Mechanical properties heterogeneity

The chemical properties of oxide surfaces have been studied by several methods, including oxygen exchange. This method has been used to investigate the mechanisms of heterogeneous reactions for which oxides are active catalysts [36]. The dimerization step does not necessarily precede desorption and Malinin and Tolmachev [634], in one of the few reviews of decomposition kinetics of solid metal oxides, use this criterion to distinguish two alternative reaction mechanisms, examples being... 

Belikov, S., Erina, N., and Magonov, S., Interplay between an experiment and theory in probing mechanical properties and phase imaging of heterogeneous polymer materials, J. Phys., Conference Series, 61, 765, 2007. 

In Chapter 1 we emphasized that the properties of a heterogeneous catalyst surface are determined by its composition and structure on the atomic scale. Hence, from a fundamental point of view, the ultimate goal of catalyst characterization should be to examine the surface atom by atom under the reaction conditions under which the catalyst operates, i.e. in situ. However, a catalyst often consists of small particles of metal, oxide, or sulfide on a support material. Chemical promoters may have been added to the catalyst to optimize its activity and/or selectivity, and structural promoters may have been incorporated to improve the mechanical properties and stabilize the particles against sintering. As a result, a heterogeneous catalyst can be quite complex. Moreover, the state of the catalytic surface generally depends on the conditions under which it is used. 

A characteristic of polyolefins synthesized with metallocene catalysts is their significantly lower polydispersity compared to one obtained by using heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta catalysts. Such narrower molecular mass distributions can lead to different mechanical properties of the resulting material. 

Shao, Z., Hu, X. W., Frische, S., and Vollrath, F. (1999). Heterogeneous morphology of Nephila edulis spider silk and its significance for mechanical properties. Polymer 40, 4709-4711. 

In more recent years, Herman Mark has, as we all know, concentrated more on the effects of heterophase morphology of polymers on their mechanical properties. This has enabled him to set up a useful classification system of the various types of heterogeneities which can occur in polymers, e.g., crystallinity, incompatibility, particulate and fibrous inclusions, etc. and to discuss these in the context of their effect on the mechanical properties. Such an "overview" has again kept Mark in great demand as a speaker. 

This is a theoretical study on the entanglement architecture and mechanical properties of an ideal two-component interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) composed of flexible chains (Fig. la). In this system molecular interaction between different polymer species is accomplished by the simultaneous or sequential polymerization of the polymeric precursors [1 ]. Chains which are thermodynamically incompatible are permanently interlocked in a composite network due to the presence of chemical crosslinks. The network structure is thus reinforced by chain entanglements trapped between permanent junctions [2,3]. It is evident that, entanglements between identical chains lie further apart in an IPN than in a one-component network (Fig. lb) and entanglements associating heterogeneous polymers are formed in between homopolymer junctions. In the present study the density of the various interchain associations in the composite network is evaluated as a function of the properties of the pure network components. This information is used to estimate the equilibrium rubber elasticity modulus of the IPN. 

Other researchers have experimentally observed heterogeneity in crosslinked polymers by studying radical concentrations and environment with ESR [101-106], Knowledge of the structure and reactivity of trapped radicals is especially important when considering the long term physical and mechanical properties of dental polymers. Kloosterboer et al. [106] has studied the structure of trapped acrylate radicals while Hamielec and coworkers [102-105] have... 

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