Size Effects on the Luminescence Properties of Polymer Nanowires简

Poly（3-（2-methoxyphenyl）thiophene） （PMP-Th） nanowires were fabricated using porous anodic alumina （PAA） as template through electrochemical polymerization by cyclic voltammetry. The control on the size of nanowires was confirmed by electron microscopy. The results indicated that the luminescence spectra of PMP-Th nanowires in PAA nanochannels were blue-shifted and emission intensity was enhanced compared to the emission of the PMP-Th film. Moreover, the luminescent spectra of PMP-Th nanowires were size dependent, which may result from the change in the degree of confinement of nanowires in PAA. F6rster energy transfer from PAA to PMP-Th molecules is considered to be responsible for the enhancement of luminescence from PMP-Th nanowires in PAA. The results show that the emission properties of polymers with nanostructures can be tuned by controlling their size.     

Preparation and Characterization of Polyborosiloxanesand Their Blends with Phenolic Resin as ShapeableCeramic Precursors简

Two polyborosiloxanes(PBSis) with char yield up to 74.13% at 800 °C were synthesized by the direct polycondensation of boric acid with phenyltrimethoxysilane in diglyme. The PBSis were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, IR spectroscopy as well as1H-,29Si- and11B-NMR. PBSi modified phenol-formaldehyde resins(PBSi/PFs) were prepared at different PBSi/PF mass ratios and were cured at 150 °C. The PBSi/PFs were characterized by IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and tensile test. The results revealed that the cured PBSi/PFs had sea-island morphology and higher char yield than the common PF. PBSi/PF blend with PBSi/PF mass ratio of 0.4:1 had char yield up to 70.83% at 800 °C. The PBSi/PFs had tensile strength similar to PF. The ceramization of PBSi/PFs was also studied. The silicon boron oxycarbide(SiBOC) ceramics formed were characterized by IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. This method provided a valuable way to prepare easily shapeable polymer blends as ceramic precursors.     

Morphology and Phase Composition ofGelatin-Starch Blends简

Morphology and phase compositions of different starch-gelatin blends were investigated by various microscopes: optical, SEM and synchrotron FTIR microscopy. A high amylose(80%) corn starch, grafted with hydroxypropyl to enhance flexibilty and hydrophilicity, and plasticized by poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG), was used in this work. SEM revealed that the surface became smoother after adding PEG. Optical microscopy observation revealed that compatibility between gelatin and starch was improved by adding PEG. An FTIR beam focused on a 5 μm× 5 μm detection area by the micro-spectroscope was used to map chemical composition. The ratio of areas of the saccharide bands(1180–953 cm 1) and the amide I and II bands(1750–1483 cm 1) was used to monitor the relative distributions of the two components in the blends. The FTIR maps indicated that gelatin constituted the continuous phase up to 80% of starch content. All of the FTIR spectra showed contributions from both starch and gelatin absorptions, therefore indicating that complete demixing with pure starch and gelatin domains did not occur. The PEG improved the compatibility of the gelatin-starch blends.     

Fabrication of Hydrophilic and Sponge-like PVDF/Brush-like Copolymer Blend Membranes Using Triethylphosphate as Solvent简

Porous PVDF blend membranes with good hydrophilicity and a symmetric structure were prepared by the phase inversion method using amphiphilic brush-like copolymers, P（MMA-r-PEGMA）, as hydrophilic additive and triethylphosphate （TEP） as solvent. P（MMA-r-PEGMA） was synthesized by radical polymerization in TEP. Then the obtained amphiphilic copolymer solution was mixed with PVDF and TEP to prepare the dope solution. The effects of P（MMA-r-PEGMA） content and coagulation composition on membrane morphologies were investigated using scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The results demonstrated that, even blended with amphiphilic copolymers, a symmetric structure can be formed. Hollow fiber membranes with a mainly symmetric structure were also fabricated. The dry hollow fiber membranes showed good hydrophilicity, high flux and good rejection performance because of their hydrophilic surface and pores wall.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Sulfonated Polyphosphazene-graft-Polystyrene Copolymersfor Proton Exchange Membranes简

A novel series of polyphosphazene-grafl-polystyrene （PP-g-PS） copolymers were successfully prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization （ATRP） of styrene monomers and brominated poly（bis（4-methylphenoxy）phosphazene） macroinitiator. The graft density and the graft length could be regulated by changing the bromination degree of the macroinitiator and the ATRP reaction time, respectively. The PP-g-PS copolymers readily underwent a regioselective sulfonation reaction, which occurred preferentially at the polystyrene sites, producing the sulfonated PP-g-PS copolymers with a range of ion exchange capacities. The resulting sulfonated PP-g-PS membranes prepared by solution casting showed high water uptake, low water swelling and considerable proton conductivity. They also exhibited good oxidative stability and high resistance to methanol crossover. Morphological studies of the membranes by transmission electron microscopy showed clear nanophase-separated structures resulted from hydrophobic polyphosphazene backbone and hydrophilic polystyrene sulfonic acid segments, indicating the formation of proton transferring tunnels. Therefore, these sulfonated copolymers may be candidate materials for proton exchange membranes in direct methanol fuel cell （DMFC） applications.     

Combined Effects of Stretching and Nanofillers on theCrystalline Structure and Mechanical Properties ofPolypropylene and Single-walled Carbon NanotubeComposite Fibers简

The combined effects of stretching and single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWCNTs） on crystalline structure and mechanical properties were systematically investigated in melt-spun polypropylene （PP） fibers prepared at two different draw ratios. The dispersion, alignment of the SWCNT bundles and interfacial crystalline structure in the composite fibers are significantly influenced by the stretching force during the melt spinning. The nanohybrid shish kebab （NHSK） superstructure where extended PP chains and aligned SWCNT bundle as hybrid shish and PP lamellae as kebab has been successfully obtained in the composite fibers prepared at the high draw ratio and the related formation mechanism is discussed based on the results of morphological observations and 2d-SAXS patterns. Large improvement in tensile strength and modulus has been realized at the high draw ratio due to the enhanced orientation and dispersion of SWCNT bundles as well as the formation of NHSK.     

Effect of Molecular Structure on the GasPermeability of Cellulose Aliphatate Esters简

In this work, four kinds of cellulose aliphatate esters, cellulose acetate （CA）, cellulose propionate （CP）, cellulose butyrate （CB） and cellulose acetate butyrate （CAB） are synthesized by the homogeneous acylation reactions in cellulose/AmimC1 solutions. These cellulose aliphatate esters are used to prepare gas separation membranes and the effects of molecular structure, such as substituent type, degree of substitution （DS） and distribution of substituents, on the gas permeability are studied. For CAs, as the DS increases, their gas permeabilities for all five gases （02, N2, CH4, CO and CO2） increase, and the ideal permselectivity significantly increases first and then slightly decreases. At similar DS value, the homogenously synthesized CA （distribution order of acetate substituent： C6 〉 C3 〉 C2） is superior to the heterogeneously synthesized CA （distribution order of acetate substituent： C3 〉 C2 〉 C6） in gas separation. With the increase of chain length of aliphatate substituents from acetate to propionate, and to butyrate, the gas permeability of cellulose aliphatate esters gradually increases. The cellulose mixed ester CAB with short acetate groups and relatively long butyrate groups exhibits higher gas permeability or better permselectivity than individual CA or CB via the alteration of the DS of two substituents.     

Synthesis and acaricidal activity of strobilurin-pyrimidine derivatives简

Pyriminostrobin, a new acaricide, was discovered in our previous studies. Because introducing fluorine into organic compounds can increase bioactivity, pyriminostrobin was modified as a series of strobilurin-pyrimidine derivatives for biological screening. The compounds were characterized by 1H NMR, MS and elemental analysis. Preliminary bioassays demonstrated that compounds 7e and 7i exhibited significant control against Tetranychus cinnabarinus （Boisd.） at 0.625 mg L^-1, and their acaricidal potencies were higher than pyriminostrobin in a greenhouse. The relationship between structure and acaricidal activity was also studied.     

Two new ent-kaurane diterpenoids from the aerial parts of Isodon excisoides简

Two new ent-kaurane diterpenoids, ent-7a,14b-dihydroxykaur-16-en-15-one-20-oic acid(1) and 1,7a,12b,14b-tetrahydroxy-1,10-seco-ent-kaur-10,16-dien-15-one(2), together with six known ones(3–8), were isolated from the EtOAc extract of the aerial parts of Isodon excisoides. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of 1D NMR and 2D NMR analyses as well as HR-ESI-MS experiments.     

Electrochemical DNA nano-biosensor for the detection of genotoxins in water samples简

In the present study, a disposable electrochemical DNA nano-biosensor is proposed for the rapid detection of genotoxic compounds and bio-analysis of water pollution. The DNA nano-biosensor is prepared by immobilizing DNA on Au nanoparticles and a self-assembled monolayer of cysteamine modified Au electrode. The assembly processes of cysteamine, Au nanoparticles and DNA were characterized by cyclic voltammetry （CV）. The Au nanoparticles enhanced DNA immobilization resulting in an increased guanine signal. The interaction of the analyte with the immobilized DNA was measured through the variation of the electrochemical signal of guanine by square wave voltammetry （SWV）. The biosensor was able to detect the known genotoxic compounds： 2-anthramine, acridine orange and 2- naphthylamine with detection limits of 2, 3 and 50 nmol/L, respectively. The biosensor was also used to test actual water samples to evaluate the contamination level. Additionally, the comparison of results from the classical genotoxiciw bioassay has confirmed the applicability of the method for real samoles.     

Transmission electron microscopy study of phase morphology in polypropylene/ethylene-octene copolymer blends

Blends of polypropylene (PP) and ethylene-octene copolymers (EOC) were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The EOC contained 28, 37, 40 or 52 wt% of octene. Only the 50/50 PP/EOC ratio was used for all blends. None of the blends was fully miscible, there was always two-phase morphology. TEM observation followed by image analysis by ImageJ software revealed that the largest particles were in blend containing EOC-28 and the smallest were in blend with EOC-52. The coarsening rate at 200 °C was evaluated by TEM. The glass transition temperature (T_g) shift indicated partial miscibility. Partial miscibility was then confirmed by direct observation of bright PP lamellae in EOC dark phase.     

Evolution of phase dimensions and interfacial morphology of polypropylene/polystyrene compatibilized blends during mixing

The morphology development of polypropylene/polystyrene (PP/PS) blends was studied by means of effective mathematics methods. Time resolved fracture morphology measurements on PP/PS (20/80) blends compatibilized with styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer (SBS) suggested that PP/SBS domains acted as a warehouse supplying compatibilizer (SBS) to the phase boundary in the initial stage of mixing and promoted the formation and development of the transition layer. The development of the transition layer leaded to a more complicated morphology of fracture surface and strengthened the adhesion between phases, which was quantitatively investigated using Brown fractal dimension D_Brown. In the early stage of the mixing (<2.0 min), the mean chord length Λ_m used to describe the domain size decreased; simultaneously, the distribution of Λ trended to uniform as the mixing proceeded. After 2.0 min, Λ_m fluctuated in a definite range. Further, a normalized distribution of dimensionless domain sizes Λ/Λ_m was independent of mixing time, indicating that the late stage of phase dispersion can be scaled with a time-depended single length parameter Λ_m. In other words, the morphology development shows a possible dynamic scaling behavior.     

Reconstruction of core-shell dispersed particles in impact polypropylene copolymer during extrusion

We reported an approach to reconstruct the complex phase morphology of impact polypropylene copolymer(IPC) with core-shell dispersed particles and to optimize its toughness in approximate shear condition. The molten-state annealing results indicate that the phase structure with core-shell dispersed particles is unstable and could be completely destroyed by static annealing, resulting in the degradation of impact strength. By using a co-rotating twin screw extruder, we found that the dispersed particle with core-shell structure could be rebuilt in appropriate condition with the recovery of excellent impact strength due to both the huge interfacial tension during solidification and the great difference in viscosity of components. Results reveal that almost all the extruded IPCs show the impact strength 60%-90% higher than that of annealed IPCs at room temperature. And the twice-extruded IPC shows the highest impact strength, 446% higher than that of IPC annealed for 30 min. As for low temperature tests, the impact strength of extruded IPCs also increases by 33%-58%. According to adjusting the processing conditions including extrusion speed, extrusion frequency and temperature, an optimization of toughness was well established.     

Cellulose alkyl ester/vinyl polymer blends: effects of butyryl substitution and intramolecular copolymer composition on the miscibility

The blend miscibility of cellulose alkyl esters, mainly butyrate (CB) and acetate butyrate (CAB), with synthetic homo- and copolymers comprising N-vinyl pyrrolidone (VP) and/or vinyl acetate (VAc) units, i.e., PVP, PVAc, and P(VP-co-VAc), was examined by differential scanning calorimetry. A miscibility map for the CB/vinyl polymer systems was constructed as a function of the degree of substitution (DS) of CB and the VP fraction of the mixing component. CBs were immiscible with PVAc regardless of the DS used (2.11–2.94), but miscible or immiscible with PVP depending on whether the butyryl DS was <2.5 or >2.5. The critical value of DS≈2.5 is lower than the corresponding one (DS≈2.8) evaluated formally for cellulose acetate (CA)/PVP blend series. This lowering is ascribable to an effect of steric hindrance of the bulky butyryl substituents, leading to suppression of the hydrogen-bonding interactions, as a driving factor for miscibility attainment, between residual hydroxyls of CB and carbonyl groups of PVP. The CB/vinyl copolymer system imparted a ‘miscibility window’ in which the VP/VAc composition participated; viz., CBs of DS≈2.54–2.94 were miscible with some P(VP-co-VAc)s of 30–70Â mol% VP fractions, in spite of the immiscibility with both PVP and PVAc homopolymers. The result was interpreted in terms of another inter-component attraction derived from repulsion between the monomer ingredients constituting the vinyl copolymer component. For CAB/P(VP-co-VAc) blends, it was observed that the VP/VAc range forming such a miscibility window became further expanded, compared with the corresponding series of CB blends. Fourier transform infrared and solid-state ¹³C NMR spectroscopy revealed not only the presence or absence of the intermolecular hydrogen-bonding formation, determined according to the lower or higher DS of the cellulose ester component in the blends considered, but also a difference in the mixing scale between the polymer pairs regarded as miscible by the thermal analysis.     

Effect of block molecular weight distribution on the structure formation in block copolymer/homopolymer blends

The effect of homopolymer (hP) addition on the structure formation in lamellar amorphous block copolymers (BCP) with narrow‐ and broad‐molecular weight distribution (MWD) was studied using small‐angle X‐ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The systems in our study consist of blends of a poly(styrene‐b‐methyl acrylate) copolymer with block‐selective broad MWD of the poly(methyl acrylate) domain as well as polystyrene and poly(methyl acrylate) hPs with molecular weight less than the corresponding block of the copolymer. Homopolymer addition to the broad MWD domain of the BCP is found to induce structural changes similar to narrow MWD BCP/hP blend systems. Conversely, addition of hP to the narrow MWD domain is found to induce a more pronounced expansion of lamellar domains due to the segregation of the hP to the center region within the host copolymer domain. With increasing hP concentration, the formation of a stable two‐phase regime with coexisting lamellar/gyroid microphases is observed that is bounded by uniform lamellar phase regimes that differ in the distribution of hP within the corresponding narrow MWD block domain. The segregation of low‐molecular weight hP to the center region of the narrowdisperse domains of a broad MWD BCP is rationalized as a consequence of the more stretched chain conformations within the narrowdisperse block that are implied by the presence of a disperse adjacent copolymer domain. The increase of chain stretching reduces the capacity of the narrowdisperse block to solubilize hP additives and thus provides a driving force for the segregation of hP chains to the center of the host copolymer domain. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 50: 106–116, 2012     

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of viscoelastic phase separation under shear: the roles of bulk and shear relaxation moduli

The morphological, dynamic and rheological characteristics in the viscoelastic phase separation(VPS) of sheared polymer solutions are investigated by three-dimensional(3D) numerical simulations of viscoelastic model. The simulations are accelerated by graphic process unit(GPU) to break through the limitation of computation power. Firstly, the morphological and dynamic characteristics of VPS under shear are presented by comparing with those in classic phase separation(CPS). The results show that the phase inversion and phase shrink take place in VPS under shear. Then, the roles of bulk and shear relaxation moduli in VPS are investigated in details. The bulk relaxation modulus slows down the phase separation process under shear, but not affects the dynamic path of VPS. The dynamic path can be divided into three stages: freezing stage, growth stage and stable stage. The second overshoot phenomenon in the shear stress is observed, and explained by the breakdown and reform of string structures. The shear modulus affects morphology evolution in the late stage of VPS under shear.     

Dependence of size and morphology on shear flow for PS-based amphiphilic block copolymer micelles in aqueous solution

This contribution focuses on the impact of shear flow on size and nanostructure of PS-based amphiphilic block copolymer (BC) micelles by varying the stirring rate and copolymer composition.The results show that the vesicles formed from diblock copolymer (di-BC) of PS-b-PAA remain with vesicular morphology,although the average size decreases,with the increase of stirring rate.However,the multi-compartment micelles (MCMs) formed from tri-block copolymer (tri-BC) of PS-b-P2VP-b-PEO are quite intricate,in which the copolymer first self-assembles into spheres,then to clusters,to large compound micelles (LCMs),and finally back to spheres,as stirring rate increases from 100 r/min to 2200 r/min.Formation mechanism studies manifest that vesicles form simultaneously as water is added to the di-BC solution,termed as direct-assembly,and remain with vesicular structure in the flowing process.While for the PS-b-P2VP-b-PEO copolymer,spherical micelles at initial stage can further assemble into clusters and LCMs,termed as second-assembly,due to the speeding-up-aggregation of the favorable stirring.As a result,an invert V-relationship between tri-BC micelle dimension and stirring rate is observed in contrast to the non-linear decreasing curve of di-BC vesicles.It is by investigating these various amphiphilic BCs that the understanding of shear dependence of size and morphology of micelles is improved from self-assembly to second-assembly process.     

Effect of transesterification products on the miscibility and phase behavior of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/bisphenol A polycarbonate blends

Blends of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/bisphenol A polycarbonate (PTT/PC) with different compositions were prepared by melt blending. The effect of transesterification on the miscibility and phase behavior of the blends was studied using DSC, DMA, and ¹H NMR. The DMA results revealed a two-phase system with partial miscibility. DSC thermograms of the first heating scan showed a crystallizable system in which addition of PC-phase reduces the degree of crystallinity. However, the cooling and also the second heating scans revealed the complete miscibility of all the blends. It was concluded that annealing at 300 °C (to remove thermal history of the blends) caused the constituents to undergo the transesterification reaction, which changes the blend to a miscible system. The miscibility is due to formation of block copolymers with different block lengths which also suppress the crystallization of the system. The degree of randomness and sequence lengths of the copolymers were determined to analyze the extent of transesterification reaction and structure of the system. It was observed that as the reaction progresses, the degree of randomness increases and the sequence length of the copolymers decreases. Moreover, both increase of reaction time and temperature increased the extent of reaction. The results of DSC and ¹H NMR showed that a small amount of reaction is needed to change this system to a miscible blend.     

Effects of gamma irradiation on poly(vinyl chloride)/polystyrene blends: Investigation of radiolytic stabilization and miscibility of the mixture

Commercial polystyrene (PS) has been studied as a modifier for commercial poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) when it was submitted to gamma irradiation. PVC/PS blends were prepared with 100/0, 95/05 and 90/10 compositions. Results for gamma-irradiated (⁶⁰Co) blends are reported and changes in viscosity-average molar mass (M_v) were analyzed. The study showed that the addition of PS into PVC decreased by 73% (95/05) and 79% (90/10) the number of scissions/100 eV in the dose range of 25-100 kGy. Viscosity analyses by the Pan et al. criterion and analyses of FT-IR spectra in the C-Cl vibration region showed negligible intermolecular interactions between the components of PVC/PS blends. However when the films of blends were irradiated to 50 kGy, certain intermolecular interactions were observed by the viscosity method. The addition of PS to PVC and the main scission effect induced by gamma irradiation decreased crosslink density of blends causing changes in the elongation of break and Young's modulus.     

Epoxy/poly(benzyl methacrylate) blends: miscibility, phase separation on curing and morphology

Diglycidyl ether of bisfenol-A (DGEBA)/polybenzyl methacrylate (PBzMA) blends cured with 4,4’-diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) were studied. Miscibility, phase separation, cure kinetics and morphology were investigated through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Non-reactive DGEBA/PBzMA blends are miscible over the whole composition range. The addition of PBzMA to the reactive (DGEBA+DDM) mixture slows down the curing rate, although the reaction mechanism remains autocatalytic. On curing, initially miscible (DGEBA+DDM)/PBzMA blends phase separate, arising two glass transition temperatures that correspond to a PBzMA-rich phase and to epoxy network. Cured epoxy/PBzMA blends present different morphologies as a function of the PBzMA content.