Synthesis and Dispersion Characteristics of Multi‐Walled Carbon Nanotube Composites with Poly(methyl methacrylate) Prepared by In‐Situ Bulk Polymerization

Multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) purified by acidic solution were processed with PMMA via an in‐situ polymerization. Experimental evidences indicate the role of radical initiator (AIBN) and MWNT, showing increases of polymerization rate and MWNT diameter. Induced radicals on the MWNT by AIBN were found to trigger the grafting of PMMA. Moreover, the solvent cast film showed a better nanoscopic dispersion of MWNT and possibilities of CNT composites in engineering applications.

Fractured surface of multi‐walled carbon nanotube composite with PMMA prepared by in‐situ bulk polymerization.     

Viscoelastic Behavior and Force Nature of Thermo‐Reversible Epoxy Dry Adhesives

The gecko adhesion phenomenon has stimulated efforts to produce synthetic patterned dry adhesives. Besides introducing surface patterns on dry adhesives, it is also highly desirable to understand their intrinsic material properties. This communication reports the viscoelastic behavior of non‐patterned epoxy elastomers exhibiting intrinsic adhesion that is much higher than that of elastomers typically used for structure patterning. The diverse molecular origin of the adhesion is revealed through the study of adhesion against various substrates.

     

Assessment of the Extent of Starch Dissolution in Dimethyl Sulfoxide by 1H NMR Spectroscopy

Complete dissolution is needed for the separation, characterization, or homogeneous labeling of whole starch molecules. A method is presented to quantify the extent of starch dissolution in DMSO for the first time; it is validated on a commercial rice starch. It is used directly on starch dispersions containing possible undissolved or co‐dissolved species. High‐amylose maize starches, known to be digested slowly in vivo, only quantitatively dissolve in the presence of high concentrations of an H‐bond disrupter, LiBr, although they form clear dispersions at low LiBr concentrations. Starch quantitatively dissolves from waxy rice flours; non‐starch components partially co‐dissolve but do not interfere with the dissolution quantification.

     

A Layer‐by‐Layer Film of Chitosan in a Taste Sensor Application

Chitosan is alternated with sulfonated polystyrene (PSS) to build layer‐by‐layer (LBL) films that are used as sensing units in an electronic tongue. Using impedance spectroscopy as the principle method of detection, an array using chitosan/PSS LBL film and a bare gold electrode as the sensing units was capable of distinguishing the basic tastes – salty, sweet, bitter, and sour – to a concentration below the human threshold. The suitability of chitosan as a sensing material was confirmed by using this sensor to distinguish red wines according to their vintage, vineyard, and brands.

PCA Plot for red wine samples obtained from impedance measurements at 1 kHz for the sensor array comprising a 3‐bilayer chitosan/PSS film and a bare gold electrode.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Chitosan Grafted Oligo(L‐lactic acid)

Chitosan grafted oligo(L ‐lactic acid) copolymers with different length of side chain were prepared through the reaction of terminal aldehyde group of oligo(L ‐lactic acid) (OLLA) and amino groups of chitosan. The mean molecular mass of the grafting OLLA chain was ca. 600 ～ 5 000. The graft copolymers are soluble in DMSO, DMF and acetic acid. The synthesis method and structure described here provide chitosan‐g‐OLLA copolymers with broad applicability.

Structure of chitosan‐g‐oligo(L ‐lactic acid).     

Preparation of Robust Poly(ε‐caprolactone) Hollow Spheres with Controlled Biodegradability

Summary: This work reports a new type of poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) robust hollow sphere with controllable biodegradability, produced by grafting PCL shells from the surface of silica sphere cores and removing the template cores. Bis(ε‐caprolactone‐4‐yl) (BCY) composed of two ε‐caprolactone molecules was used as the crosslinker, which not only greatly strengthened the PCL hollow spheres but also brought hardly any non‐biodegradable component into the system. Solubility experiments and biodegradation tests show that the crosslinked PCL hollow spheres were robust both in water and acetone, and were completely biodegradable with characteristics of controllable biodegradability according to the content of the BCY. The Rhodamine release test indicated that the release rate of encapsulated drugs in the PCL hollow spheres was controlled by diffusion and the biodegradability of the PCL molecules, and the latter mechanism will dominate when more enzymes are involved.

Reaction scheme for synthesis of linear and crosslinked hollow poly(ε‐caprolactone) spheres.     

Chemical Modification of Chitosan, 17

The Michael reaction of chitosan with acrylic acid was carried out successfully, even in water alone as the reaction medium. As a consequence of its good solubility in water, the reaction product, N‐carboxyethylchitosan, showed excellent biodegradable properties with standard activated sludge.

     

First Diazosulfonate Homopolymer by Enzymatic Polymerization

The polymerization behavior of phenolic azosulfonates and triazene by means of enzymatic polymerization using horseradish peroxidase was studied. While for the latter one, only oligomerization was observed, sodium 4‐hydroxybenzenediazosulfonate was successfully homopolymerized. The obtained polymer had an average molecular weight of M _n = 3 000 with a polydispersity index of 1.51. This is the first example of a homopolymer bearing an azosulfonate function in every monomer unit.

     

A New Strategy to Exfoliate Silicone Rubber/Clay Nanocomposites

Summary: A new strategy was developed to prepare disorderly exfoliated nanocomposites, in which a soft siloxane surfactant with a weight‐average molecular weight ( ) of 1 900 was adopted to modify the clay. The modified clay slurry was then mixed with silicone rubber by hand, and exfoliation was achieved. The proposed mechanism thereof was verified by TEM and XRD. The physical entanglement of the soft siloxane surfactant plays a vital role in the diffusion and intercalation of the matrix molecules during the compounding of the slurry‐polymer mixture. This simple method is applicable to other silicone‐based materials reinforced by clay.

TEM micrograph of silicone rubber/clay‐sil nanocomposite.     

Rheology and Physical Properties of Polyethylene/Polyethylene‐Ionomer Blends and their Clay Nanocomposites

Rheological and solid‐state physical properties of blends containing high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) and a polyampholyte derivative (PE‐g‐PA) are assessed along with their onium ion‐exchanged montmorillonite clay (NR‐MM) nanocomposites. Strong deviations from the log‐additivity rule of zero‐shear viscosity, combined with synergistic behavior in tensile moduli, are consistent with a multi‐phase blend morphology. While this affects clay dispersion in filled blends, PE‐g‐PA/HDPE based nanocomposites are shown to exhibit a favorable balance between material stiffness and ductility.

     

Electrical Conductivity of an Individual Polyaniline Nanotube Synthesized by a Self‐Assembly Method

Camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) doped polyaniline (PANI) nanotubes (175 nm in outer diameter and 120 nm in inner diameter) were synthesized successfully by a self‐assembly method. It is found that the room‐temperature conductivity of an individual PANI nanotube is 30.5 S · cm⁻¹; in particular, the intrinsic resistance of an individual nanotube (30 kΩ) is much smaller than the contact resistance of crossed nanotubes (500 kΩ).

A SEM image of two crossed PANI‐CSA nanotubes and the attached Pt electrodes.     

Novel Shape‐Memory Polymer Based on Hydrogen Bonding

Summary: Due to a large difference in storage modulus below and above the glass transition temperature, a novel shape‐memory poly[(methyl methacrylate)‐co‐(N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone)]/poly(ethylene glycol) semi‐interpenetrating polymer networks structure was synthesized, which is stabilized by hydrogen‐bonding interactions. The recovery ratio of these polymers could reach 99%. In such a system the maximum molecular weight of PEG required for the semi‐IPNs formation reaches 1 000.

Transition from the temporary shape (chem) to the permanent shape (four rods) for a shape‐memory P(MMA‐co‐VP)/PEG1000 semi‐IPNs.     

A First Approach to White Organic Electroluminescence Device from a Single Rod‐Coil Poly[thiophene‐block‐(N‐vinylcarbazole)] Diblock Copolymer

A rod‐coil block copolymer consisting of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) (PVK) ( P3HT‐ b ‐PVK ) in a single molecular architecture is prepared as the first example for WOLEDs. By obtaining the phase separated domains in thin film of the resulting block copolymer, it is possible to suppress energy transfer from PVK as wide bandgap units to P3HT as low bandgap blocks, yielding dual emissions for white electroluminescence with CIE coordination of (0.34, 0.33).

     

Self‐Catalysis of Phthaloylchitosan for Graft Copolymerization of ε‐Caprolactone with Chitosan

Summary: A protection‐graft‐deprotection method was developed to prepare chitosan‐g‐polycaprolactone graft copolymers, during which the ring‐opening copolymerization of ε‐caprolactone onto phthaloylchitosan (PHCS) happened without any additional catalysis. The intermediate PHCS was introduced primarily to protect the active amino group of chitosan. After controlled experiments, the phthalimido compound was proposed to be a novel kind of organic catalyst for the ring‐opening polymerization of caprolactone monomers, while the hydroxyl group acted as an initiator. Hence, in this graft system, PHCS was endowed with both self‐catalysis and self‐initiation at the same time, and the PCL side chains grew from the hydroxyl groups of the chitosan backbone.

     

Supramolecular Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles Mediated by Polypseudorotaxane with Thiolated β‐Cyclodextrin

Summary: A water‐soluble gold nanoparticle aggregate 2 was prepared by chloroauric acid and a polypseudorotaxane 1 of mono‐6‐thio‐β‐cyclodextrin with poly(propylene glycol) bis(2‐aminopropyl ether) ( ≈ 2 000) in the presence of sodium borohydride in N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) solution. The investigative results indicated that the gold nanoparticle aggregate 2 might act as an efficient DNA‐cleavage reagent.

A typical TEM image of gold nanoparticle aggregate 2 .     

Single Macromolecule Diffusion in Confined Environments

We consider the behaviour of single molecules on surfaces and, more generally, in confined environments. These are loosely split into three sections: single molecules in biology, the physics of single molecules on surfaces and controlled (directed) diffusion. With recent advances in single molecule detection techniques, the importance and mechanisms of single molecule processes such as localised enzyme production and intracellular diffusion across membranes has been highlighted, emphasising the extra information that cannot be obtained with techniques that present average behaviour. Progress has also been made in producing artificial systems that can control the rate and direction of diffusion, and because these are still in their infancy (especially in comparison to complex biological systems), we discuss the new physics revealed by these phenomena.

     

Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Amylose‐Grafted Chitosan

An amylose‐grafted chitosan has been synthesized by a chemoenzymatic method according to the following two reactions. First, maltoheptaose is introduced to chitosan by a reductive amination using sodium cyanotrihydroborate in a mixed solvent of 1.0 mol · L⁻¹ aqueous acetic acid and methanol at room temperature to produce a maltoheptaose‐grafted chitosan that has a well‐defined molecular structure. A phosphorylase‐catalyzed enzymatic polymerization of α‐D ‐glucose 1‐phosphate is then performed from the maltoheptaose‐grafted chitosan to obtain the amylose‐grafted chitosan. This material does not dissolve in any solvent, e.g., aqueous acetic acid and dimethyl sufoxide, which are good solvents for chitosan and amylose, respectively.

     

Synthesis and Self‐Assembly of Amphiphilic Diblock Copolymers using a Fluorescently Labeled N‐Alkoxyamine Initiator

Summary: An initiator for nitroxide mediated ‘living’ free radical polymerization was prepared with a fluorescent tag attached to the initiating alkyl radical terminus. This was used to synthesize amphiphilic poly(acrylic acid)‐block‐polystyrene diblock copolymers, which self assembled in a tetrahydrofuran/buffer solution to form structures that are visible by fluorescence.

     

Electromechanical Response of Nanostructured Polymer Systems with no Mechanical Pre‐Strain

A dielectric elastomer derived from a polystyrene‐block‐poly(ethylene‐co‐butylene)‐block‐polystyrene triblock copolymer swollen with a midblock‐selective solvent is reported to show promise as a nanostructured organic actuator requiring no pre‐strain. This might provide an attractive alternative to conventional acrylic, siloxane, and polyurethane elastomers since the electromechanical properties are composition‐tunable.

     

Controlled Synthesis of a Chitosan‐Based Graft Copolymer Having Polysarcosine Side Chains Using the NCA Method with a Carboxylic Acid Additive

Summary: A novel chitosan derivative with polysarcosine side chains, i.e., chitosan‐graft‐polysarcosine [chitosan‐graft‐poly(N‐methylglycine)], was synthesized by ring‐opening polymerization of sarcosine N‐carboxyanhydride (NCA) with chitosan as a macroinitiator in the presence of carboxylic acids in dimethyl sulfoxide at 27 °C. Degree of substitution ( ) for polysarcosine side chains introduced to chitosan was controlled successfully by the feed amount of the additive nicotinic acid ( = 0.21–0.71). Independent of control, degree of polymerization ( ) for polysarcosine side chains was controlled by adjusting feed ratios of NCA monomer to chitosan ( = 14–43). Kinetic analysis of the propagation of sarcosine NCA was conducted by measuring CO₂ evolution. Apparent k_p values decreased with increased feed amounts of nicotinic acid, supporting the theory that propagation of NCA in the presence of nicotinic acid proceeds via equilibrium between active amine and dormant ammonium species.

Propagation mechanism of carboxylic acid‐mediated polymerization of sarcosine N‐carboxyanhydride.