Morphological study of the organization behavior of rod-coil copolymers and their blends in thin solid films

A detailed study of the self-assembly ability of triblock coil-rod-coil copolymers containing a rigid di(styryl)-anthracene segment covalently linked to oxadiazole-based blocks and their binary blends with oxadiazole-based homopolymers is presented here. The self-organized microdomains seem to pack into a fascinating ordered hexagonal structure obtained at a critical concentration without any significant influence of the sample preparation method, based on evidence obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and fluorescence microscopy studies. The compatibilization efficiency of these coil-rod-coil copolymers in polymer blends composed of an electron-accepting polyoxadiazole and a luminescent polyanthracene-based pair was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The common feature of all observed morphologies is the compatibilizing function of the rod-coil molecule, which intercalates between the incompatible domains to prevent the formation of well-defined phase separated nanostructured surfaces.     

Über die Copolymerisation von Maleinsäure-anhydrid mit Bicyclo [2.2.1] hept-5-en-2-Carbonsäure

Radiation-induced and radical-initiated copolymerizations of norbornencarboxylic acid with maleic anhydride have been studied. In both cases decarboxylation occurs during the copolymerization; the composition of the copolymers is independent of the method of initiation and of the composition of the initial monomer feed. The decarboxylation is caused by the norbornencarboxylic acid and not by maleic anhydride. This result is supported by the observation that, during the radical homopolymerization of norbornencarboxylic acid also, carbon dioxide is split off.     

Synthesis and optical properties of green‐light‐emitting copolymers containing side‐chain oxadiazole units

Atom transfer radical polymerization was used to prepare well‐defined vinyl polyoxadiazole homomacromonomers with a properly modified α‐dicarboxylic acid methyl ester as the initiator. Macromonomers of various molecular weights with narrow polydispersities in some cases were obtained, as proved by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The structures of the obtained macromonomers were then identified with ¹H NMR spectroscopy. These macromonomers were subsequently copolymerized with a dihydroxy anthracene based monomer by a polycondensation technique, and this resulted in polymacromonomers. Coil–rod–coil copolymers containing side‐chain anthracene and oxadiazole units were also synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization. The resulting copolymers combined an anthracene derivative as the rigid block with a random copolymer of the desired anthracene‐ and/or oxadiazole‐based monomers as the flexible block. These copolymers were primarily characterized with GPC and ¹H NMR techniques. Additionally, the optical properties of all these copolymers were investigated in detail, and they suggested energy transfer from the oxadiazole to the anthracene chromophores, which became much more efficient in the solid state. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 1049–1061, 2005     

Poly(sodium styrene sulfonate)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymers through direct atom transfer radical polymerization: Influence of hydrophilic–hydrophobic balance on self-organization in aqueous solution

A series of poly(sodium styrene sulfonate)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate), PSSNa-b-PMMA, amphiphilic diblock copolymers have been synthesized through atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in N,N-dimethylformamide/water mixtures, starting from a PSSNa macroinitiator. The kinetics of the polymerization was followed by ¹H NMR, while the chemical composition of the copolymers was verified by a variety of techniques, such as ¹H NMR, FTIR and TGA. The MMA content of the copolymers ranges from 0 up to 60 mol%, while the number–average molecular weight of the PSSNa macroinitiator was 9000 g/mol. The self-association of the diblock copolymers in aqueous solution was compared to the respective behavior of similar random P(SSNa-co-MMA) copolymers through optical density measurements, pyrene fluorescence probing, dynamic light scattering and surface tension measurements. It is shown that the diblock copolymers form micellar structures in water, characterized by an increasing hydrophobic character and a decreasing size as the length of the PMMA block increases. These micelle-like structures turn from surface inactive to surface active as the length of the PMMA block increases. Moreover, contrary to the MMA-rich random copolymers, the respective diblock copolymers form water insoluble polymer/surfactant complexes with cationic surfactants such as hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB), leading to materials with antimicrobial activity.     

Interference correlations between like pions in the reactionK − p→K − pπ+π+π−π− at 8.25 GeV/c

Zeitschrift für Physik C Particles and Fields - We have observed correlations in the transverse momentum of pion pairs with like and unlike charge produced in 8.25 GeV/cK − p→K...     

Limits on the impact parameters occuring in specific K−p interactions at 8.25 GeV/c

We have determined a lower limit of the impact parameter for the reactions associated with the channels K^?p → K^?pπ⁺π^?K^?p → λπ⁺π^?π⁰. The limit was found to be highest for the diffractive parts of the first channel (～ 0.52 fm) and smallest for the forward Λ in the second channel (～0.21 fm).We have also examined the elements of the inverse correlation matrix for the transfer: the off-diagonal elements are small (consistent with zero) for n = 4?7 body products. The log 〈Q_i·Q_j〉 of the correlation matrix as a function of $\text{Гi?jГ}$ falls on a straight line and the eigenvalue λ₁ of the transverse momentum transfer eigenfunction was found to increase slightly from ～0.6 for 4-body to ～0.7 for 7-body products. The 〈cosφ_ij〉 of the Q_i, Q_j shows similar behaviour to the 〈Q_i·Q_j〉