Hydrogen bonding in polyamide 66/clay nanocomposite

Hydrogen bonding in polyamide 66/clay nanocomposite (PA66CN) was first investigated with temperature Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), the results of which were compared with that of pristine polyamide 66 (PA66) with the same thermal history. FTIR spectra at room temperature revealed that there is essentially 100% hydrogen bonding in both PA66CN and PA66, and the difference in hydrogen‐bonding status between them is tiny. Additionally, DSC showed that the crystalline degrees and melting temperatures of PA66CN and PA66 prepared by melt quenching are similar. However, the changes of hydrogen bonding with temperature in PA66CN and PA66 are different. As the temperature rose, the hydrogen bonding in PA66CN attenuated and dissociated considerably at a smaller rate than PA66. According to transmission electron microscopic morphology of PA66CN, we analyzed the effect of nanodispersion clay layers on the motion of a polymer chain and the thermal expansion of crystalline lamella for interpreting the observed phenomenon. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2313–2321, 2003     

Preferential formation of electroactive crystalline phases in poly(vinylidene fluoride)/organically modified silicate nanocomposites

The role of organically modified silicate (OMS), Lucentite STN on the formation of β‐crystalline phase of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is investigated in the present study. The OMS was solution blended with PVDF and cast on glass slide to form PVDF‐OMS nanocomposites. Solution cast samples were subjected to various thermal treatments including annealing (AC‐AN), melt‐quenching followed by annealing (MQ‐AN), and melt‐slow cooling (MSC). Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to investigate the crystalline structure of thermally treated samples. As a special effort, the combination of in situ thermal FT‐IR, WAXD, and DSC studies was utilized to clearly assess the thermal properties. FT‐IR and WAXD results of MQ‐AN samples revealed the presence of β‐phase of PVDF. Ion‐dipole interaction between the exfoliated clay nanolayers and PVDF was considered as a main factor for the formation of β‐phase. Melt‐crystallization temperature and subsequent melting point were enhanced by the addition of OMS. Solid β‐ to γ‐crystal phase transition was observed from in situ FT‐IR and WAXD curves when the representative MQ‐AN sample was subjected to thermal scanning. Upon heating, β‐phase was found to disappear through transformation to the thermodynamically stable γ‐phase rather than melting directly. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2173–2187, 2008     

Main chain thermotropic liquid crystalline polyurethanes containing biphenyl mesogens based on novel AB‐type self‐polycondensation route: FT‐IR and XRD studies

The detailed mesophasic characterization of main chain liquid crystalline polyurethanes containing biphenyl mesogen, which were synthesized by the novel AB‐type self‐polycondensation approach, was carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Polarized Optical Microscopy (POM), variable temperature X‐ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopic studies. The type of mesophase present in these polymers was identified to be the smectic A phase by POM and XRD studies. The smectic layer thickness was found to increase as the length of the spacer increased. The effect of temperature on the hydrogen bonding was analyzed by FT‐IR studies. The curve‐fitting analysis of the NH stretching and C?O stretching modes of vibrations indicated a gradual decrease in hydrogen bonding during the transition from the crystalline state to the mesophase. The mesophase to isotropic liquid transition was then accompanied by the complete disappearance of the hydrogen bonding. The biphenyl bands also showed changes during phase transitions due to the coupling of biphenyl vibration modes with the urethane linkage attached to it. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 1903–1912, 2005     

Effect of steam on the structural and morphological stability of renewable poly(ether‐block‐amide)s

The effect of steam on chemical structure and mechanical properties of renewable poly(ether‐block‐amide)s (PEBAs) is investigated by different characterization techniques, i.e. FT‐IR, TGA, DSC, DMA, and BES. Steam sterilization is a mandatory process for materials used in medical applications. This process, employed during clinical practice and replicated in this study, affects polymer structure and morphology. Steam induces an increase of polyamide (PA) crystallinity in PEBAs with a majority of PA domains, due to the conformational transition from α‐helix to parallel and anti‐parallel β‐sheet, with stronger hydrogen bonding. In PEBAs with longer polyether (PE) blocks, steam induces an increase of random PA domains and the formation of a more extended hydrogen bonding network between ether and amide moieties of the two segments. As a consequence of these microdomain conformational variations, relevant changes occur in molecular relaxations as demonstrated by DMA and BES results. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014 , 52, 409–418     

A re‐examination of the sub‐Tm exotherm in polyamide 6: The roles of thermal history,water and clay

The sub‐T_m exotherms in polyamide 6 (PA6) have been carefully re‐examined by differential scanning calorimetry and X‐ray diffraction, considering the effects of processing and thermal history, addition of water and clay. The results obtained cast doubt on Khanna's proposal that sub‐T_m exotherm in PA6 comes from the release of strain energy absorbed during processing, and suggested that the origin of sub‐T_m exotherm is the γ?α transformation at the premelting temperature, namely, the less thermodynamically stable γ‐form (γ^ns) transforming into the more thermodynamically stable α‐form (α^s). The presence of water or clay in PA6 samples facilitated the formation of γ^ns at corresponding cooling rates, and enhanced the development of sub‐T_m exotherms. During the heating scan of PA6/clay composites, the initial γ^ns can be transformed into more stable (γ^s)^t and α^s at the same time, which can be thought as the origin of their sub‐T_m events. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 2385–2393, 2009     

Structure development of polyamide‐66 fibers during drawing and their microstructure characterization

Structure development during drawing was studied for three sets of polyamide‐66 (PA66) fibers with density, optical microscopy, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The crystallinity, estimated by density measurements, remained virtually constant with increasing draw ratios, indicating that stress‐induced crystallization did not occur for the PA66 fibers drawn at room temperature, but there was a rapid transformation from a hedrite morphology to a fibrillar one. The absence of stress‐induced crystallization differed from the behavior of polyamide‐6, and this was attributed to the stronger hydrogen bonding between polyamide chains and the higher glass‐transition temperature of PA66. Polarized infrared spectroscopy was used to measure the transition‐moment angles of the vibrations at 936 and 906 cm^?1, which were found to be 48 and 60°, respectively. The crystalline orientation was estimated from the band at 936 cm^?1, and the increase with an increasing draw ratio was in close quantitative agreement with X‐ray diffraction data; this showed that infrared spectroscopy could be used reliably to measure the crystalline orientation of PA66 fibers. Because we were unable to obtain the transition‐moment angle of the amorphous bands, the amorphous orientation was obtained with Stein's equation. The amorphous orientation developed more slowly than the crystalline orientation, which is typical behavior for flexible‐chain polymers. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1940–1948, 2002     

Effect of steam on structure and mechanical properties of biomedical block copolymers

The effect of steam on the micro‐phase structure and mechanical properties of different block copolymers used in biomedical devices is investigated via FT‐IR, tensile tests and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Steam sterilization, commonly performed on medical devices and simulated in this work, affects the copolymers' morphology, due to high temperature and humidity conditions. FT‐IR analysis reveals that steam induces a modification in the crystalline conformations of copolymers with a pre‐existing hydrogen bonding network, that is, thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) and poly(ether‐block‐amide) (PEBA), while it does not significantly affect the domain conformation in styrenic block copolymers (SEBS), due to weak interaction with water. As a consequence, relevant changes of the mechanical properties, closely related to the microdomain structure, are found for TPU and PEBA after sterilization, while SEBS mechanical behavior remains stable, as demonstrated by tensile tests and DMA results. For this reason, SEBS is suggested as the best choice in terms of durability in biomedical applications. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014 , 52, 1337–1346     

Atomic force microscopy study on blend morphology and clay dispersion in polyamide‐6/polypropylene/organoclay systems

The phase structure and clay dispersion in polyamide‐6(PA6)/polypropylene(PP)/organoclay (70/30/4) systems with and without an additional 5 parts of maleated polypropylene (MAH‐g‐PP) as a compatibilizer were studied with atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM scans were taken from the polished surface of specimens that were chemically and physically etched with formic acid and argon ion bombardment, respectively. The latter technique proved to be very sensitive to the blend morphology, as PP was far more resistant to ion bombardment than PA6. In the absence of the MAH‐g‐PP compatibilizer, the organoclay is located in the PA6 phase; this finding is in line with transmission electron microscopic results. Further, the PP is coarsely dispersed in PA6 and the adhesion between PA6 and PP is poor. The addition of MAH‐g‐PP resulted in a markedly finer PP dispersion and good interfacial bonding between PA6 and PP. In this blend, the organoclay was likely dispersed in the PA6‐grafted PP phase. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43:1198–1204, 2005     

Complex Formation of Polybutadiene with Cyclodextrins

Polybutadienes were found to form inclusion complexes with cyclodextrins in high selectivity to give crystalline compounds. α‐Cyclodextrin and β‐cyclodextrin form complexes only with polybutadienes of low molecular weight and high 1,4‐addition content. Polybutadienes with high 1,2‐content gave complexes with γ‐cyclodextrin in low yield. The yields of the γ‐cyclodextrin complexes decreased with increasing molecular weights of the polybutadienes of similar composition. Complexes were isolated and characterized by means of FT‐IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C CP/MAS NMR, ¹³C PST/MAS NMR spectroscopies, and X‐ray diffraction. Inclusion modes are discussed.     

Facile Synthesis of Chiral Spirooxindole‐Based Isotetronic Acids and 5‐1H‐Pyrrol‐2‐ones through Cascade Reactions with Bifunctional Organocatalysts

Unprecedented organocatalyzed asymmetric cascade reactions have been developed for the facile synthesis of chiral spirooxindole‐based isotetronic acids and 5‐1H‐pyrrol‐2‐ones.The asymmetric 1,2‐addition reactions of α‐ketoesters to isatins and imines by using an acid–base bifunctional 6′‐OH cinchona alkaloid catalyst, followed by cyclization and enolization of the resulting adducts, gave chiral spiroisotetronic acids and 5‐1H‐pyrrol‐2‐ones, respectively, in excellent optical purities (up to 98 % ee). FT‐IR analysis supported the existence of hydrogen‐bonding interaction between the 6′‐OH group of the cinchona catalyst and an isatin carbonyl group, an interaction that might be crucial for catalyst activity and stereocontrol.     

An Unusual Crystallization Behavior in Polyamide 6/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites

The crystallization behavior and structure of polyamide 6 (PA6) nanocomposites containing 3 wt.‐% montmorillonite (MMT) were investigated for different cooling conditions using differential scanning calorimetry and X‐ray diffraction. In sharp contrast to PA6 and other semicrystalline polymers, increased cooling rates resulted in higher crystallinity of PA6/MMT. The highest crystallinity (60.8%) occurred in the liquid nitrogen‐quenched PA6/MMT film. The results show that the γ‐crystalline form is dominant in the rapidly cooled PA6/MMT.     

Crystalline structure of polyamide 12 as revealed by solid‐state 13C NMR and synchrotron WAXS and SAXS

The crystalline structure of polyamide‐12 (PA12) was studied by solid‐state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as well as by synchrotron wide‐ and small‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS and SAXS). Isotropic and oriented PA12 showed different NMR spectra ascribed to γ‐ and γ′‐crystalline modifications, respectively. On the basis of the position of the first diffraction peak, the isotropic γ‐form and the oriented γ′‐form were shown to be with hexagonal crystalline lattice at room temperature. When heated, the two PA12 polymorphs demonstrated different behaviors. Above 140 °C, the isotropic γ‐PA12 partially transformed into α‐modification. No such transition was observed with the oriented γ′‐PA12 phase even after annealing at temperatures close to melting. A γ′–γ transition was observed here only after isotropization by melting point. Various structural parameters were extracted from the WAXS and SAXS patterns and analyzed as a function of temperature and orientation: the degree of crystallinity, the d‐spacings, the Bragg's long spacings, the average thicknesses of the crystalline (l_c) and amorphous (l_a) phases, and the linear crystallinity x_cl within the lamellar stacks. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 3720–3733, 2005     

Hydrogen‐bonding characteristics and unique ring‐opening polymerization behavior of Ortho‐methylol functional benzoxazine

Monofunctional benzoxazine with ortho‐methylol functionality has been synthesized and highly purified. The chemical structure of the synthesized monomer has been confirmed by ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) and elemental analysis. One‐dimensional (1D) ¹H NMR is used with respect to varied concentration of benzoxazines to study the specific nature of hydrogen bonding in both ortho‐methylol functional benzoxazine and its para counterpart. The polymerization behavior of benzoxazine monomer has been also studied by in situ FT‐IR and differential scanning calorimetry, experimentally supporting the polymerization mechanism of ortho‐methylol functional benzoxazine we proposed before. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 3635–3642     

Spectrofluorimetric Study on the Weak Interaction between ATP and Na-4-Tosyl-L-arginine Methyl Ester Hydrochloride

In this paper, some new results on the selective weak interaction between Na-4-tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride （TAME） and adenosine-5＇-triphosphate （ATP） have been reported. Fluorescence spectrophotometry and Fourier transform infrared （FT-IR） spectroscopy were used to investigate this kind of weak interaction. In fluorescence experiments, obvious fluorescence quenching phenomena were observed when TAME was added, which indicated the weak interactions between TAME and ATP. It has been identified by fluorescence titration experiments that TAME exhibited high selectivity to ATP over ADP and AMP. FT-IR spectral results showed that an ATP-TAME adduct was formed. The experimental results indicated that the interaction sites were the guanidinium group of TAME main-chain and the γ-phosphate group of ATP, and the interaction took place through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic force. In addition, the effects of metal ions on the weak interaction between ATP and TAME, or between ATP and analogues of L-arginine were studied.     

Influence of preparation methods on structure and properties of PA6/PA66 blends: A comparison of melt‐mixing and in situ blending

The blends composed of polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyamide 66 (PA66) were obtained using two different preparation methods, one of which was the melt‐mixing through a twin‐screw extruder and the subsequent injection molding; and the other, the in situ blending through anionic polymerization of ε‐caprolactam in the presence of PA66. For the former, there existed a remarkable improvement in toughness but a drastic drop in strength and modulus; however, for the latter, a reverse but less significant trend of mechanical properties change appeared. Various characterizations were conducted, including the analyses of crystalline morphology, crystallographic form, and crystallization and melting behaviors using polarized optical microscopy (POM), wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively; observation of morphology of fractured surface with scanning electron microscope (SEM); measurement of glass transition through dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA); and the intermolecular interaction as well as the interchange reaction between the two components by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT‐IR) and ¹³C solution NMR. The presence and absence of interchange reaction was verified for the in situ and melt‐mixed blends, respectively. It is believed that the transreaction resulted in a drop in glass transition temperature (T_g) for the in situ blends, contrary to an increase of T_g with increasing PA66 content for the melt‐mixed ones. And the two kinds of fabrication methods led to significant differences in the crystallographic form, spherulite size and crystalline content and perfection as well. Accordingly, it is attempted to explain the reasons for the opposite trends of changes in the mechanical properties for these two blends. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1176–1186, 2007     

Orientational order of a nematic polymer grafted on polytetrafluoroethylene

The orientation behavior of a nematic side‐chain polymer grafted on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is studied. The sandwich‐like composite was prepared by the graft post‐polymerization of 4‐cyan‐4′‐(biphenyloxy)butyl acrylate on a PTFE film pretreated by vacuum ultraviolet irradiation (VUV). The oriented liquid crystal layer was prepared by mechanical stretching of the composite film. Orientation degree was measured by means of FT‐IR spectroscopy. The orientation function increases with the increasing strain and attains the upper limit value at the strain Δl/l > 1.0. The temperature dependence of the orientation degree is completely reversible under cooling and heating. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Intermolecular S?H⋅⋅⋅Y (Y=S,O) Hydrogen Bond in the H2S Dimer and the H2S–MeOH Complex

The nature of the S? H???S hydrogen‐bonding interaction in the H₂S dimer and its structure has been the focus of several theoretical studies. This is partly due to its structural similarity and close relationship with the well‐studied water dimer and partly because it represents the simplest prototypical example of hydrogen bonding involving a sulfur atom. Although there is some IR data on the H₂S dimer and higher homomers from cold matrix experiments, there are no IR spectroscopic reports on S? H???S hydrogen bonding in the gas phase to‐date. We present experimental evidence using VUV ionization‐detected IR‐predissociation spectroscopy (VUV‐ID‐IRPDS) for this weak hydrogen‐bonding interaction in the H₂S dimer. The proton‐donating S? H bond is found to be red‐shifted by 31 cm^?1. We were also able to observe and assign the symmetric (ν₁) stretch of the acceptor and an unresolved feature owing to the free S? H of the donor and the antisymmetric (ν₃) SH stretch of the acceptor. In addition we show that the heteromolecular H₂S–MeOH complex, for which both S? H???O and O? H???S interactions are possible, is S‐H???O bound.     

Electric‐field‐induced molecular alignment of side‐chain liquid‐crystalline polyacetylenes containing biphenyl mesogens

Electric‐field‐induced molecular alignments of side‐chain liquid‐crystalline polyacetylenes [? {HC?C[(CH₂)_mOCO‐biph‐OC₇H₁₅]}? , where biph is 4,4′‐biphenylyl and m is 3 (PA3EO7) or 9 (PA9EO7)] were studied with X‐ray diffraction and polarized optical microscopy. An orientation as high as 0.84 was obtained for PA9EO7. Furthermore, the molecular orientation of PA9EO7 was achieved within a temperature range between the isotropic‐to‐smectic A transition temperature and 115 °C, and this suggested that the orientational packing was affected by the thermal fluctuation of the isotropic liquid and the mobility of the mesogenic moieties. The maximum achievable orientation for PA9EO7 was much greater than that for PA3EO7. This was the first time that the electric‐field‐induced molecular orientation of a side‐chain liquid‐crystalline polymer with a stiff backbone was studied. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 1333–1341, 2004     

Studies on Binary Blends of Poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyhexanoate) and Natural Polyphenol Catechin: Specific Interactions and Thermal Properties

The existence of a specific intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding interaction between poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyhexanoate) [P(3HB‐co‐3HH)] and (+)‐catechin in their blends was demonstrated by Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR). It was found that the experimentally estimated fraction of hydrogen‐bonded carbonyl groups was much lower than the theoretically predicted maximum fraction. Only one glass transition temperature (T_g) occurred in the blends with the compositions detected by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), being further confirmed by the results of dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). The decrease of the melting point (T_m) and the increase of the glass transition temperature of the blends observed by the DSC measurements also suggested the existence of a strong intermolecular interaction. It was interesting to note that, as a low‐molecular‐weight compound, catechin showed a glass transition, which arises from strong self‐association. As expected, the crystalline structure of P(3HB‐co‐3HH) in the blends showed no change, but the crystallinity of the copolymer component in the blends, calculated by wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, decreased with the increase of catechin weight content. Investigated by tensile experiments, the maximum strength and modulus decreased sharply with the increase of catechin content; on the contrary, the elongation changed slowly.

The FT‐IR spectra in the wave‐number 1 680–1 780 cm^?1 region for blends of P(3HB‐co‐3HH)/catechin. A: HBH; B: HBHC10; C: HBHC20; D: HBHC30; E: HBHC40; F: HBHC50; and G: catechin.     

Synthesis and characterization of N‐substituted polyaniline with mesogen molecules

The N‐substituted polyaniline (PANi) was synthesized by incorporation of bromine‐terminated mesogens onto the emeraldine form of polyaniline. Firsty three liquid crystalline molecules containing biphenyl units were synthesized. These mesogenic molecules are named as: 6‐bromo‐ (4‐hexyloxy‐biphenyl‐4′‐oxy) hexane (C₆? C₆Br), 5‐bromo‐(4‐hexyloxy‐biphenyl‐4′‐oxy) pentane (C₆? C₅Br), 6‐bromo‐(4‐octyloxy‐biphenyl‐4′‐oxy) hexane (C₈? C₆Br). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in combination with polarizing optical microscopy (POM) were used to investigate the thermal properties of them. Optical microscopy showed focal conic texture characteristic of the Smectic A phase for (C₆? C₅Br) and (C₈? C₆Br). For (C₆? C₆? Br) smectic phase was determined. DSC experiments were also found in accord with mesophase formation. For the synthesis of N‐substituted polyaniline with these mesogen molecules, the emeraldine base polyaniline was reacted with BuLi to produce the N‐anionic polyaniline and then deprotonated polyaniline was reacted with bromine‐end mesogen to prepare mesogen‐substituted polyaniline through N‐substitution reaction. The degree of N‐substitution can be controlled by adjusting the molar feed ratio of mesogen to the number of repeat units of PANi. The microstructure and compositions of obtained polymers were characterized by FT‐IR, elemental analysis, DSC, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The cyclicvoltammetry show that the electroactivity of N‐substituted polyaniline is strongly dependent on the degree of N‐grafting. The solubility of mesogen‐substituted polyaniline in common organic solvents such as THF and chloroform was improved by increasing the degree of N‐substitution and also the samples are partially soluble in xylene. Liquid crystalline behavior of mesogen‐substituted polyanilines was investigated via POM, but no mesophase was observed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.