Possibilities of Mass Spectrometry and Tandem-Mass Spectrometry in the Analysis of Cellulose Ethers

The investigation of the substituent pattern of cellulose and starch ethers and esters on various structural levels as in the glucosyl unit, along the polymer chain, and over the polymer molecules, still is a very challenging task. By means of mass spectrometric methods as ESI-MS or MALDI-TOF-MS the composition of oligosaccharide mixtures which represent the substituent distribution in the original polymer can principally be determined. However, to obtain reliable quantitative data mass spectra must be recorded under appropriate instrumental conditions and after special sample preparation While O-methyl/O-methyl-d₃-oligosaccharides give representative data with the mentioned MS techniques and FAB-MS as well, hydroxyalkyl ethers require labelling with a quaternary ammonium tag and MALDI-TOF-MS to prevent discrimination of lower substituted oligosaccharides. In this way, information on the neighbourhood of glucosyl units in the polymer chain is available which – together with the monomer composition – is a valuable parameter to describe a random or a heterogeneous pattern with regions of local higher densities of substituents compared to the random model, a regular distribution, or a block-like substituent pattern, i.e. a more clustered localisation of substiuents in the polymer chain. In addition, tandem-mass spectrometry (ESI-MSⁿ) allows to gain further insight in the composition of isomeric oligosaccharide derivatives of the same m/z ratio and to calculate the complete monomer composition of methyl celluloses.     

A mesoscopic Archimedean tiling having a new complexity in an ABC star polymer

The Archimedean tiling (3².4.3.4) is a regular but complex polygonal assembly of equilateral triangles and squares. This tiling pattern with mesoscopic repeating distance has been found for an ABC star‐branched three‐component polymer composed of polyisoprene, polystyrene, and poly(2‐vinylpyridine). In this structure the environment of a molecule splits into multiple sites and two microdomains with different sizes and shapes are formed for one component. This complexity is the first observation in complex polymer systems and can lead to a new type of mesoscale self‐organization. The tiling pattern has been observed for the other materials on much shorter length‐scale; therefore, the experimental fact observed in the present study is demonstrating that the complexity is universal over different hierarchies. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 2427–2432, 2005     

聚乙烯在羟基化β-石英(100)表面上的有序吸附

利用分子动力学模拟方法研究了聚乙烯链在羟基化β-石英(100)表面上的吸附. 结果表明, 吸附基底上的规则图案起到模板的作用, 无论是真空还是溶液环境, 都会引导聚乙烯链在表面形成二维沿着[110]方向取向的折叠构型. 为了与聚乙烯的吸附相比较, 进一步研究了聚氧化乙烯链在相同表面上的吸附情况. 结果表明, 极性链与非极性链在极性表面上的吸附情况完全不同.     

Regular patterns generated by self-organization of ammonium-modified polymer nanospheres

Macroscopic regular stripe-crack patterns have been observed in the course of drying the aqueous suspensions of ammonium-modified polymer nanospheres. These forms emerged because the evaporation of dispersed water and self-assembly of nanospheres originates shrinkage during drying the aqueous suspensions. The drying condition plays an important role as well as the nature of the ammonium-modified polymer nanospheres for the stripe-crack pattern formation. By means of the vertical deposition method, directional stripe-crack patterns have been achieved in the macroscopic scale. Surprisingly, we have still noted an interesting secondary stripe pattern occurred spontaneously on the stripes.     

The chaos-to-order transition in critical modes of shearing for polymer and nanocomposite melts

Two unusual experimental phenomena that were found for polymer melts or solutions containing the dispersed phases of Na-montmorillonite or detonation synthesis nanodiamond have been studied. These phenomena consist in the reduction of viscosity upon addition of specified amount of particles and in the formation of regular morphology by these particles in strong flows looking as a system of concentric rings. In other words, under certain conditions, there is transition to stratified shear stream and the viscosity of such a regular heterogeneous system canbe lower than that for the polymer matrix itself. Hence, both phenomena are mutually related; and the main problem here is the analysis of driving forces leading to the regular texture formation taking place in intense flows for unfilled viscoelastic polymers as well. As a preliminary explanation, the conception of the special kind of the elastic instability is discussed. This instability appears either in the regular helix-like structure formation or in the irregular elastic turbulence. The particles of the filler play a role of tracers that revealed the relief of texture.     

Amorphous polyacrylonitrile: Synthesis and characterization

Amorphous polyacrylonitrile was successfully synthesized with bis(pentamethyleneimino)magnesium in heptane at 70°C. The amorphousness of the polymer increased with rising polymerization temperature and was favored by the nonpolar solvent. The polymer showed regular head-to-tail sequences which were confirmed by converting the polymer into polyacrylic acid and polymethylacrylate. The amorphous PAN produced a broad x-ray diagram with a maximum at 2θ = 16.1° and a less intense halo at 2θ = 27.5°. This pattern did not change after heat treatment. The synthesis of amorphous PAN strongly supports Imai's hypothesis that polyacrylonitrile consists of paracrystalline and amorphous phases. The amorphous PAN also tends to support Minami's assignment of the two absorptions in the temperature dependence of the dynamic loss tangent; the absorption at the lower temperature (110°C) is due to molecular motions in the paracrystalline phase and the absorption at the higher temperature (160°C) is attributed to the molecular motions in the amorphous region.     

The effect of different stabilizers on the formation of self‐assembled porous film via the breath‐figure technique

The Breath‐Figure technique was employed to imprint honeycomb structures in the polymer films via the condensation of water vapor on the surface of an evaporating polymer solution. Generally, the condensed water droplets can be stabilized by an end‐functional polymer or by particles added to the polymer solution. In this study, we carried out a systematic experiment on the effect of different stabilizers on the porous honeycomb structure under identical physical conditions. The end‐functional polymer produced a large area of regular spherical bubbles, whereas adding particles to the polymer solution leads to smaller arrays of the flattened bottom bubbles. The separation length between pores was larger for polymer/particle sample than that of the end‐functional polymer films. In the regular area of polymer/particle film many bubbles were not decorated by particles. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 49: 1430–1436, 2011     

Microfillers – Advantageous Potential for White Goods Industry

Market advantage of contemporary appliance product development heavily depends on the polymer materials and related fillers – e.g. micro-fillers. Presented and analyzed is washing machine, its vital product component - plastic tub. Namely, during the product life cycle it is exposed to the simultaneous and severe dynamic thermo-mechanical loads. Material selection for suitable polymer composite is conducted predominantly with time-dependency criteria – creep property at various thermo-mechanical conditions. Experimental validation and polymer material benchmarking is implemented on already regular polymer composites with mineral fillers from 4 different appliance producers (PP + 40 × CaCO₃) on one side with the regular, on market accessible microfiller on other side. The overall study contain comparison of regular PP as basic, reference property in comparison with regular mineral fillers with/without technology processing and microfillers. All these data provide necessary and proper procedure path for the polymer product designer to conduct rational and reliable polymer material selection during polymer product development.     

3D SERS Imaging Using Chemically Synthesized Highly Symmetric Nanoporous Silver Microparticles

3D surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging with highly symmetric 3D silver microparticles as a SERS substrate was developed. Although the synthesis method is purely chemical and does not involve lithography, the synthesized nanoporous silver microparticles possess a regular hexapod shape and octahedral symmetry. By using p‐aminothiophenol (PATP) as a probe molecule, the 3D enhancement patterns of the particles were shown to be very regular and predictable, resembling the particle shape and exhibiting symmetry. An application to the detection of 3D inhomogeneity in a polymer blend, which relies on the predictable enhancement pattern of the substrate, is presented. 3D SERS imaging using the substrate also provides an improvement in spatial resolution along the Z axis, which is a challenge for Raman measurement in polymers, especially layered polymeric systems.     

Polymerization induced by electron-beam irradiation of octadecyl methacrylate in the form of a multilayer or monolayer

In continuation of the previous series of studies, polymerization of octadecyl methacrylate (ODMA) induced by electron beams has been investigated in a form of its multilayer or monolayer in an attempt to prepare a stable thin polymer film having a regular layer structure. ODMA multilayers were prepared by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique and irradiated with electron beams from a Van de Graaff accelerator. Multiple reflection infrared spectroscopy and x-ray diffractometry revealed that the ODMA multilayer was polymerized to give a thin polymer film having a regular layered structure when irradiated in nitrogen atmosphere, but no indication of polymerization was observed when irradiated in air. A preliminary study on the ODMA monolayer at a nitrogen–water interface indicated that the monolayer was polymerized.     

Viscoelastic dynamic properties of heterogeneous polymer networks with domain structure

A dynamic model of a heterogeneous polymer network system is proposed. A polymer network is presented as an ensemble of cross‐linked regions (domains) of different sizes, the domains have similarly regular internal structures. To a first approximation, these domains are treated independently of each other. Relaxation modulus, storage modulus, and loss modulus of the heterogeneous polymer network are calculated. For the purpose of averaging over all network domains the exponential number distribution of chain segments in domains is used. This type of distribution has been previously proposed by one of the authors in the frame of the aggregation model. It is shown that a structure heterogeneity introduced into a network model according to the above domain approach leads, at long times, to the stretched exponential type of time dependence of relaxation modulus instead of the power‐law dependence predicted by the theories dealing with regular networks. The network heterogeneity also leads to a more rapid decrease in the storage modulus in the region of low frequencies, as compared with regular polymer networks. It is shown that the loss modulus in the region of its maximum is very slightly sensitive to the “long‐range” network heterogeneity considered.     

Reversibility of pH-induced dewetting of poly(vinyl pyridine) thin films on silicon oxide substrate

Thin PVP films deposited on a silicon oxide surface have been found to form a dewetting pattern when treated with basic solutions (pH > or = 10). We studied the dependence of pattern morphology on the polymer's molecular weight and thickness of the polymer layer, and observed the formation of three distinctive structures. The structure formed by large drops of polymer is characteristic of a polymer with low molecular weight and the thinnest polymer layer, whereas other samples form holes or a weblike pattern upon dewetting. These experiments have demonstrated for the first time the reversibility of the dewetting process in a liquid environment. The polymer layer has revealed reversible behavior toward flat film when exposed to a pH 4 buffer solution. More complex structures can be obtained by consecutive treatments with acidic (pH 4) and basic (pH 10) solutions. We used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study both the morphology and elastic properties of polymers in media with different acidity, in order to determine the mechanism behind the dewetting process.     

Dose dependence of the radiothermoluminescence intensity of polyethylene crystalline regions

The dose dependence for the intensity of all radiothermoluminescence peaks of polyethylene crystalline regions has been studied in the dose (D) range of 1.3?C30 kGy. The initial portion of the dose dependence curve at doses below 5 kGy has the same pattern for all the peaks; the first derivative is dI/dD > 0 at D = 0 and only decreases with the dose. This type of the dependence suggests that charge traps present in the polymer (in intracrystalline regions) at low doses have existed before irradiation. These traps can be regular segments of polymer chains in the crystalline regions. As the dose increases, radiation-induced traps appear and the dose dependence curves for peak intensities become dissimilar. Some of them show a decrease in intensity with the dose, others reach a limiting value and further do not vary in intensity, and the third ones display a permanent intensity rise.     

Influence of defects on the infrared spectra of polymers

For an infinitely repeated regular polymer chain structure the only vibrations which are optically active are those in which the phase of the motion is the same in each unit (the factor-group modes). Frequencies for which the phase difference is nonzero are optically inactive but can become activated by the presence of defects in the chain. Such defects would normally be chemical impurities or conformational irregularities in the chain. A simple theory is developed which shows that for a dilute system of defects the major characteristics determining possible activation of the nonfactor-group modes are: (1) the strength of the coupling between the defect vibration and the vibrations of the neighboring chain, and (2) whether or not the natural frequency of the defect vibration lies inside a lattice band of the regular chain. An analysis of the low- and high-frequency regions of the spectrum of low-density polyethylene, based on the above considerations, indicates that several features of the spectrum can be associated with defect-induced absorption. A similar explanation can account for certain intensity changes in the C? Cl stretching region of syndiotactic poly(vinyl chloroide) when this polymer is submitted to mechanical treatment.     

Analysis of the substituent distribution in the glucosyl units and along the polymer chain of hydroxypropylmethyl celluloses and statistical evaluation

Three hydroxypropylmethyl celluloses (HPMC 1, 2, 3; DS_Me=2.06, 1.99, 2.04; MS_HP=0.21, 0.19, 0.21) have been analyzed with respect to their methyl and hydroxypropyl pattern in the glucosyl units and along the polymer chain. The determination of the methyl pattern in the glycosyl unit was performed by GLC/MS after hydrolysis, reduction, and acetylation, while the distribution of hydroxypropyl residues in the monomers could be analyzed with higher sensitivity including a permethylation step prior to hydrolysis. To determine the distribution of the substituents along the polymer chain, a method developed for hydroxyethylmethyl cellulose (HEMC) was applied. This method comprises random partial acid hydrolysis after perdeuteromethylation and reductive amination with propylamine, followed by N- and O-alkylation, yielding completely alkylated and permanently charged oligosaccharide derivatives. These compounds could be quantitatively analyzed by means of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), since all discrimination effects related to the hydroxyalkyl groups are leveled off by the sample preparation procedure in combination with the choice of a MALDI-TOF instrument. Methyl data deviate to some extent from the random distribution calculated from the monomer composition, but in contrast to methyl cellulose (MC) or HEMC, it is not heterogeneous, but more regular. The distribution of HP groups is random within experimental error as has been found for HEMC as well.     

Crystalline morphology evolution in PCL thin films

The transition of crystalline morphology is revealed in poly(?‐caprolactone) (PCL) thin films as the polymer film thickness changes from hundreds of nanometers to several nanometers. The PCL can crystallize into spherulites, dense‐branching morphology (DBM), or dendrites, depending on the polymer film thickness. It was found that when the polymer film thickness approaches 2Rg (radius of gyration of polymer), there is a remarkable change in crystalline morphology. Under this condition, the polymer crystallization is a diffusion‐controlled process. When the value of polymer film thickness closes to Rg, PCL cannot crystallize, and a dewetting phenomenon will take place. Moreover, polymer morphology can be controlled by varying supercooling. The effect of molecular weight on polymer morphology has been investigated. The main factors that affected pattern formation in nonequilibrium crystallization are also discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 1303–1309, 2005     

Mechanism for twisting in polyethylene spherulites

A model is proposed to account for the regular twisting of radial ribbons in certain polymer spherulites. The model assumes that the ribbons have crystallographically regular fold surfaces and that growth of the ribbons is nucleation-controlled. The model leads directly to a possible mechanism of spherulitic growth in some polymers.     

4H‐cyclopenta[2,1‐b:3,4‐b′]dithiophen‐4‐one (CPDTO) homopolymer with side chains on every other CPDTO

A soluble 4H‐cyclopenta[2,1‐b ;3,4‐b ′]dithiophene‐4‐one (CPDTO)‐based polymer (C₆‐PCPDTO) has been synthesized from two monomers derived from nonalkylated CPDTO and didodecyl CPDTO (C₁₂‐CPDTO). Proton NMR, thermal analysis, UV–vis absorption, cyclic voltammetry, and XRD are used to characterize the polymer in solution and film. The new polymer has an optical bandgap of 1.28 eV in film, and has strong interchain interaction in chloroform solutions. The polymer contains a significant amount of homocoupled segments. The regular segments and homocoupled CPDTO segments render the polymer highly aggregating in solution. The non‐planar homocoupled C₁₂‐CPDTO segments prevent the polymer from forming regular π‐stacks, resulting in a low SCLC hole mobility (3.88 × 10^?7 cm²V^?1s^?1). CV experiments show that C₆‐PCPDTO is stable in its oxidized and reduced states. Solar cell devices were fabricated from C₆‐PCPDTO2 :PC₆₀BM blends of different weight ratios. High PC₆₀BM loading (80% or greater) was required for the devices to show measurable efficiency, indicating that the limited π‐stacking of the polymer is not sufficient to cause effective phase separation. Further development of synthetic method is still needed to eliminate structural defects so that long‐range ordered pi‐stacking can be realized in the polymer for these applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55 , 1077–1085     

对苯二酚型蛇笼氧化还原树脂结构的设想与论证

根据模板聚合理论与对苯二酚型蛇笼氧化还原树脂的性能实验结果,设想本树脂具有蛇笼氧化还原结构,被吸留于其中的对苯二酚-甲醛线形树脂是能起氧化还原作用的“蛇”,交联基体树脂是“笼”。通过电镜实验及该树脂中的对苯二酚-甲醛线形树脂的抽提实验和红外光谱与氮元素定量分析实验,论证了我们所设想的结构模式。     

Metallicity in individual MMX chains

We present an ab initio study of the structural and electronic properties of the halogen-bridged MMX single polymer [Pt2(CH3CS2)4I]n and of various possible modifications of its sequence, in the framework of density functional theory. The computed band structure of the infinite regular polymer reveals a net metallic character; this evidence is compatible with the outcome of recent measurements done in the solid phase at room temperature. By taking the regular [Pt2(CH3CS2)4I]n polymer as our reference system, we analyzed the origin and the robustness of the metallic state along the chain with respect to a large set of geometrical and chemical perturbations of the subunits. In particular, we considered partial substitutions of the metal, halide, and dithiocarboxylate ligand subunits, as well as structural strain, defects, and magnetic effects. Our results demonstrate that the metallic character of single MMX chains is very resistant to a wide range of possible distortions that can occur in reality.