Engineering Commons^™

Plasma Treatment Of High-Density Polyethylene, Linear Low-Density Polyethylene, And Polyvinyl Chloride Geomembranes By Air And Oxygen, Merve Koca Uyar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

High-density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) geomembranes were treated with air and oxygen plasma. The purpose of air and oxygen plasma treatment of geomembrane surface is to increase the surface wettability of these materials, thereby increasing adhesive properties. Increasing adhesive properties enables a surface to be coated with a desired material with antibacterial, antioxidant, and UV resistant characteristics, without changing bulk material properties. To protect the geomembranes from oxidation degradation, UV degradation and biological degradation, it is important to increase the antibacterial, antioxidant, and UV resistant properties of geomembrane. Before and after the plasma treatments …

Sorption Of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene And Different Ratios Of Mixture Solvent By Plasticized Pema Films Using A Qcm Sensor, Xinpeng Li

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

VOCs (volatile organic compounds) can cause great harm to human health especially benzene, toluene and ethylbenzene. In this work a Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) sensor with a polymer/plasticizer film was developed to quantify the VOCs both in air and water. QCM is an acoustic wave sensor that can be used well in detecting the aromatic compounds in the film. Because more than one VOC is present in the air, this thesis focuses on finding the sorption of different ratios of VOCs (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene) using a polymer/plasticizer film in QCM. Poly (ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA) was used as the polymer because …

Measuring Polydimethylsiloxane (Pdms) Mechanical Properties Using Flat Punch Nanoindentation Focusing On Obtaining Full Contact, Federico De Paoli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this research, the materials used were the Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymers. PDMS mechanicals properties were measured using a customized version of the nanoindentation test using a flat punch tip. The method is proposed in Chapter 3 and it is used to calculate the elastic modulus of different PDMS samples. The samples tested were both produced specifically for this research and available in the laboratory’s storage. They all present different levels of cross-linking degree.

It is quite common to not have full contact between the cylindrical flat punch and the sample because of the unavoidable tilt. The new method guarantees establishing …

Investigation Of Energy Alignment Models At Polymer Interfaces, Wenfeng Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The presented study investigated the Induced Density of Interface States (IDIS) model at different polymer interfaces by using photoemission spectroscopy in combination with electrospray deposition.

In recent years, organic electronics have attracted considerable attention due to their advantages of low-cost and easy-fabrication. The performance of such devices crucially depends on the energy barrier that controls the interface charge transfer. A significant effort has been made to explore the mechanisms that determine the direction and magnitude of charge transfer barriers in these devices. As a result of this effort, the IDIS model was developed to predict the energy alignment at metal/organic …