Hydrophobic Monomers Recognize Microenvironments in Hydrogel Microspheres during Free-Radical-Seeded Emulsion Polymerization

The three-dimensional structure of nanocomposite microgels was precisely determined by cryo-electron micrography. Several nanocomposite microgels that differ with respect to their nanocomposite structure, which were obtained from seeded emulsion polymerization in the presence of microgels, were used as model nanocomposite materials for cryo-electron micrography. The obtained three-dimensional segmentation images of these nanocomposite microgels provide important insights into the interactions between the hydrophobic monomers and the microgels, that is, hydrophobic styrene monomers recognize molecular-scale differences in polarity within the microgels during the emulsion polymerization. This result led to the formation of unprecedented multi-layered nanocomposite microgels, which promise substantial potential in colloidal applications.     

Evaluating the equivalence of verbal scales and question stems to be used in English and Japanese noise annoyance questions

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the equivalence of noise annoyance scales and questions recommended by Team 6 (Community Response to Noise) of ICBEN for English and Japanese, two strikingly different languages. The first experiment was conducted with bilingual subjects in order to test a key assumption of the method established by ICBEN Team 6 for the development of equivalent noise annoyance scales: subjects who speak different languages interpret the concept of “highest degree” of annoyance similarly. The results indicate that English- and Japanese-speaking subjects do interpret the “highest degree” similarly. The second experiment tested for effects of wording differences. English- and Japanese-speaking subjects were presented with noise annoyance questions of one of three format types. The first type was similar to the question format recommended by ICBEN Team 6. It focused on the degree to which a given noise would “bother, disturb, or annoy” the subject. The second asked subjects to evaluate the “bothersome, annoying, or disturbing” quality of the noise. The third asked how much the noise would “worry, irritate, or concern” the subject. No significant difference was found in responses to the three formats when subjects evaluated noise in laboratory conditions.     

Spherical dye-doped silica particles

Organic dyes such as water soluble porphyrins were incorporated into monodispersed SiO₂ particles using the sol-gel technique (the Stober synthesis) and their monomeric and dimeric properties were investigated by aiming at the microcavity effect. Doping efficiencies of dyes into SiO₂ particles depended on dye's hydrophilic properties. The doping efficiency of a porphyrin, TTMAPP, decreased with increasing the nominal content in the starting solution and the doping content showed the maximum value of 1.6×10^–5 mol/g SiO₂. With increasing the TTMAPP content, spectra of doped particles were changed from dimeric to monomeric nature; the absorption peak due to dimers disappeared and halfwidth of absorption at Soret band decreased. This unusual change was caused by the decrease of particle sizes by dye doping. The TTMAPP-doped sample having monomeric spectrum showed the fluorescence life time of 8.5 nsec and photochemical hole burning at about 5 K.     

Photochemical deprotection of nitro-substituted benzenesulfenates via photoinduced electron transfer

The photochemical deprotection of alkyl 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfenate or alkyl 2-nitrobenzenesulfenate was successfully achieved by addition of triethylamine, while it was unsuccessful without triethylamine. The sulfur-oxygen bond cleavage is thought to occur heterolytically in the sulfenate anion radical produced by photoinduced electron transfer with triethylamine.