Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Comparison Of Tung Oil Resin Reinforcements Using Fibrous Proteins And Peptides For Biological And Materials Applications, Parker L. Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study a tung oil based thermoset was reinforced with collagen and fibroin, and the resulting composites were analyzed for their physical properties. Tung tree seed oil is a great candidate for biobased polymer production because its triglycerides are primarily made of alpha eleostearic acid, a fatty acid with three conjugated carbon-carbon double bonds. These double bonds allow for mechanically strong crosslinking in the polymer. It has been observed that polymerized tung oil forms a gel. This issue has been addressed using divinylbenzene (DVB) and n-butyl methacrylate (BMA) as co-monomers. Similar bio-based polymers have been studied and tend to …

A New Generation Of Functional Polyisobutylenes For Advanced Applications, Corey M. Parada

Dissertations

Polyisobutylene (PIB) is a fully saturated, aliphatic polymer of high commercial importance due to its superior gas barrier properties and high chemical/oxidative stability. One commercial end-use for PIB is in insulated glass windows (IGU), where it acts as a gas/moisture barrier and sealant. Under certain adverse conditions, catastrophic failure of the PIB sealant may result in aesthetic and functional failure of the IGU, which necessitates replacement of the unit. Thus, there exists a need to improve current generations of thermoplastic PIB sealants to be able to withstand the harsh environments found in current real-world applications.

In the first project, we …

Characterization Of Epoxy/Amine Networks With Glycidal Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Surface Modified Silica Nanoparticles, Reese K. Sloan

Honors Theses

Silica nanoparticles were surface modified with octa-functional glycidal polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (G-POSS) and incorporated into an epoxy/amine system in an effort to increase the mechanical performance of the inorganic/organic hybrid material. The silica nanoparticles were first functionalized with 3-aminoprpyltrimethoxysilane (APTMOS) at 5 and 10 weight percent, and then modified with G-POSS at ratios of 1:10 and 1:5 (APTMOS: G-POSS). The modified particles were then incorporated into an epoxy/amine network consisting of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and aromatic amine, diamine diphenyl sulfone (4,4’ DDS) at 1 and 5 weight percent, resulting in 8 different formulations. The incorporation of the …

Curing Of Polymer Thermosets Via Click Reactions, Mark Richard Brei

Dissertations

In the first project, an azide functional resin and tetra propargyl aromatic diamines were fabricated for use as a composite matrix. These systems take already established epoxy/amine matrices and functionalize them with click moieties. This allows lower temperatures to be used in the production of a thermoset part. These new systems yield many better mechanical properties than their epoxy/amine derivatives, but their T_gs are low in comparison.

The second project investigates the characterization of a linear system based off of the above azide functional resin and a difunctional alkyne. Through selectively choosing catalyst the linear system can show …