The incorporation of rigid diol monomers into poly(butylene terephthalate) via solid‐state copolymerization and melt copolymerization

Incorporation of 2,2‐bis[4‐(2‐hydroxyethoxy)phenyl]propane (Dianol 220®) into poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) via solid‐state copolymerization (SSP) showed that Dianol, besides being the reactant, also acts as a swelling agent for rigid amorphous PBT chain segments. Being swollen, these amorphous chain segments become sufficiently mobile to contribute to the SSP process. The thermal behavior of the resulting copolyesters is comparable with melt copolymerized copolymers, although having a different chemical microstructure. The main reason is a full miscibility in the melt of unmodified PBT chain segments and modified chain segments, which eliminates the advantages of a blocky microstructure for the SSP copolyesters. However, incorporation of 2,2′‐biphenyldimethanol (BDM) into PBT resulted in a higher crystallization temperature compared with PBT–Dianol copolymers of equal composition. Preordering of polymer chains in the melt by incorporating rigid, phase separating BDM‐moieties, preferably via SSP to obtain a non‐random distribution, may be the origin of the enhanced crystallization temperature. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1203–1217, 2008     

Nanocomposite of montmorillonite with telechelic sulfonated poly(butylene terephthalate): Effect of ionic groups on clay dispersion, mechanical and thermal properties

Telechelic ionomeric poly(butylene terephthalate) nanocomposites with organically modified clays have been prepared by the melt intercalation technique both in Brabender mixer and in twin screw-extruder. The presence of ionic groups tethered at the end of the polymer chains permits electrostatic interaction between the polymer and the surface of an organically modified clays providing a thermodynamic driving force for the dispersion of the clay platelets in the polymer matrix. The improved dispersion has been verified by TEM and XRD analyses. Nanocomposites with telechelic polymers present therefore consistently higher thermo-mechanical properties and improved thermal and hydrolytic stability respect to nanocomposites with standard PBT. Nanocomposite obtained using PBT with 3% telechelic ionic groups and with 5% of clay present a heat deflection temperature that is 48 °C higher compared to that of the commercial material. The presence of the clay also slightly increases the thermal and hydrolytic stability respect to standard PBT.     

Polymerization of vinyl monomers in the presence of silica having surface functional groups

The surface of silica was modified by mercaptopropyl, chloropropyl, aminopropyl, and methacryloxypropyl groups by the treatment of silica with the corresponding silane coupling agents, and the effects of functional groups on the surface on the polymerization of vinyl monomers initiated by benzoyl peroxide or 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile were investigated. Although the rate of the polymerization of vinyl monomers in the presence of silica was almost equal to that in the absence of silica, a part of polymer formed was grafted onto silica surface. The polymerization was considerably retarded in the presence of these functionalized silicas and the corresponding polymers were effectively grafted onto the surface. The molecular weight of ungrafted polymer formed in the presence of the functionalized silica was lower than that formed in the presence of unmodified silica. This indicates that the chain transfer reaction of growing polymer radical to functionalized silica surface forms radicals on the surface, which then couples with growing polymer radical and/or reinitiates the polymerization to give rise to the grafting of polymers onto the surface. In the case of silica having methacryloxypropyl groups, the grafting based on the copolymerization of vinyl monomer with the surface methacryloxypropyl groups was considered to successfully proceed.     

Synthesis of poly-yne polymers containing transition metals,disilane, disiloxane and phosphine groups in the main chain

The synthesis and characterization of metal poly-yne polymers containing disilane, disiloxane and phosphine groups in the main chain are described. The platinum and palladium poly-yne polymers were synthesized by polycondensation reactions between a metal chloride and an α, ω-bisethynyl complex in amines in the presence of cuprous iodide as a catalyst. The nickel poly-yne polymers were synthesized by an alkynyl ligand exchange reaction between a nickel acetylide and an α, ω-bisethynyl complex in diethylamine in the presence of cuprous iodide as a catalyst. The reaction of the platinum poly-yne polymer, containing disiloxane groups in the main chain, with copper (I) salts afforded adducts of η-²-bonded σ-acetylide polymer complexes. The reactions of the palladium poly-yne polymer, containing phosphine groups in the main chain, with transition-metal carbonyl complexes afforded polymer complexes which have phosphorus in the main chain-transition-metal bonds. A concentrated solution of the platinum poly-yne polymer containing disiloxane groups in the main chain forms a lyotropic liquid crystal in dichloromethane or 1, 2-dichloroethane.     

Steady-state scratch testing of polymers

The paper extends the notion of steady-state cutting of polymers with a sharp tool to scratching. The analysis assumes there is separation at the tool tip (fracture) and the removed layer undergoes plastic shear. Results are presented for three polymers: PMMA, PC and PBT. For the tougher polymer, PC, smooth scratches were obtained and the modified cutting analysis works well provided that the wear on the initially sharp tip is accounted for. For the more brittle polymers, PMMA and PBT, rougher scratches were obtained and this is consistent with the notion that the polymers exhibited micro-cracking ahead of the tool tip, which led to rough surfaces being generated. The results demonstrate that the fracture toughness and the yield stress are controlling parameters in the scratching process and that a sufficiently high value of crack opening displacement COD (greater than about 10 μm) ensures that smooth scratches are obtained, as was the case for PC.     

ESCA studies of charge transfer interactions in electroactive polymers

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data suggest that proton modifications of nitrogens in polypyrrole (PPY) give rise to a number of intrinsic redox states analogous to those observed in polyaniline (PAN). The behavior of the corresponding oxidation states in both polymers towards oxidation/reduction, deprotonation/reprotonation or charge transfer (CT) interactions are grossly similar. For the thiophene polymers, such as the poly(2,2′-bithiophene) (PBT) complexes and poly(3-methylthiophene) (P3MT) complexes, XPS results reveals the simultaneous presence of neutral and polarized (or partially charged) species in both carbon and sulfur. The relative amounts of the neutral and polarized species vary in accordance with the oxidation level of the polymer. These results suggest that each dopant anion is associated with a thiophenium ion in the polymer chain. Substantially lower extent of CT is observed in the complexes involving photoconductive substituted polyacetylenes, such as polyphenylacetylene (PPA) and poly[[o-(trimethylsilyl)phenyl] acetylene] or poly(o-Me₃SiPA).     

Synthesis and characterization of colored EUDRAGIT® as enteric coating material

The synthesis of novel polymeric dyes by directly attaching toluidine blue O and MPPD via EDC and CDI coupling is described for polymers with enteric properties [poly(methacrylic acid‐co‐ethyl acrylate)]. The polymeric dyes are analyzed by SEC and UV/Vis measurements as well as investigated regarding their dissolution and permeation characteristics. Almost no changes between the modified and nonmodified polymer could be observed by conventional drug studies and a self‐established method for dissolution rates. Also no influence on the film formation properties was observed by SEM measurements. In vitro toxicity studies showed no increase of toxicity compared to the non modified polymer. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2386–2393     

Influence of Reactive Diluent on UV-curing of Acrylate Terminated Hyperbranched Polymers

A Aeries of hydroxylic hyperbranched polymers were derived from 2,2-bis (methylol) propionic acid and tris (methylol) propane reacted with acrylic acid to various extents. The obtained acrylated hyperbranched polymers alone or with a monofunctional diluent, isobornylene acrylate(IBOA) were further cured by UV radiation. The cured films based on the modified polymers alone all demonstrated poor mechanical properties due to their high network densities and low moving ability of polymer chains. For the composite systems, the cured films demonstrated improved mechanical properties due to the low network densities and high chain moving ability. With more IBOA included in the systems, acrylate groups can react to a higher extent during the curing process.     

Phase separation in aqueous mixtures of hydrophobically modified cellulose derivatives with their nonmodified analogues

Mixtures of hydrophobically graft-modified cellulose derivatives and their nonmodified analogues have been studied in aqueous solution. A qualitatively similar behavior was found in the phase behavior of nonionic as well as of cationic polymer systems. Over a large range of total polymer concentrations and mixture ratios the solutions phase separated into two phases of similar polymer concentration, with one of the phases enriched in the hydrophobically modified polymer. From the manufacturing process the cellulose derivatives investigated are likely to contain polymer chains with a rather continuous distribution in degrees of substitution and, possibly, substitution patterns. This causes a complex phase behavior that cannot be adequately described by a ternary representation. The multicomponent nature became apparent from composition analyses of the phases in equilibrium. It may thus be more appropriate to view the phase separation as a fractionation. A phase of small relative volume with a highly enhanced hydrophobe content (compared to the original hydrophobically modified polymer sample) was created. This was particularly obvious in more dilute solutions. Sometimes the phase separation was difficult to observe because the phases in equilibrium had similar polymer concentrations and, therefore, similar refractive indices. The observations presented here call for the attention of producers and users of these types of polymers. Received: 6 July 2000 Accepted: 6 September 2000     

A review on thermal decomposition and combustion of thermoplastic polyesters

An overview is presented of the literature on the thermal decomposition and combustion of thermoplastic polyesters, especially commercially important poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(1,4‐butylene terephthalate) (PBT). Although the literature is not clear as to whether heterolytic or homolytic scission of aliphatic fragments is the first step in the thermal decomposition of polyesters, in any case volatilization of light aliphatic fragments make polyesters easily ignitable polymers. Despite the presence of benzene groups in the main polymer chain, thermoplastic polyesters show very limited tendency to char, but instead, aromatic‐containing polymer fragments volatilize and feed the flame. Fire retardant additives, although they usually facilitate decomposition of the polyesters at lower temperature, also usually promote charring and therefore suppress combustion. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asymmetric polymerization of N‐substituted maleimides with chiral oxazolidine–organolithium

Asymmetric anionic homopolymerizations of achiral N‐substituted maleimides (RMI) were performed with lithium 4‐alkyl‐2,2‐dialkyloxazolidinylamide. All obtained polymers were optically active, exhibiting opposite optical rotation to that of a corresponding oxazolidinyl group at the terminal of the main chain. This suggests that opposite optical rotation to the corresponding chiral oxazolidine was induced to the polymer main chain. In the polymerization using a fluorenyllithium (FlLi)–oxazolidine complex, the obtained polymer with a fluorenyl group at the polymer end showed a negative specific rotation. This also suggests that asymmetric induction took place in the polymer main chain. The asymmetric induction was supported by the circular dichroism (CD) and GPC analysis with polarimetric detector. Optical activity of the polymer was attributed to different contents of (S,S) and (R,R) structures formed from threo‐diisotactic additions, as supported by the ¹³C‐NMR spectra of the polymers and the model compounds. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 473–482, 1999     

Isothermal crystallization kinetics and mechanical properties of poly(butylene terephthalate)/attapulgite nanocomposites

Poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT)/attapulgite (AT) nanocomposites were prepared by in situ polymerization. Morphology of the PBT/AT nanocomposites was observed by scanning electron microscope and polarizing optical microscope. Thermogravimetric analyses were used to examine the thermal stability. The melting behaviors, equilibrium melting temperature, isothermal crystallization behavior of pure PBT and PBT/AT nanocomposites were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The results show that PBT/AT nanocomposites possess higher thermal stability than pure PBT, and AT nanoparticles play a heterogeneous nucleating agent in PBT crystallization that accelerated the crystallization rate. The PBT/AT nanocomposite with higher AT content could retard the transport of polymer chains to the growing crystals compared with that of PBT/AT nanocomposite in lower AT content. According to dynamic mechanical analysis results, the storage modulus of PBT/AT nanocomposites was markedly improved and the addition of AT nanoparticles promotes the crystallization of PBT, which decreases the amorphous area. Meanwhile, the well-dispersed AT nanoparticles also retard the movement of polymer chain segment and increase the proportion of rigid amorphous region.     

Dependence of band offset and open-circuit voltage on the interfacial interaction between TiO2 and carboxylated polythiophenes

The interface of planar TiO(2)/polymer photovoltaic cells was modified with two carboxylated polythiophenes having different densities of carboxylic acid groups. Both of the interface modifiers increase the photocurrent of the cells but lower the open-circuit voltage. The work function of the TiO(2), measured using a Kelvin probe, increases with increasing density of carboxylic acid groups due to the formation of interfacial dipoles pointing toward the TiO(2) surface. The formation of interfacial dipoles results in a shift in the band offset at the TiO(2)/polymer interface, which explains the decrease in the open-circuit voltage. This work demonstrates that care must be taken when using carboxylic acid side groups to attach polymers to titania surfaces in photovoltaic cells. If the density of attachment groups is just enough to attach the polymer, then the benefits of the interface modifier can be realized without substantially decreasing the open-circuit voltage.     

A Typical Metal‐Ion‐Responsive Color‐Tunable Emitting Insulated π‐Conjugated Polymer Film

We report the synthesis of an insulated π‐conjugated polymer containing 2,2′‐bipyridine moieties as metal coordination sites. Metal coordination to the polymer enabled easy and reversible tuning of the luminescent color without changes to the main chain skeleton. The permethylated α‐cyclodextrin (PM α‐CD)‐based insulation structure allowed the metalated polymers to demonstrate efficient emission even in the solid state, with identical spectral shapes to the dilute solutions. In addition, the coordination ability of the metal‐free polymer was maintained in the solid state, resulting in reversible changes in the luminescent color in response to the metal ions. The synthesized polymer is expected to be suitable for application in recyclable luminescent sensors to distinguish different metal ions.     

SYNTHESIS OF CHIRAL CONJUGATED POLYBINAPHTHYLS BY SONOGASHIRA REACTION

Chiral polymers P-1 and P-2 were synthesized by the polymerization of （R）-3,3＇-diiodo-2,2＇-bisbutoxy-1,1＇- binaphthyl （M- 1 ） with 2,5-di（4-ethynylphenyl）- 1,3,4-oxadiazole （M-3） and （R）-3,3＇-diethylnyl-2,2＇-bisbutoxy- 1,1 ＇-binaphthyl （M-2） with 1,2-di（4-bromophenyl）acetylene （M-4） under Sonogashira reaction, respectively. Both monomers and polymers were analyzed by NMR, MS, FT-IR, UV-Vis spectroscopy, DSC-TGA, fluorescence spectroscopy, GPC and CD spectroscopy. CD spectra of P-1 and P-2 are similar due to the same chiral center units and main chain structure. The long wavelengths CD effect of P-1 and P-2 can be regarded as the more extended conjugated structure and a highly rigid backbone in the polymer chain. Polymers have strong blue fluorescence due to the efficient energy migration from the extended n-electronic structure of the polymers to the chiral binaphthyl core and are expected to provide understanding of the relationship between molecular structure and fluorescent property of the chiral polymers.     

Side chain crosslinking of aromatic polyethers for high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell applications

Novel aromatic polymers bearing polar pyridine units in the main chain and side chain crosslinkable hydroxyl and propargyl groups have been successfully synthesized. The polymers have been investigated in terms of their critical properties related to their application in high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, such as doping ability, mechanical properties, and thermal stability. Crosslinked membranes were prepared by direct crosslinking of hydroxyl side chain groups with decafluorobiphenyl used for the first time as a crosslinking agent. However, further functionalization of hydroxyl groups to the propargyl derivative has also led to crosslinked polymers after thermal curing. Both types of crosslinked membranes exhibited higher glass transition temperatures as well as lower doping levels when doped in phosphoric acid compared with the non crosslinked analogs, confirming the formation of a successfully crosslinked network. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Bulky side chain effect of poly(N‐vinylcarbazole)‐based stacked polymer electrets on device performance parameters of transistor memories

Three poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) (PVK)‐based polymer electrets were synthesized through Friedel‐Crafts postfunctionalization for the function of charge storage in nonvolatile organic field effect transistor (OFET) memory devices. The bulky side chain effect of these stacked polymer electrets on the morphology, water contact angles, and memory characteristics were examined with regard to those of precursor PVK. The introduction of steric hindrance groups could interrupt the large length of π‐stacked structures in PVK and block the form of region‐regular structures from region‐random on external electric field. As a result, the memories based on the three modified polymers exhibited approximate memory windows of 32 V increased by 13 V with respect to PVK. Besides, the write‐read‐erase‐read cycles stability of the modified polymers was superior to that of PVK. Furthermore, we found that the holes were mainly located in the region of local π‐stacked structures and bulky π‐conjugated groups also acted as additional electron trapping sites. Molecular engineering of charge trapping site with tunneling polymers will be a promise strategy for the advance of transistor memory. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 3554–3564     

Mechanical Properties of Interlocked-ring Polymers: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

Interlocked-ring polymers, also known as polycatenanes, possess an interesting molecular architecture. These polymers are composed of many interlocked rings in a linear chain. The topological constrain between neighboring rings distinguishes the interlockedring polymer from its linear counterpart. Here we present extensive molecular dynamic simulations on the interlocked-ring polymers and analyze the static properties of the polymer. By applying external forces to the polymer, we also study the force-extension curves of the polymer, which provides rich information about the mechanical properties of the interlockedring polymers.     

Synthesis and photophysical properties of conjugated polymers with pendant 9,10-anthraquinone units

We have synthesized and investigated the photophysical properties of a series of electron-donor conjugated copolymers with pendant electron-acceptor units. The copolymers consist of diethynyl-1,4-phenylene, fluorene, or phenylene rings alternating with a phenylene unit bearing a pendant 9,10-anthraquinone moiety. The pendant donor-acceptor polymers were designed to have different optical pi-pi* band gaps, while the oxidation potential of the polymer backbone remains approximately constant in the series. The reduction potential of the donor-acceptor polymers is associated with the pendant acceptor units. This leads to the special situation that the electrochemical gap between oxidation and reduction potentials is constant, while the optical band gap decreases, going from PPP, via PPF, to PPE. This design is used to study the effect of the optical gap on the photoinduced electron-transfer reaction that occurs between the main chain electron donor and the pendant acceptor, while the same polymer architecture and energy of the charge separated state are maintained. Fluorescence and photoinduced absorption spectroscopy are used to study the electron transfer following photoexcitation in relation to solvent polarity and in thin solid films. For the fluorene-phenylene alternating copolymer, intramolecular photoinduced electron transfer occurs in the Marcus optimal region.     

1D and 2D homochiral metal-organic frameworks built from a new chiral elongated binaphthalene-derived bipyridine

Six homochiral coordination polymers 1-6 based on a new enantiopure elongated (S)-2,2'-diethoxy-1,1'-binaphthyl-6,6'-bis(4-vinylpyridine) ligand (L) and divalent metal (Zn, Cd, and Ni) connecting points were synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. These new homochiral coordination polymers adopt two distinct framework structures: a one-dimensional infinite chain structure with bridging L ligands occupying the axial positions of the metal centers and a two-dimensional rhombic grid structure formed by linking octahedrally coordinated metal centers with four pyridyl groups of bridging L ligands in the equatorial positions. The structures of these coordination polymers are sensitive to the nature of the anions as well as the solvents from which the coordination polymer crystals were grown. Powder X-ray diffraction studies showed that the two-dimensional chiral rhombic grids exhibited porosity, which could potentially find applications in enantioselective separations and catalysis.