Application of NMR spectroscopy and multidimensional imaging to the gelcasting process and in-situ real-time monitoring of cross-linking polyacrylamide gels

摘要

In the gelcasting process, a slurry of ceramic powder in a solution of organic monomers is cast in a mold. The process is different from injection molding in that it separates mold-filling from setting during conversion of the ceramic slurry to a formed green part. In this work, NMR spectroscopy and imaging have been conducted for in-situ monitoring of the gelation process and for mapping the polymerization. (sup 1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra have been obtained during polymerization of a premix of soluble reactive methacrylamide (monomer) and N, N'-methylene bisacrylamide (cross-linking molecules). The premix was polymerized by adding ammonium persulfate (initiator) and tetramethyl-ethylene-diamine (accelerator) to form long-chain, cross-linked polymers. The time-varying spin-lattice relaxation times T(sub 1) during polymerization have been studied at 25 and 35(degrees)C, and the variation of spectra and T(sub 1) with respect to extent of polymerization has been determined. To verify homogeneous polymerization, multidimensional NMR imaging was utilized for in-situ monitoring of the process. The intensities from the images are modeled and the correspondence shows a direct extraction of T(sub 1) data from the images.