Weakening, polymers

Consequently, the chain of the durable polymer which contains a number of weak C-C bonds, or C-H bonds. This results in a weak polymer chain containing monomeric units making it susceptible for biodegradation (5). So when the weakened polymer comes into contact with the sod, the monomeric units of the polymer act as nutrients to the bacteria present in the soil. Consequently, a rapid biodegradation of the polymer takes place in the soil. 

Gabrielson NP, Pack DW (2006) Acetylation of polyethylenimine enhances gene delivery via weakened polymer/DNA interactions. Biranaciomolecules 7 2427—2435... 

High initial cost and environmental restrictions prevent use of oil and synthetic muds in many cases where shale problems are expected. It is necessary then to treat a water-base mud to minimize the destabilizing effect of the drilling fluid. Salts, polymers, and other organic materials are added to the mud to reduce the water sensitivity of the shale, shale sweUing, and weakening arising from mud contact, or the rate of water uptake by the shale. 

As already mentioned, aromatie polymers are thermally stable but aliphatic portions of them are not as thermally stable. Typical maleimide resins have aliphatic units. This is inevitable because the Michael addition was used to prepare the maleimide-based oligomers. On the other hand, if an adhesive consists of a linear thermoplastic polymer, it is not usable at temperatures above its softening temperature. Introdueing chemical crosslinking is one way to prevent thermal weakening of a material. 

In the case of crystalline polymers it may be that solvents can cause cracking by activity in the amorphous zone. Examples of this are benzene and toluene with polyethylene. In polyethylene, however, the greater problem is that known as environmental stress cracking , which occurs with materials such as soap, alcohols, surfactants and silicone oils. Many of these are highly polar materials which cause no swelling but are simply absorbed either into or on to the polymer. This appears to weaken the surface and allows cracks to propagate from minute flaws. 

Like PEO-LiCl04, a 6 1 crystalline compound is formed but, in this instance, the weakened interactions between polymer chains [18] contributes to the lowest melting point for any PEO-salt crystalline complex. A eutectic with composition 0 Li = 11 1 forms, provided the PEO molecular chain length is beyond the entanglement threshold [31]. For lower molecular weights, the 6 1 compound dose not crystallize in the presence of excess PEO and a crystallinity gap exists over the range 6 l < 0 Li < 12 1 [26]. 

The state of the surface of a brittle solid has been found to exert a considerable influence on the mechanical behaviour observed it is at least as important as the underlying molecular constitution in this regard. The presence of microscopic scratches, voids, or other imperfections will seriously weaken the tensile strength of specimens of glassy polymer, such as poly(methyl methacrylate) at ambient temperatures. 

When iodine and povidone are combined, a chemical reaction takes place forming a complex between the two entities. Some of the iodine becomes organically linked to povidone though the major portion of the complexed iodine is in the form of tri-iodide. Dilution of this iodophor results in a weakening of the iodine linkage to the carrier polymer with concomitant increases in elemental iodine in solution and antimicrobial activity. 

Diffusion of small molecular penetrants in polymers often assumes Fickian characteristics at temperatures above Tg of the system. As such, classical diffusion theory is sufficient for describing the mass transport, and a mutual diffusion coefficient can be determined unambiguously by sorption and permeation methods. For a penetrant molecule of a size comparable to that of the monomeric unit of a polymer, diffusion requires cooperative movement of several monomeric units. The mobility of the polymer chains thus controls the rate of diffusion, and factors affecting the chain mobility will also influence the diffusion coefficient. The key factors here are temperature and concentration. Increasing temperature enhances the Brownian motion of the polymer segments the effect is to weaken the interaction between chains and thus increase the interchain distance. A similar effect can be expected upon the addition of a small molecular penetrant. 

Forced air, water mist, or water spray cool the mold after it leaves the oven. Once the mold [. cools sufficiently for the polymer inside to solidify, it is opened. The cooling time must take. into account the resin, the wall thicknesses, and the metal from which the mold is fabricated, ff.. Very rapid cooling of the mold can introduce stresses that can weaken or distort the final part. 

The changes in structure of denatured nuclease as a function of urea concentration (Fig. 3) suggest that, as hydrophobic interactions are weakened and the backbone becomes more highly solvated, the chain expands gradually. The data presented by Millet et al. in this volume suggest that this expansion does not continue asymptotically as predicted by simple polymer physical chemistry. This is the behavior expected for a polypeptide chain trapped in a small region of conformation space. Most, perhaps all, of the conformations accessible in the expanded denatured state may have a native-like topology. 

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