Browsing by Author "Lutz, Marietjie"

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    The development and refinement of a questionnaire on the investigation of students' experience of first-year chemistry practicals
    (University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2013) Retief, Liezel; Lutz, Marietjie; Potgieter, Marietjie
    This article reports on the development and refinement of a questionnaire for first-year Chemistry students. Three subscales were probed, namely affective attitudes, perceptions towards tutor effectiveness and outcomes achieved.
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    Factors influencing the learning process in first-year chemistry
    (AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, 2009) Adendorff, Hanelie; Lutz, Marietjie
    Introduction: [First-year chemistry students] think that by being in class the information is magically absorbed and stored in their brains. This sentiment, as expressed by a first-year chemistry student at Stellenbosch University, might not come as a surprise to most academics. Convincing students to actively engage with the process of learning is not an easy task and often defeats our best efforts and purest intentions. Teaching and learning experts suggest that we can change this by changing our assessment strategies (Gibbs, 1999; Gibbs & Simpson, 2004).
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    Metallocene and Ziegler-Natta catalyzed polypropylene utilizing 1-heptene
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-12) Lutz, Marietjie; Van Reenen, A. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Science. Dept. of Chemistry and Polymer Sciences.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study concerns the copolymerization of propylene with l-heptene. The percentage of l-heptene used as co-monomer in the polymerization reactions was varied from 5% to 20% in order to compare a variety of polymers with different percentages of comonomer incorporated. A variety of different catalysts were used for these polymerizations. Two metallocene catalysts were used: (A) the isospecific catalyst, rae- [ethylene bis(l-indenyl)]zirconium dichloride (rac-Et(Ind)2ZrCh2) and (B) the silylene-bridged catalyst, rac-Me2Si(2-MeBenz[ e]Ind)zZrCh2. Methylaluminoxane (MAO) was used as cocatalyst for these two metallocene catalysts. Another series of polymerization reactions was done using a Ziegler-Natta catalyst, namely TiCb/AlEt3/Si02. Characterization of the copolymers included usmg high temperature gel permeation chromatography (HTGPC) for molecular mass and molecular mass distributions, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) to investigate the thermal and mechanical properties of the copolymers, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) for information concerning the microstructures of the copolymers and crystallization analysis fractionation (CRYSTAF) to investigate the short chain branching of the copolymers. Comparative studies were done on the different catalysts and the polymer properties. The synthesized polymers were also compared with copolymers of propylene with l-hexene and l-octene.
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    Structure/property relationships of commercial propylene/1-pentene random copolymers
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006-03) Lutz, Marietjie; Van Reenen, A. J.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Science. Dept. of Chemistry and Polymer Science.
    Propylene/1-pentene random copolymers are a relatively new family of random copolymers being prepared by Sasol Polymers and reveals high impact strength, good tensile properties, excellent optical properties, good rheological properties and a large pool of processing possibilities. These commercial copolymers are being prepared with stereospecific heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta catalytic systems containing multiple active sites and therefore producing copolymers with a varying degree of stereoregularity. Two different groups of propylene/1-pentene random copolymers were received by Sasol Polymers and investigated in this project. The first group (Group 1, Polymers A - F) consisted of six totally different batches of commercial propylene/1-pentene copolymers which were produced by different catalyst systems. All had different melt flow indices (MFIs) and different 1-pentene contents and all of the copolymers, except for one, were nucleated. The second group (Group 2, Polymers G - J) were produced by the same catalyst, but with varying donor:catalyst ratios and also differing in their 1-pentene content. Investigation of the Group 1 copolymers was used in order to construct a “molecular toolbox” which was then used to study the Group 2 copolymers. The original commercial copolymers were all studied by various analytical techniques: high-temperature carbon thirteen nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C-NMR), high-temperature gel permeation chromatoghraphy (HT-GPC), crystallization analysis fractionation (CRYSTAF), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). The random copolymers were all fractionated by preparative TREF and the fractions analyzed utilizing the following analytical techniques: 13C-NMR, HT-GPC, CRYSTAF and DSC. The results of these analyses were used to investigate inter alia the distribution of 1-pentene in the copolymers. In order to investigate the low molecular weight material of the copolymers, which were part of the room temperature fraction during TREF, solvent extractions were carried out using different solvents and different extraction techniques. A complete structural analysis study was carried out on the extracts. The percentages of xylene-solubles were also determined during the quantitative xylene extraction study of the copolymers. Characterization of the xylene non-soluble material was carried out using 13C-NMR, HT-GPC, CRYSTAF, DSC and WAXD in order to compare the properties of the unextracted copolymers with the material after removal of the xylene soluble fraction. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) was used as an alternative investigation method for the Group 1 copolymers and their XNS fractions in order to determine what type of information this novel analytical method could generate and how the results compared with those of previous PALS studies on poly-olefins. A new fractionation technique, preparative solution fractionation (SF), was developed and evaluated. The commercial propylene/1-pentene copolymers were fractionated using this novel technique, the fractions were analyzed by 13C-NMR, HT-GPC, CRYSTAF and DSC and the results were compared with previously existing fractionation methods, namely TREF and CRYSTAF. A final study was done on the random copolymers by blending one of the commercial Ziegler-Natta catalyzed propylene/1-pentene copolymers with a tailored, low 1-pentene content, metallocene propylene/1-pentene copolymer in different ratios. The blends were analyzed by molecular weight, thermal and crystal phase analysis in order to investigate the effect of the tailored, highly isotactic propylene/1-pentene copolymer on the properties the commercial random copolymers. Throughout the project the influence of the 1-pentene as well as the donor:catalyst ratio on the copolymers was investigated. This study, in its entirety, therefore allow a better understanding of the effects that the commercial, heterogeneous, transition metal catalysts have on the make up of the copolymers and, by extension, the ultimate properties of the materials.