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Articles 271 - 289 of 289

Full-Text Articles in Chemical Engineering

Molecular Structure Of Polystyrene At Air/Polymer And Solid/Polymer Interfaces, K. S. Gautam, Alexander D. Schwab, Ali Dhinojwala, D. Zhang, S. M. Dougal, M. S. Yeganeh Oct 2000

Molecular Structure Of Polystyrene At Air/Polymer And Solid/Polymer Interfaces, K. S. Gautam, Alexander D. Schwab, Ali Dhinojwala, D. Zhang, S. M. Dougal, M. S. Yeganeh

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

IR-visible sum-frequency generation(SFG) spectroscopy has been used in a total internal reflection geometry to study the molecular structure of polystyrene (PS) at PS/sapphire and PS/air interfaces, simultaneously. The symmetric vibrational modes of the phenyl rings dominate the SFG spectra at the PS/air interface as compared to the antisymmetric vibrational modes at the PS/sapphire interface. This indicates approximately parallel orientation of the phenyl rings at the PS/air interface while nearly perpendicular orientation at the PS/sapphire interface, with respect to the surface normal.


Theoretical Investigation On Dynamics Of Photopolymerization-Induced Phase Separation And Morphology Development In Nematic Liquid Crystal/Polymer Mixtures, Domasius Nwabunma, Hao-Wen Chiu, Thein Kyu Oct 2000

Theoretical Investigation On Dynamics Of Photopolymerization-Induced Phase Separation And Morphology Development In Nematic Liquid Crystal/Polymer Mixtures, Domasius Nwabunma, Hao-Wen Chiu, Thein Kyu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

A theoretical investigation of the dynamics of photopolymerization-induced phase separation (PIPS) and morphology development in a nematic liquid crystal (LC) polymer network mixture has been undertaken by incorporating photopolymerization kinetics into the coupled time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL-Model C) equations. The simulation on the spatio-temporal evolution of the coupled LC concentration and orientation order parameters reveals that both morphological and scattering patterns for the orientation order parameter initially lag behind those of the concentration order parameter. However, the two fields evolve to the same spatial topologies with the progression of time. The PIPS dynamics is characterized only by the late stage of …


Bending Instability Of Electrically Charged Liquid Jets Of Polymer Solutions In Electrospinning, Darrell Hyson Reneker, Alexander L. Yarin, Hao Fong, Sureeporn Koombhongse May 2000

Bending Instability Of Electrically Charged Liquid Jets Of Polymer Solutions In Electrospinning, Darrell Hyson Reneker, Alexander L. Yarin, Hao Fong, Sureeporn Koombhongse

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Nanofibers of polymers were electrospun by creating an electrically charged jet of polymer solution at a pendent droplet. After the jet flowed away from the droplet in a nearly straight line, it bent into a complex path and other changes in shape occurred, during which electrical forces stretched and thinned it by very large ratios. After the solvent evaporated, birefringent nanofibers were left. In this article the reasons for the instability are analyzed and explained using a mathematical model. The rheological complexity of the polymer solution is included, which allows consideration of viscoelastic jets. It is shown that the longitudinal …


Spatiotemporal Growth Of Faceted And Curved Single Crystals, Thein Kyu, Rujul Mehta, Hao-Wen Chiu Apr 2000

Spatiotemporal Growth Of Faceted And Curved Single Crystals, Thein Kyu, Rujul Mehta, Hao-Wen Chiu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

The spatiotemporal growth of single crystals in a crystalline polymer has been investigated theoretically based on a nonconserved time dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation (known as TDGL model A). In the description of the total free energy, a double-well local foe energy density signifying metastability of crystal ordering is combined with a nonlocal free energy term representing an interface gradient. The resulting nonlinear reaction diffusion equation after renormalization possesses a solitary wave property. Two-dimensional numerical calculations were performed to elucidate the faceted single crystal growth including square, rectangular, diamond-shaped, and curved single crystals. A three-dimensional simulation was also undertaken for the emergence …


Double Twist In Helical Polymer "Soft" Crystals, Christopher Y. Li, Stephen Z. D. Cheng, Jason J. Ge, Feng Bai, John Z. Zhang, Ian K. Mann, Frank W. Harris, Lang-Chy Chien, Donghang Yan, Tianbai He, Bernard Lotz Nov 1999

Double Twist In Helical Polymer "Soft" Crystals, Christopher Y. Li, Stephen Z. D. Cheng, Jason J. Ge, Feng Bai, John Z. Zhang, Ian K. Mann, Frank W. Harris, Lang-Chy Chien, Donghang Yan, Tianbai He, Bernard Lotz

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

In natural and synthetic materials having non-racemic chiral centers, chirality and structural ordering each play a distinct role in the formation of ordered states. Configurational chirality can be extended to morphological chirality when the phase, structures possess low liquid crystalline order. In the crystalline states the crystallization process suppresses the chiral helical morphology due to strong ordering interactions, In this Letter, we report the first observation of helical single lamellar crystals of synthetic non-racemic chiral polymers. Experimental evidence shows that the molecular chains twist along both the long and short axes of the helical lamellar crystals, which is the first …


Helical Single-Lamellar Crystals Thermotropically Formed In A Synthetic Nonracemic Chiral Main-Chain Polyester, Christopher Y. Li, Donghang Yan, Stephen Z. D. Cheng, Feng Bai, Jason J. Ge, Bret H. Calhoun, Tianbai He, Liang-Chy Chien, Frank W. Harris, Bernard Lotz Nov 1999

Helical Single-Lamellar Crystals Thermotropically Formed In A Synthetic Nonracemic Chiral Main-Chain Polyester, Christopher Y. Li, Donghang Yan, Stephen Z. D. Cheng, Feng Bai, Jason J. Ge, Bret H. Calhoun, Tianbai He, Liang-Chy Chien, Frank W. Harris, Bernard Lotz

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Phase structures and transformation mechanisms of nonracemic chiral biological and synthetic polymers are fundamentally important topics in understanding their macroscopic responses in different environments. It has been known for many years that helical structures and morphologies can exist in low-ordered chiral liquid crystalline (LC) phases. However, when the chiral liquid crystals form highly ordered smectic liquid crystal phases, the helical morphology is suppressed due to the crystallization process. A double-twisted morphology has been observed in many liquid crystalline biopolymers such as dinoflaggellate chromosomes (in Prorocentrum micans) in an in vivo arrangement. Helical crystals grown from solution have been reported in …


Phase Structures And Morphologies Determined By Competitions Among Self-Organization, Crystallization, And Vitrification In A Disordered Poly(Ethylene Oxide)-B-Polystyrene Diblock Copolymer, Lei Zhu, Yan Chen, Anqui-Q. Zhang, Bret. H. Calhoun, Moonseok Chun, Stephen Z. D. Cheng, Benjamin S. Hsiao, Fengji Yeh, Takeji Hashimoto Oct 1999

Phase Structures And Morphologies Determined By Competitions Among Self-Organization, Crystallization, And Vitrification In A Disordered Poly(Ethylene Oxide)-B-Polystyrene Diblock Copolymer, Lei Zhu, Yan Chen, Anqui-Q. Zhang, Bret. H. Calhoun, Moonseok Chun, Stephen Z. D. Cheng, Benjamin S. Hsiao, Fengji Yeh, Takeji Hashimoto

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

A poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polystyrene (PEO-b-PS) diblock copolymer having a number-average molecular weight ((M) over bar(n)) of 11000 g/mol in the PEO blocks and an (M) over bar(n) of 5200 g/mol in the PS blocks has been synthesized (with a volume fraction of the PEO blocks of 0.66 in the molten state). Differential scanning calorimetry results show that this copolymer possesses a single endotherm, which is attributed to the melting of the PEG-block crystals. Based on real-time resolved synchrotron small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) observations, the diblock copolymer is in a disordered state above the glass transition temperature of the PS-rich phase (T-g(PS)) …


Rhythmic Growth Of Target And Spiral Spherulites Of Crystalline Polymer Blends, Thein Kyu, Hw Chiu, Aj Guenthner, Y Okabe, H Saito, T Inoue Oct 1999

Rhythmic Growth Of Target And Spiral Spherulites Of Crystalline Polymer Blends, Thein Kyu, Hw Chiu, Aj Guenthner, Y Okabe, H Saito, T Inoue

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Numerical calculations reveal that the target and spiral growth patterns in spherulites can be generated from the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations (model C) by coupling a conserved compositional order parameter and a nonconserved crystal ordering parameter. Of particular interest is that the periodic concentric rings (target) or the spirals at the spherulitic core remain stationary in both the crystal (orientational) ordering field and the concentration field. Another intriguing observation is that the growth of target and spiral spherulites occurs in a stepwise fashion in synchronism with the rhythmic energy dissipation during crystallization.


Spatio-Temporal Growth Of Nematic Domains In Liquid Crystal Polymer Mixtures, Hao-Wen Chiu, Thein Kyu Mar 1999

Spatio-Temporal Growth Of Nematic Domains In Liquid Crystal Polymer Mixtures, Hao-Wen Chiu, Thein Kyu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Dynamics of phase separation and morphology development in mixtures of a low molar mass liquid crystal (LC) and a polymer have been investigated theoretically in comparison with experimental results. In the theoretical model, the combined free-energy densities of Flory-Huggins theory for isotropic mixing and Maier-Saupe theory for nematic ordering have been incorporated into the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation (type C). The temporal evolution of the structure factor and the emergence of phase-separated liquid crystal domains have been simulated on the basis of an explicit central difference method based on a square lattice (128 x 128) with a periodic boundary condition. Of …


Kinetics Of Phase Transition In An Anticlinic Liquid Crystal Induced By A Uniform Temperature Field: Growth In One Dimension, X. Y. Wang, Jian-Feng Li, Eliezer Gurarie, S. Fan, Thein Kyu, S. S. Keast, Charles Rosenblatt May 1998

Kinetics Of Phase Transition In An Anticlinic Liquid Crystal Induced By A Uniform Temperature Field: Growth In One Dimension, X. Y. Wang, Jian-Feng Li, Eliezer Gurarie, S. Fan, Thein Kyu, S. S. Keast, Charles Rosenblatt

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

It is experimentally demonstrated that a transition from a synclinic to an anticlinic liquid crystal phase occurs via stable domain wall propagation after quenching in a uniform temperature field. Such a one-dimensional growth may be explained in terms of a nonlinear diffusion equation. The experiment provides the first example of free, one-dimensional growth in a system subjected to a pure and uniform temperature field.


Phase Equilibria Of A Nematic And Smectic-A Mixture, Hao-Wen Chiu, Thein Kyu Feb 1998

Phase Equilibria Of A Nematic And Smectic-A Mixture, Hao-Wen Chiu, Thein Kyu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

A phase diagram of a mixture consisting of nematic and smectic liquid crystals has been calculated self-consistently by combining Flory-Huggins (FH) theory for isotropic mixing and Maier-Saupe-McMillan (MSM) theory for smectic-A ordering. However, the MSM theory can be deduced to the original Maier-Saupe (MS) theory for nematic ordering. To describe the phase transitions involving induced smectic phase and nematic + smectic equilibrium, two nematic and two smectic order parameters for the nematic/smectic mixtures have been coupled through the normalized partition function and the orientation distribution function. Self-consistent numerical solution has been sought in establishing nematic/smectic phase diagrams involving (i) phase …


Phase Diagrams Of A Binary Smectic-A Mixture, Hao-Wen Chiu, Thein Kyu Nov 1997

Phase Diagrams Of A Binary Smectic-A Mixture, Hao-Wen Chiu, Thein Kyu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

A variety of smectic phase diagrams involving smectic-isotropic and smectic-nematic-isotropic transitions have been calculated based on a combination of Flory-Huggins (FH) theory for isotropic mixing and Maier-Saupe-McMillan (MSM) theory for smectic-A ordering of liquid crystals (LC). To describe the mesophase transitions, two nematic order parameters and two smectic order parameters have been coupled through the normalized orientation distribution and partition functions. Flory-Huggins interaction parameter (chi) for isotropic mixing and the coupling term involving the nematic interaction parameter (nu) and the McMillan smectic interaction parameter (alpha) for phase transitions of liquid crystals have been incorporated in the calculation. The predictive capability …


Nucleation Initiated Spinodal Decomposition In A Polymerizing System, Thein Kyu, Jae Hyung Lee May 1996

Nucleation Initiated Spinodal Decomposition In A Polymerizing System, Thein Kyu, Jae Hyung Lee

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Dynamics of phase separation in a polymerizing system, consisting of carboxyl terminated polybutadiene acrylonitrile/epoxy/methylene dianiline, was investigated by means of time-resolved light scattering. The initial length scale was found to decrease for some early periods of the reaction which has been explained in the context of nucleation initiated spinodal decomposition We have combined the Cahn-Hilliard kinetic equation and polymerization kinetics, and predicted the initial reduction of the length scale triggered by nucleation.


Non-Markovian Brownian Motion In A Viscoelastic Fluid, V. S. Volkov, Arkadii I. Leonov Apr 1996

Non-Markovian Brownian Motion In A Viscoelastic Fluid, V. S. Volkov, Arkadii I. Leonov

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

A theory of non-Markovian translational Brownian motion in a Maxwell fluid is developed. A universal kinetic equation for the joint probability distribution of position, velocity, and acceleration of a Brownian particle is derived directly from the extended dynamic equations for the system. Unlike the extended Fokker-Planck equation which corresponds to Mori-Kubo generalized Langevin equation and provides only with calculations of one-time moments, the universal kinetic equation obtained gives complete statistical description of the process. In particular, an exact generalized Fokker-Planck equation in the velocity space valid for any time instant is derived for the free non-Markovian Brownian motion. It shows …


Equilibrium Phase-Behavior Of Nematic Mixtures, Hao-Wen Chiu, Thein Kyu Nov 1995

Equilibrium Phase-Behavior Of Nematic Mixtures, Hao-Wen Chiu, Thein Kyu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

A phenomenological model for predicting phase diagrams of a binary nematic mixture containing side chain liquid crystalline polymers and/or low molar mass liquid crystals has been proposed by combining Flory-Huggins free energy of isotropic mixing and Maier-Saupe free energy for nematic ordering of the nematogens. Two orientational order parameters, s(1) and S-2, Of the two components in the mixtures having two different clearing temperatures are taken into consideration in the calculation. The Flory-Huggins interaction parameter, chi, and the nematic interaction parameter of the Maier-Saupe theory, nu(1) and nu(22), are assumed to be functions of inverse absolute temperature. Further the cross-nematic …


Spinodals In A Polymer-Dispersed Liquid-Crystal, Chungsea Shen, Thein Kyu Jan 1995

Spinodals In A Polymer-Dispersed Liquid-Crystal, Chungsea Shen, Thein Kyu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Thermodynamic phase equilibria of a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) consisting of
monomeric liquid crystals and a polymer have been investigated theoretically and experimentally.
The equilibrium limits of phase separation as well as phase transition of a PDLC system were
calculated by taking into consideration the Flory–Huggins (FH) theory for the free energy of mixing
of isotropic phases in conjunction with the Maier–Saupe ~MS! theory for phase transition of a
nematic liquid crystal. The correspondence between the Landau–de Gennes expansion and the
Maier–Saupe theory was found and the coefficients were evaluated. The calculation based on the
combined FH-MS theory predicted …


Polymerization-Induced Phase-Separation In A Liquid-Crystal-Polymer Mixture, J. Y, Kim, C. H. Cho, P. Palffy-Muhoray, M. Mustafa, Thein Kyu Oct 1993

Polymerization-Induced Phase-Separation In A Liquid-Crystal-Polymer Mixture, J. Y, Kim, C. H. Cho, P. Palffy-Muhoray, M. Mustafa, Thein Kyu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

We have used light scattering to study the kinetics of polymerization-induced phase separation in a liquid-crystal-polymer mixture. The evolution of the structure factor is compared with scaling predictions for thermally quenched systems. We have also observed a cascading phenomenon where phase separated domains become unstable and undergo phase separation for a second time.


Phase-Separation Dynamics Of Polycarbonate Polymethyl Methacrylate Blends. I. Temperature Jumps Into An Immiscibility Loop, Dong-Soo Lim, Thein Kyu Mar 1990

Phase-Separation Dynamics Of Polycarbonate Polymethyl Methacrylate Blends. I. Temperature Jumps Into An Immiscibility Loop, Dong-Soo Lim, Thein Kyu

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

No abstract provided.


Phase-Separation Dynamics Of Polycarbonate Polymethyl Methacrylate Blends. Ii. Temperature Jumps Above An Immiscibility Loop, Thein Kyu, Ds Lim Mar 1990

Phase-Separation Dynamics Of Polycarbonate Polymethyl Methacrylate Blends. Ii. Temperature Jumps Above An Immiscibility Loop, Thein Kyu, Ds Lim

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

No abstract provided.