L2-0633 — Final report
1.
Tailoring functionality and durability of polymeric products by modifying processing conditions

The paper demonstrates a possibility to modify the functionality of poylmeric products by modifying the inherent material structure with properly selected procesing conditions, which are achievable on industrial processing machines. In the extreme case the durability of investigated samples where modyfied for several orders of magnitude. At the same time, the coresponding temperature stability of the material was modyfied by factor of 2. Proposed approach opens the new possibilities for manufacturing multifunctionall polymeric materials at industrial scale.

COBISS.SI-ID: 10603291
2.
Structural and mechanical properties of polystyrene nanocomposites with 1D titanate nanostructures prepared by an extrusion process

Polystirene nanocomposites with titanate nanotubes and titanate nanoribbons were prepared by an extrusion process at 180oC. NMR analysis at and above the glass transition temperature Tg=373 K suggest that nanofillers affect the termodynamic properties of nanocomposite domains. At the same time, only a slight increase in mechanical tensile properties was observed, reflecting a weak interaction between the polymer matrix and the nanofiller. Nevertheless, the use of functionalizes TiNRS may be a very promising starting point for the preparation of nanocomposites at the industrial level.

COBISS.SI-ID: 22051623
3.
The effect of processing conditions on the durability of polymer products

The work discusses new possibilities of modifying the functionality of polymer products by changing their material structure during processing and consequently the time-dependent properties which define the durability of the final product. By analysing the low density polyethylene extrudates produced with a laboratory extruder, we observed that changing the processing conditions improves the durability of extrudates by several orders of magnitude. This opens new possibilities in the field of modifying the functionality of polymer products, and hence, better competitiveness on the world market.

COBISS.SI-ID: 11292955
4.
Structure and conditioning effect on mechanical behavior of poly(vinyl alcohol)/calcium lactate biocomposites

The structural and mechanical characteristics of polymeric biocomposites based on calcium lactate (CL) and either partially or fully hydrolyzed PVA were studied using optical microscopy, Fourier transform IR spectroscopy, and DSC, and in addition, the moisture absorption effect on their mechanical properties. The samples conditioned at 50%RH showed decrease in E modulus and tensile strength in comparison with the material stored below 20%RH. Nevertheless, the enhancement of tensile properties, due to the addition of CL, was noticeable especially for the partially hydrolyzed PVA biocomposites.

COBISS.SI-ID: 10998043
5.
Sterilization influence on durability of polyamide 6 with different molecular mass distribution

This article studies the effect of different sterilization techniques on time-dependent mechanical properties of polyamide 6 materials with mono- and bimodal molecular mass distribution. Mechanical properties of investigated materials were characterized by torsional creep measurements after sterilization with autoclave, ethylene oxide, and H2O2 plasma. It was observed that underlying modification of the complexity of the material inherent structure (molecular mass distribution) improves sensitivity to different sterilization techniques.

COBISS.SI-ID: 11552795