Study of Effect of NCO/OH Molar Ratio and Molecular Weight of Polyol on the Physico-Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane Plaster Cast
2 Abstract: Polyurethane plaster cast was an open weave fabric bandage, prepared by coating polyurethane prepolymer on raschel knitted fiberglass and polyester fabric. Curing takes place by coming in contact with water to form hard rigid cast. Polyurethane prepolymers were synthesized by reacting molar excess of diphenyl methane diisocyanate (MDI) with polypropylene glycol (PPG) at 60°C for 2 hours. This effect of different NCO/OH molar ratio and molecular weight of polyol on the tack free time, setting time, diametral compression strength, percent elongation and tensile strength of polyurethane plaster cast were investigated.. It was observed that with increase in NCO/OH molar ratio, tack free time and setting time of the cast decreases, whereas diametral compression strength increases. Tensile strength was determined in universal testing machine and was found to increase with increasing NCO/OH ratio while opposite trend was observed in case of percent elongation. With increase in polyol molecular weight, tack free time and setting time of the cast increases, whereas diametral compression strength decreases. Blended polyols i.e. PPG 1000 with PPG 400 in 50/50 ratio gives tensile strength and diametral compression strength in between their unblended counterparts. In comparison to fiberglass cast, polyester cast has higher percent elongation and diametral compression strength.
Effect of PEG Molecular Weight on the Polyurethane-Based Quasi-Solid-State Electrolyte for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Nanosilica was surface modified with polyaniline and incorporated into polyurethane to form a polymer matrix capable of entrapping a liquid electrolyte and functioning as quasi-solid-state electrolyte in the dye-sensitized solar cells. The effect on the S−PANi distribution, surface morphology, thermal stability, gel content, and structural change after varying the PEG molecular weight of the polyurethane matrix was analyzed. Quasi-solid-state electrolytes were prepared by immersing the polyurethane matrix into a liquid electrolyte and the polymer matrix absorbency, conductivity, and ion diffusion were investigated. The formulated quasi-solid-state electrolytes were applied in dye-sensitized solar cells and their charge recombination, photovoltaic performance, and lifespan were measured. The quasi-solid-state electrolyte with a PEG molecular weight of 2000 gmol−1 (PU−PEG 2000) demonstrated the highest light-to-energy conversion efficiency, namely, 3.41%, with an open-circuit voltage of 720 mV, a short-circuit current of 4.52 mA cm−2, and a fill factor of 0.63.
An anionic shell shields a cationic core allowing for uptake and release of polyelectrolytes within core-shell responsive microgels.
To realize carriers for drug delivery, cationic containers are required for anionic guests. Nevertheless, the toxicity of cationic carriers limits their practical use. In this study, we investigate a model system of polyampholyte N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM)-based microgels with a cationic core and an anionic shell to study whether the presence of a negative shell allows the cationic core to be shielded while still enabling the uptake and release of the anionic guest polyelectrolytes. These microgels are loaded with polystyrene sulfonate of different molecular weights to investigate the influence of their chain length on the uptake and release process. By means of small-angle neutron scattering, we evaluate the spatial distribution of polystyrene sulfonate within the microgels. The guest molecules are located in different parts of the core-shell microgels depending on their size. By combining these scattering results with UV-vis spectroscopy, electrophoretic mobility and potentiometric titrations we gain complementary results to investigate the uptake and release process of polyelectrolytes in polyampholyte core-shell microgels. Moreover, Brownian molecular dynamic simulations are performed to compare the experimental and theoretical results of this model. Our findings demonstrate that the presence of a shell still enables efficient uptake of guest molecules into the cationic core. These anionic guest molecules can be released through an anionic shell. Furthermore, the presence of a shell enhances the stability of the microgel-polyelectrolyte complexes with respect to the cationic precursor microgel alone.