Product properties transmission electron microscopy

In the matrix of PLA/ polycaprilactone (PCL)/OMMT nano-composites, the silicate layers of the organoclay were intercalated and randomly distributed (Zhenyang et at, 2007). The PLA/PCL blend significantly improved the tensile and other mechanical properties by addition of OMMT. Thermal stability of PLA/PCL blends was also explicitly improved when the OMMT content is less than 5%wt. Preparation of PLA/thermoplastic starch/MMT nano-composites have been investigated and the products have been characterized using X-Ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and tensile measurements. The results show improvement in the tensile and modulus, and reduction in fracture toughness (Arroyo et ah, 2010). 

The synthesized products were obtained as colloidal solutions. Optical properties, morphology and composition of the nanoparticles were investigated by means of optical absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. 

The thickness of the deposit increases with pulse number while the area increases with fluence. A transmission electron microscopy (TEM) picture (Fig. 75) shows that the carbon is loosely packed and that the thickness decreases from the edge of the crater (left in the TEM pictures). PI was chosen as reference polymer mainly for two reasons. The above described absorption properties, and the fact that the newest photothermal model could until now describe all experimental data (see above). Therefore, we thought that PI can be used as a typical example for a polymer which follows a photo-thermal model [89], while the triazene polymers reveal several features which might be considered photochemical (e.g., wavelength dependence, products and decomposition at low fluences, and etching during the pulse). 

In this chapter, we report on the synthesis of Cu nanoparticles modified with an aliphatic acid salt. The characterization of the as-prepared product was performed with a variety of methods, including x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravi-metric analysis (TGA), and differential thermal analysis (DTA), and their tribological properties were investigated on a four-ball test machine. 

Batch emulsion polymerization of styrene in the presence of NIPAM monomer shows rapid consumption of NIPAM monomer [22]. In fact, around 80% of NIPAM monomer is reacted before the styrene monomer starts to polymerize. Then, the formed poly(NIPAM) chains bearing surface active properties acts as a surfactant during the styrene polymerization. Consequently, the initial amount of NIPAM controls the polymerization rate, the particle size, the size distribution, and also the thickness layer of the formed shell. Thus, polymerization should be considered as emulsion polymerization with in situ surfactant production. Examination of the particle size of latexes as a function of polymer conversion by transmission electron microscopy shows that the polymerization of a heterogeneous system such as this occurs in numerous steps that will not be depicted in this chapter, but can be consulted in Refs. [22,24]. 

Observed in 1991 by lijima [72] by transmission electron microscopy as a by-product of the reaction of the synthesis of fullerenes, carbon nanotubes can be described as a rolling-up of graphite planes. Because of its relation to graphite as well as its nanometer size and one dimensionality, this new material is expected to present unique properties. Several applications have been envisaged for electronics [73-75], for energy storage [76,77] or in medicine [78]. They also present unique mechanical properties [79] and many studies are presently being performed with the aim to use them as reinforcements in polymers [80-82]. 

Recent advances in the preparation of ceria-based gold catalysts for hydrogen production by the WGS and PROX reactions are reviewed in this chapter. Considerable emphasis is placed on the catalyst characterization by a number of physicochemical methods X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The relation between the structure, properties, and catalytic activity, as well as the nature of the active sites is also discussed. 

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