Dispersion production by semi-continuous radical vinyl acetate emulsion polymerization with silane co-monomer and characterization of final products

Vinyl acetate radical emulsion polymerization in water with GF51 silane co-monomer was performed by semi continuous way. The GF51 impacts on dispersion rheology as well on films and bonding strength properties were determined. It should be stated that even low quantities of GF51 (up to 6% from VAc) determined high viscosity of dispersions. The GF51 modified films have low water absorption and high affinity to glass. Molecular mass and thermal properties of GF51 modified polymers were determined accordingly.     

Preparation of single-hole hollow polymer nanospheres by raspberry-like template method

Single-hole hollow polymer nanospheres were fabricated by raspberry-like template method using "graft-from" strategy through atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Nanometer-sized silica spheres were covalently attached onto the surfaces of micrometer-sized silica spheres. Crosslinked polymer shells on the nano-sized spheres outside the attached area were formed by "graft-from" strategy through ATRP. After removal of the silica cores, single-hole hollow crosslinked polymer nanospheres were obtained. In this strategy, most of ATRP monomers may be used and thus many functional groups can be easily incorporated into the single-hole hollow crosslinked polymer nanospheres.     

Some key ordered macroporous composites

This review summarizes recent progress of the ordered macroporous composites with the opals and inverse opal structure. Synthesis and performance of the composites are emphasized. Composition of the ordered composites is tunable ranging within metal, metal alloy, metal oxide, polymer, carbon and hydrogel. The ordered structure gives brilliant color effects, which is useful for sensors and photonic crystals. The interconnected macroporous structure provides easiness for mass transportation and species culturing.     

Phase behavior of charge stablized colloid dispersion with added water soluble polymers

Demixing and colloidal crystallization in the mixture of charge stabilized colloidal poly(methyl methacrylate) particles and soluble poly(ethylene oxide) were investigated by means of synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique. Phase diagram of the mixture was obtained based on visual inspection and SAXS results. The phase behavior is determined as a function of the concentration of the polymer as well as the volume fraction of the colloidal particles. The system shows a one phase region when the concentration of the polymer is low, whereas a two-phase region is present when the concentration of the polymer is larger than a critical concentration at certain volume fraction of the colloids. Interestingly, a face centered cubic colloidal crystalline structure was formed under certain conditions, which has been rarely observed in experiments of colloid-polymer mixtures with competing interactions.     

An electrochemically prepared sky-blue light emitting ether functionalized polyfluorene as chemosensor for metal ions

Synthesis and electrochemical polymerization of 9,9-bis(2-(2-(2-methoxy ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-fluorene(EO-F)into poly[9,9-bis(2-(2-(2-methoxy ethoxy)ethoxy)ethyl)-fluorene](EO-PF) films are reported. The boron trifluoride diethyl etherate electrolyte enables facile preparation of EO-PF films at lower potential compared to LiClO4/MeCN and the electrochemical polymerizations are discussed. The EO-PF shows good electrochemical behavior and can be dissolved in solvents such as DMSO and THF. The solubility of EO-PF in THF is 2 mg mL 1and the number average molecular weight is35300 with a polydispersity index of 1.65. The side chains on C9position of the monomer maintain unchanged after electrooxidation into corresponding polymer. The EO-PF dissolved in THF under 365 nm ultraviolet light is sky blue light emitting with the Commission Internationale de L Eclairage-CIE coordinates of(0.19, 0.15). The electropolymerized EO-PF is used for the first time in chemosensing metal ions, demonstrating fluorescence quenching for Mn2+and Fe3+while fluorescence enhancement for Cr6+ions.     

Crystal orientation and melting behavior of poly(ɛ-Caprolactone) under one-dimensionally “hard” confined microenvironment

Crystal orientation and melting behavior of poly(ε-caprolactone) in a diblock copolymer of poly(ε-caprolactone)-block-poly(2,5-bis[4-methoxyphenyl]oxycarbonyl)styrene) (PCL-b-PMPCS) was investigated. The degrees of polymerization of the PCL and PMPCS block are 200 and 98, respectively. With the PMPCS in a columnar liquid crystalline phase, the diblock is rod-coil one, which exhibits a lamellar phase morphology with the PCL layer thickness of 15.2 nm. Since the glass transition temperature of PMPCS block is much higher than the melting temperature of PCL, the crystallization of PCL is in a one-dimensionally "hard" confinement environment. Mainly on the basis of two-dimensional wide-angle X-ray diffraction experiments, we identified the orientation of PCL isothermally crystallized at various crystallization temperatures (Tcs). At high Tcs (Tc≥10℃), the c-axis of the PCL crystal is along the layer normal of the microphase-separated sturcture. Decreasing Tc can result in the tilting of PCL c-axis with respect to the layer normal. The lower the Tc is, the more the c-axis inclines. Meanwhile, the b-axis of PCL remains perpendicular to the layer normal. At a very low Tc of -78℃, the orientation of the PCL crystals is completely random. For the samples isothermally crystallized at Tc≤10℃, double melting behavior can be observed. While the low temperature endotherm reflects the melting of the crystals originally formed at the Tc applied, the high temperature one is associated with the crystals subjected to the process of recrystallization/reorganization upon heating due to the annealing effect.     

IN SITU OBSERVATION OF MELTING AND CRYSTALLIZATION BEHAVIORS OF POLY(ε-CAPROLACTONE) ULTRA-THIN FILMS BY AFM TECHNIQUE

The melting and crystallization behaviors of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) ultra-thin films with thickness from 15 nm to 8 nm were studied by AFM technique equipped with a hot-stage in real-time. It was found that melting can erase the spherulitic structure for polymer film with high thickness. However, annealing above the melting point can not completely erase the tree-like structure for the thinner polymer film. Generally, the structure formation of thin polymer films of PCL is controlled not only by melting and crystallization but also by dewetting during thermal annealing procedures, and dewetting predominates in the structure formation of ultra-thin films. However, the presence of tree-like morphology at 75 °C may be due to the strong interaction between PCL and mica surface, which may stick the PCL chains onto the mica surface during thermal annealing process. Moreover, the growth of the dendrites was investigated and it was found that crystallization is followed from a dewetted sample, and the branches did not grow with the stems. The crystallization of polymer in the ultra-thin films is a diffusion-controlled process. Both melting and crystallization behaviors of PCL in thin films are influenced by film thickness.     

A real-time AFM study on crystal nucleation and growth in nanodroplets of isotactic polypropylene

Isotactic polypropylene (iPP) nanodroplets were prepared by using the classical droplet method in this study. The formation of nanodroplets allowed the controlled observation of polymer nucleation as well as access to crystal growth at exceptionally high supercooling in iPP. Three cases including the heterogeneous nucleation and fast crystallization in iPP droplets, the formation of multiple independent homogeneous nuclei within a single droplet and a single nucleus within a single droplet were detected by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) during gradually cooling after remelting the nanodroplets. Moreover, it is found that when the volume of droplet is larger than the value of ca. 130000 nm3, the first case was observed. Otherwise, the latter two cases appeared. The temperature at which the onset of nucleation was observed in individual droplets was found to be mainly dependent on height of the droplets when the size scale of the droplet is comparable to the size of the critical nucleus in at least one dimension, which indicates the nucleation behavior under confinement.     

Medical applications of biopolyesters polyhydroxyalkanoates

Microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates(PHAs) are a family of biopolyesters produced by many wild type and engineered bacteria.PHAs have diverse structures accompanied by flexible thermal and mechanical properties.Combined with their in vitro biodegradation,cell and tissue compatibility,PHAs have been studied for medical applications,especially medical implants applications,including heart valve tissue engineering,vascular tissue engineering,bone tissue engineering,cartilage tissue engineering,nerve conduit tissue engineering as well as esophagus tissue engineering.Most studies have been conducted in the authors’ lab in the past 20+ years.Recently,mechanism on PHA promoted tissue regeneration was revealed to relate to cell responses to PHA biodegradation products and cell-material interactions mediated by microRNA.Very importantly,PHA implants were found not to cause carcinogenesis during long-term implantation.Thus,PHAs should have a bright future in biomedical areas.     

Capability of DNA-fueled molecular machine in tuning association rate of DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles

The capability of our newly developed DNA-machine-driven strategy in tuning the association rate of DNA-AuNPs was compared with that of linker-addition strategy which has potential practical applications in different fields. The new established strategy shows its superiority to the linker-addition strategy in tuning the association rate of DNA-AuNPs in both pre-incubation treatment and non-incubation treatment conditions since its two components (a complex and a catalyst-oligonucleotide) can be individually optimized to make the machine run at an optimal rate. This strategy will provide a more convenient and flexible option in designing an oligonucleotide detection system and building a complex and versatile device.