Simulation and model development for the equation of state of self assembling non-additive hard chain–hard monomer mixture

Molecular dynamics simulations for a short hard chain composed of a head and three tail groups interacting with non-additive size interactions with a hard sphere solvent were performed. Different densities and non-additivities were used. The equation of state for this mixture was investigated and models based on the first-order thermodynamic perturbation theory (TPT1) and the polymeric analog of the Percus–Yevick approximation (PPY) were developed to predict the compressibility factor of the mixture. The models predicted the compressibilities of the mixtures accurately at zero and negative non-additivities. However, at positive non-additivities, the models overpredicted the compressibilities especially at high densities. The TPT1 model was generally more accurate in predicting the compressibility factor than the PPY model. Microphase separation was observed at high densities and positive non-additivities.     

Molecular dynamics study on homonuclear and heteronuclear chains of Lennard–Jones segments

We report molecular dynamics (MD) simulation data for three simulated fluids: a homopolymer with 16 tangent Lennard–Jones (LJ) segments at the reduced temperature of 1.25, an equimolar binary homopolymer fluid with eight tangent LJ segments at 15 state points, and three corresponding copolymers with equimolar segment fraction and varying segment distribution at 15 state points. We find that the compressibility factors and energies do not change as the segment distribution varies in the copolymer example. The simulation data are compared with thermodynamic perturbation theory (TPT1) calculations. The TPT1 compressibility factors compare favorably with the MD data at high reduced temperatures but differ significantly at lower temperatures.     

Preparation and properties of 1-ethoxy-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl esters of acrylic and methacrylic acids and of their polymers

1-Ethoxy-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl esters of acrylic ( I ) and methacrylic ( II ) acids were synthesized from 1-ethoxy-2,2,2-trifluoroethanol and acryloyl- and methacryloylchloride, respectively, and their densities, mass, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR spectra were measured and the rate constants of hydrolysis were determined. Poly( I ) and poly( II ) were prepared by radical homopolymerization; the rates of polymerization, specific volume contractions in polymerization, limiting viscosity numbers, average number degrees of polymerization, temperature dependences of the heat capacities both in glass and liquid state, glass transition temperatures, and the initial temperature of the spontaneous thermal decomposition of homopolymers were determined. The monomer reactivity ratios of the styrene (S) copolymerizations, S? I and S? II , and the Alfrey–Price copolymerization constants e and Q for I and II were calculated from the composition of copolymers of I and II with styrene.     

Controlled grafting of acetylated starch by atom transfer radical polymerization of MMA

Graft copolymers of acetylated starch oligomer (AS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were polymerized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). AS was converted to an ATRP macroinitiator by converting a part of the hydroxyl groups of AS to 2-bromoisobutyryl groups. Macroinitiators with varying degrees of substitution for the 2-bromoisobutyryl group were prepared. The polymerizations were conducted using CuBr/BiPy catalyst system, either in bulk or in 1:1 v/v THF solution. They proceeded with first-order kinetics and the molecular weights of the polymers increased linearly with conversion. Graft copolymers with different graft densities and graft lengths were prepared in a controlled manner. The hydrophobicity of these copolymers was studied by contact angle measurements.     

STUDIES ON THE POLYPYRROLE/POLYELECTROLYTE MOLECULAR COMPOSITES

The potyelectrolyte of propane sulfonate(PS) grafted PPTA copolymers——PPTA-PS, PPTA[O]-PS, PPTA[C]-PS were prepared and used as electrolyte in the process of electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole to form the molecular composite polypyrrole (PPY)/Polyelectrolyte.The preparation and liquid crystalline property of three kinds of polyelectrolyte, the electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, SEM and thermoproperties of PPY/polyelectrolyte are presented in detail.     

聚吡咯/硝酸活化碳气凝胶纳米复合材料的制备表征及其在超级电容器中的应用

通过化学氧化聚合法制备出不同比例的聚吡咯(PPY)/硝酸活化碳气凝胶(HCA)复合材料。采用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)表征材料的成分和形貌,结果表明,通过硝酸活化及与聚吡咯的复合,并未破坏碳气凝胶的多孔形貌,硝酸活化碳气凝胶及聚吡咯/硝酸活化碳气凝胶都仍然保持着原碳气凝胶的三维纳米多孔结构。采用对照实验的方法,设计并合成五组不同配比的复合材料,聚吡咯与硝酸活化碳气凝胶的质量比例分别为3:1、2:1、1:1、1:2、1:3,通过循环伏安法,恒流充放电,交流阻抗及循环性测试等考察材料的电化学性能。结果证明,当聚吡咯与硝酸活化碳气凝胶比例为1:1时,复合材料显示出最优电化学性能:比电容高达336 F·g^-1,是纯碳气凝胶(103 F·g^-1)的三倍有余,除此还显示出卓越的导电性与循环稳定性, 2000次循环后仍保持初始电容的91%,具备优良的超级电容器电极材料性能。因此聚吡咯/硝酸活化碳气凝胶复合纳米材料是超级电容器的理想电极材料。     

Preparation and properties of two-component hydrogels based on 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulphonic acid

Xerogels comprising 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulphonic acid (AMPS) and acrylic acid as well as AMPS and acrylamide crosslinked with hexafunctional crosslinking agent have been prepared by catalytic initiation polymerization to complete conversion. Different percentages of hexafunctional crosslinker, 1,1,1-trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate, were used to prepare crosslinked copolymers having different degree of crosslink densities. The crosslinked copolymers were swollen in water to equilibrium. The volume fraction of polymer, the swelling capacity and the equilibrium water content were obtained. Low conversion polymerization was used to determine the reactivity ratios of both monomer pairs. Fourier transform spectroscopy was utilized to measure the molar ratio of copolymers constituents. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance evaluation of third-order thermodynamic perturbation theory and comparison with existing liquid state theories

To evaluate the performance of a recently proposed third-order thermodynamic perturbation theory (TPT), we employ the third TPT for calculation of thermodynamic properties such as compressibility factor, internal energy, excess chemical potential, gas-liquid coexistence curve, and critical properties of several fluids. By comparing the third-order TPT results with corresponding simulation data available in literature and supplied in the present report and theoretical results from several other theoretical approaches, one concludes that the third-order TPT is, in general, more accurate than other approaches such as Barker-Henderson second-order TPT using a macroscopic compressibility approximation (MCA-TPT), self-consistent Ornstein-Zernike approach, Monte Carlo perturbation theory, and a specially devised equation of state. Specifically, the third-order TPT can predict quantitatively a double critical phenomena of gas-liquid transition and a low-density liquid (LDL)-high-density liquid (HDL) transition associated with a soft core (SC) potential fluid very satisfactorily, but the predictions for the LDL-HDL transition based on the second-order MCA-TPT are quantitatively very bad or qualitatively incorrect. The failure of the second-order MCA-TPT for the SC fluid can be ascribed to the facts that for the SC potential the second-order and third-order terms of the perturbation expansion are not small quantities and that the second-order term is underestimated by the MCA. It is concluded that the present third-order version of the TPT is reliable for varying model fluids.     

链状分子状态方程的推导及热容的推算

在Barker Henderson, Zhang以及Wertheim 等微扰理论的基础上,以方阱势硬球流体为参考体系,将Zhang的解析表达方法与Wertheim 的链成键自由能的处理方法结合起来,推导出自由链接的链状分子流体的Helmholtz自由能的解析表达式,并得到了压缩因子、内能、恒容热容等热力学性质的计算式.计算结果与MC(Monte Carlo)模拟结果吻合良好.对Zhang的解析表达式与“TPT D”(二阶Wertheim微扰理论)的结合也作了推导和计算.     

Study of congo red adsorption on the polyaniline and polypyrrole

Polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole (PPY) were synthesized via in situ chemical oxidative polymerization and are used as adsorbents for removal of Congo Red (CR) dye from aqueous solution. The effects of various experimental parameters including pH of the solution, contact time, initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, and temperature on adsorption of CR by PANI and PPY were systematically investigated. The experimental results showed that the adsorption efficiency was increased with contact time and adsorbent dosage. The maximum removal efficiency was found after 45 minutes of solid/liquid contact with adsorbent doses of 0.4 and 1.73?g/L for PANI and PPY, respectively. The kinetic data were best fitted by the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption equilibrium results were well fitted by the Langmuir isotherm model. These results suggest that the PANI and PPY can be used as alternative adsorbents for the treatment of wastewaters containing dyes.     

Rapid synthesis of biodegradable poly(epsilon-caprolactone-co-p-dioxanone) random copolymers under microwave irradiation

<正>Biodegradable poly(epsilon-caprolactone-co-p-dioxanone)(PCDO) random copolymers have been synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone(CL) and p-dioxanone(PDO) under microwave irradiation.The effects of irradiation time and different CL/PDO molar feed ratios on the microwave-assisted ring-opening polymerization(MROP) of PCDO have been discussed.The resultant products were characterized by ~1H NMR,GPC and DSC.It was found that the polymerization was completed within 20 min at 140℃.In the presence of different CL/PDO molar feed ratios,the conversions of both monomers were kept relatively constant.DSC sturdy suggested that with increasing the content of PDO in the copolymers,the crystalline degree of the copolymers decreased gradually.It is believed to be a promising biodegradable material.     

ABC triblock polymethacrylates: Group transfer polymerization synthesis of the ABC,ACB, and BAC topological isomers and solution characterization

ABC triblock copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA), (dimethylamino)-ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA), and tetrahydropyranyl methacrylate (THPMA) consisting of 12 units of each type of monomer were synthesized by group transfer polymerization (GTP). These were the three topological isomers with differentblock sequences: DMAEMA₁₂-THPMA₁₂-MMA₁₂, DMAEMA₁₂-MMA₁₂-THPMA₁₂, and THPMA₁₂-DMAEMA₁₂-MMA₁₂. The molecular weights and molecular weight distributions of the copolymers were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) in tetrahydrofuran, and their number-average degrees of polymerization and copolymer compositions were calculated by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-NMR). These molecular weights and degrees of polymerization corresponded closely to the values expected from the monomer/initiator ratios. The polydispersities were low as expected for GTP, and ranged from 1.09 to 1.25. The three triblocks were chemically modified by converting the THPMA units to methacrylic acid (MAA) units either by thermolysis or acid hydrolysis. The resulting ABC triblock poly-ampholytes were characterized by ¹H-NMR spectroscopy and hydrogen ion titration. Aqueous GPC studies in 1.0M NaCl at pH 8.5 showed that the triblock copolymers form micelles whose size depends on their block sequence. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 617–631, 1998     

PLGA-(L-Asp-alt-diol)(x)-PLGAs with different contents of pendant amino groups: synthesis and characterization

A series of novel biodegradable multi-block copolymers PLGA-(L-Asp-alt-diol)(x)-PLGA with pendant amino groups was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of D,L-lactide/glycolide(D,L-LA/GA) (75/25) using poly(N-Cbz-L-Asp-alt-diol)s as macroinitiator and stannous octoate as catalyst, in which the N-Cbz-L-Asp represents N-carbobenzyloxy-L-aspartic acid and diols are ethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, PEG200, and PEG600, respectively. Their structures and properties were characterized by FTIR, (1)H NMR, DSC, GPC, and elemental analysis (EA). The contents of the L-Asp unit in the copolymers were increased from 12.9 to 79.3 mmol.g(-1) with decreasing the chain length of the diol, while the glass transition temperatures of the copolymers were decreased from 27.1 to 11.7 degrees C with increasing the chain length of the diol. Thus, the results in this study provide a way to prepare biomaterials with different L-Asp unit densities or different number of bioactive sites as well as different properties through adjusting the chain length of the diol. Synthesis of PLGA-(N-Cbz-L-Asp-alt-diol)(x)-PLGA copolymers.     

谷氨酸赖氨酸无规共聚物和谷氨酸精氨酸无规共聚物的合成及性能

采用氨基酸-N-内羧酸酐(氨基酸-NCA)开环聚合的方法, 并通过改变开环聚合时谷氨酸-N-内羧酸酐(BLG-NCA)与赖氨酸-N-内羧酸酐[Lys(Z)-NCA]的投料比以及BLG-NCA与鸟氨酸-N-内羧酸酐[Orn(Z)-NCA]的投料比, 经过脱保护和胍基化反应得到一系列谷氨酸赖氨酸无规共聚物Poly(E,K)和谷氨酸精氨酸无规共聚物Poly(E,R). 核磁共振氢谱(¹H NMR)和核磁共振定量碳谱(¹³C NMR)分析结果表明, 合成了无规共聚物Poly(E,K)和Poly(E,R), 且二者中不同氨基酸的摩尔比接近开环聚合时相应NCA的投料比. 动态光散射(DLS)测定结果表明, 无规共聚物在pH=7.4的正常生理环境中形成的胶束粒径均一、 尺寸小于200 nm. Zeta电位表征结果表明, 无规共聚物Poly(E,K)和Poly(E,R)的Zeta电位值随着溶液pH值的变化而变化, 具有pH敏感性.     

Effect of crosslinker functionality on swelling and network parameters of copolymeric hydrogels

Crosslinked xerogels comprising N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (VP) and butyl acrylate (BA) with different weight fractions of BA ranging between 0.1 and 0.3 were prepared by γ-ray initiation copolymerization using different concentrations of either hexa- or tetrafunctional crosslinking agents. Methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) was selected as tetrafunctional crosslinker, while 1,1,1-trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TPT) was used as a hexafunctional crosslinker. The concentration of both crosslinkers ranged between 0.5% and 2%. Thin disks of the prepared copolymers were swollen in deionized water at 294 K. The final equilibrium water content, volume fraction of polymer and swelling capacity were determined. The effective crosslinking density V_e, the average molecular weight between the crosslinks M_c and the polymer–water interaction parameter were determined from stress–strain measurements. For different compositions of VP/BA, the linear relations between theoretical crosslinking densities V_t and V_e were established. The efficiencies of MBA and TPT crosslinking agents towards VP–BA copolymers were determined. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metal‐free synthesis of responsive polymers: Cloud point tuning by controlled “click” reaction

Nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization has been used for the preparation of pentafluorostyrene (PFS) homopolymers and random copolymers of PFS and oligo(ethyleneglycol) methacrylate (OEGMA_8.5). The poly(pentafluorostyrene) homopolymers were reacted with thiophenol at different ratios at room temperature in the presence of triethylamine. The “clicked” polymers were characterized by ¹H and ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography. Moreover, the copolymerization kinetics of the PFS and OEGMA_8.5 copolymers was followed, and the phase transition behavior of random copolymers with different compositions was discussed. Furthermore, copolymers of PFS and 2‐(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) were prepared at various mole ratios, and the copolymer with a 10:90 ratio, respectively, was soluble in water at room temperature. Turbidimetry measurements were performed for PFS and OEGMA_8.5 or DMAEMA copolymers to determine their cloud points. Finally, the PFS and OEGMA_8.5 copolymer with a mole ratio of 60:40 was reacted further with thiophenol to increase the hydrophobic part in the copolymer. The cloud points of the obtained copolymers could be tuned from 87 to 33 °C by using not only the controlled radical polymerization but also the “click” reaction in a controlled fashion. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 1278–1286, 2010     

Polymerization and oxidation of pyrrole by organic electron acceptors

Simultaneous chemical polymerization and oxidation of pyrrole have been initiated by organic electron acceptors, 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone (DDQ) and tetrachloro-o-benzoquinone(chloranil). The polypyrrole (PPY) complexes so produced are semiconductive and granular in nature. For the PPY–DDQ and PPY–chloranil complexes obtained from bulk polymerization, the respective electrical conductivities (σ) are of the order of 10^?1 and 10^?3 ohm^?1 cm^?1. However, σ is substantially lower for the complexes prepared in solvent media. Both complexes are relatively stable in the atmosphere. Thin uniform films of the PPY–organic acceptor complexes have also been synthesized on SnO₂ electrode by electrochemical polymerization in acetonitrile. The physicochemical properties of the PPY–organic acceptor complexes prepared chemically under the various experimental conditions are examined in detail.     

Preparation of conducting copolymers by oxidative electropolymerization of 2,2′-bithiophene with pyrrole

Various feed ratios of 2,2′-bithiophene (BT) and pyrrole (PY) were electropolymerized to low conversion and the polymers analyzed for their mer ratios. The polymeric product was rich in polypyrrole (PPY), but the composition could be varied by control of the electrode potential. The increase in BT content is not linear with composition, and the physical evidence indicates oxidative copolymerization and not the formation of the two homopolymers. The data can be interpreted on a copolymerization equation despite the absence of steady state conditions. Sets of reactivity ratios were determined for the polymers formed at two potentials. The electrical efficiencies for polymer formation approach stoichiometric values for oxidative polymerization.     

Polyplex Particles Based on Comb‐Like Polyethylenimine/Poly(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline) Copolymers: Relating Biological Performance with Morphology and Structure

The present contribution is focused on feasibility of using comb‐like copolymers of polyethylenimine with poly(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline) (LPEI‐comb‐PEtOx) with varying grafting densities and degrees of polymerization of PEI and PEtOx to deliver DNA molecules into cells. The copolymers form small and well‐defined particles at elevated temperatures, which are used as platforms for binding and condensing DNA. The electrostatic interactions between particles and DNA result in formation of sub‐100 nm polyplex particles of narrow size distribution and different morphology and structure. The investigated gene delivery systems exhibit transfection efficiency dependent on the copolymer chain topology, shape of the polyplex particles, and internalization pathway. Flow cytometry shows enhanced transfection efficiency of the polyplexes with elongated and ellipsoidal morphology. The preliminary biocompatibility study on a panel of human cell lines shows that pure copolymers and polyplexes thereof are practically devoid of cytotoxicity.     

Synthesis and properties of graft copolymers based on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) macromonomers

Graft copolymers of poly(methyl methacrylate) with poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), PHB, segments as long side chains were prepared by the macromonomer method. PHB macromonomers were prepared from the esterification of oligomers with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate at their carboxylic acid end. Esterification products displayed low polydispersity indices (ca. 1.2) and a functionality of over 83%, with a Mn of 2,020. Using free radical polymerization methods, the macromonomers were copolymerized with methyl methacrylate to yield graft (comb type) copolymers at different comonomer feed ratios. The graft copolymers contained from 0.5 to 14 mol-% of PHB blocks, with a glass transition temperature decreasing from 100 to 3 degrees C.