Thickeners high-molecular-weight

The use of high-molecular-weight thickeners As discussed above, high-molecular-weight materials such as HEC or xanthan gum, when added above a critical concentration (at which polymer coil overlap occurs), will produce very high viscosity at low stresses or shear rates (usually in excess of several hundred Pas), and this wiU prevent sedimentation of the particles. 

Formulation is also used to manipulate the fate of the agent. Soman, VX, Lewisite, and sulfur mustard can be mixed with high-molecular-weight thickeners to increase droplet size and thereby decrease primary vaporization. Such additives are generally used to promote efficient agent deposition on the target site. Thickeners can also increase agent persistence and may hamper decontamination efforts. 

The low molecular weight materials produced by this process are used as lubricants, whereas the high molecular weight materials, the polyisobutylenes, are used as VI improvers and thickeners. Polybutenes that are used as lubricating oils have viscosity indexes of 70—110, fair lubricating properties, and can be manufactured to have excellent dielectric properties. Above their decomposition temperature (ca 288°C) the products decompose completely to gaseous materials. 

Viscosity Index Improvers. VI improvers are long-chain, high molecular weight polymers that increase the relative viscosity of an oil at high temperatures more than at low temperatures. In cold oil the molecules of the polymer adopt a compressed coiled form so that the affect on viscosity is minimized. In hot oil the molecules swell, and interaction with the oil produces a proportionally greater thickening effect. Although the viscosity of the oil—polymer mixture decreases as the temperature increases, viscosity does not decrease as much as the oil alone would decrease. 

POLYMERS, WATER-SOLUBLE. Any substance of high molecular weight which swells or dissolves in water at normal temperature. These fall into several groups, including natural, semisynthetic, and synthetic products. Their common property of water solubility makes them valuable for a wide variety of applications as thickeners, adhesives, coatings, fooe additives, textile sizing, etc. 

Acrylics. There are two principal classes of acrylic sealants latex acrylics and solvent-release actylics. High molecular weight latex acrylic polymers are prepared by emulsion polymerization of alkyl esters of acrylic acid, The emulsion polymers are compounded inlo sealants by adding fillers, plasticizers, freeze-thaw stabilizers, thickeners, and adhesion promoters. As is true of the silicone lalex sealants, die acrylic latex sealants are easy to apply and clean with water. 

A feature of the neutron reflectivity study on polyDMDAAC and surfactant adsorption by Penfold et al. [74] was that the adsorbed layer of polyDMDAAC was remarkably robust and unaffected by the subsequent surfactant adsorption. This is not always the case, and Fielden et al. [76] reported a large increase in the thickness of the surface layer of AM-MAPTC on mica due to complex formation with SDS. Thickness increases with electrolyte and pH were reported for high molecular weight polyacrylamide adsorbed onto silica, measured by null ellip-sometry by Samoshina et al. [82] in the absence of surfactant. Complex formation at the interface, resulting in layer thickening, was also reported by Dedinaite et al. [83] for PCMA/SDS mixtures on mica from AFM measurements. 

The polymerization of acrylamide (AM) and the copolymerization of acrylamide-sodium acrylate in inverse microemulsions have been studied extensively by Candau [10,11,13-15], Barton [16, 17], and Capek [18-20]. One of the major uses for these inverse microlatexes is in enhanced oil recovery processes [21]. Water-soluble polymers for high molecular weights are also used as flocculants in water treatments, as thickeners in paints, and retention aids in papermaking. 

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