Thin transparent polymer

Imaging plates are exposed similar to radiographic films. They are read out by a LASER-scanner to a digital image without any developing process. After optical erasing of the virtual picture the same IP can be used cyclic up to more than 1000 times. The life time is limited by the mechanical stability of the IP s. An IP consists of a flexible polymer carrier which is coated with the sensitive layer. This layer is covered with a thin transparent protective foil. 

The SFA, originally developed by Tabor and Winterton [56], and later modified by Israelachvili and coworkers [57,58], is ideally suited for measuring molecular level adhesion and deformations. The SFA, shown schematically in Fig. 8i,ii, has been used extensively to measure forces between a variety of surfaces. The SFA combines a Hookian mechanism for measuring force with an interferometer to measure the distance between surfaces. The experimental surfaces are in the form of thin transparent films, and are mounted on cylindrical glass lenses in the SFA using an appropriate adhesive. SFA has been traditionally employed to measure forces between modified mica surfaces. (For a summary of these measurements, see refs. [59,60].) In recent years, several researchers have developed techniques to measure forces between glassy and semicrystalline polymer films, [61-63] silica [64], and silver surfaees [65,66]. The details on the SFA experimental procedure, and the summary of the SFA measurements may be obtained elsewhere (see refs. [57,58], for example.). 

Solventless Oil-Based Inks Plus Overcoat. The principle of this approach developed some years ago (M) is to protect the wet ink film on a printed surfece by applying a thin, transparent, film-forming polymer... 

If the laser radiation is not absorbed by the sample (e.g., with transparent materials), a substance performing the function of absorption centres (such as powdered carbon or nickel) is introduced into the sample for the latter to be pyrolysed. For example, in ref. 93 it was proposed to decompose transparent polymers (e.g., polyethylene, polystyrene) exposed to a laser beam by placing the samples made in the form of a thin film on the flat surface of a blue cobalt glass rod. The light products are formed primarily in the plasma torch - the rapidly frozen plasma induced by the laser radiation. These products are essentially low-molecular-weight gases whose analysis permits the sample composition to be determined. Such an analysis is known as plasma-stoichiometric analysis [94]. 

A second example concerns packaging in the food industry. The effectiveness of thin transparent wrapping (polymers) in protecting food depends on their ability to prevent the spread of pathogenic microorganisms, external moisture causing mold, and oxygen responsible for the oxidation of food. 

The possibility of e-paper is a consequence of the development of thin transparent electronic circuitry based on conducting and semiconducting synthetic polymers. The development of these materials was recognized with the Nobel Prize in 2000. The Gyricon approach involves a thin, transparent layer of silicone rubber, impregnated with a high concentration of polyethylene spheres, typically 50-100 /um in diameter. Each sphere is black on one side and white on the other in addition, the black... 

Sample preparation for TEM analysis of colloidal metals is usually a simple procedure, involving the evaporation of a drop of suitably diluted colloid suspension onto a microscope grid. For polymer stabilized colloids, the polymer forms a thin transparent film by this procedure. Thin films can be alternatively prepared by ultramicrotomography of thick polymer/metal samples produced by evaporation of the liquid suspension. 

Transparent polymers have values of Tj higher than 90%. On the other hand pol5uners with Tj less than 90% appear clear as only thin films. These are called translucent or contact-clear because films look clear when in contact with an object but hazy when viewed alone. 

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