Journal of

Polymer & Composites

(JoPC)

Jan - April 2014

STM JOURNALSScientific Technical Medical

ISSN: 2321–8525

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Journal of Polymer & Composites

(ISSN 2321–8525)

Journal of Polymer & Composites

Processing and Manufacturing of Polymers and Composites

Thermoplastic composites

Fabrication & Architecture of Polymer

Engineering plastics, Nanocomposites and Polyblends

Bioconjugates, Biohybrid and Cellular Polymers

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I take the privilege to present the hard copy compilation for the [Volume 2 Issue 1] of Journal of

Polymer & Composites. The intension of JoPC is to create an atmosphere that stimulates

creativeness, research and growth in the area of Polymer & Composites.

The development and growth of the mankind is the consequence of brilliant Research done by

eminent Scientists and Engineers in every field. JoPC provides an outlet for Research findings and

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developments & research initiative.

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I hope you will enjoy reading this issue and we welcome your feedback on any aspect of the Journal.

Dr. Archana Mehrotra

Director

STM Journals

Director's Desk

STM JOURNALS

1. A Study on the Sintering Behavior of Al O /Y O Doped ZrO Composites2 3 2 3 2

S. Maharana, S.C. Patnaik, S. Adak, A. Mishra 1

2. Effect of High-Shear Mixing on Alignment of Carbon Nanofiber/Epoxy Nanocomposites Keith J. Green, Derrick R. Dean, Elijah Nyairo, Pamela Legget-Robinson 9

3. Fabrication and Characterization of Jute Fiber Reinforced PP-Clay-based NanocompositesFataha Nur Robel, Towhidul Islam, Arifuzzaman Tapash, A. M. Sarwaruddin Chowdhury 19

4. Ionic Conductivity of Chain Extension Supramolecular Polymer Material based on Reactive Hydrogen Bonding Motif Rajendran T V, Jaisankar V, Sivakumar EKT 30

5. Creep Analysis Characterization and Study of Biodegradation Effect on Compression Molded LDPE/Cellulose CompositesMartin M. Riara, Michael N. Waswa 37

6. Investigation on Properties of Water and Methylene Chloride Blown Rigid Polyurethane FoamHarpal Singh 46

ContentsJournal of Polymer & Composites

JoPC (2014)© STM Journals 2014. All Rights Reserved

Journal of Polymer & Composites ISSN: 2321-8525

Volume 2, Issue 1

www.stmjournals.com

A Study on the Sintering Behavior of Al2O3/Y2O3

Doped ZrO2 Composites

S. Maharana1, S.C. Patnaik

2*, S. Adak

3, A. Mishra

4

1Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Technology, Bhubaneswar, India

2Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, Indira Gandhi Institute of

Technology, Sarang, India

3Tata Refractories Ltd., Belpahar, India

4Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Sarang, India

Abstract Zirconia ceramics are widely used as cutting tools due to their very high hardness,

excellent fracture toughness, flexural strength, and wear-resistance properties.

Tetragonal zirconia exhibits better mechanical properties due to the transformation

toughening of zirconia. The superior mechanical properties in zirconia are mainly due to

higher density and controlled microstructure. In the present work, an attempt has been made to prepare near full-dense zirconia bodies with controlled microstructure by

optimizing different process parameters. In the present study, an attempt has been made to observe the sintering behavior of 3 mol % and 5 mol % Y2O3- doped tetragonal ZrO2

polycrystals (3Y-TZP, 5Y-TZP) and Al2O3 doped in 3Y-TZP and to optimize the sintering

parameters to get near full-dense bodies with fine-grained microstructure. It is observed that the densities of 3Y-TZP samples are higher than the 5Y-TZP after sintering at 1400

and 1450 ºC. The variation of sintered density of Al2O3/3Y-TZP samples with different

Al2O3 content, sintering temperature and time has been determined.

Keywords: Zirconia ceramics, tetragonal zirconia polycrystals, zirconia toughened

alumina, sintering, densification

*Author for Correspondence E-mail: patnaik.sc@gmail.com

JoPC (2014) © STM Journals 2014. All Rights Reserved

Journal of Polymer & Composites ISSN: 2321-8525

Volume 2, Issue 1

www.stmjournals.com

Effect of High-Shear Mixing on Alignment of Carbon

Nanofiber/Epoxy Nanocomposites

Keith J. Green1, Derrick R. Dean

1*, Elijah Nyairo

2, Pamela Legget-Robinson

3

1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham,

Birmingham, AL 35209, USA 2Department of Physical Science, Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL 36101 USA

3Department of Chemistry, Georgia Perimeter College, Decatur, GA 30034, USA

Abstract One of the major technological issues limiting widespread use of epoxy polymer nanocomposites containing carbon nanofibers is processability, where the dispersion or

alignment of the nanofibers is crucial to performance of the composite. Poor dispersion

of the nanofibers can lead to deterioration in properties, while aligning them affords the opportunity to maximize properties in a given direction. The authors have recently

investigated the effect of high-shear mixing as a potential method for dispersing and aligning carbon nanofibers in an epoxy resin matrix. Carbon nanofiber/epoxy polymer

nanocomposites were produced by dispersing surface-modified and unmodified carbon

nanofibers into the epoxy resin using two shearing techniques (mechanical mixing and high-shear mixing). The viscoelastic behavior of the resulting composites was

investigated using a dynamic mechanical analyzer. The dimensional stability of the carbon nanofiber/epoxy polymer nanocomposites was determined using a

thermomechanical analyzer. An improvement in the dimensional stability, as denoted by

decreases in coefficients of thermal expansion, was observed for the 1.0 and 0.1% modified high-shear specimens. In addition, the coefficients of thermal expansion

exhibited a directional dependence, with lower values exhibited in the direction of the

carbon nanofiber alignment. The 1.0% high-shear specimen exhibited a noticeable Tg enhancement.

Keywords: Nanofibers, nanocomposites, alignment, shear

JoPC (2014)© STM Journals 2014. All Rights Reserved

Journal of Polymer & Composites ISSN: 2321-8525

Volume 2, Issue 1

www.stmjournals.com

Fabrication and Characterization of Jute Fiber

Reinforced PP-Clay-based Nanocomposites

Fataha Nur Robel1*

, Towhidul Islam1, Arifuzzaman Tapash

2,

A. M. Sarwaruddin Chowdhury2

1Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Noakhali Science and Technology

University, Sonapur, Noakhali-3814, Bangladesh 2Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Dhaka,

Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

Abstract Nanocomposite is a new concept in the field of plastic-based composites. Jute fabric (hessian cloth)-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites with different nanoclays were

prepared by compression molding. Jute fiber content in the composites was

approximately 50%. Mechanical properties of PP-clay blend and PP-clay/jute fiber composites were characterized. It was found that 5% clay containing PP-clay/jute

composites showed the best results. Tensile strength (TS), elongation at break (EB) and tensile modulus (TM) of PP-clay/jute composites that contain 5% clay were found to be

59.85 MPa, 20.42% and 711 MPa respectively. Composites were soaked in water for a

certain period, and it was observed that there is very little effect of water aging on the mechanical properties of composites.

Keywords: Polypropylene, jute fabric, nanocomposite, clay, blend

JoPC(2014)© STM Journals 2014. All Rights Reserved

Journal of Polymer & Composites ISSN: 2321-8525

Volume 2, Issue 1

www.stmjournals.com

Ionic Conductivity of Chain Extension Supramolecular

Polymer Material based on Reactive Hydrogen

Bonding Motif

Rajendran T V1, Jaisankar V

1*, Sivakumar EKT2

1Department of Chemistry, Presidency College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

2Centre for Nano Science &Technology, Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract Self-assembly of low molecular weight oligomers possessing good mechanical properties

at room temperature and having a low melt viscosity at elevated temperatures are of

interest for many applications, such as hot melts and thermoplastic elastomers. Association between end groups can be based on a variety of secondary interactions,

such as Vander Waals, hydrophobic, ionic interactions, or hydrogen bonding. A low

molecular weight poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) was functionalized with 2-Ureido-4[1H] pyrimidinone (UPy) functional groups at both ends and their chemical structure as well

as the material properties were studied. The chain extension telechelic polymer was characterized by FTIR,

1H NMR spectral studies. The rheological studies revealed that

the supramolecular structure of poly (ethylene glycol) is stable upon heating upto 900C.

In these polymers, blend with LiClO4 and its conductivity was measured by Electronic impedance spectroscopy. Self-assembly polymers having relatively weak association in

combination with crystallization leads to physical cross links, which result in materials

with improved properties.

Keywords: Supramolecular polymer, hydrogen bonding, elastomers

JoPC(2014) © STM Journals 2014. All Rights Reserved

Journal of Polymer & Composites ISSN: 2321–8525

Volume 2, Issue 1

www.stmjournals.com

Creep Analysis Characterization and Study of

Biodegradation Effect on Compression Molded

LDPE/Cellulose Composites

Martin M. Riara*, Michael N. Waswa Department of Physics, Kenyatta University, Kenya

Abstract Synthetic polymers are important industrial materials, but their everyday use is

hazardous to the environment. The solution to this seems to lie in modification of their

structure through blending with biopolymers. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and

Cellulose were used in sample preparation for research in this work. LDPE/starch

composites have undesirable properties and so there was need to explore LDPE/cellulose composites and evaluate their susceptibility to primary biodegradation. Compression

molded composites were subjected to primary degradation in Aspergillus niger culture

for 60 days. Creep measurements were performed at 30, 40, 50 and 60 oC. The sample

was displaced for 12 minutes and allowed to recover for another 12 minutes. Creep

performance of the samples improved with cellulose loading. Time temperature superposition was used to predict the long time (up to 10

6 s) creep behavior of the

samples. William-Landel Ferry model was obeyed by the shift factors, so, the

deformation was dependent on free volume. Creep performance of the samples deteriorated on inoculation.

Keywords: LDPE/cellulose blends, creep, aspergillus niger, william-landel ferry

JoPC(2014)© STM Journals 2014. All Rights Reserved

Journal of Polymer & Composites ISSN: 2321-8525

Volume 2, Issue 1

www.stmjournals.com

Investigation on Properties of Water and Methylene

Chloride Blown Rigid Polyurethane Foam

Harpal Singh* Fire Research Group, CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, India

Abstract Physical properties are important parameters which influence the other properties and

performance of rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF). Water and methylene chloride are the important ingredients of RPUF which act as blowing agents and influence the density,

morphology and fire properties. RPUF samples were prepared from crude 4, 4’-

diphenylmethane diisocyanate (CMDI), polyether polyol, triethylene diamine (TED), 1, 4-butane diol, polysiloxane ether, water and methylene chloride. RPUF with different

densities were prepared by varying the amount of water and methylene chloride. This investigation reports the density, morphology and fire properties of RPUF varying with

water and methylene chloride contents. The density of RPUF samples blown by water,

methylene chloride and mixture of water and methylene chloride was ranged from 240.1 to 33.4 kg/m

3 with an increase of water and methylene chloride contents. The cell

morphology of the RPUF samples was investigated with scanning electron microscopy

(SEM). SEM results exhibit the average increase in the cell size of the RPUF samples

from 162 to 278 m with the increased water and methylene chloride contents. The fire properties results indicated that extent burnt and percent mass loss (PML) were

unchanged however, burning rate decreases and burning time increases as the density

increased. The increasing quantity of water increases the burning rate and decreases the burning time but does not have any effect on the extent burnt and PML of RPUF samples.

Thus some important properties such as density, cell morphology and fire properties are directly affected by water contents.

Keywords: Rigid polyurethane foam, density, morphology, blowing agents, fire

properties