Physical, Thermal, and Mechanical Characterization of PMMA Foils Fabricated by Solution Casting

Abstract

The physical, thermal, structural, and mechanical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) PMMA foils cast from solutions of toluene were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, optical microscope, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, and dynamical mechanical analysis. The PMMA foils were prepared from a different ratio of PMMA powder with toluene solvent by the solution cast method. The surface features, glass transition temperature, and C-H bonds of foils were investigated and compared with commercial PMMA foil. The mechanical characterization of foils was examined by using static and dynamic loads in axial and transverse modes. The tensile behaviors of the commercial and as-prepared foils were investigated by using a strain rate of 0.01/s. The dynamical behavior of the foils was tested in tensile mode using 0.1 N of stress with a frequency of 1 Hz for the determination of storage, loss modulus, and damping values of the tan delta. A significant shape memory was observed in all of the prepared PMMA foils. The solution cast method allows for tuning the glass transition temperature of polymer foil that could easily integrate with the NiTi alloy phase transition temperature to fabricate a suitable composite structure. Integrating both structures will open the flexibility in bistable actuators in composite structures as a function of thermal cycles.

Analytical modeling and experimental estimation of the dynamic mechanical characteristics of green composite: Caesalpinia decapetala seed reinforcement

“…Due to the loss in stiffness, the machine became unable to detect the polymer. [28][29][30] A similar trend of increased storage modulus was observed by the researchers, 31 when they studied the dynamic mechanical analysis of carbon fabric-reinforced epoxy composites. However, the authors experienced a glass transition region at a very low temperature of 64 C, nearly 5 C lower than the present work.…”

“…In the rubbery plateau region, temperature acceleration caused higher mobility of materials, but the storage modulus remained unchanged. Due to the loss in stiffness, the machine became unable to detect the polymer 28–30 . A similar trend of increased storage modulus was observed by the researchers, 31 when they studied the dynamic mechanical analysis of carbon fabric‐reinforced epoxy composites.…”

Visible Light Activation of Gold Nanoparticles Embedded into Titanium Dioxide Surface in Electrospun Polymeric Coatings

“…Solution-casting consists of pouring the solution with the functional particles into a petri dish where the sample is presented. Then, a drying process is conducted at a certain temperature so that the solvent vanishes and the functional particles are immobilized in the sample [19]. This deposition method is also a simple and economical way of depositing the photocatalytic particles into the sample [20,21].…”