Surface grafting of polyethylene by mutual irradiation in methyl acrylate vapor. III. Quantitative surface analysis by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ESCA) has been used for quantitative surface analysis of surface grafts prepared by mutual irradiation of polyethylene (PE) in methyl acrylate (MA) vapor with γ rays and high-energy electrons. The binding-energy shift between the C_1s electrons in the ester group of poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA) and in PE is large enough (ca. 3.6 eV) to distinguish the PMA and PE components. The C_1s peak-area ratio of ester carbon to other carbons is related quantitatively to graft composition by constructing a calibration curve for a given instrument and excitation source, with a series of homogeneous grafts of known composition used as the calibration standards. Using the calibration curve and the measured peak ratio, the surface composition of the surface grafts is determined. The relations between surface compositions according to ESCA and attenuated total reflection (ATR) infrared spectroscopy and between adhesive bond strength and ESCA composition are discussed. In the electron-induced grafts, the grafted surface reaches maximum adhesive bondability with attainment of 100 mole % MA in the surface detected by ESCA; i.e., with formation of a homopolymer layer. The ESCA composition can be used as an indicator of the presence of the homopolymer layer or as a criterion for predicting adhesive bond strength.     

Microencapsulation of oil with poly(styrene-N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) by SPG emulsification technique: effects of conversion and composition of oil phase

Microcapsules with narrow size distribution, in which hexadecane (HD) was used as a oily core and poly(styrene-co-N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) [P(St-DMAEMA)] as a wall, were prepared by a Shirasu porous glass (SPG) emulsification technique and a subsequent suspension polymerization process. That is, a mixture of St monomer, DMAEMA monomer, HD, and N,N'-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) initiator was permeated through the uniform pores of an SPG membrane into a continuous phase containing a poly(vinylpyrrolidone), sodium lauryl sulfate, and sodium nitrite water-soluble inhibitor by applying a pressure, to form uniform droplets. Then, the droplets were polymerized at 70 degrees C. It was found that HD was encapsulated completely only when conversion was quite high, irrespective of whether a DMAEMA hydrophilic monomer was incorporated into the polymer. As the amount of HD increased, HD was more easily encapsulated by the polymer. In order to clarify the reason for such unique behavior, a simulation was carried out, taking the St monomer partition in the HD phase and PSt wall phase into the consideration. It was found that the main reason HD could not be encapsulated completely by PSt when conversion was lower was that the interfacial tension of the HD phase with water and the PSt phase with water got closer. As a result, both HD and PSt can come in contact with the water phase.     

Synthesis and antibacterial activities of novel dihydrooxazine and dihydrothiazine ring-fused tricyclic quinolonecarboxylic acids: 9-Fluoro-3-methylene-10-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)-7-oxo-2,3-dihydro-7h-pyrido[1,2,3-de][1,4]benzoxazine-6-carboxylic acid and its 1-thia congener

A new synthetic method was developed to obtain two novel tricyclic quinolonecarboxylic acids, 9-fluoro-3-methylene-10-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)-7-oxo-2,3-dihydro-7H-pyrido[1,2,3-de][1,4]benzoxazine-6-carboxylic acid ( 2 ) and its 1-thia congener 3 . The method involves the key intermediate of an oxetane derivative and its cleavage with acids. Evaluation of the antibacterial activities showed that 2 and 3 are excellent against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms in vitro, being comparable to or only slightly less effective than Ofloxacin. In experimental systemic infections in mice, compound 2 showed distinctly higher activity than Ofloxacin, especially against infection caused by Escherichia coli.     

Surface grafting of polyethylene by mutual irradiation in methyl acrylate vapor. II. High-energy electrons irradiation

Vapor-phase mutual grafting of methyl acrylate (MA) onto polyethylene (PE) at high dose rates from an electron accelerator yields the same surface graft structure as does the grafting at low dose rates from ⁶⁰Co sources; i.e., a homopolymer layer (consisting of only MA component) is easily formed on the inner graft copolymer layer (consisting of both MA and PE components) as a result of the continuously increasing surface graft composition. To produce the surface layer, 4-MeV electron irradiation with a linear electron accelerator requires only less than 3 min of irradiation time at dose rates of more than 2 Mrad/min, whereas γ irradiation with a ⁶⁰Co source requires at least 1 hr at dose rates of less than 2 × 10³ rad/min. The rate of monomer consumption (or polymerization) in the surface homopolymer layer shows no dependence of irradiation time and a positive dependence of dose rate. It has been suggested that this kinetic feature at the high dose rates shows some contribution of vapor-phase homopolymerization and subsequent deposition (onto the grafting surface) followed by recombination with the grafted side chain radicals, although secondary graft copolymerization from the grafted chain radicals is still the principal process for the growth of the surface homopolymer layer.     

Mechanical characteristics of hydrogenated natural rubber vulcanizates

Mechanical properties of partially hydrogenated natural rubber (HNR) vulcanizates were evaluated regarding their chemical structure and crystallizable nature of HNR, and are reported here, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. HNRs of three levels of hydrogenation (20.6, 29.0, and 40.6 mol%) were successfully prepared by the chemical modification of natural rubber (NR) latex using N₂H₄ and H₂O₂ as reagents, in a sufficient amount for preparing sulfur‐crosslinked samples to be subjected to mechanical and structural measurements. The three HNR vulcanizates were found to be crystallizable upon stretching; it is noted that even 40.6 mol% hydrogenation did not prevent HNR vulcanizates from crystallization upon stretching, while their onset strain of crystallization was higher than that of NR vulcanizate. The hysteresis loss and residual strain up to a stretching ratio of 2 for the HNR vulcanizates tended to become larger with the increase in the degree of the hydrogenation. Tensile and dynamic mechanical properties of 20.6 mol% hydrogenated HNR vulcanizate were comparable to those of NR vulcanizate. From differential scanning calorimetry and temperature dispersion of dynamic modulus or loss, the glass transition temperatures of HNR vulcanizates were found to be almost the same as that of NR vulcanizate, which is also notable. The thermal stability of HNR vulcanizates was better than that of NR vulcanizate. Thus, this chemical modification seems to give a promising NR derivative whose properties can be equivalent or even better than the mother polymer. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structural studies on polymer whiskers by transmission electron microscopy. II. Unit cell of poly(p‐hydroxybenzoic acid) whisker crystal at room temperature

A set of conspicuous reflections, which are not indexed using the cell constants reported so far for poly(p‐hydroxybenzoic acid), were found in the electron diffraction (ED) patterns of its whisker crystal. A new unit cell [a = 1.487 nm, b = 0.572 nm, and c (chain axis) = 1.258 nm, α = β = γ = 90°] was proposed to explain the reflections in question, based on a set of the ED patterns viewed along the different zone axes, which were obtained by tilting the whisker around its long axis. The density of the whisker was experimentally measured to be 1.500 g/cm³, showing that four molecular stems are running through the new unit cell. From the extinction rule, the highest space group was assumed to be Pbca. In this case, the projection of the new unit cell onto the ab‐plane gives a two‐dimensional unit cell with pgm and is basically in agreement with those proposed so far. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 2456–2462, 1999     

Nano‐Structural Observation of in situ Silica in Natural Rubber Matrix by Three Dimensional Transmission Electron Microscopy

Summary: Three dimensional (3D) nanostructures of particulate silicas in natural rubber (NR) were observed for the first time by use of 3D transmission electron microscopy (3D‐TEM) combined with electron tomography. The method enabled us to visualize and evaluate structural characteristics in 3D space, such as the size and the volume of in situ silica generated in the NR matrix by the sol‐gel reaction of tetraethoxysilane, at nanometer scale resolution.

The reconstructed mass density view of the silica in an in situ silica‐filled natural rubber vulcanizate, as determined by 3D‐TEM.