High-strength polymer composites formation

The polyamides are soluble in high strength sulfuric acid or in mixtures of hexamethylphosphoramide, /V, /V- dim ethyl acetam i de and LiCl. In the latter, compHcated relationships exist between solvent composition and the temperature at which the Hquid crystal phase forms. The polyamide solutions show an abmpt decrease in viscosity which is characteristic of mesophase formation when a critical volume fraction of polymer ( ) is exceeded. The viscosity may decrease, however, in the Hquid crystal phase if the molecular ordering allows the rod-shaped entities to gHde past one another more easily despite the higher concentration. The Hquid crystal phase is optically anisotropic and the texture is nematic. The nematic texture can be transformed to a chiral nematic texture by adding chiral species as a dopant or incorporating a chiral unit in the main chain as a copolymer (30). 

Polymer pyrolysis to form advanced ceramics allows the production of highly covalent refractory components (fibers, films, membranes, foams, joints, monolithic bodies, ceramic matrix composites) that are difficult to fabricate via the traditional powder processing route [1-4]. Yajima was the first to demonstrate the feasibility of producing high-strength SiC-based fibers from pyrolysis of polycarbosilane [5]. In this process, a thermoplastic pre-ceramic polymer is first shaped into the desired form, cross-linked into a pre-ceramic network and finally converted into a ceramic material by a pyrolysis process in a controlled atmosphere (Fig. 1). A common feature of the polymer route is the formation of intermediates called amorphous covalent ceramics (ACC) [6]. These are formed after removal of the organic components and before crystallization that occurs at higher temperatures. 

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