The effect of first-stage polymer Tg on the morphology and thermomechanical properties of structured polymer latex particles

A series of heterogeneous latexes having stage ratios of 40:60 between the first and second stage polymers were prepared by emulsion polymerization. The first-stage polymers were non-polar S-BuA with T_gs ranging from + 100 °C to + 20 °C and the second stage polymer was polar MMA–BuA–MAA having a T_g of 20 °C. The latex particle morphologies were studied using TEM and the thermomechanical properties of the resulting latex films were studied with DSC and DMA. Calculated diffusion rates for propagating species during the reactions were correlated to the observed morphologies and to the amount of interphase in the latex particles. To cite this article: O.J. Karlsson et al., C. R. Chimie 6 (2003).     

The effects of temperature on ESR spectrum of gamma-irradiated ammonium tartrate

Unirradiated ammonium tartrate (AT) samples do not exhibit any ESR signal. However, irradiation produces an unresolved singlet at g=2.0034±0.0006 with two shoulders at g₁=2.0093±0.0006 and g₂=2.0048±0.0006. The dose–response curve was found to increase linearly with the applied radiation doses in the range of 0.1–2.0 kGy and the slope of this curve was increased as the modulation amplitude increased. The activation energy value E_a=69.0±1.2 kJ/mol was calculated from Arrhenius plot for the radical species responsible from ESR spectrum of irradiated AT.     

Thermal Analysis of Poly(AN—co—St) and Poly(AN—St—MMA)

Poly(AN—co—St) (PAS) and poly(AN—St—MMA)(PASM) were synthetized by emulsion polymerisation. The glass transition temperatures (T_g) of the copolymers and the relationship between T_g and the components of the copolymers were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. The results show that T_g for the AN—St bipolymers has apeak value in the range 115–118°C at a content of 50 mass% St. When methyl methacrylate was added, the T_g of the terpolymer was decreased by about 2–6°C.The thermostability and the activation energy E of degradation were determined by thermogravimetric analysis.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Synthesis and structure of biodegradable hexylene terephthalate-co-lactide copolyesters

To obtain a biodegradable polymer material with satisfactory thermal properties, higher elongation and modulus of elasticity, a new copolyester, poly(hexylene terephthalate-co-lactide) (PHTL), was synthesized via direct polycondensation from terephthaloyl dichloride, 1,6-hexanediol and oligo(lactic acid). The resulting copolyesters were characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TG) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). By using the relative integral areas of the dyad peaks in ¹H NMR spectrum of copolyesters PHTL, the sequence lengths of the hexylene terephthalate and lactide units in the resultant copolyesters are 3.5 and 1.5, respectively. Compared to poly(hexylene terephthalate) (PHT), PHTL has lower T _m but higher T _g due to the incorporation of lactide unit into the main chains of copolyesters. The degradation test of copolyesters under a physiological condition shows that the degradability of PHTL is sped up due to incorporation of lactide segments.     

Vapor pressure, kinetics and enthalpy of sublimation of bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato)copper(II)

The kinetics of sublimation of bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato)copper(II), [Cu(tmhd)₂] was studied by non-isothermal and isothermal thermogravimetric (TG) methods. The non-isothermal sublimation activation energy values determined following the procedures of Friedman, Kissinger, and Flynn–Wall methods yielded 93 ± 5, 67 ± 2, and 73 ± 4 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively and the isothermal sublimation activation energy was found to be 97 ± 3 kJ mol⁻¹ over the temperature range of 375–435 K. The dynamic TG run proved the complex to be completely volatile and the equilibrium vapor pressure (p_e)_T of the complex over the temperature range of 375–435 K determined by a TG-based transpiration technique, yielded a value of 96 ± 2 kJ mol⁻¹ for its standard enthalpy of sublimation (Δ_subH°).     

PROPERTIES AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF AROMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALLINE COPOLYESTERS

The properties and structures of thermotropical liquid crystalline copolyesters basedon p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA), terephthalic acid (TPA) and bisphenol A (BPA) werestudied by DSC, WAXD, hot stage polarized microscopy and NMR. It was found that mostof the copolyesters were soluble in many common organic solvents. The copolyesters hadfow T_m/T_f values and a broad range of liquid crystal phase, making the polymers readilymelt-processable. The effects of annealing at different temperatures on the copolyestercontaining 33% PHBA were also discussed. It was noted that annealing at ca. 200℃(below Tc - n) could lead to the increasing of the crystallinity of the copolyester while themicrostructure and sequence structure had not changed. Annealing at ca.280℃ (nearTc - n) could bring a change of crystal and sequence structure and simultaneously madethe ndcrodomains be ordered more perfectly.     

Thermal properties of random copolyesters of PET and 3- and 3,5-bromo-substituted p-hydroxybenzoic acids. II

Melt-polycondensation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and 3-bromo-p-acetoxybenzoic acid or 3,5-dibromo-p-acetoxybenzoic acid in different mole ratios yielded random copolyesters. The copolyesters have higher T_gs than PET because of an increase in mol % of the substituted p-oxy-benzoate units and follow Wood's equation for copolymer T_gs. Using this equation, we calculated the T_gs of the homopolymers of 3-bromo-p-oxybenzoate and 3,5-dibromo-p-oxybenzoate, which are not available experimentally, to be 113 and 123°C, respectively. Up to certain percentages of the comonomer composition the copolyesters exhibited cold crystallization and melt transitions which we attribute to the crystallizable segments of PET. The variation in melting temperatures in the composition of the copolymer was explained by Flory's theory. The differences in the melting behavior of the polymer, annealed at various crystallization temperatures for a constant time interval, throws light on the morphological changes that took place in it. Using the Hoffman and Weeks method, we determined the extrapolated equilibrium melting temperatures of these copolyester which were used to calculate the enthalpy of melting for the crystallizable units.     

The non-isothermal thermogravimetric tests of animal bones combustion. Part. I. Kinetic analysis

The non-isothermal combustion of animal bones was investigated by simultaneous thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA), in the temperature range ΔT = 20–650 °C. The full kinetic triplet (A, E_a and f(α)) for the investigated process was established, using different calculation procedures: isoconversional (model-free) and the Kissinger's methods. The non-isothermal process occured through three reaction stages (I, II and III). Stage I was described by a reaction model, which contains two competing reactions with different values of the apparent activation energy. The autocatalytic two-parameter Šesták–Berggren (SB) model (conversion function f(α) = α^0.62(1 − α)^3.22), best described the second (II) reaction stage of bone samples. This stage, which corresponds to the degradation process of organic components (mainly collagen), exhibited the autocatalytic branching effect, with increasing complexity. Stage III, attributed to the combustion process of organic components, was best described by an n-th reaction order model with parameter n = 1.5 (f(α) = (1 − α)^1.5). The appearance of compensation effect clearly showed the existence of three characteristic branches attributed to the dehydration, degradation and combustion processes, respectively, without noticable changes in mineral phase. The isothermal predictions of bone combustion process, at four different temperatures (T_iso = 200, 300, 400 and 450 °C) were established in this paper. It was concluded that the shapes of the isothermal conversion curves at lower temperatures (200–300 °C) were similar, whereas became more complex with further temperature increase due to organic phase degradation.     

Synthesis and properties of cyclic diester based aliphatic copolyesters

Melt polycondensation was used to prepare a systematic series of random and amorphous copolyesters using the following cycloaliphatic diesters: dimethyl‐1,4‐cyclohexane dicarboxylate (DMCD), dimethyl bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane‐1,4‐dicarboxylate (DMCD‐1), dimethyl bicyclo[2.2.2]octane‐1,4‐dicarboxylate (DMCD‐2), dimethyl bicyclo[3.2.2]nonane‐1,5‐dicarboxylate (DMCD‐3), 1,4‐dimethoxycarbonyl‐1,4‐dimethylcyclohexane (DMCD‐M) and the aliphatic diols: ethylene glycol (EG) and 1,4‐cyclohexane dimethanol (CHDM). The polymer compositions were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and the molecular weights were determined using size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The polyesters were characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The copolyester based on DMCD‐2 was observed to have a higher glass transition temperature (T_g up to 115 °C) than the other copolyesters of this study. For poly[x(DMCD‐2)y(DMCD) 30(EG)70(CHDM)], T_g increases linearly with increase of DMCD‐2 mole content. DMA showed that all of the cycloaliphatic copolyesters have secondary relaxations, resulting from the conformational transitions of the cyclohexylene rings. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2162–2169, 2010     

Heat capacity, enthalpy and entropy of strontium niobate Sr2Nb2O7 and calcium niobate Ca2Nb2O7

The heat capacity and the enthalpy increments of strontium niobate Sr₂Nb₂O₇ and calcium niobate Ca₂Nb₂O₇ were measured by the relaxation time method (2–300 K), DSC (260–360 K) and drop calorimetry (720–1370 K). Temperature dependencies of the molar heat capacity in the form C_pm = 248.0 + 0.04350T − 3.948 × 10⁶/T² J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for Sr₂Nb₂O₇ and C_pm = 257.2 + 0.03621T − 4.434 × 10⁶/T² J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for Ca₂Nb₂O₇ were derived by the least-square method from the experimental data. The molar entropies at 298.15 K, S_m°(298.15 K) = 238.5 ± 1.3 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for Sr₂Nb₂O₇ and S_m°(298.15 K) = 212.4 ± 1.2 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for Ca₂Nb₂O₇, were evaluated from the low-temperature heat capacity measurements.     

Glass–ceramic Li2S–P2S5 electrolytes prepared by a single step ball billing process and their application for all-solid-state lithium–ion batteries

We report that glass–ceramic Li₂S–P₂S₅ electrolytes can be prepared by a single step ball milling (SSBM) process. Mechanical ball milling of the xLi₂S·(100 − x)P₂S₅ system at 55 °C produced crystalline glass–ceramic materials exhibiting high Li-ion conductivity over 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at room temperature with a wide electrochemical stability window of 5 V. Silicon nanoparticles were evaluated as anode material in a solid-state Li battery employing the glass–ceramic electrolyte produced by the SSBM process and showed outstanding cycling stability.     

Synthesis of a phosphinated acetoxybenzoic acid and its application in enhancing Tg and flame retardancy of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

A new phosphinated acetoxybenzoic acid, 1‐(4‐acetoxyphenyl)‐1‐(4‐carboxylphenyl)‐1‐(6‐oxido‐6H‐dibenz<c,e><1,2> oxaphosphorin‐6‐yl)ethane (3), was prepared by a three‐step procedure. Phosphinated copolyesters based on the acidolysis and polycondensation of (3) with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were prepared. The crystallinity of copolyesters decreased gradually with the content of (3), as shown in wide‐angle X‐ray diffractograms and differential scanning calorimetry thermograms. Dynamic mechanical analysis and thermal mechanical analysis show T_g increased with the content of (3). UL‐94 flame retardant test shows that the flame resistance of PET was enhanced with the content of (3), and a copolyester with UL‐94 V‐0 grade can be achieved with a phosphorus content as low as 1.43 wt %. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 424–434     

Melt transesterification and characterization of segmented block copolyesters containing 2,2,4,4‐tetramethyl‐1,3‐cyclobutanediol

Conventional melt transesterification successfully produced high‐molecular‐weight segmented copolyesters. A rigid, high‐T_g polyester precursor containing the cycloaliphatic monomers, 2,2,4,4‐tetramethyl‐1,3‐cyclobutanediol, and dimethyl‐1,4‐cyclohexane dicarboxylate allowed molecular weight control and hydroxyl difunctionality through monomer stoichiometric imbalance in the presence of a tin catalyst. Subsequent polymerization of a 4000 g/mol polyol with monomers comprising the low‐T_g block yielded high‐molecular‐weight polymers that exhibited enhanced mechanical properties compared to a nonsegmented copolyester controls and soft segment homopolymers. Reaction between the polyester polyol precursor and a primary or secondary alcohol at melt polymerization temperatures revealed reduced transesterification of the polyester hard segment because of enhanced steric hindrance adjacent to the ester linkages. Differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, and tensile testing of the copolyesters supported the formation of a segmented multiblock architecture. Further investigations with atomic force microscopy uncovered unique needle‐like, interconnected, microphase separated surface morphologies. Small‐angle X‐ray scattering confirmed the presence of microphase separation in the segmented copolyesters bulk morphology. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Molecular structure of phenylsilane: a study by gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio molecular orbital calculations

The molecular structure of phenylsilane has been determined accurately by gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio MO calculations at the MP2(f.c.)/6-31G* level. The calculations indicate that the perpendicular conformation of the molecule, with a Si–H bond in a plane orthogonal to the plane of the benzene ring, is the potential energy minimum. The coplanar conformation, with a Si–H bond in the plane of the ring, corresponds to a rotational transition state. However, the difference in energy is very small, 0.13 kJ mol⁻¹, implying free rotation of the substituent at the temperature of the electron diffraction experiment (301 K). Important bond lengths from electron diffraction are: <r_g(C–C)>=1.403±0.003 Å, r_g(Si–C)=1.870±0.004 Å, and r_g(Si–H)=1.497±0.007 Å. The calculations indicate that the C_ipso–C_ortho bonds are 0.010 Å longer than the other C–C bonds. The internal ring angle at the ipso position is 118.1±0.2° from electron diffraction and 118.0° from calculations. This confirms the more than 40-year old suggestion of a possible angular deformation of the ring in phenylsilane, in an early electron diffraction study by F.A. Keidel, S.H. Bauer, J. Chem. Phys. 25 (1956) 1218.     

Thermally stimulated current and DSC studies of the broadened glass transition in liquid crystalline polymers

The high sensitivity of the thermally stimulated current, thermal sampling (TS) method is emphasized in a study of the breadth of the glass transition in several liquid-crystalline polymers (LCPs). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed on all samples to further quantify the glass transition regions. For “random” copolyester LCPs with widely varying degrees of crystallinity, including highly amorphous samples, very broad glass tran-sition regions were observed. One semicrystalline alternating copolyester and a series of semicrystalline azomethine LCPs were studied as examples of structurally regular polymers. These exhibited relatively sharp glass transitions more comparable to ordinary isotropic amorphous or semicrystalline polymers. The broad glass transitions in the random copolyesters are attributed to structural heterogeneity of the chains. In one example of a moderate-crystallinity random copolyester LCP (Vectra), glass transitions ranging up to ca. 150°C in breadth were determined by the thermal sampling (TS) method and DSC. In other lower crystallinity copolyester LCPs, the main glass transition temperature as determined by DSC was comparable to that determined by TSC although cooperative relaxations of a minor fraction of the overall relaxing species were detected well below the main T_g, by the TS method and not by DSC. Rapid quenches from the isotropic melt to an isotropic glass were possible with one LCP. The anisotropic and isotropic glassy states for this LCP were found to have the same breadth of the glass transition as was determined by the TS method, although TSC and DSC show that T_g is shifted downward by ca. 15°C in the anisotropic glass as compared to the isotropic glass. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Recombination of HCO and DCO ions with electrons

Recombination of HCO⁺ and DCO⁺ ions with electrons was studied in afterglow plasma. The flowing afterglow with Langmuir probe (FALP) apparatus was used to measure the recombination rate coefficients and their temperature dependencies in the range 150–270 K. To obtain a recombination rate coefficient for a particular ion, the dependencies on partial pressures of gases used in the ion formation were measured. The variations of α_HCO⁺(T) and α_DCO⁺(T) seem to obey the power law: α_HCO⁺(T) = (2.0 ± 0.6) × 10⁻⁷ (T/300)^−1.3 cm³ s⁻¹ and α_DCO⁺(T) = (1.7 ± 0.5) × 10⁻⁷ (T/300)^−1.1 cm³ s⁻¹ over the studied temperature range.     

New cut angle quartz crystal microbalance with low frequency-temperature coefficients in an aqueous phase

In a traditional quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), an AT-cut (cut angle φ = 35.25° in yxl orientation) quartz wafer is employed because it has low frequency–temperature coefficients (dF/dT) at room temperature region. But when a QCM is in contact with a liquid phase, its frequency is also related to the properties of the liquid, which are temperature dependent. The value of dF/dT is about 20 Hz/°C for a 9 MHz AT-cut QCM with one side facing water. In this work, a group of QCMs in new cut angles were prepared. The influence of the cut angle on the frequency–temperature characteristic, response sensitivities to surface mass loading and viscodensity of liquid were investigated. An intrinsically temperature-compensated QCM sensor that possesses low dF/dT values in aqueous solution was reported. When a 9 MHz QCM with φ = 35.65° was contacted with water with one side, its dF/dT value is close to zero at ca. 25 °C and its averaged value of |dF/dT| is only 0.6 Hz/°C in the temperature range of 23–27 °C. The frequency responses to surface mass loading and viscodensity of liquid phase are very close among the QCMs with the cut angles in the range of 35.15–35.7°. The intrinsically temperature-compensated QCM was applied to investigate the alternate adsorption processes of cationic polyelectrolyte and silica nanoparticle.     

Synthesis, crystal structure and characterization of iron pyroborate (Fe2B2O5) single crystals

Single crystals of iron(II) pyroborate, Fe₂B₂O₅, were prepared at 1000–1050 °C under an argon atmosphere. The crystals were transparent, yellowish in color and needle-like or columnar. The crystal structure of Fe₂B₂O₅ was analyzed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Refined triclinic unit cell parameters were a=3.2388(2), b=6.1684(5), c=9.3866(8) Å, α=104.613(3)°, β=90.799(2)° and γ=91.731(2)°. The final reliability factors of refinement were R1=0.020 and wR2=0.059 [I > 2σ(I)]. Transmittance over 50% in the visible light region from 500 to 750 nm was observed for a single crystal of Fe₂B₂O₅ with a thickness of about 0.3 mm. The light absorption edge estimated from a diffuse reflectance spectrum was at around 350 nm (3.6 eV). Magnetic susceptibility was measured for single crystals at 4–300 K. Fe₂B₂O₅ showed antiferromagnetic behavior below the Néel temperature, T_N≈70 K, and the Weiss temperature was T_W=36 K. The effective magnetic moment of Fe was 5.3μ_B.     

Synthesis of soluble and thermally stable polyimide from new diamine bearing N-[4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl] formamide pendent group

A new aromatic diamine monomer, N-(4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)-3,5-diaminobenzamide, was successfully prepared in four steps using carbazole as starting material and polymerized with three aromatic tetracaboxylic acid dianhydrides via the conventional two-stage synthesis including the polyaddition and chemical cyclodehydration to produce a series of the aromatic polyimides. The polyimides were characterized by FT-IR, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) analysis. The polyimides with inherent viscosities in the range of 0.38–0.46 dL/g showed excellent solubility in various solvents such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), pyridine and dioxane. DSC showed the glass transition temperatures (T_g) in the range of 277–288 °C. TGA showed that all polymers were stable, with 10% weights loss recorded above 524 °C in air atmosphere. Preliminary tests on films of the polyimides indicate that the materials are brittle.     

193 nm photolysis of CHCl3: Probe of the CH product by CRDS

The CH radical production induced by 193 nm two-photon photolysis of CHCl₃ has been measured for the first time via the cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy of its A–X bands, using a commercial nanosecond pulsed dye laser. The range of pressure and laser intensity, as well as the time window detection, have been carefully chosen to ensure a constant CH number density during the measurement and to avoid post-photolysis reactivity. Internal energy distribution of the CH(X²II) fragment has been derived from population distribution simulations, leading to an average vibrational temperature T_vib = 1900 ± 50 K and rotational temperature T_rot = 300 ± 20 K. Two competing mechanisms can be invoked for the CH production channel: either two-photon absorption via resonant excited states of CHCl₃ leading to dissociation of excited CHCl₃, or two-photon sequential dissociation via the formation of the vibrationally excited CHCl₂ fragment. The latter mechanism is proposed to be the prominent process for CH formation.