Abstract
The effect of metal chloride on ethanol mass transport, welding and wear of PMMA was investigated in this study. Ethanol mixed with CaCl2o6H2O, FeCl3o6H2O, FeCl2o4H2O, MnCl2o4H2O and SnCl4 was transported in PMMA and changed the welding strength of PMMA because of different ionic potential of cations. Ionic potential is defined as the radio of its ionic charge to its radius. Different concentrations and elements of metal chloride cause the varied swollen of PMMA. Increasing concentration of FeCl3o6H2O, FeCl2o4H2O, and SnCl4 enhanced the welding strength of PMMA. On the contrary, the welding strength decreased with the increasing concentration of CaCl2o6H2O and MnCl2o4H2O.In addition, we also present a study of the transport of ethanol in PMMA. Each sorption curve was fitted with Harmon's model. When the concentration of metal chloride was changed, we found that D and V almost are constant. But solubility of solvents was different where metal chloride is changed and its concentration is varied.After absorption and desorption, the specimens with various concentrations of metal chloride mixed with ethanol were slided against 304 steel counterface with pin-on-disk configuration. We find that the wear loss increased with the increasing concentration of metal chloride. Hardness of PMMA increased with the increasing concentration of metal chloride, too. But different metal chloride coverage is not alike.The spectrum of PMMA shows the absorption peak of carbonyl group has a little shift by mass transport, which is due to electrostatic interaction between cation and carbonyl group, but no new intense peak is oberved by FTIR.