Engineering topics

Cheng, Stephen Z. D.

Publications and source records attributed to Cheng, Stephen Z. D..

3 records

NASA NTRS2002

Inter and Intra Molecular Phase Separation Environment Effects on PI-PEO Block Copolymers for Batteries and Fuel Cells

Rod-coil molecules have been introduced as a novel type of block copolymers with unique microstructure due to their ability to self-assemble to various ordered morphologies on a nanometer length scale. These molecules, comprised two homo polymers joined together at one end, microphase separate into ordered, periodic arrays of spheres, cylinders in the bulk state and or solution. To get ordered structure in a reasonable scale, additional force field are applied, such as mechanical shearing, electric field and magnetic field. Recently, progress has made it a possible to develop a new class of polyimides (PI)-Polyethylene oxide (PEO) that are soluble in polar organic solvents. The solvent-soluble PI-PEO has a wide variety of applications in microelectronics, since these PI-PEO films exhibit a high degree of thermal and chemical stability. In this paper, we report the self-assembled ordered structure of PI-PEO molecules formed from concentrate solution.

Xue, Chen-Chen↗

NASA NTRS1994

Negative birefringent polyimide films

A negative birefringent film, useful in liquid crystal displays, and a method for controlling the negative birefringence of a polyimide film is disclosed which allows the matching of an application to a targeted amount of birefringence by controlling the degree of in-plane orientation of the polyimide by the selection of functional groups within both the diamine and dianhydride segments of the polyimide which affect the polyimide backbone chain rigidity, linearity, and symmetry. The higher the rigidity, linearity and symmetry of the polyimide backbone, the larger the value of the negative birefringence of the polyimide film.

Harris, Frank W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

The study of the thermal behavior of a new semicrystalline polyimide

Thermal properties of a new semicrystalline polyimide synthesized from 3,3',4,4' benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA) and 2,2 dimethyl 1,2-(4 aminophenoxy) propane (DMDA) were studied. Heat capacities in the solid and liquid states of BTDA-DMDA were measured. The heat capacity increase at the glass transition temperature (T sub g = 230 C) is 145 J/(C mol) for amorphous BTDA-DMDA. The equilibrium heat of fusion of the BTDA-DMDA crystals was obtained using wide angle X ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry measurements, and it is 75.8 kJ/mol. Based on the information of crystallinity and the heat capacity increase at T sub g, a rigid amorphous fraction is identified in semicrystalline BTDA-DMDA samples. The rigid amorphous fraction represents an interfacial region between the crystalline and amorphous states. In particular, this fraction increases with the crystallinity of the sample which should be associated with crystal sizes, and therefore, with crystal morphology. It was also found that this polymer has a high temperature crystal phase upon annealing above its original melting temperature. The thermal degradation activation energies are determined to be 154 and 150 kJ/mol in nitrogen and air, respectively.

Cheng, Stephen Z. D.↗