Kinetic study of the solution polymerization of methacrylamide initiated with potassium persulfate using in situ Raman spectroscopy and band‐target entropy minimization

In this paper, the use of in situ Raman spectroscopy together with a novel multivariate data analysis method, band‐target entropy minimization (BTEM), is discussed to monitor the solution polymerization of methacrylamide in aqueous medium. Although FTIR spectroscopy is a more popular spectroscopic technique for polymer characterization and in situ polymerization monitoring, Raman spectroscopy is selected over FTIR in the current study. This is because water has very strong and broad infrared absorption bands and thus masks most of the other infrared signals contributed from monomer and polymer. On the contrary, water has very weak Raman scattering and thus it does not interfere the other Raman signals. The polymerization was initiated with potassium persulfate (KPS). A series of experiments were carried out varying initial monomer concentration, initial KPS concentration, and polymerization temperature. In situ Raman spectroscopy was used to monitor the polymerizing mixture and measure the compositions. The collected reaction spectra were subjected to BTEM to elucidate the pure component spectra, and then determine the conversion of monomer. The conversion data was then used to obtain kinetic parameters for the polymerization. The rate of consumption of monomers was found to follow the expression R = k_eff [I]^0.55[M]^1.41. The activation energy of the system was estimated at 121 kJ/mol. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5697–5704, 2007     

Dark cure studies of cationic photopolymerizations of epoxides: Characterization of kinetic rate constants at high conversions

The effective propagation rate constant (k_p; averaged over all the propagating active centers) was characterized for solvent‐free cationic photopolymerizations of phenyl glycidyl ether over the entire range of conversions, including the high conversion regime in which mass transfer limitations become important. The profile for the k_p as a function of conversion was found to exhibit a constant plateau value at low to intermediate conversions, followed by a monotonic increase above a threshold value of conversion. To explain this trend, it is proposed that at high conversion the diffusional mobility of the photoinitiator counterion is reduced whereas the mobility of the cationic active center remains high because of reactive diffusion. Therefore, with increasing conversion, the average distance between the active centers and counterions may increase, resulting in an increase in the propagation rate constant. The profiles for the k_p values were investigated as a function of the temperature, photoinitiator anion, and photoinitiator concentration. As the photoinitiator concentration was increased, the plateau value of the effective propagation rate constant decreased whereas the threshold conversion increased. All of the experimental trends are consistent with the proposed increase in ion separation at high conversions. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4409–4416, 2004     

Temperature-sensitive luminescence of tris (β-diketone) europium chelates for monitoring high-speed cationic photopolymerizations

The temperature-dependent luminescence of tris (β-diketone) chelates of europium was used for in situ temperature measurements during cationic photopolymerizations of vinyl ethers. These molecular-level luminescent probes provided a real-time, noninvasive method for monitoring temperature during these high-speed polymerizations. Two specific probes, tris (benzoyl-1, 1, 1-trifluoroacetone) europium and tris (1,1,1,5,5,5,-hexafluoroacetylacetone) europium, met several stringent spectral and performance requirements for application in our system. The luminescence from these probes exhibits a reproducible temperature dependence over a wide temperature range and is not sensitive to changes in viscosity. In situ temperature profiles obtained using this novel technique verified the importance of thermal effects during these highly exothermic photopolymerizations. These studies have demonstrated the utility of the tris(β-diketone) europium chelates for characterizing the temperature during high-speed photopolymerizations that cannot be monitored using conventional techniques. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Calorimetric investigation of polymerization reactions. IV. Curing reaction of polyester fumarate with styrene

The curing reaction of polyester fumarate with styrene was investigated with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) operated isothermally. The change in rate of cure was followed over the whole range of conversion. The rate of cure is accelerated by the gel effect to about ten to fifty times the rate of model copolymerization of diethyl fumarate with styrene. This autoacceleration is much enhanced for systems with higher crosslinking densities and at lower temperatures. The results confirm that both termination and propagation steps of the curing reaction are controlled by diffusion of polymeric segments and monomer molecules over almost the whole range of conversion. The final extent of conversion is short of completion for isothermal cure and even for postcure of polyester fumarate with styrene because of crosslink formation. The final conversion of isothermal cure decreases with increasing crosslinking density and shows a maximum with increasing reaction temperature. This temperature dependency of the final conversion is caused by the difference in the activation energies for two propagation rate constants k_pf and k_ps, which were evaluated to be 7–10 and 5–8 kcal/mole, respectively, for the intermediate stage of the curing reaction.     

Monitoring photopolymerization reactions with optical pyrometry

This article describes the development of optical pyrometry (OP) as a new analytical technique for the continuous monitoring of the progress of both free‐radical and cationic photopolymerizations. The method is rapid, reproducible, and very easy to implement. A temperature profile of a photopolymerization can be obtained. Preliminary studies have shown that the temperatures of some polymerizing monomers can easily reach temperatures in excess of 250 °C. The effects of the mass and reactivity of the monomer, light intensity, structures, and concentrations of the photoinitiators and monomers as well as the presence or absence of oxygen on various free‐radical and cationic photopolymerizations were examined with this method. Coupling of real‐time infrared spectroscopy with OP provides a convenient method for simultaneously monitoring both the chemical conversion and the temperature of a photopolymerization. This combined technique affords new insights into the effects of temperature‐induced autoacceleration on the course of photopolymerizations. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 579–596, 2003     

Nonlinear regression by visualization of the sum of residual space applied to the integrated copolymerization equation with errors in all variables. II. Application to the system methyl methacrylate-α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone using on-line Raman spectroscopy

The copolymerization of α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone and methyl methacrylate in DMSO was studied by on-line Raman spectroscopy. Reactivity ratios for this system were estimated from the in situ conversion measurements. The estimates are in good agreement with estimates obtained from low-conversion experiments where the composition of the copolymer was analyzed by ¹H-NMR. In order to obtain reliable estimates from the Raman data in combination with the integrated copolymerization equation, at least two experiments starting from different initial monomer feed fractions should be conducted. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3804–3816, 1999     

Dark‐cure studies of cationic photopolymerizations of epoxides: Characterization of the active center lifetime and kinetic rate constants

We have characterized the effective rate constants for termination/trapping (k_t/t) and propagation (k_p) for solvent‐free cationic photopolymerizations of phenyl glycidyl ether for conversions up to 50%. We have performed dark‐cure experiments in which active centers are produced photochemically for a specified period of time until the initiating light is shuttered off, and then the polymerization rate is monitored in the dark. This method is especially well suited for characterizing cationic polymerizations because of the long active center lifetimes. Our analysis provides profiles of the instantaneous kinetic rate constants as functions of conversion (or time). For photopolymerizations of phenyl glycidyl ether initiated with iodonium photoinitiators, k_t/t and k_p remain essentially invariant for conversions up to 50%. For the photoinitiator (tolycumyl) iodonium tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl) borate (IPB), the values of k_t/t at 50 and 60 °C are 0.027 and 0.033 min^?1, respectively. The corresponding values of k_t/t for diaryliodonium hexafluoroantimonate (IHA) are 0.041 and 0.068 min^?1. The values of k_p at 50 °C for IPB and IHA are 0.6 and 0.4 L mol^?1 s^?1, respectively. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2064–2072, 2003     

Solvothermal synthesis of uniform and high aspect ratio of CdS nanowires and their optical properties

Uniform and high aspect ratio CdS nanowires (NWs) were successfully synthesized by the solvothermal reaction of the solution containing Cd(NO₃)₂, (NH₄)₂S and ethylenediamine (NH₂(CH₂)₂NH₂). In this research, the effects of molar contents of the stating materials, reaction temperatures and lengths of time on phase, vibration modes, morphologies, and optical properties of the as-synthesized products were studied using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, SAED, HRTEM, UV–vis spectroscopy and PL spectroscopy. They were found to be controlled by the contents of the stating materials, reaction temperatures and lengths of time. Mixed nanoparticles and short nanorods of CdS were synthesized by the 200 °C and 24 h solvothermal reaction of the solutions containing 0.0001–0.0050 mol of the starting materials. Upon increasing the content of the starting materials to 0.0100 mol, the completely uniform CdS NWs with aspect ratio of >250 were synthesized.     

Photopolymerization of coordinated ionic liquid monomers: Realizing the benefits of structured media using only common reagents

Here, we provide a detailed report on a new type of structured media for improving photopolymerizations: coordinated ionic liquids (ILs). Coordinated ILs are readily formed from the bistriflimide ([Tf₂N]^?) anion and coordination complexes composed of Li⁺ cations with polar organic monomers without an additional cosolvent. Photopolymerization kinetics and monomer conversion were monitored in real time using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the material properties of the products were examined using gel permeation chromatography and differential scanning calorimetry. Generally, coordinated IL monomers displayed improved reaction kinetics at both high and low salt concentrations as well as distinct product properties. The noncovalent (and reversible) interactions between monomer and salt in coordinated ILs hold promise as an efficient and versatile form of structured media for photopolymerizations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2004–2014     

Probing the interfacial interaction between monolayer molybdenum disulfide and Au nanoclusters

Coupling of plasmonic metal nanostructures on two‐dimensional materials represents one promising approach to improve their optoelectronic device performance. In this article, we systematically investigated the interfacial interactions between Au nanoclusters and monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) and the effect of Au decoration on the electrical transport and optical properties of MoS₂, through the combination of in situ MoS₂ field‐effect transistor device evaluation and in situ ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. The in situ X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy/ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy experiments revealed a weak interfacial coupling between Au nanoclusters and monolayer MoS₂. The absence of strong charge transfer between Au nanoclusters and MoS₂ was further confirmed by the photoluminescence and Raman measurements. It was also found that the electron charge‐carrier concentration in monolayer MoS₂ weakly depended on the coverage of Au nanoclusters. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of the triplet state in the photosensitization of cationic polymerizations by anthracene

The photosensitization mechanism for cationic polymerizations initiated by diaryliodonium salts photosensitized by anthracene was investigated using fluorescence and phosphorescence spectroscopy. In situ photosensitizer fluorescence measurements confirmed that the photosensitization reaction proceeds by an electron transfer process. Transient phosphorescence studies demonstrated that electron transfer occurred from the triplet excited state of anthracene to the initiator, with an intrinsic kinetic rate constant of 2 × 10⁸ L/mol s. Further evidence for the role of the triplet state was provided by an observed seven-fold decrease in the polymerization rate upon addition of a triplet state quencher. Finally, numerical solution of the photophysical kinetic equations indicated that the triplet state concentration was approximately three orders of magnitude higher than that of the singlet state, and that 94-96% of the active cationic centers are produced by reaction of the initiator with the triplet state. These results indicate that the electron transfer occurs primarily from the triplet state of anthracene, with the singlet state providing only a minor contribution to the photosensitization reaction. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A calorimetric study of acrylate photopolymerization

The kinetics of the photoinitiated polymerization of lauryl acrylate (LA), 1,6-hexanedioldiacrylate (HDDA) and pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PET₄A) have been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). An autoacceleration phenomenon is observed with the multifunctional acrylates, but not with lauryl acrylate. The empirical dependences of reaction rate on such parameters as incident light intensity, initiator concentration, and temperature have been established and are in general found to vary with monomer conversion. Apparent activation energies for the photopolymerizations have been determined from rate versus temperature data. The multifunctional acrylates show an increasing activation energy with monomer conversion, whereas the apparent activation energy for lauryl acrylate not only decreases with conversion, but becomes negative at conversions greater than about 30%. The ratio k_p/k is calculated from rate versus conversion data under constant illumination and the (independently determined) initiation rate. Analysis of rate versus time data under nonsteady-state conditions (light turned off) yields the ratio k_t/k_p. With these two ratios the rate constants for propagation (k_p) and termination (k_t) may be separated and their respective values calculated. Both k_p and k_t are found to decrease substantially with monomer conversion, indicating a significant change in the rates of both the propagation and termination steps as the polymerization advances. These observations are explained in terms of a radical isolation phenomenon and diffusion control of the propagation step.     

Rationalizing In Situ Active Repair in Hydrogen Evolution Photocatalysis via Non-Invasive Raman Spectroscopy

Currently, most photosensitizers and catalysts used in the field of artificial photosynthesis are still based on rare earth metals and should thus be utilized as efficiently and economically as possible. While repair of an inactivated catalyst is a potential mitigation strategy, this remains a challenge. State-of-the-art methods are crucial for characterizing reaction products during photocatalysis and repair, and are currently based on invasive analysis techniques limiting real-time access to the involved mechanisms. Herein, we use an innovative in situ technique for detecting both initially evolved hydrogen and after active repair via advanced non-invasive rotational Raman spectroscopy. This facilitates unprecedently accurate monitoring of gaseous reaction products and insight into the mechanism of active repair during light-driven catalysis enabling the identification of relevant mechanistic details along with innovative repair strategies.     

Solid‐state amidization and imidization reactions in vapor‐deposited poly(amic acid)

The condensation polymerization of 4,4′‐oxydianiline with pyromellitic dianhydride for the formation of poly(amic acid) and the subsequent imidization for the formation of polyimides were investigated for films prepared with vapor‐deposition polymerization techniques. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry of films at different temperatures indicated that additional solid‐state polymerization occurred before imidization. The experiments revealed that, upon vapor deposition, poly(amic acid) oligomers formed that had a number‐average molecular weight of about 1500 Da. Between 100–130 °C, these chains underwent an additional condensation reaction and formed slightly higher molecular weight oligomers. Calorimetry measurements showed that this reaction was exothermic [enthalpy of reaction (ΔH) ～ ?30 J/g] and had an activation energy of about 120 kJ/mol. The experimental ΔH values were compared with results from ab initio molecular modeling calculations to estimate the number of amide groups formed. At higher temperatures (150–300 °C), the imidization of amide linkages occurred as an endothermic reaction (ΔH ～ +120 J/g) with an activation energy of about 130 kJ/mol. The solid‐state kinetics depended on the reaction conversion as well as the processing conditions used to deposit the films. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5999–6010, 2004     

Controlled synthesis of poly(dimethylsiloxane) homopolymers using high‐vacuum anionic polymerization techniques

The controlled synthesis of poly(dimethylsiloxane) homopolymers (PDMS) using hexamethyl(cyclotrisiloxane) monomer (D₃), a mixture of ciclohexane/tetrahydrofuran 50/50 v/v and sec‐Bu^–Li⁺ as initiator was studied using different experimental conditions, and whole‐sealed glass reactors according to standards procedures in high‐vacuum anionic polymerization. It was observed that polydispersity indexes (PD) and conversions strongly depend on temperature and reaction times. For PDMS homopolymers with molar masses below 100,000 g/mol, high conversion (>90%) and PD < 1.1 can be achieved at long reaction times (24 h) and mild temperature conditions (below or up to 30 °C). On the other hand, to synthesize PDMS homopolymers with molar masses higher than 100,000 g/mol and PD < 1.1 it is necessary to increase the temperature up to 50 °C and decrease the reaction time (8 h). However, under these reaction conditions, it was observed that the conversion decreases (about 65–70% conversion is achieved). Apparently, the competition between propagation and secondary reactions (redistribution, backbiting, and reshuffling) depends on the molar masses desired. According to the results obtained in this study—which were compared with others found in the scientific literature—propagation is favored when M_n < 100,000 g/mol, whereas secondary reactions seem to become important for higher molar masses. Nevertheless, model PDMS homopolymers with high molar masses can still be obtained increasing the reaction temperature and shortening the total reaction time. It seems that the combined effect of these two facts favors propagation against secondary reactions, and provides model PDMS homopolymers with molar masses quite close to the expected ones. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 4774–4783, 2009     

Rheologic studies on chemical cross-linking kinetics for LDPE

Crosslinking reaction of LDPE resin in the presence of dicumyl peroxide(DCP) was studied by isothermal rheological measurements at different temperatures and non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) technique with different heating rates.The kinetic parameters of crosslinking reaction were calculated by both rheological and DSC measurements.The results reveal that with the increase of DCP contents,the apparent activation energy,E_a,ranges from about 140 kj/mol to 170 kj/mol and the order of crosslinking reaction,n,approaches unity.The influence of measurement frequency,ω,on crosslinking reaction was also investigated.It can be found that n does not change with the increase ofω, and E_a decreases slightly with the increase ofω.     

The NMR Study of the Mechanism of Alkene Arylation with Anhydrides of Aromatic Acids

The main steps of the catalytic cycle of the alkene arylation reaction with the participation of anhydrides of aromatic acids as arylation agents were studied by ³¹P NMR spectroscopy. In contrast to the mechanism proposed earlier, palladium complexes containing benzoate anions as acidoligands were not found in the reaction mixture. It was found that the catalytic cycle of the reaction includes the steps of oxidative addition of Pd(0) formed in situ to the anhydride of acid, the substitution of acidoligand, and the elimination of the CO molecule. Further transformations probably take place according to the usual steps of the Heck reaction. It was shown that CO elimination is a limiting step.     

Multicyclic study on the carbonation of CaO using different limestones

Different samples of limestones, with small differences in their stoichiometry, have been studied comparatively. The carbonation reaction has been studied for a large area of isothermal temperatures. The conditions for the multicyclic experiments of calcination/carbonation were: isothermal temperature 670°C, heating time 60 min and carrier gas CO₂. The final carbonation conversion depends mainly on the isothermal temperature of the carbonation reaction and the heating time. The final temperature of the calcination reaction depends on the percentage of CaO that it has not been conversed to CaCO₃ in the repeated carbonation experiments. The quantity of CaO that has not been carbonated, in the same sample, affects the values of the coefficients of the kinetic model that fit the calcination reaction. In the multicyclic experiments the carbonation conversion for two of the four studied samples, was high enough in comparison to other samples of calcite. At sample A the reduction of the carbonation conversion during the first five cycles is less than it is at other samples from the literature. Under the above experimental conditions — isothermal temperature and heating time — specific samples consisted mainly of calcite can absorb larger quantities of CO₂ than samples consisted mainly of dolomite.     

Crystallinity engineering of Au nanoparticles on graphene for in situ SERS monitoring of Fenton-like reaction

Fabrication of multifunctional nanoplatform to in situ monitor Fenton reaction is of vital importance to probe the underlying reaction process and design high-performance catalyst.Herein,a hybrid catalyst comprising of single-crystalline Au nanoparticles（SC Au NPs） on reduced graphene oxide（RGO） sheet was prepared,which not only exhibited an excellent ¹ O₂ mediated Fenton-like catalytic activity in promoting rhodamine 6 G（R6 G） degradation by activating H₂ O_...     

Structure of unsaturated polyester resins crosslinked with styrene as studied by raman spectroscopy

An unsaturated polyester resin and the styrene-crosslinked polyester were studied with laser Raman spectroscopy. Following the polyesterification reaction, Raman measurements showed that the polyester contained 55% fumarate and 45% maleate unsaturation. Additionally, the glycol fragment was indicated to exist as the gauche isomer. The 1213 cm^?1 line is assigned to the glycol-ester linkage and can be measured to follow the conversion to polymer. After the crosslinking reaction, styrene was found to copolymerize preferentially with the fumarate unsaturation. There was no evidence of forming long-chain polystyrene crosslinks. Our results indicate that, after crosslinking, 41% of the fumarates have reacted with styrene and there is an average of two styrene molecules in each link.