Utilization of light scattering in transmission laser welding of medical devices

This paper reports on optimization of material parameters in transmission laser welding of polymers including light absorption, light scattering and the thermal properties of the polymers. A criterion for making an optimized transmission laser weld between a transparent polymer part and an absorbing and scattering polymer part is formulated as a required thickness of the melt-zone in the transparent part with a corresponding minimum-line-energy-for-welding (MLEW). Experimental data of MLEW are presented for a medical device application involving joining polyethylene-octene parts for various concentrations of near-infrared absorber and titanium dioxide light scattering particles. Numerical and analytical models yield good agreement to the experimental data and enable optimization of the transmission laser welding process. By utilization of light scattering, the laser line-energy required for joining two polymer parts can be reduced by a factor up to three, enabling a corresponding reduction of the cycle time in the manufacturing process.     

Nanoparticle Distribution in Three‐Layer Polymer–Nanoparticle Composite Films: Comparison of Experiment and Theory

The distribution of hydrophobic nanoparticles deposited on a hydrophilic polymer film is investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy before and after spin‐coating a polymer solution on the particle film and drying it at room temperature. Various polymers and solvents are used. To reach equilibrium, all investigated systems are annealed additionally above the glass transition temperature (T_g) of the polymers. The compatibility of the interacting components is estimated by calculating their surface energy, solubility, and mutual interaction parameters. The experimental results show a redistribution of the particles on both interfaces of the polymer film. This corresponds to the calculated immiscibility of particles and polymers. The distribution of the nanoparticles at the interfaces is related mainly to the vapor pressure of the solvent, that is, kinetic effects during spin‐coating. Only minor contributions result from surface energy, solubility, and interaction parameters.     

The utility of resonant soft x-ray scattering and reflectivity for the nanoscale characterization of polymers

The utility of resonant soft x-ray scattering (RSoXS) and reflectivity (RSoXR) is extended and exemplified through the characterization of thin films of polymers relevant to organic solar cells and of dilute polymer solutions. RSoXS and RSoXR are methods that utilize anomalous scattering principles at soft x-ray energies. Soft X-rays cover the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen absorption edges, elements very relevant for polymers and colloids. The rapid changes of optical properties near these absorption edges provide selectivity to specific moieties and high contrast. RSoXR is shown to be a powerful tool for the characterization of bilayers of conducting polymers. The RSoXR results point to an interesting strategy that will allow the chemical interdiffusion and physical roughness at a buried polymer/polymer interface to be determined independently. The high scattering cross sections also allows the investigation of thin films of conjugated polymer blends in transmission at thicknesses for which hard X-rays or neutrons would yield relatively little scattering. By scattering at photon energies that provide strong scattering contrast, even very dilute polymeric solutions yield a useable signal.     

Novel properties of nanoscale organic–inorganic systems and photonic crystals — conducting polymers in nanoscale periodic structures,microcavities and photonic crystals

Conducting polymer/C₆₀and C₆₀doped conducting polymer/C₆₀heterojunctions have been fabricated and found to exhibit remarkably enhanced photoresponse due to the highly effective photoinduced charge transfer at the interface. In conducting polymer/C₆₀alkali metal nanoscale composite systems, multiphase superconductivity has been clarified and explained by taking the coupling of nanoscale grains by Josephson junctions into consideration. As examples of intramolecular organic-inorganic combined systems, unique electrical and optical characteristics have been revealed in oligosilanylene oligophenylene polymers. Electroluminescence has been demonstrated in organic-inorganic junction devices such as conducting polymer/porous Si and conducting polymer/diamond junctions. Conducting, polymer-based nanoscale multilayer systems have been studied utilizing molecular self-assembly method and novel photosensitive characteristics have been revealed. \indent Novel optical and electrical properties of conducting polymers infiltrated in a photonic crystal, synthetic opal made of SiO₂spheres of several hundred nm in diameter, and also a conducting polymer replica have been revealed. A clear diffraction pattern was observed in a photonic crystal infiltrated with conducting polymers, and transmission spectra are dependent on various ambient conditions. Their photoluminescence (PL) spectra, spectral narrowing of PL and lasing characteristics at relatively low optical excitation have also been clarified. Novel conducting characteristics of conducting polymers in a photonic crystal that was prepared by pyrolysis of a polymer replica of opal have also been observed.     

Polycarbonate hollow-core microstructured optical fiber

A hollow-core microstructured polymer optical fiber is fabricated from polycarbonate material and guidance by inhibited coupling in a two-layer structure is demonstrated in two strong transmission bands with minimum losses of 9.0 dB/m at 800 nm and 3.1 dB/m at 1550 nm. The latter corresponds to a loss well below the polycarbonate material loss at this wavelength, and to our knowledge it is the lowest loss hollow-core polymer fiber reported to date. The short-term operational temperature limit of the fiber is shown to be 135 degrees C, significantly higher than that of conventional polymer optical fibers made of other polymers.     

Characterization of optical properties of optical polymers

Possible applications of polymer materials in optical systems and devices are defined mainly by their optical properties in terms of refractive indices, transmission, dispersion and thermo-optic coefficients. We have examined more than twenty types of optical plastics including basic, commercial and some new development materials. Detailed measured refractometric data and transmission spectra in the visible and near infrared regions are presented. Variation of refractive indices with temperature is considered to obtain the thermo-optic coefficients. Discussion on dispersion of studied optical polymers and comparison to glass is included on the base of a number of dispersive characteristics and curves.     

Buckling Behavior of Carbon Nanotubes Functionalized with Carbene under Physical Adsorption of Polymer Chains: a Molecular Dynamics Study

The buckling analysis of functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is of great importance for the better understanding of mechanical behavior of nanocomposites. The buckling behavior of carbene-functionalized CNTs (cfCNTs) under physical adsorption of polymer chains (cfCNTs/polymers) is studied in this paper by the classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In this regard, to investigate the interactions between non-covalent polymer chains and cfCNTs, two different non-covalent functional groups, i.e. polycarbonate (PC) and polypropylene (PP), are selected. The findings are compared with those of pure CNTs under the physical adsorption of polymer chains (pCNTs/polymers). The obtained results show that at a given weight percentage of non-covalent functional groups, the gyration radius of cfCNTs/polymers is higher than that of pCNTs/polymers. Furthermore, an increase in the critical buckling force of cfCNTs/polymers is dependent on the type of non-covalent polymer chains. For cfCNTs/PC and cfCNTs/PP, the critical buckling force is respectively lower and higher than that of pCNTs/polymers for the similar weight percentage of non-covalent functional groups. In addition, it is found that the critical buckling strain of cfCNTs/polymers is smaller than that of pCNTs/polymers for the same weight percentage of non-covalent polymer chains.     

Laser Raman spectroscopic investigations of biodegradable vehicle of active agents eluting LVM 316 stainless steel cardiovascular stents for in vivo degradation characteristics

Laser Raman spectroscopy is an effective tool for the study of biodegradable polymers, which play a vital role in the new developments in coronary implants such as stents. There is much excitement around the potential capabilities of synthetic biodegradable polymers and the effect they will have on the design and function of implanted devices. In the present investigation, heparin‐conjugated biodegradable copolymers were evaluated for their durability as drug‐eluting stent coatings. Laser Raman spectroscopic studies were carried out and spectra recorded and analyzed of explanted stents coated with different amounts of polymer alone, showing the existence of different levels at different quantities of polymer. The polymer was detected on every stent analyzed. On the stents coated with a thick layer of polymer, a firm layer of polymer still existed on the stent. In contrast, this layer was degraded and spread around on the stents coated with only a thin layer of the polymer. This indicates that the polymers used in the stents in the present investigation exhibit acceptable biodegradability. Such polymers can be used as efficient drug carriers, as these materials show good degradation after the stipulated period. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Silane-modified polymers as interphases in glass-fibre-reinforced composites: 2. Grafting and crosslinking of interphase materials

_—This paper presents an interphase engineering technique suitable for grafting silane-modified polymers onto glass fibres to be used in composites with enhanced impact tolerance. The silane-modified polymers include ethylene polymers grafted with γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) and a copolymer of butyl acrylate (BuA) and MPS. The grafting of functionalized interphase materials onto glass fibres is performed in solution. By changing the concentrations of the solutions, different amounts of polymer can be deposited on the fibres. Water crosslinking of the polymer gives the possibility of producing stabilised interfacial polymer coatings over a range of thicknesses. It is concluded that acidic conditions (1) promote the grafting of silane-modified polymers on glass fibres and (2) for a given reaction time, increase the amount of crosslinked polymer in the interphase, i.e. yield more stable interphases. It is also likely that preserving acidic conditions at the fibre/polymer interface is important for maintaining bonding across the interface. It is shown that polystyrene/glass-fibre composites having SEBS at the interface are promising candidates for high-impact-tolerance composites.     

Fibre laser welding for packaging of disposable polymeric microfluidic-biochips

An essential step in the development of microfluidic-biochips is represented by the assembly process. Among the thermal bonding processes used for the assembly of such devices the laser transmission welding of polymers offers several advantages, especially when it comes about local deposition of energy and minimum thermal distortion in the joining components.The research presented in this paper proposes a new approach for the laser transmission welding developed for the packaging of disposable polymeric microfluidic-biochips. The new approach based on the use of a fibre laser and a tailored method for the laser energy deposition was tested on the sealing of polymeric biochips made from plexiglas and polypropylene with a covering foil. This method combines the characteristics of the polymer contour welding and quasi-simultaneous welding and allows the achievement of contamination-free, high quality weld seams as narrow as 100 μm with a high dynamic making it suitable for the high volume production also.     

Micromechanics of polymers

Polymers possess a very large inherent capacity for property modifications. The bridge between structure or morphology and mechanical properties is created by the micromechanical processes of deformation and fracture, the “micromechanics.” Developments mainly in electron microscopy (EM) (scanning, transmission, and high-voltage electron microscopy) and scanning force microscopy (SFM) opened up a wide range of experiments previously impossible, including the in situ study of micromechanical processes. These new techniques are reviewed and used to study micromechanical properties of amorphous and semi-crystalline polymers and several toughened polymers. On the basis of the detailed knowledge of micromechanical mechanisms, a new method of polymer modification becomes a realistic possibility, a method of micromechanical construction of new polymeric systems.     

Synthesis of spin-labelled poly(acrylic acid)s and their segmental motion study

Understanding the segmental dynamics of polymer chains is cardinal to decipher the microscopic behaviour in order to modulate the bulk properties of polymers. The study of electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy of spin-labelled polymers is useful to understand the segmental dynamics of polymer chains in solution. In this paper, poly(acrylic acid)s (PAAs) were spin labelled with 4-amino-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radicals. Spin-labelled PAAs (SL-PAAs) were characterised by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and ESR analyses. The polyelectrolyte complexes of SL-PAAs were prepared by employing poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) as the polycation and analysed by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and ESR spectroscopies. The effect of molar mass on the segmental dynamics of SL-PAAs in pristine as well as in the form of polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) was studied. The results indicated that SL-PAAs show a differential complexation behaviour with PDADMAC in the PECs depending on their molar mass.     

Optical properties of conjugated polymers having linear carbon moieties

Alternate conjugated copolymers consisting of phenylene or biphenylylene unit and linear carbons unit such as cumulene and polyyne were synthesized. The optical property of these polymers was investigated by UV–Vis and fluorescence spectroscopies. Among cumulene-type polymers, the polymer having allene moiety showed a unique hypsochromic shift and intense blue fluorescence in solution, while poly(phenylenebutadiynylene)s, typical of polyyne-type linear conjugated polymers, showed fluorescence in the region from blue-green to green in high efficiency besides thermotropic liquid crystalline property. Substituent effects of the polymers on optical property as well as the band structure were evaluated on the basis of Hammet parameters, which was utilized for designing of the polymers. The poly(arylenebutadiynylenes)s were applied in polymer LED. The devices consisting of ITO/PEDOT-PSS/emitting polymer/Ca/Al realized EL emissions in the region covering RGB colors.     

Classical ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy of polymers

Although X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of polymers was well established by Clark and coworkers in the 1970s, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy of polymer films, was developed later. Previous to the 1970s, the first attempts to use ultraviolet light on polymer films took the form of appearance potential (valence band edge) measurements. Only some years later could the full valence band region of thin polymer films, including insulating polymers, semiconducting polymers and electrically conducting polymers. The development of what might be termed “classical ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy” of polymer films may be loosely based upon a variety of issues, including adapting thin polymer film technology to ultra high vacuum studies, the widespread use of helium resonance lamps for studies of solid surfaces, the combined advent of practical and sufficient theoretical–computational methods. The advent of, and the use of, easily available synchrotron radiation for multi-photon spectroscopies, nominally in the area of the near UV, is not included in the term “classical”. At the same time, electrically conducting polymers were discovered, leading to applications of the corresponding semiconducting polymers, which added technologically driven emphasis to this development of ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy for polymer materials. This paper traces a limited number of highlights in the evolution of ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy of polymers, from the 1970s through to 2008. Also, since this issue is dedicated to Prof. Kazuhiko Seki, who has been a friend and competitor for over two decades, the author relies on some of Prof. Seki's earlier research, unpublished, on who-did-what-first. Prof. Seki's own contributions to the field, however, are discussed in other articles in this issue.     

Mesoscale structures in luminescent conjugated polymer thin films studied by near-field scanning optical microscopy

We report the studies of various conjugated polymer thin films with near-field scanning optical microscopy, NSOM. Firstly, it is shown that MEH-PPV thin film undergoes significant changes in film morphology upon thermal annealing. The once homogeneous morphology becomes inhomogeneous after annealing. Secondly, polarization near-field measurements reveal mesoscale polymer ordering in PPV thin film. The average domain size and the coefficient for linear dichroism were studied as a function of film thickness. Finally, phase separation in polymer blend film was directly observed by transmission NSOM. Time-resolved fluorescence spectra indicate that the phase domains are decomposed of different fractions of the two constituent polymers. The near-field optical microscopy was also used to write lithographic patterns with a resolution of 100 nm, exceeding the diffraction limit.     

Tunable polymer waveguide Bragg filter fabricated by direct patterning of UV-curable polymer

Tunable polymer wavelength filters are demonstrated using a silicon-nitride grating which gives high refractive index contrast with polymers. The polymer waveguides are defined using direct patterning of a liquid-state UV-curable polymer by proximate-contact lithography technique. The wavelength filter exhibits a narrow bandwidth of less than 1.0 nm and a transmission dip of more than −15 dB. The peak wavelength is shifted over 10 nm in the temperature range of 25-70 °C and the thermal tuning efficiency is −0.212 nm/°C.     

Refractive index dispersion measurement on nonlinear optical polymer using V-prism refractometer

By using V-prism refractometer, the refractive indices of a polyetherketone (PEK-c) guest–host polymer system were measured with the polymer in solutions. The Lorenz–Lorentz local field formalism was used in the calculation of the refractive indices of the polymers from the measured indices of the polymer solutions and the pure solvent by using V-prism refractometer. The refractive index dispersions of the polymers were obtained by fitting the measured indices of the polymers to Sellmeyer equation. The method allows for an accuracy in index of 0.7% in the determination of the polymer indices. In addition, a large difference between the indices of the polymer and the solvent, and a higher polymer volume fraction in the measured polymer solution are favorable for a high accuracy.     

导电聚合物自组装纳米器件

导电聚合物自20世纪70年代以来得到了广泛的研究．然而，关于聚合物纳米器件的研究则鲜有报导．从纳米尺度上研究导电聚合物，不仅有利于从更小的尺度上解析聚合物的光电性能、电荷传输机理，也可以将导电聚合物和纳米电子学有机地结合起来，发展聚合物纳米电子学的研究．文章介绍了最近由胡文平等采用自组装的方法构筑的聚合物纳米器件和在纳米器件中观察到的一些有趣的现象．     

Wear debris generation mechanism for polymers studied by nanoscratching

This paper investigates the debris generation mechanism for polymers due to the actions of the micro-asperities of a hard counterface. Nanoscratching tests were conducted on the surface of five commercially available polymers using a diamond conical tip indenter with three different scratching sequences namely unidirectional multipass, orthogonal multipass and orthogonal omnipass. The scratch damage surface was analysed using an atomic force microscope and a scanning electron microscope to investigate the material removal phenomenon for the selected polymers. The results show that debris generation in polymers is largely a phenomenon of low-cycle fatigue when asperities contribute to the localized plastic deformation of the surface. Hence the rate of material removal is reduced for a polymer which has higher toughness and a higher percentage of elongation before failure. The hardness of the polymer has a counter effect on wear as higher hardness tends to reduce the toughness property in polymers which leads to microcracking and further wear debris generation.     

Natural polymer-based electrolytes for electrochemical devices: a review

Polymer electrolytes are an important component of many electrochemical devices. Researchers have carried out a significant work for the development of polymer electrolytes. This paper reviews the recent developments in the area of polymer electrolytes using aqueous and nonaqueous-based natural polymers for developing a cheaper, ecofriendly, biodegradable, and widely used electrolytes as a substitute for existing synthetic polymer electrolytes. This paper also encompasses the merits and demerits of the different natural polymers used by the researcher. There is a scope to develop a nonaqueous-based natural polymer electrolyte as an alternate for synthetic polymer electrolyte for batteries and other electronic devices.