Photos taken 05-09-02 in Prof. Christine Ortiz's MIT lab 12-065
Images of Crushed Octadecane Embedded in PDMS.
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These are photos of 5 grams of octadecane embedded into 10 ml of PDMS (using the curing agent and base), and allowed to gel for a day under a hood. Small pieces were cut from the silicone using a clean razor blade and the help of small tweezers. The first image was taken at 2.5x and the following was taken at 10x Magnification. Although the pieces of octadecane are widely varied in size, they appear to be relatively evenly spaced throughout the PDMS silicone. This silicone was processed on 05-07-02.
Images of polyethylene glycol, PEG heat sealed in low-density polyethylene, LDPE.
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These are photos of PEG that has been placed in plastic baggies made of LDPE and heat sealed using the edge of an iron. The following images were taken at 10x Magnification. The first image shown displays the area where the LDPE was heat-sealed by the iron. On the left side is the melted PE bag and the crystalline structures in the middle and towards the left side of the photo is the PEG that had begun melting and flowing into the PE when the heat of the iron had been applied. The second photo is the encapsulated PEG shown near the edge of a pre-sealed section of the LDPE bag. This particular sample of PEG was heat-sealed into the LDPE bag on 05-07-02.
Images of LDPE and PEG melted in Dichloromethane.
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The followng are photos of an attempt to melt together PEG and LDPE. The LDPE had been mixed in a beaker of Dichloromethane for two days. No visible breakdown of polymer was observed. The mixture of LDPE was heated and the Dichloromethane evaporated off relatively quickly. The LDPE was melted and the PEG was added to this. They did not readily mix and the polymer began to brown/burn, so the mixture was taken from the heat. There is some sort of gooey substance on the plastic. Because the PEG has a much lower melting temperature than the PE, it seems likely that the PEG came out of the LDPE. The following images were taken at 10x Magnification. The first image shown displays an area where the PE seems to have formed a ridge while cooling. The following two images show small dark circle areas. It appears to me that it may be small areas of PEG (since the PEG would try to contain itself and not disperse readily into the PE) where they have started burning. This polymer mixture was made on 05-03-02.
Images of LDPE and PEG melted, which then burned.
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The followng are photos of an attempt to melt together PEG and LDPE. The LDPE was heated and melted. It started browning slightly. The PEG was added and made things really start to brown and smoke. The mixture, with stirbar included, was left for a minute or two on the hot plate. It was then removed. About 3 seconds after removal from the hotplate, the polymer mixture ignited into flames. The following images show the residue left after the burning of the polymer mixture. Note the small little holes that seem to appear. They are similar to the dark circles seen above. However, these have been burned completely thru and seem to be empty holes. This polymer mixture was made on 05-07-02.
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