The aim of this work is the identification of the best strategy for improving thermal, fire resistance and electrical conductivity of an epoxy resin for aeronautic applications. The effect of DodecaPhenyl POSS (DPHPOSS), Epoxycyclohexyl POSS (ECPOSS), Glycidyl POSS (GPOSS) and TriglycidylCyclohexyl POSS (TCPOSS) to act as flame retardants of the resin was evaluated. Flame retardancy tested by the limiting oxygen index (LOI) indicated that GPOSS has meaningful effects on the flame retardancy of the epoxy mixture. The incorporation of 5 wt% of GPOSS into the epoxy matrix resulted in a LOI value of 33 with respect to 27 of the pure epoxy mixture. The trend observed by LOI tests was confirmed by mass loss calorimetry measurements: a decrease from 540 kW m-2 down to 327 kW m-2 was observed in the peak of heat release rate (PHRR). LOI and PHRR values were compared with those obtained for the same resin replacing the 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS) with the bis(3-aminophenyl) phenylphosphineoxide (BAPPO) and the bis(3-aminophenyl) methyl phosphine oxide (BAMPO). BAMPO and BAPPO proved to be more effective than POSS compounds to increase LOI values. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), embedded inside the epoxy resin to enhance electrical conductivity, are found to affect significantly fire properties of epoxy systems mainly by preventing the epoxy systems from forming intumescent charring

ABSTRACT:The water solutions of the block copolymers PEO n -PPO m -PEO n , known as pluronics, show a complex thermal behavior, since they are liquid at low temperature (5 C), and they can give soft gel when heated at body temperature (37 C). These properties are of great interest in biomedical applications. To properly design these applications, a prerequisite is the knowledge of the thermodynamics-how much-and of the kinetics-how fast-with which these transformations take place. In this work, solutions of F127 (the copolymer for which n ¼ 100 and m ¼ 65) were studied by varying the concentration and the temperature and analyzing their behavior when heated under several heating rates. The studies were performed by differential scanning calorimetry (DCS) and dielectric spectroscopy. The investigations carried out under equilibrium conditions allowed us to determine the thermodynamics of the phase transitions, whereas the investigations carried out under varying conditions allowed us to quantify the kinetics of the phase transitions. Empirical models were also proposed to describe both the thermodynamics and the kinetics observed.

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Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a polyester widely used as packaging material in drink-bottling application. PET is rather sensitive to heat and oxidation and during processing it may undergo degradation reaction with generation of acetaldehyde. In this work the generation of acetaldehyde in a hot runner system has been measured. A special test apparatus was developed to separate the contributions due to the action of the extruder screw from those due to the melt residence at high temperature. Results showed that the acetaldehyde content non-linearly increases with temperature and residence time. A model has been proposed to provide for the generation of acetaldehyde as a function of temperature and residence time regardless of the geometry and other specific conditions of the process.

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