Core/Shell Pigments with Polyaniline Shell: Optical and Physical–Technical Properties

Core/shell pigments allow for the combination of the active anti-corrosion effect of the shell and the barrier effect of the core. This makes it possible to obtain anti-corrosion pigments, with a high—protective effect and low toxicity. Thus, the need for a comprehensive study of the properties of these pigments grows more urgent, before their application to paints and varnishes. The hiding power of core/shell pigments comes close to the one of pure polyaniline (PANi), when the PANi content in the pigment reaches 50 wt.%, with sulfuric and phosphoric acids used as dopants. This paper, also, shows that the blackness value of core/shell pigments with 10 wt.% PANi is around 35 and constant; for pure PANi, their blackness value is 40. When PANi content is 5 wt.%, kaolin-based pigment shows the lowest blackness, which happens due to a generally higher whiteness of kaolin. However, when the PANi content surpasses 10 wt.%, there seems to be no influence on the blackness of the core/shell pigments. The core/shell pigment with a 20 wt.% PANi is, optically, identical to a black-iron-oxide pigment. An increase in the PANi content of the core/shell pigment leads to an increase in the oil absorption of the samples. It was found that the dispersion process would be the most energy efficient for core/shell pigments, containing kaolin and talc as a core

Synthesis and Study of Properties of Waterborne Polyurethanes Based on β-Cyclodextrin Partial Nitrate as Potential Systems for Delivery of Bioactive Compounds

Eco-friendly waterborne polyurethanes (WPU) find wide application in agriculture as pesticide carriers, which enhances their efficiency. To provide better control of the retention time and capacity of pesticides, WPU can be modified by cyclodextrin derivatives able to form supramolecular assemblies with bioactive substances. Synthesis of WPU containing up to 15 wt.% of covalently bound β-cyclodextrin partial nitrate (CDPN) is reported in this work. Covalent bonding of CDPN to a polyurethane matrix has been proved by IR spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography. The particle size and viscosity of the WPU dispersion have been determined. The introduction of CDPN affects molecular weight and thermal properties of WPU films. The presence of CDPN in WPU is shown to provide higher average molecular weight, wider molecular weight distribution, and larger average size of dispersed particles, compared with WPU reference samples containing 1,4-butanediol. The analysis of the rheological behavior of the obtained WPU dispersions shows that they can be classified as pseudoplastic liquids. The analysis of the thermal parameters of WPU films indicates that the introduction of 15.0 wt.% CDPN shifts the value of the glass transition temperature from −63 °C to −48 °C compared with reference samples. We believe that the results of the present study are sufficiently encouraging in terms of using CDPN-modified eco-friendly WPU as potential systems for developing the delivering agents of bioactive compounds. The application of such systems will allow the long-term contact of pesticides with the plant surface and minimize the possibility of their release into the environment

Curing of Poly(styrene-co-methyl methacrylate-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Terpolymers in the Presence of Amino Compounds of Different Structures

The process of curing the acrylic oligomers for rapid thermal curing coatings in the presence of hexa(methoxymethyl)melamine (HMMM), tetra(butoxymethyl)glycoluril (TBMG), and tetra(methoxymethyl)glycoluril (TMMG) has been studied. When HMMM is used as a hardener, the content of hydroxyl groups in the terpolymer and also the crosslinking agent concentration have little effect on the initial cure rate. It has been established that during the curing of the TMMG composition, the amount of the network polymer and the initial curing rate decrease at short curing times only. It has also been revealed that the use of butoxy groups instead of methoxy groups as blocking agents leads both to a decrease in the initial cure rate and the gel fraction limiting value from 98 to 80%. When it comes to TBMG-containing compositions, a decrease in the part of hydroxyl groups in the copolymer leads to a significant fall in the initial curing rate and also in the gel fraction content. Regardless of the crosslinking agent used, an acceleration of the curing process is observed with an increase in the catalyst content in the compositions

Study of strange matter production in the heavy ion collisions at NUCLOTRON

It is proposed to install an experimental setup in the fixed-target hall of the Nuclotron with the final goal to perform a research program focused on the production of strange matter in heavyion collisions at beam energies between 2 and 6 A GeV. The basic setup will comprise a large acceptance dipole magnet with inner tracking detector modules based on double-sided Silicon micro-strip sensors and GEMs. The outer tracking will be based on the drift chambers and straw tube detector. Particle identification will be based on the time-of-flight measurements. This setup will be sufficient perform a comprehensive study of strangeness production in heavy-ion collisions, including multi-strange hyperons, multi-strange hypernuclei, and exotic multi-strange heavy objects. These pioneering measurements would provide the first data on the production of these particles in heavy-ion collisions at Nuclotron beam energies, and would open an avenue to explore the third (strangeness) axis of the nuclear chart. The extension of the experimental program is related with the study of in-medium effects for vector mesons decaying in hadronic modes. The studies of the NN and NA reactions for the reference is assumed