Confined lamella formation in crystalline-crystalline poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(ɛ-caprolactone) diblock copolymers

The real time and in situ investigation of the crystallization process and structure transitions of asymmetric crystalline-crystalline diblock copolymers from the melt was performed with synchrotron simultaneous SAXS/WAXS. The asymmetric poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) diblock copolymers were chosen for the present study. It was shown that the short blocks crystallized later than the long blocks and final lamellar structure was formed in all of the asymmetric diblock copolymers. The final lamellar structure was confirmed by AFM observation. The SAXS data were analyzed with different methods for the early stage of the crystallization. The Guinier plots indicated that there were no isolated domains formed before the formation of lamellae in the asymmetric diblock copolymers during the crystallization process. Debye-Bueche plots implied the formation of correlated domains during crystallization.     

Micellar parameters of diblock copolymers and their interactions with ionic surfactants

The interactions of non-ionic amphiphilic diblock copolymer poly（oxyethylene/oxybutylene）(E₃₉B₁₈) with anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate（SDS） and cationic surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide（CTAB） were studied by using various techniques such as surface tension,conductivity,steady-state fluorescence and dynamic light scattering.Surface tension measurements were used to determine the critical micelle concentration（CMC） and thereby the free energy of micellization(△G_mic),free energy of adsorption(△G_ads),surface excess concentration（Γ） and minimum area per molecule（A）.Conductivity measurements were used to determine the critical micelle concentration（CMC）,critical aggregation concentration（CAC）,polymer saturation point（PSP）,degree of ionization（α） and counter ion binding（β）. Dynamic light scattering experiments were performed to check the changes in physiochemical properties of the block copolymer micelles taken place due to the interactions of diblock copolymers with ionic surfactants.The ratio of the first and third vibronic peaks（I₁/I₃） indicated the polarity of the pyrene micro environment and was used for the detection of micelle as well as polymer-surfactant interactions.Aggregation number（N）,number of binding sites（n） and free energy of binding （△G_b） for pure surfactants as well as for polymer-surfactant mixed micellar systems were determined by the fluorescence quenching method.     

Functionalizing ps microspheres by supercritical deposition of P(S-<Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">t</Emphasis>BA) for diverse interfacial properties exemplified with biocidal ability

Polystyrene（PS） microspheres were functionalized with poly（styrene-b-tert-butyl acrylate）（P（S-b-tBA）） by adsorption from supercritical mixture of CO₂ and hexane.Supercritical deposition formed a shell-core structure that contained a shell of poly（tert-butyl acrylate）（PtBA） blocks and a core of the PS blocks entangling with the PS microspheres. The thickness of the PtBA layer and thereby the areal density of tert-butyl ester groups increased with the deposition pressure until plateau values attained at 20 MPa and higher.The tert-butyl ester groups were hydrolyzed to carboxyl groups for conjugation with tert-butylamine molecules via amide bonds that were further chlorinated into biocidal N-halamine moieties. The functionalization layer and its bonded N-halamine moieties were stable in flowing water and the chlorine could be regenerated upon eventual loss.This functionalization concept is applicable to polymers of any external and internal surfaces to achieve diverse surface properties by varying block copolymer and conjugated moieties.     

Redispersible and stable amorphous calcium phosphate nanoparticles functionalized by an organic bisphosphate

Although much effort has been focused on the preparation of stable amorphous calcium phosphate （ACP） nanoparticles in aqueous solution, the redispersibility and long-term stability of ACP nanoparticles in aqueous solution remains an unresolved problem. In this work, stable colloidal ACPs were prepared by using an organic bisphosphonate （BP） as a sterically hindered agent in aqueous solution. The harvested calcium phosphate nanoparticles were characterized by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry （ICP-AES）, Fourier transform infrared （FTIR）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, dynamic light scattering （DLS） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. ICP-AES, FTIR and XRD results suggested the particles were ACP. DLS and TEM results indicated that the size of the ACP nanoparticles were in the range of 60 nm with a spherical morphology. The resulting calcium phosphate nanoparticles retained its amorphous nature in aqueous solution for at least 6 months at room temperature due to the stabilizing effect of the organic bisphosphonate. Moreover, the surface of the ACP nanoparticles adsorbed with the organic bisphosphate used showed good redispersibility and high colloid stability both in organic and aqueous solutions.     

Comparison of drug delivery properties of PEG-<Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis>-pdhpc micelles with different compositions

An anti-tumor drug doxorubicin was encapsulated in micelles of poly（ethylene glycol）-b-poly（2,2-dihydroxyl-methyl propylene carbonate）（PEG-b-PDHPC） diblock copolymers.The morphology of both blank micelles and drug loaded micelles was characterized by TEM.The in vitro drug release profiles of micelles were investigated.The cytotoxicity of the micelles was evaluated by incubating with Hela tumor cells and 3T3 fibroblasts.The drug loaded micelles were co-cultured with HepG2 cells to evaluate the in vitro anti-tumor efficacies.The results showed that the mean sizes of both micelles with different copolymer compositions increased after being loaded with drugs.The drug release rate of PEG₄₅-b-PDHPC₃₄ micelles was faster than that of mPEG₁₁₄-b-PDHPC₂₆,micelles.Both of the two block copolymers were non-toxic.The confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry results showed that both the drug loaded micelles could be internalized efficiently in HepG2 cells.The PEG₄₅-b-PDHPC₃₄ micelles exhibited higher anti-tumor activity comparing to mPEG₁₁₄-b-PDHPC₂₆ micelles.     

Synthesis,Characterization and Application of Methyl 3,5-Disulfo-benzoate Dipotassium Dihydrate as Nucleating Agent for Poly（L-lactide）

A newly synthesized aromatic sulfonate compound,complex 2 with formula of K2[H3COOC-C6H3（SO3）2]·2H2O（methyl 3,5-disulfo-benzoate dipotassium dihydrate） was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis,infrared（IR） spectrometry,nuclear magnetic resonance（NMR） and crystal structure measurement.Single-crystal X-ray diffraction（XRD） revealed that complex 2 crystallized in the triclinic system with space group P（i）.Complex 2 was used as nucleating agent for poly（L-lactide）（PLLA）.The crystallization of PLLA with powder of complex 2 was investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） and polarized optical microscopy （POM）.The results prove that complex 2 was effective as nucleating agent for PLLA.It could accelerate crystallization by reducing the induction time and increasing the density of nuclei in the crystallization process.The half-time of crystallization（t0.5） for pure PLLA was about 8 times longer than that of PLLA sample with 1.0％（mass fraction） of complex 2.     

A convenient,highly-efficient method for preparation of hydroxyl-terminated isotactic poly(propylene) and functional di-block copolymer

Both terminated functional isotactic polypropylene （iPP） and block copolymers containing iPP segment are desirable for commercial applications. This paper provides a convenient, highly-efficient method to prepare hydroxyl-terminated isotactic polypropylene （iPP-t-OH） and functional di-block copolymer containing the iPP segment through a combination of coordination polymerization and coupling reaction. The coordination polymerization was catalyzed by TiCI4/MgCI2/AIEt3 catalyst system using ZnEt2 as chain transfer agent. Further, the Zn-terminated iPP was oxidized and subsequently hydrolyzed to provide iPP-t-OH. Soxhlet extraction and 13C NMR were used to calculate the isotacticity of iPP-t-OH. The degree of polymerization and the number of hydroxyl groups at the chain end of iPP-t-OH were measured by GPC and 1H NMR. Despite the high molecular weight and heterogeneous reaction, iPP-t-OH is effectively linked with PEG-t-NCO to produce di-block copolymers. DSC analysis of the di-block copolymer shows an obvious decrease in Tm and To, which indicated that PEG was successfully linked to the terminal end of iPP.     

The Crystallization and Melting Behaviors of PDLA-b-PBS-b-PDLA Tri-block Copolymers

In this study,the poly(D-lactide)-block-poly(butylene succinate)-block-poly(D-lactide)(PDLA-b-PBS-b-PDLA)triblock copolymers with a fixed length of PBS and various lengths of PDLA are synthesized,and the crystallization behaviors of the PDLA and PBS blocks are investigated.Although both the crystallization behaviors of PBS and PDLA blocks depend on composition,they exhibit different variations.For the PDLA block,its crystallization behaviors are mainly influenced by temperature and block length.The crystallization signals of PDLA block appear in the B-D 2-2 specimen,and these signals get enhanced with PDLA block length.The crystallization rates tend to decrease with increasing PDLA block lendth during crystallizing at 90 and 100°C.Crystallizing at higher temperature,the crystallization rates increase at first and then decrease with block length.The crystallization rates decrease as elevating the crystallization temperature.The melting temperatures of PDLA blocks increase with block lengths and crystallization temperatures.For the PBS block,its crystallization behaviors are mainly controlled by the nucleation and confinement from PDLA block.The crystallization and melting enthalpies as well as the crystallization and melting temperatures of PBS block reduce as a longer PDLA block has been copolymerized,while the crystallization rates of the PBS block exhibit unique component dependence,and the highest rate is observed in the B-D 2-2 specimen.The Avrami exponent of PBS crystallites is reduced as a longer PDLA block is incorporated or the sample is crystallized at higher temperature.This investigation provides a convenient route to tune the crystallization behavior of PBS and PLA.     

NUCLEATION MECHANISM OF PEO BLOCK IN DOUBLE-CRYSTALLINE POLY（ETHYLENE-co-BUTENE）-b-POLY（ETHYLENE OXIDE） BLOCK COPOLYMERS

In this paper, we proposed a method to determine the nucleation effect of pre-existing crystals on crystallization of the second block in double crystalline block copolymers, which is usually covered by the suppression effect. The nucleation mechanism of poly（ethylene oxide） （PEO） block from the pre-crystallized polyethylene （PE） block in poly（ethylene-cobutene）-b-poly（ethylene glycol） （EmEOn） diblock copolymers was investigated under variable crystallization environments. The crystallization environment for the PEO block was altered by cooling at different cooling rates or successive selfnucleation （SSN） to the PE block. It was found that the presence of nucleation effect is strongly dependent on composition of the block copolymers. The crystallization temperature （Tc） of PEO block in E174EO90 increases as cooling rate applied to the PE block decreases, indicating that PE block can nucleate the crystallization of PEO block and more perfect PE crystals have stronger nucleation effect. In E182EO41 crystallization of the PEO block is confined, shown by the disappearance of selfnucleation domain, and the PE block has no nucleation effect on the crystallization of PEO block. Double crystallization peaks are observed for the PEO block in E182EO41 and the intensity of the crystallization peak at higher temperature increases as the PE crystals become more perfect. After exclusion of homogeneous nucleation mechanism, the higher temperature crystallization peak of the PEO block in E182EO41 is tentatively ascribed to surface nucleation.     

Protection of photoactivity of photosensitizers by amphiphilic polysaccharide micelles

Photosensitizer （photosan）-encapsulated micelles were prepared by self-assembly of Photosan with two amphiphilic polysaccharide derivatives, including the cholesteryl conjugated sodium alginate derivative （CSAD） and the deoxycholic acid group conjugated chitosan derivative （DA-Chit）. The results of UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that the hydrogen bonding strength dominated the micelle formation. Methyl viologen was used as a model quencher of photosan. Using the steady-state fluorescence technology, the quenching constants were determined to be 2.05, 1.88 and 0.30 L/mmol for the free photosan, the photosan-CSAD micelle and the photosan-DA-Chit micelle, respectively. This suggested that photosan was protected from quenching of methyl viologen by the polysaccharide micelles. In addition, the protection effect of the photosan-DA-Chit micelle was significantly stronger than that of the photosan-CSAD micelle. The photosan-DA-Chit micelle is thus anticipated for protection of photoactivity of photosan during the blood circulation process in vivo.     

Phase Transition and Micellization of Temperature Responsive Dextran—graft—poly（N—isopropylacrylamide）Polymers

Phase behavior and micellization of dextran-graft-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)(PNIPAAm)polymers in aqueous solution are investigated in this paper using DSC and AFM methods.It is found that with the increase of grafting(G%) of the copolymers the endothermic enthalpy during the phase transition increases significantly and the transition temperature decreases slightly.The phase transition behavior of the copolymers is scanning rate dependent.Micelles are formed whenever the solution temperature is raised above the LCST of the copolymers.It is proposed that by using this thermal responsive property of the copolymers,drugs could be incorporated into the micelles without employing any organic solvent.     

EFFECTS OF COUPLING AGENTS ON THE CRYSTALLIZATION BEHAVIOR OF PP/T-ZnOw COMPOSITES

The objectives of this paper are to understand the crystallization behavior of polypropylene(PP)composites with surface modified tetra-needle-shaped zinc oxide whisker(T-ZnOw).T-ZnOw was surface modified with different coupling agents,such as silane coupling agents(KH-550,KH-560)and titanate coupling agent(NDZ-105),in order to improve the compatibility between PP and T-ZnOw.DSC and POM were used to characterize the melt and crystallization behavior and the crystalline structures of the composites,respectively.The results show that the surface modified T-ZnOw acts as a nucleating agent of PP crystallization,depending on the coupling agent used for modification.KH-550 and KH-560 have more apparent role in improving the interfacial interaction than NDZ-105 and induce PP crystallization at higher temperature and with smaller spherulites size.The results also suggest that the crystallization behavior depends on not only the content of coupling agent,but also the content of the surface modified T-ZnOw used in the composites.     

超声波技术制备功能化二氧化硅在苯酚和碳酸二甲酯甲基化反应中的应用

Porous silica modified with -（CH2）3NH2 （primary amine）, -（CH2）3NHCH2CH2NH2 （secondary/primary amine） and -（CH2）3N-cycl-（CH2）4 （tertiary amine） were synthesized by ultrasonic technique under mild conditions. The samples were characterized by BET, elemental analysis and TG, showing that the organosilane moieties were grafted onto the surface of porous silica by covalent bond. The structure of the organosilane moieties and ultrasonic treatment time were all significant for the quantities of grafted amino groups. The samples exhibited promising catalytic properties towards the methylation reaction of phenol with dimethyl carbonate （DMC）. The methylation reaction with the modified samples featured high selectivity at high conversion. The samples were subjected to utilization for a few recycles without obvious loss of activity to indicate that ultrasonic technique was effective for the preparation of organically modified porous silica catalysts.     

EFFECT OF N,N,N’,N’-TETRAALKYL TEREPHTHALAMIDE ON NON-ISOTHERMAL CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS OF POLYPROPYLENE

The effect of N,N,N＇,N＇-tetraalkyl terephthalamide （TATA） on the non-isothermal crystallization and melting characteristics ofpolypropylene （PP） was studied. The addition of TATA can lead to the formation ofβ-crystal PP. With the increase in TATA concentration the degree of crystallinity for β-crystal PP increased significantly, and that for a-crystal PP decreased, which indicated that TATA effectively induced the formation of β-crystal PP. WAXD also revealed the existence of β-crystal PP after the introduction of TATA into PP. PP containing TATA crystallized at a temperature range of 5-10℃ higher than that of pure PP, and the half-crystallization time （t1/2） and Avrami exponent （n） of PP at the same cooling rate were decreased by the addition of TATA, indicating that TATA influenced the crystallization rate and crystallization growth mode of PP. The rate constant of crystallization of PP containing TATA （Zc） was larger than that of pure PP, which further indicated that the crystallization of PP was accelerated by the addition of TATA.     

Synthesis and characterization of poly（phthalazinone ether nitrile） （PPEN）-polydimethylsiloxane （PDMS） block copolymers

Block copolymers with different backbone compositions have been prepared by the condensation of dimethylamino terminated poly（dimethylsiloxane） （PDMS） and hydroquinone terminated poly（phthalazinone ether nitrile） （PPEN） in the presence of chlorobenzcne/N-methyl pyrrolidone （NMP） as solvents. The products were characterized by FTIR, ^1H NMR and gel permeation chromatography. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis indicated that the block copolymers showed separated microphase.     

Synthesis of self-assemble pH-responsive cyclodextrin block copolymer for sustained anticancer drug delivery

Well-defined p H-responsive poly(ε-caprolactone)-graft-β-cyclodextrin-graft-poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethylmethacrylate)-co-poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate amphiphilic copolymers(PCL-g-β-CD-g-P(DMAEMA-co-PEGMA)) were synthesized using a combination of atom transfer radical polymerization(ATRP),ring opening polymerization(ROP) and "click" chemistry.Successful synthesis of polymers was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR),proton nuclear magnetic resonance(1H-NMR),and gel permeation chromatography(GPC).Then,the polymers could selfassemble into micelles in aqueous solution,which was demonstrated by dynamic light scattering(DLS) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).The p H-responsive self-assembly behavior of these copolymers in water was investigated at different p H values of 7.4 and 5.0 for controlled doxorubicin(DOX) release,and these results revealed that the release rate of DOX could be effectively controlled by altering the p H,and the release of drug loading efficiency(DLE) was up to 88%(W/W).CCK-8 assays showed that the copolymers had low toxicity and possessed good biodegradability and biocompatibility,whereas the DOX-loaded micelles remained with high cytotoxicity for He La cells.Moreover,confocal laser scanning microscopy(CLSM) images revealed that polymeric micelles could actively target the tumor site and the efficient intracellular DOX release from polymeric micelles toward the tumor cells further confirmed the anti-tumor effect.The DOX-loaded micelles could easily enter the cells and produce the desired pharmacological action and minimize the side effect of free DOX.These results successfully indicated that p H-responsive polymeric micelles could be potential hydrophobic drug delivery carriers for cancer targeting therapy with sustained release.     

Effect of Molecular Weight on the Properties of Poly（butylene succinate）

Poly（butylene succinate） （PBS） with different molecular weight was synthesized from 1, 4-butanediol and succinic acid by direct melt condensation. The synthesized PBS was identified by IH-NMR and FTIR spectrometry. The molecular weight was calculated from the intrinsic viscosity, and its value was between 20000 and 70000. The crystallization behavior and crystal morphology as function of molecular weight were investigated by DSC and PLM, respectively. The mechanical properties and hydrolytic degradation behaviors related with change of molecular weight were also studied in this work. The results demonstrated that the properties of PBS were determined by both molecular weight and crystallization properties （crystallinity as well as crystal morphology）. Our work is important for the design and preparation of PBS with proper molecular weight for its practical application.     

Effect of bovine serum albumin on the micellization of poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymers in aqueous solutions by fluorescence spectroscopy

Effect of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on the temperature-dependent association behavior of poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) block copolymers was investigated using pyrene fluorescence spectroscopy. The critical micellization temperature (CMT) of pluronics in aqueous solution was increased by the addition of BSA. A closed association model was used to obtain the standard free energies (△G0), enthalpies (△H 0), and entropies (△S 0) of micellization. The standard enthalpy and entropy of micellization for pluronic polymers in water were decreased with an increase of the BSA content. The more PPO component in the pluronic polymer, the higher the changed values of micellization enthalpy and entropy. The hydrophobic part of the pluronics, PPO, was responsible for the interaction between pluronics and BSA. Hydrophobic interaction between PPO and BSA was correlated to the alternation of the PPO-PPO interaction by the addition of BSA, which would shift the CMT toward higher temperature and alter the thermodynamic parameters of micellization for pluronics in aqueous solutions.     

Spectral and self-assembly properties of a series of asymmetrical pyrene derivatives

A series of pyrene derivatives with different asymmetrical substituents were successfully synthesized and characterized. The geometrical electronic structures of the asymmetrical pyrene derivatives were performed by density functional theory （DFT） calculations. The results of photophysical spectra and electrochemical analysis indicated that the optical or electric properties of the pyrene derivatives could be tuned by adjust the π-conjugation lengths of the substituents. Furthermore, through a phase exchange self-assembly method, the highly organized morphologies were observed by SEM.     

Solution Crystallization Behavior of Linear and Star-shaped Poly(ethylene glycol)-b-Poly(ε-caprolactone) Block Copolymers简

Lamellar crystals of diblock, triblock and four-arm poly（ethylene glycol）-b-poly（ε-caprolactone） （PEG-b-PCL） crystalline-crystalline copolymers were successfully obtained from their solution. Morphology and structure of lamellar crystals of crystalline-crystalline copotymers were investigated using tapping-mode atomic force microscopy （AFM） and selected area electron diffraction （SAED）. All of these samples showed the truncated-lozenge multilayer basal shapes with central screw dislocation or central stack, which were all obtained simultaneously from the oil bath. The diffraction pattern of PEG block lamellar crystal is attributed to the （120） diffracting planes and the pattern of PCL block lamellar crystal is attributed to the （1 I0） diffracting planes and （200） diffracting planes according to the SAED results. Four （110） crystal growth planes and two （200） crystal growth planes are discovered for the PCL blocks, but the （120） crystal growth planes of PEG blocks are hided in the figure of AFM. The crystalline structure of the four-arm copolymers （FA） is more disorder and confused than that of the diblock （DI） copolymer and the striated fold surface structures of lamellar crystals of four-arm copolymers （FA） are smoother than these of linear analogues, owing to the confused crystallization of blocks caused by the mutual restriction of blocks and the hindrance of the dendritic cores. In addition, the aspect ratio of FA is greater than that of the others. It is hypothesized that there are two reasons for the change of aspect ratios. First, the （200） diffracting planes of PCL crystals grew slowly compared to their （110） diffracting planes because of difference in the energy barrier. Secondly, edge dislocations on the （200） diffracting planes are also responsible for the variation of the aspect ratio. Consequently, the crystalline defects are augmented by the competing blocks crystallized simultaneously and the hindrance of the dendritic cores.