Oxidation of Polyisoprene Popcorn Polymer. IV. Effect of Polymer Purity on Carbon Dioxide and Water Yields

Abstract

Recent oxidation studies on polysisoprene popcorn polymer have shown that the yields of volatile products are a function of the presence or absence of residual isoprene dimers on the polymer. In contrast to previously reported data, no carbon dioxide is detected when highly purified polymer is used. Also, the yields of water drop to approximately half the previously reported values. Quantitative data are presented for the production of water during the early stages of autoxidation. The reported data emphasize the possible errors that can occur when oxidation reaction mechanisms are based on the stoichiometry of volatile products produced from impure polymer samples.     

Association of macromolecules and its influence on polymer miscibility

Experimental data are shown which confirm the existence of increased macromolecules association in a polymer mixture. The increase of association is revealed in the increase of light scattering intensity and the increase of density (local ordering increase). The grown up association degree determines the peculiarities of network formation through cross-links in the solution of polymer mixtures. Macromolecules associates degrade under mechanical stresses or after addition of slight amounts of substances which are able to interact intensively intermolecularly (solvating) with macromolecules of one of the polymer components in the mixture. Representation of associates formation and degradation in polymer mixture help to explain many experimental data on thermodynamics, structure and properties of polymer mixtures.     

Phase equilibria in solvent mixture–ion exchange resin catalyst systems

Phase equilibria for solvent mixtures and strong acidic ion exchange resins in H⁺ form are investigated. Experimental data on ternary non-reactive solvent–solvent–polymer systems as well as reactive multicomponent systems are presented for moderately and highly cross-linked poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) (PS-DVB) resins. Esterification of acetic acid with ethanol is used as a model reaction. The data are correlated with a combination of thermodynamic models derived for polymer solutions and gels. Independently determined data is used whenever possible with a goal of reducing cross-correlations between the model parameters. The limitations of the thermodynamic modeling approach for solvent–ion exchange resin systems are discussed. It is shown that, due to glass transition of the polymer matrix, the underlying assumptions are not entirely valid in low dielectric constant media and at high cross-link densities.     

Adsorption of Aminoalkylated Polyacrylamide on Montmorillonite and Palygorskite

The adsorption isotherms of aminoalkylated polyacrylamide on palygorskite and montmorillonite are measured at various concentrations of mineral in a suspension. It was shown that the dispersion intensely flocculates during the adsorption of a polymer. The quantity of the polymer adsorbed per unit mass of the mineral depends on the initial concentration of the mineral in the solution. A mathematical model of the adsorption process that adequately describes the experimental data is proposed. Based on this model, some ratios of the process rate constants are calculated.     

Metal nanoparticles on polymer surfaces: 6. Probing of non-glassy polystyrene surface layer

Peculiarities of the state of the surface layer of the amorphous glassy polymer polystyrene are studied with a specially developed experimental approach. The essence of the method consists in the observation via atomic force microscope for the depth and rate of embedding of gold nanoparticles in a polymer after their preliminary adsorption on the polymer surface from hydrosol. It is shown that the polymer glass-transition temperature near the boundary with air is substantially lowered relative to its bulk value. “Equilibrium” thickness of the non-glassy (“melted”) surface layer is determined through analysis of the data on the kinetics of nanoparticle embedding, and it is revealed that the layer thickness increases with temperature, reaching, near the “bulk” glass-transition temperature, the magnitude that is close to the diameter of the macromolecular coil. The results obtained are analyzed with allowance for published data, and the semi-empirical formula describing variations in the thickness of the non-glassy surface layer as a function of temperature in the interval between the “surface” and “bulk” glass-transition temperatures of a polymer is proposed.     

Prediction of Interfacial Interactions between Polymer Layers

Summary: Results of a study on polymer surface modification using heterofunctional polyperoxides are presented. A prognostic model of the polymer surface modifier efficiency was developed on the basis of obtained data. It was shown that implementation of demands to the macromolecule composition during development of new peroxide-containing modifiers in combination with sufficient peroxide group reactivity increased efficiency of the polymer surface modification.     

Calcium mediated polyelectrolyte adsorption on like-charged surfaces

Monte Carlo simulations within the primitive model of calcium-mediated adsorption of linear and comb polyelectrolytes onto like-charged surfaces are described, focusing on the effect of calcium and polyion concentrations as well as on the ion pairing between polymers and calcium ions. We use a combination of Monte Carlo simulations and experimental data from titration and calcium binding to quantify the ion pairing. The polymer adsorption is shown to occur as a result of surface overcharging by Ca(2+) and ion pairing between charged monomers and Ca(2+). In agreement with experimental observations, the simulations predict that the polymer adsorption isotherm goes through a maximum as the calcium or the polymer concentration is increased. The non-Langmuir isotherms are rationalized in terms of charge-charge correlations.     

Steric repulsion by adsorbed polymer layers studied with total internal reflection microscopy

Total internal reflection microscopy (TIRM) was applied to measure the interaction potential between charge-stabilized polystyrene latex spheres and a glass wall in dependence on the concentration of additional poly(ethylene oxide). The influence of the polymer can be described by steric repulsion between polymer layers, which are physically adsorbed onto the surfaces of the polystyrene sphere and the glass wall. The expected attractive contribution to the potential due to polymer depletion was not observed. An increase of the polymer bulk concentration is shown to strengthen the steric repulsion. At the highest polymer concentrations studied, it is possible to accurately describe the experimental data for the steric contribution to the total interaction potential with the Alexander-de Gennes model for brush repulsion.     

Thermoreversible gelation strongly coupled to coil-to-helix transition of polymers

This paper theoretically studies thermoreversible gelation driven by aggregation of helices formed on the polymer chains. Two fundamentally different cases of (i) multiple association of single helices and (ii) association by multiple helices with multiplicity k (such as double helices (k=2), triple helices (k=3), etc.) are treated on the basis of different equations. The helix length distribution on a polymer chain (or assemble of chains for multiple helices) is derived as a function of polymer concentration and temperature. Theoretical calculation of the total helix content in the solution is compared with experimental data of optical rotation in iota-carrageenan solutions at different polymer concentrations. It is shown that at low temperature there is a sharp transition from network to bundle state (pair, triplet, etc.). To confirm such a network/pairing transition, we carried out Monte Carlo simulation of polymer solution in which hydrogen-bonded zipper-like cross-links are formed.     

Quantitative Assessment of Protein Adsorption by Combination of the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay with Radioisotope-Based Studies

Protein adsorption at polymer surfaces has been investigated by means of both ELISA and radiolabeling techniques. Most of the data obtained are linearly related to each other for protein concentrations between 0.01 and 1 μg/ml, i.e., the concentration range in which the maximum amount of adsorbed active protein (ELISA) is achieved. The correlation of ELISA data with radioisotope-based measurements allows quantification of the former. Specific correlation factors are described. Adsorption is shown to be strongly dependent on the polymer/protein system.     

Healing of interfacial surfaces in polymer systems

Literature data on the problems related to the healing of interfacial surfaces in polymers are revisited. Specific features and behavior of the contacting surfaces of polymer films in the rubbery and glassy states, as well as in heterophase polymer systems, are analyzed. Particular details associated with the healing of interfacial surfaces in polymers, which are capable of chemical interactions with each other, are considered. Special attention is focused on the analysis of the phenomena taking place on the newborn interfaces formed owing to the deformation of polymers in different physical states. Processes providing healing of shear bands and crazes during annealing of deformed polymer glasses are discussed. The above phenomena are shown to present evident practical interest from the viewpoint of the development of advanced nanocomposites based on polymer matrices.     

Gel permeation chromatography of polyethylene: Effect of long-chain branching

The effect of long-chain branching on the size of low-density polyethylene molecules in solution is demonstrated through solution viscosity and molecular weight measurements on fractionated samples. These well-characterized fractions are analyzed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and it is shown that the separation of the polymer molecules by this technique is sensitive to the presence of long-chain branching. By using fractions of branched polyethylene possessing differing degrees of branching, one observes that a single curve is adequate in relating elution volume to molecular weight. This calibration curve is applied in the GPC analysis of a variety of commercial low-density polyethylene resins and it is shown, by comparison with independent osmometric and gradient elution chromatographic data, that realistic values for molecular weight and molecular weight distribution are obtained. The replacement of molecular weight M by the parameter [η]M as a function of elution volume, leads to a single relationship for both linear and branched polyethylenes. This indicates that GPC separation takes place according to the hydrodynamic volumes of the polymer molecules. The comparison of data for polyethylene and polystyrene fractions suggests that this volume dependence of the separation will be observed for other polymer–solvent systems.     

Damped torsional oscillator model for polymer molecules

At present the widely used model for explaining viscoelastic and dielectric properties of polymer solutions is that of Rouse and Bueche. Here the polymer molecule is considered as an array of Gaussian subunits, each of which acts as an entropy spring. The motion of these segments is damped by the viscous drag of the surrounding solvent (RB model). An alternative model is presented, in which the segments are torsional oscillators consisting of two or three backbone links, and the damping is due to hindered internal rotation (DTO model). The mathematical treatment of these two models is essentially identical, but the physical interpretation of the constants used is very different. The DTO model has previously been applied by one of us to the interpretation of viscoelastic data. It is here applied to the interpretation of dielectric loss data. It is shown that dielectric measurements in dilute solution should very readily discriminate between the two approaches. Finally it is shown that the relaxation time computed from the DTO model is in closer agreement with published NMR data on poly(propylene oxide) 2025, than is the RB relaxation time. The postulates of the DTO model appear to be confirmed for this low molecular weight polymer. An even more sensitive distinction should be available by studies of the relaxation time as a function of polymer concentration.     

Universal consequences of the presence of excluded volume interactions in dilute polymer solutions undergoing shear flow

The role of solvent quality in determining the universal material properties of dilute polymer solutions undergoing steady simple shear flow is examined. A bead-spring chain representation of the polymer molecule is used, and the influence of solvent molecules on polymer conformations is modelled by a narrow Gaussian excluded volume potential that acts pairwise between the beads of the chain. Brownian dynamics simulations data, acquired for chains of finite length, and extrapolated to the limit of infinite chain length, are shown to be model independent. This feature of the narrow Gaussian potential, which leads to results identical to a delta-function repulsive potential, enables the prediction of both universal crossover scaling functions and asymptotic behavior in the excluded volume limit. Universal viscometric functions, obtained by this procedure, are found to exhibit increased shear thinning with increasing solvent quality. In the excluded volume limit, they are found to obey power law scaling with the characteristic shear rate beta, in close agreement with previously obtained renormalization group results. The presence of excluded volume interactions is also shown to lead to a weakening of the alignment of the polymer chain with the flow direction.     

On the Mechanism of Aggregate Formation in Metal-Filled Polymer Composites

Mechanisms of the aggregation of nickel particles in a curing polymer matrix are studied. It is shown that the Brownian diffusion of particles and their orthokinetic coagulation cannot explain the experimental data on the aggregate formation obtained earlier.     

Interactions between colloidal particles in polymer solutions: A density functional theory study

We present a density functional theory study of colloidal interactions in a concentrated polymer solution. The colloids are modeled as hard spheres and polymers are modeled as freely jointed tangent hard sphere chains. Our theoretical results for the polymer-mediated mean force between two dilute colloids are compared with recent simulation data for this model. Theory is shown to be in good agreement with simulation. We compute the colloid-colloid potential of mean force and the second virial coefficient, and analyze the behavior of these quantities as a function of the polymer solution density, the polymer chain length, and the colloid/polymer bead size ratio.     

Temperature dependence of the growth rate of spherulites

The spherulitic growth data that exist in the literature for a wide diversity of polymers have been analyzed according to various possible nucleation mechanisms. It is demonstrated that, if allowed a reasonable choice for the equilibrium melting temperature, no unbiased selection of a unique nucleation process can be made. Moreover, a set of universal parameters exists for each of the allowable nucleation processes which enables the data to be represented by a single straight line which encompasses all the polymers. The only quantities specific to a given polymer are the equilibrium melting temperature and the activation energy for transport. The magnitude of the latter quantity is shown to be dependent on the glass temperature of the polymer.     

Effect of structure and conformational composition on the transport behavior of poly(ether imides)

With the example of two isostructural poly(ether imides), the effects of isopropylidene and hexafluoroisopropylidene groups and hydrogen bonding with chloroform on changes in geometry and energy parameters of polymer chains have been analyzed. The relationship between changes in the geometry characteristics of polymer chains and the gas-separation behavior of films cast from these poly(ether imides) has been established. It has been shown that an increase in permeability is related to a rise in rotation barriers and, consequently, to enhancement of chain rigidity, while the improvement of gas-separation selectivity is associated with a reduction in the amount of isoenergy conformers and an increase in the conformational uniformity of polymer chains. As was detected by FTIR spectroscopy and confirmed by quantum-chemical calculations, the conformational nonuniformity and the small-scale mobility of poly(ether imide) chains are possible only in the Ph-O-Ph′ fragment. The data obtained are applicable for estimation of the role of molecular mobility of polymer chains in the mechanism of gas or penetrant transfer through the polymer film and for predicting the transport behavior of polymers from this family. With the example of two other poly(ether imides), the prediction is confirmed by the experimental data on gas separation.     

A Method for Analysis of the Measured Curves of TMDSC Investigation in the Melting Region of Polymers

The measured signal of the temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC) is discussed in the case of polymer melting. The common data evaluation procedure of TMDSC-signals is the Fourier analysis. The resulting information is the amplitude and the phase shift of the first harmonic of the periodic heat flow component. It is shown that this procedure is not sufficient for quantitative discussions if deviations from the symmetric curve shape occur in the measured heat flow curves. For polymer melting it is demonstrated that asymmetric curves will be measured if the experimental temperature amplitude is too large. In this paper a data evaluation method is presented, which is based on the Fourier transform of the measured curves. The peaks of the first and second harmonics in the resulting spectra are used for the analysis of the asymmetry of the measured curves. In the case of polymer melting this analysis yields the maximum temperature amplitude which follows a correct linear data evaluation. This maximum temperature amplitude depends on the material. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The role of the scale factor in the structure-related mechanical behavior of glassy polymers

Literature data on the effect of the scale factor on the structure and properties of polymers have been analyzed. Two modes of the scale factor have been revealed. The first mode is related to the sizes of a polymer phase. This factor manifests itself when the polymer phase sizes become comparable with the sizes of a macromolecular coil. The second mode is directly associated with the sizes of a polymer sample and becomes detectable when investigating bulky polymer samples. The scale factor has been shown to substantially affect the structure-related mechanical behavior of loaded polymers, in particular, the stress–strain curves characterizing glassy polymers.