The free volume property and intermolecular interaction (especially hydrogen bonding) of poly (ether-urethane) (PEU) irradiated by neutron under different atmosphere has been studied by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The results suggested that the hydrogen-bonding interactions and free volume property in PEU depended strongly on the neutron irradiation dose.

Poly(ether-urethane) (PEU) was irradiated by neutron in different atmospheres. The hydrogen bonding interaction was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and the microstructure of PEU had been investigated by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). The gas products were detected by gas chromatography after irradiation. The results demonstrated that the irradiation led to more hydrogen bonded carbonyl in PEU, smaller relative free volume fraction, and narrower free volume distribution. It suggested that increasing hydrogen bonds would result in the collapse of free volume. The irradiation induced micro-phase merging together and the presence of oxygen would accelerate this tendency, which was revealed by PALS. All the results indicated that the chain relaxation led to more hydrogen bonds, and the hydrogen bonding interaction suppressed the free volume. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 381–388, 2010

The acoustic response of a rigid-frame porous plate with a periodic set of inclusions is investigated by a multipole method. The acoustic properties, in particular, the absorption, of such a structure are then derived and studied. Numerical results together with a modal analysis show that the addition of a periodic set of high-contrast inclusions leads to the excitation of the modes of the plate and to a large increase in the acoustic absorption.

The aim of this paper is to study the effect of oxygen on the microstructure of PP irradiated by gamma ray. The released gases from the sample in irradiation process were measured by gas chromatography. The results showed that the hydrogen release from the irradiated PP is independent on the irradiation atmosphere. It is only dependent on the irradiation dose that could be interpreted by a simple model. The microstructure of PP samples irradiated under different atmospheres is studied by positron annihilation spectroscopy. It is found that there are two sub-peaks in free volume distribution of PP irradiated under helium, while only one peak in the distribution of PP irradiated under air. It is the direct evidence to the argument that the new voids are formed in the irradiation process under inert gas and the oxygen may induce the voids to merge together. The influence of oxygen on the crystalline of PP irradiated by gamma is also discussed.

A domain integral method employing a specific Green's function (i.e., incorporating some features of the global problem of wave propagation in an inhomogeneous medium) is developed for solving direct and inverse scattering problems relative to slab-like macroscopically inhomogeneous porous obstacles. It is shown how to numerically solve such problems, involving both spatially-varying density and compressibility, by means of an iterative scheme initialized with a Born approximation. A numerical solution is obtained for a canonical problem involving a two-layer slab.