton by Du Pont Company in the 1960s (10), numerous compositions of polyimide and various new methods of syntheses have been described in the Hterature (1—5). A successful result for each method depends on the nature of the chemical components involved in the system, including monomers, intermediates, solvents, and the polyimide products, as well as on physical conditions during the synthesis. Properties such as monomer reactivity and solubiHty, and the glass-transition temperature,T, crystallinity, T, and melt viscosity of the polyimide products ultimately determine the effectiveness of each process. Accordingly, proper selection of synthetic method is often critical for preparation of polyimides of a given chemical composition. 

Fig. 3. Effect of comonomer stmcture on the glass-transition temperature of VDC copolymers (72), where A represents acrylonitrile B, methyl acrylate ...

The dynamic mechanical properties of VDC—VC copolymers have been studied in detail. The incorporation of VC units in the polymer results in a drop in dynamic modulus because of the reduction in crystallinity. However, the glass-transition temperature is raised therefore, the softening effect observed at room temperature is accompanied by increased brittleness at lower temperatures. These copolymers are normally plasticized in order to avoid this. Small amounts of plasticizer (2—10 wt %) depress T significantly without loss of strength at room temperature. At higher levels of VC, the T of the copolymer is above room temperature and the modulus rises again. A minimum in modulus or maximum in softness is usually observed in copolymers in which T is above room temperature. A thermomechanical analysis of VDC—AN (acrylonitrile) and VDC—MMA (methyl methacrylate) copolymer systems shows a minimum in softening point at 79.4 and 68.1 mol % VDC, respectively (86). 

The highly polar nature of the TGMDA—DDS system results in high moisture absorption. The plasticization of epoxy matrices by absorbed water and its effect on composite properties have been well documented. As can be seen from Table 4, the TGMDA system can absorb as much as 6.5% (by weight) water (4). This absorbed water results in a dramatic drop in both the glass transition temperature and hot—wet flexural modulus (4—6). 

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