The mechanism of the Gilch polymerization leading to poly(p‐phenylene vinylenes) is still a matter of controversial discussion. Similar to some other research groups, we strongly favor a basically radical process. Moreover, we believe it is initiated by spontaneously formed diradicals. Here, we describe further experimental evidence which clearly supports the assumed initiation step: it is shown how the polymerization process is affected quantitatively when different amounts of 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐N‐oxyl (TEMPO) are added as a scavenger. In full agreement with our expectations, the chain growth is either retarded or completely prevented, depending on the respective molar ratio of monomer and scavenger.
Oxygen is shown to act as an efficient molar‐mass regulating agent in Gilch syntheses of PPV. As a scavenger, it undergoes instantaneous recombination with the initiating diradicals as soon as they appear in the system. Regular polymer formation can only start when all oxygen has been used, proceeding predominantly as chain‐growth polymerization of the p‐quinodimethane monomers. Since all radical species involved in this Gilch process are diradicals, some polyrecombination events occur in parallel. Therefore the initially formed peroxy diradicals are also incorporated into the resulting chains. Later, they break under very mild conditions, thereby causing a systematic decrease of the final molar mass of PPV.
Gelation of the reaction mixture and insolubility of the poly(p‐phenylene vinylenes) (PPVs) when isolated at this stage, but complete redissolution of the gel and excellent solubility of the resulting PPVs after further stirring for hours or days, is a phenomenon in Gilch polymerizations that has not been explained so far. It is verified that, in agreement with the literature, specific additives prevent gelation. However, it is also shown that chemical crosslinking is certainly not the reason for gel formation. Instead, it seems to be the consequence of a very high entanglement density in the pristine PPVs, which requires time for relaxation. The mentioned additives seem to support this dis‐entanglement process.
Summary: This communication describes a novel kind of PMMA‐PEG semi‐interpenetrating network (semi‐IPN) which shows excellent shape‐memory behavior at two transition temperatures, the Tm of the PEG crystal and the Tg of the semi‐IPN. Based on a reversible order‐disorder transition of the crystals below and above the Tm of PEG, and the large difference in storage modulus below and above the Tg of the semi‐IPN, the polymer has a recovery ratio of 91 and 99%, respectively.
Shape‐memory phenomena of PMMA‐PEG2000 semi‐IPN. 相似文献
Two poly(p‐phenylenevinylene) derivative alternating copolymers ( P1‐I and P2‐I ) have been prepared featuring iodo substituents and m‐phenylene units to periodically disrupt conjugation. P1‐I was derivatized with various chromophores to yield P1a‐f . In P1a‐f , the chromophores were positioned within a sterically protected pocket shielding them from interchain interactions so that intrachain interactions between polymer segments could be observed. Solution and film properties of polymers have been examined. Post‐polymerization chromophore modification leads to new photophysical properties such as intramolecular charge transfer and fluorescent resonance energy transfer processes in some cases.
It is the general consensus that in Gilch polymerizations the 1,4‐bis(chloromethylene)benzene starting material first changes into p‐quinodimethane intermediates which then act as the real monomers. However, direct observation of these intermediates has not been possible so far. This is because usually the p‐quinodimethane auto‐initiates its rapid radical polymerization instantaneously, keeping its concentration extremely low throughout the whole process. Here it is shown that, when the reaction is carried out at very low temperatures, the formation of p‐quinodimethane still proceeds but chain growth is suppressed. Hence, the concentration of the active monomer reaches a level sufficient for NMR analysis.
Summary: The chain‐length dependence of the Flory‐Huggins (FH) interaction parameter is introduced into the FH lattice theory for polydisperse polymer‐blend systems. The spinodals are calculated for the model polymer blends with different chain lengths and distributions. It is found that all the related variables, rn, rw, rz, and chain‐length distribution, have effects on the spinodals for polydisperse polymer blends.
Polymerizations of methyl methacrylate with (α‐diimine)nickel(II)/methylaluminoxane (MAO) and (pyridyl bis(imine))iron(II) and (pyridyl bis(imine))cobalt(II)/MAO are reported. Effects of structural variation of the ligand on the activities of catalysts and polymer microstructure are described. The catalyst systems gave syndio‐rich poly(methyl methacrylate). The α‐diimine system showed much higher activity than the pyridyl bis(imine) systems under similar polymerization conditions.
The synthesis of cationic mono‐(6‐O‐(1‐vinylimidazolium))‐ß‐cyclodextrin with toluenesulfonate as the corresponding anion is described. Free‐radical copolymerization of the resulting host–guest complex with N‐isopropylacrylamide or N,N‐diethylacrylamide yielded copolymers showing a temperature‐controlled solubility window in water. The impact of different anionic guests and salt concentrations on solubility behavior was investigated via turbidity measurements.
Summary: The first example of a room temperature reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization conducted directly in aqueous media is detailed. Under these conditions acrylamide and N,N‐dimethylacrylamide may be polymerized in a controlled fashion to near quantitative conversions employing a difunctional trithiocarbonate chain transfer agent (CTA). Hydrolysis studies conducted at pH 5.5 suggest that the CTA is stable up to approximately 50 °C.
To improve the patternability and adhesion of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanofilm to an SiO2 surface, an oxidized silicon wafer substrate was microcontact printed with an octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) monolayer, and subsequently its negative pattern was self‐assembled with (3‐aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APS) molecules. Then, a PEDOT nanofilm was selectively grown on the APS monolayer‐patterned area via the vapor phase polymerization (VPP) method. To evaluate the adhesion and patterning, the PEDOT nanofilm and mixed monolayer were investigated with a Scotch® tape peel test, Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) microspectrometer, X‐ray photoelectron spectrometer, and optical and atomic force microscopes. The evaluation revealed that the newly developed bottom‐up process can offer a robustly adhered, and selectively patterned PEDOT nanofilm on an oxidized Si wafer surface, most likely through extensive but intermittent chemical bonds between the polymer and the APS monolayer.
Supramolecular complexes of a poly(tert‐butoxystyrene)‐block‐polystyrene‐block‐poly(4‐vinylpyridine) triblock copolymers and less than stoichiometric amounts of pentadecylphenol (PDP) are shown to self‐assemble into a core–shell gyroid morphology with the core channels formed by the hydrogen‐bonded P4VP(PDP)complexes. After structure formation, PDP was removed using a simple washing procedure, resulting in well‐ordered nanoporous films that were used as templates for nickel plating.
Nanofiber scaffolds of collagen have been fabricated via electrospinning using benign solvent systems as a replacement for 1,1,1,3,3,3 hexafluoro‐2‐propanol. Simple binary mixtures of phosphate‐buffered saline and ethanol have been found to be highly effective for electrospinning. FTIR spectra suggest that the triple helical structure of collagen was conserved after dissolution and electrospinning. Crosslinking of the electrospun collagen scaffolds was achieved with standard methods.
An enzymatic tandem reaction is described in which the enzymes phosphorylase and Deinococcus geothermalis glycogen branching enzyme (Dg GBE) catalyze the synthesis of branched polyglucans from glucose‐1‐phosphate (G‐1‐P). Phosphorylase consumes G‐1‐P and polymerizes linear amylose while Dg GBE introduces branching points on the α‐(1 → 6) positions by reshuffling short oligosaccharides. The resulting branched polyglucans have an unusually high degree of branching of 11%.
The complexation of bile acids with various solvated polycations was studied. A one‐to‐one complex was precipitated when an aqueous solution of cholic acid sodium salt (CA) was mixed with aqueous solutions of 3,3‐ionene and grew to form crystals with needle‐like morphology, 3 millimeters in length. Hydrogen bonding of hydroxyls at the steroid face and the spacing between cationic sites of polycations were crucial for the formation of the giant needle.
Crossed polarizing microscopic photograph of the complex composed of cholic acid sodium salt and 3,3‐ionene. 相似文献
pH‐responsive PHEMA‐based polymeric nanostructures were grown in a controlled manner by ATRP‐based surface‐initiated polymerization. Initiator nanopatterns were obtained on silicon wafers covered with OTS resists made by AFM scanning probe oxidation lithography. AFM images confirmed isolated grafting of stimuli‐responsive hedge and dot brush structures exhibiting dimensions corresponding to a few tens of chains.
A rod‐coil block copolymer consisting of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) (PVK) ( P3HT‐ b ‐PVK ) in a single molecular architecture is prepared as the first example for WOLEDs. By obtaining the phase separated domains in thin film of the resulting block copolymer, it is possible to suppress energy transfer from PVK as wide bandgap units to P3HT as low bandgap blocks, yielding dual emissions for white electroluminescence with CIE coordination of (0.34, 0.33).
Isothermal physical ageing experiments were performed by differential scanning calorimetry to probe the enthalpy relaxation in a methacrylate copolymer carrying azobenzene mesogenic side groups. Further evidence of the ability of the configurational entropy model developed by Gomez Ribelles in describing the structural relaxation mechanism of polymers is provided. The trend of the equilibrium structural relaxation time was also determined as a function of the reduced temperature Tg/T. The comparison of the aging dynamics of the copolymer with those of previous analogous copolymers containing different amounts of azobenzene counits allowed us to highlight effects of the liquid‐crystalline nematic order on the properties of structural relaxation.
