Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Manas-Zloczower, Ica.
DFT calculations and experiments with four zinc salts as transesterification catalysts show discrepancies between computational and experimental flow activation energies, highlighting the importance of catalyst thermal stability and molecular size.
Recycling and reprocessing of crosslinked EVA through Vitrimerization.
Epoxy/anhydride cured thermosets are widely used in aerospace and wind energy structures. Recycling the enormous amounts of epoxy thermoset waste remains a global challenge. Vitrimerization, a practical, low-cost, eco-friendly and scalable method was developed for closed-loop recycling of the crosslinked epoxy by converting the permanent network into a vitrimer type dynamic network. Here we study the effect of virgin epoxy network properties on network reforming efficiency and the activation energy of the dynamic network by varying the epoxy/anhydride ratio. The results point out that the permanent network crosslink density and glass transition temperature have a more pronounced effect on vitrimerization efficiency by comparison with the concentration of free hydroxyl groups in the system. Furthermore, the result can be potentially used to better control vitrimerization efficiency in recycling epoxy thermoset polymers and tailor the vitrimerized products properties.