Nonwoven materials based on polyethylene oxide for use as a polymer electrolyte in memristive devices

Nonwoven materials were prepared by electrospinning from solutions of polyethylene oxide in water and in a 0.1 M aqueous lithium perchlorate solution. Addition of lithium perchlorate increases the conductivity of the solutions but does not alter their viscosity. The mean diameter of the fibers obtained was 100–500 nm. The supramolecular structure of the polymer underwent no significant changes in the course of electrospinning. The materials obtained can be applied directly onto organic memristive devices and used as a polymer electrolyte.

     

Amphiphilic Linear-Branched Copolylactides and Disperse Systems on Their Basis

The linear-branched copolylactides containing linear side poly(ethylene oxide) blocks are synthesized and characterized. The critical micelle concentrations and the aggregative stability and the dispersity of oil/water emulsions stabilized by these copolymers are estimated. The polylactide microparticles are obtained by emulsification followed by evaporation of an organic solvent using acetylsalicylic acid as a model drug. The structure of copolylactides strongly affects the properties of the microparticles. On one hand, the presence of large poly(ethylene oxide) blocks in the linear-branched macromolecules leads to the formation of colloidal systems with a higher aggregative stability of emulsions and a lower size of particles, and on the other hand, the microparticles formed from these copolymers possess a lower incorporation efficiency relative to water-soluble low-molecular-mass compounds and the profile of the release of these compounds is nonlinear and contains the region of accelerated release.     

Kinetic investigation of the polymerization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis>,<Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis>-lactide and glycolide via differential scanning calorimetry

The kinetics of polymerization of D,L-lactide and glycolide are studied via differential scanning calorimetry at different temperatures and concentrations of the catalyst tin octanoate. For the polymerization of D,L-lactide and glycolide, the enthalpies are determined to be ?17 ± 1.5 and 16.5 ± 1.5 kJ/mol, respectively. The time to attain reaction equilibration decreases from 300 to 100 min with an increase in temperature from 200 to 220°C. The time of reaction at 200°C decreases from 280 to 100 min as the concentration of the catalyst is increased from 500 to 830 ppm. When the polymerization of glycolide is conducted at temperatures below 200°C, the reaction is accompanied by crystallization of polyglycolide and an increase in the total enthalpy of the process.     

Creation of a microrelief by thermally stimulated shrinkage of metal-coated polypropylene films

A study was made of the conditions of producing micron-sized reliefs by thermally stimulated shrinkage of metallized commercial biaxially oriented polypropylene films. It was shown that, in annealing within a temperature range close to the polypropylene melting point, the film shrinks in two directions to form folded structures on the surface. The folds are about 2–8 μm in size. The shrinkage and the relief depth depend on the annealing temperature. The relief remains on the film surface after the removal of the aluminum layer.     

Structure and characteristics of chitosan-based fibers containing chrysotile and halloysite

With the use of the methods of X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy, chitosan fibers prepared by coagulation into an alcohol-alkali mixture are shown to possess a two-phase structure containing C- and O-type crystallites. These fibers and composite fibers containing halloysite and Mg chrysotile nanotubes are characterized by anisotropic structure, i.e., by the orientation of both chitosan crystallites and Mg chrysotile particles along the fiber axis. A comparison of the rates of shear induced by passing of a polymer solution through a die and the data of rheological studies allows the conclusion that the structuring of chitosan solution under the applied field of shear stresses and the orientation of polymer macromolecules and filler nanotubes occur. An increase in the draw ratio during fiber spinning does not assist orientation of polymer crystallites but, in contrast, increases surface defectiveness and leads to the nucleation of longitudinal cracks; as a result, the strength of fibers decreases. The introduction of 5 wt % Mg chrysotile into the chitosan matrix markedly increases the mechanical characteristics of the composite fibers owing to the reinforcing action of oriented filler nanotubes.     

Electrical properties, structure, and surface morphology of poly(p-xylylene)–silver nanocomposites synthesized by low-temperature vapor deposition polymerization

The crystalline structure, surface morphology, electrical, and optical properties of thin films of nanocomposites consisting of silver nanoparticles embedded in poly(p-xylylene) matrix prepared by low-temperature vapor deposition polymerization were studied. Depending on the filler content, the average size of silver nanoparticles varied from 2 to 5 nm for nanocomposites with 2 and 12 vol.% of silver, correspondingly. The optical adsorption in the visible region due to surface plasmon resonance also exhibited a clear correlation from silver content, revealing a red shift of the adsorption peak with the increase of the metal concentration. The temperature dependences of the dc resistance of pure p-xylylene condensate and p-xylylene–silver cocondensates during polymerization as well as temperature dependences of the formed poly(p-xylylene)–silver nanocomposites were examined. The observed variation of the temperature dependences of electrical resistance as a function of silver concentration are attributed to different conduction mechanisms and correlated with the structure of the composites. The wide-angle X-ray scattering and AFM measurements consistently show a strong effect of silver content on the nanocomposite structure. The evolution of the size of silver nanoparticles by thermal annealing was demonstrated.     

The structure of wholly aromatic polyesters with bulky side chains: Poly(phenylene phenyl-terephthalate)

Abstract

The thermotropic polyester prepared from phenyl-terephthalic acid and hydro-quinone is highly crystalline, despite the probable random 2-and 3-disposition of the phenyl substituents. The x-ray pattern of melt-spun fibers contains 18 Bragg reflections that are indexed by a monoclinic unit cell with dimensions a = 28.0 Å. b = 4.89 Å, c = 12.48 Å (fiber axis), and γ = 114.8°, containing monomer units of four chains. In the ac-plane, the chains are arranged in pairs with the phenyl side chains interdigitated; successive pairs of chains are staggered by about c/2. We have used molecular mechanics modeling to simulate arrays of chains with random 2-and 3-disposition of the side chains on the terephthalic acid units and have compared the results with those for a similar structure in which all the substituents were at the 2-position. The refined model for random substitution is distorted, but the average separations of the monomer units are within experimental error of the observed unit cell dimensions, and their standard deviations are very similar to those derived from the line-broadening data. The potential energy of the random substitution model is only about 1 kcal/mol of monomer higher than that for the model with all 2-substitution, indicating the random substitution is not a problem for the formation of an ordered structure.     

Effect of crystallization conditions on the shape of polymer single crystals: Experimental and theoretical approaches

A modified system of Mansfield equations with different step propagation rates to the right and left was applied to describe the shape of solution-grown single crystals of long-chain alkanes with asymmetrically curved faces ?ub;110?ub;. Solution of this system of equations and simulation of the shape of single crystals of polyethylene, α-polyvinylidene fluoride, and polyethylene oxide shows good agreement with the experimental data. Comparison of the simulated shapes and experimental micrographs makes it possible to determine the ratio of the intensity of secondary nucleation to the average propagation rate of the layer as well as the ratio of the rates of lateral steps to the right and left and to calculate the absolute values of the main crystallization parameters when the growth rates of single crystals in certain directions are known. It is shown that the asymmetry of the step propagation rate to the right and left is significant only for crystallization at very small supercoolings.     

Driving Forces of the Self-Assembly of Supramolecular Systems: Partially Ordered Mesophases

The main aspects are considered of the self-organization of a new class of liquid crystalline compounds, rigid sector-shaped and cone-shaped dendrons. Theoretical approaches to the self-assembly of different amphiphilic compounds (lipids, bolaamphiphiles, block copolymers, and polyelectrolytes) are described. Particular attention is given to the mesophase structures that emerge during the self-organization of mesophases characterized by intermediate degrees of ordering, e.g., plastic crystals, the rotation-crystalline phase in polymers, ordered and disordered two-dimensional columnar phases, and bicontinuous cubic phases of different symmetry.