Polymerization of Bisacrylic Monomers within a Liquid-Crystalline Smectic B Solvent

Abstract

A smectic B (S,) solvent may provide a very highly ordered, and possibly oriented, host medium for polymerization processes. Photochemical polymerizations of two bisacrylic monomers were therefore carried out in a S_B medium. The process conditions were chosen on the basis of a preliminary study of the monomer-solvent binary system carried out by differential scanning calorimetry (D.S.C.), optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The polymerization was then studied by D.S.C. at different reaction times. These measurements showed clearly that there is a point along the reaction path at which the growing polymer chains start segregating from the solvent and the mesomorphic bulk no longer acts as a reaction solvent but only as a reservoir for the ponomer. The polymer chains from that point keep growing only upon or between the faces of the S_B layers. Electron microscopy observations showed that the morphology of the final polymer is affected by this interlayer process.     

Morphology of polyethylene crystals as polymerized by γ-radiation

The morphology of polyethylenes formed upon polymerization by γ-radiation below the melting point in various reaction media was investigated by using electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. When the polymerization was carried out in bulk at 30°C and in methanol, the polymer was fibrillar, and a small-angle x-ray scattering curve of the polymer did not indicate the existence of a long period. This suggests that the chains in the crystals have an extended conformation. When the polymerization was carried out in the presence of xylene at 30°C, platelet crystals having a folded structure were obtained. It was thus shown that the morphology of the growing polymer crystals is very much affected by the solubility of the polymer in the reaction medium. The effect of stirring during polymerization on the crystalline morphology was also studied.     

Effect of the nature of a solvent on pseudoliving free-radical polymerization of styrene mediated by TEMPO

The kinetics and mechanism of the pseudoliving free-radical polymerization of styrene are studied for the first time under the conditions of reversible inhibition by TEMPO nitroxides. An abnormal decline in the reduced rate of polymerization, which is inconsistent with a decrease in the concentration of the monomer, and an increase in the steady-state concentration of the free nitroxide are discovered. The main quantitative characteristics of the pseudoliving process are determined, namely, the rate constants of reinitiation and reversible recombination, and the constant of pseudoliving equilibrium between dormant and growing chains. It is shown that the polarity of a medium and the concentration of the monomer determine the character of polymerization in a solution: With an increase in the polarity of the solvent, the pseudoliving equilibrium constant increases, the reduced rate of styrene polymerization decreases, and the molecularmass-distribution of the polymer formed at initial conversions narrows. The smaller the concentration of styrene in the reaction system, the more pronounced the above differences associated with the solvent nature.     

Increasing molecular weight parameters of a helical polymer through polymerization in a chiral solvent

In this communication, we will demonstrate that polymerization in a chiral solvent can affect the molecular weight distribution of the product by perturbing the balance of the P and M helical screw senses of the growing chains. Specifically, for the Wurtz-type synthesis of polymethylphenylsilane (PMPS) in either (R) or (S)-limonene, the weight-average molecular weight of the products (average Mw = 80 000) was twice that of PMPS synthesized in (R/S)-limonene (average Mw = 39 200). Peturbation of the helical segmentation along the polymer chains leads to a reduction in the rate of occurrence of a key termination step. This the first time that a chiral solvent has been demonstrated to have such an effect on a polymerization process in affecting molecular weight parameters in contrast to affecting tacticity.     

Ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone using rare earth tris(4-tert-butylphenolate)s as a single component initiator

Ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone has been carried out by using single component rare earth tris(4-tert-butylphenolate)s initiators for the first time. The influences of rare earth element, solvent, monomer and initiator concentration as well as reaction time on the polymerization were investigated. The kinetics indicated that the polymerization rate is first-order with respect to monomer concentration and initiator concentration, respectively. The overall activation energy of the ring-opening polymerization amounts to 51.9 kJ/mol. Mechanism studies showed that monomer inserted into the growing chains with the acyl-oxygen bond scission rather than the break of alkyl-oxygen bond.     

FTIR of liquid crystals. Organization and phase transitions in binary mixtures of nonylcyanobiphenyl and phenyl-cyclohexanecarboxylate

The FTIR spectra of the isotropic and mesomorphic N, S_Ad, S_A1, S_B and S_G phases of 4-n-nonyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (9CB), 4-n-pentylphenyl-trans-4'-n-pentylcyclohexane-1-carboxylate (5H5) and their binary mixtures have been recorded and analysed. Changes in absorbance related to spontaneous reorientation of the molecules at the phase transitions have been observed and assigned to the orientation of the transition dipoles of typical vibrations. The results are discussed in terms of the phase diagram obtained by D.S.C. and by optical microscopy.     

Kinetics of two-phase bulk polymerization. II. The influence of dissolved polymer

The effect of dissolved polybutadiene on the initial rate of polymerization of styrene was investigated by using high-precision dilatometric techniques. The dissolved polymer reduced the rate of polymerization by amounts greater than can be accounted for by a reduction in monomer concentration. Rate reductions increased with the amount of dissolved polybutadiene and with its molecular weight and were greater for benzoyl peroxide initiator than for equal concentrations of azobisisobutyronitrile. Surprisingly, analogous rate reductions were observed when polystyrene were substituted for the polybutadienes, except that at high polystyrene concentrations, the expected autoacceleration was observed. These rate reductions showed no correlation with the viscosity of the reaction mass, nor did the dissolved polymer affect initiator efficiency. At a given level of a particular dissolved polybutadiene, rate reductions were diminished by increasing levels of each initiator, and by adding a chain-transfer agent. Good quantitative agreement was obtained with the number-average length of the growing polymer chains, whether varied by using different initiators, changing initiator level, or adding chain-transfer agent. These results are inconsistent with a chemical mechanism, but they are explained by a proposal originated by North and Reed whereby the dissolved polymer makes the reaction mass a “poorer” solvent for the growing polymer chains, reducing their overall coil dimensions and enhancing their rate of diffusion together for termination.     

Polymerization Compounding on the Surface of Zirconia Nanoparticles

Zirconia nanoparticles were encapsulated by polyethylene via a polymerization compounding method using a Ziegler-Natta catalyst. The chemical reaction was carried out in an organic solvent under moderate pressure of ethylene monomer. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated the presence of a thin layer of polymer, about 6 nm, uniformly applied around the particles. However, the thickness of coating layer can be controlled as a function of time and operating conditions of the process. The morphology study using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as TEM revealed that although the nanoparticles seem to be coated individually, some agglomerates, encapsulated by a polymer film, could be observed. The grafting of the catalyst to the original surface of particles was further confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).     

Graft polymerization of vinyl monomers onto nanosized alumina particles

To enhance the interfacial interaction in alumina nanoparticles filled polymer composites, an effective surface modification method was developed by grafting polystyrene and polyacrylamide onto the particles. That is, the alumina surface was firstly treated with silane, followed by radical grafting polymerization in aqueous or non-aqueous systems. Results of infrared spectroscopy and dispersiveness in solvents demonstrated that the desired polymer chains have been covalently bonded to the surface of the alumina particles. They also greatly changed their surface characteristics. In addition, effects of polymerization conditions, including ways of monomer feeding, concentrations of monomer and initiator, and reaction time, on the grafting reaction were presented. It was found that the growing polymer radicals and/or the grafted polymer chains had a blocking effect on the diffusion of radicals or monomers towards the surface of nanoalumina. This was due to the fact that the interaction between the solvent and the grafted polymers was weaker than that between the grafted polymers and the nanoparticles.     

Controlled grafting of well-defined epoxide polymers on hydrogen-terminated silicon substrates by surface-initiated ATRP at ambient temperature

Controlled grafting of well-defined epoxide polymer brushes on the hydrogen-terminated Si(100) substrates (Si-H substrates) was carried out via the surface-initiated atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) at room temperature. Thus, glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) polymer brushes were prepared by ATRP from the alpha-bromoester functionalized Si-H surface. Kinetic studies revealed a linear increase in GMA polymer (PGMA) film thickness with reaction time, indicating that chain growth from the surface was a controlled "living" process. The graft polymerization proceeded more rapidly in the dimethylformamide/water (DMF/H(2)O) mixed solvent medium than in DMF, leading to much thicker PGMA growth on the silicon surface in the former medium. The chemical composition of the GMA graft-polymerized silicon (Si-g-PGMA) surfaces were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The fact that the epoxide functional groups of the grafted PGMA were preserved quantitatively was revealed in the reaction with ethylenediamine. The "living" character of the PGMA chain end was further ascertained by the subsequent growth of a poly(pentafluorostyrene) (PFS) block from the Si-g-PGMA surface, using the PGMA brushes as the macroinitiators.     

On surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization using diazonium chemistry to introduce the initiator layer

This work features the controllability of surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) of methyl methacrylate, initiated by a multilayered 2-bromoisobutyryl moiety formed via diazonium chemistry. The thickness as a function of polymerization time has been studied by varying different parameters such as the bromine content of the initiator layer, polarity of reaction medium, ligand type (L), and the ratio of activator (Cu(I)) to deactivator (Cu(II)) in order to ascertain the controllability of the SI-ATRP process. The variation of thickness versus surface concentration of bromine shows a gradual transition from mushroom to brush-type conformation of the surface anchored chains in both polar and nonpolar reaction medium. Interestingly, it is revealed that very thick polymer brushes, on the order of 1 μm, can be obtained at high bromine content of the initiator layer in toluene. The initial polymerization rate and the overall final thickness are higher in the case of nonpolar solvent (toluene) compared to polar medium (acetonitrile or N,N-dimethylformamide). The ligand affects the initial rate of polymerization, which correlates with the redox potentials of the pertinent Cu(II)/Cu(I) complexes (L = Me(6)TREN, PMDETA, and BIPY). It is also observed that the ability of polymer brushes to reinitiate depends on the initial thickness and the solvent used for generating it.     

Stereospecific polymerization of benzyl vinyl ether by BF3·OEt2

Polymerization of benzyl vinyl ether was carried out by BF₃·OEt₂, and the effects of polymerization conditions on the stereoregularity of the polymer were studied by NMR analysis. The polymerization at ?78°C in toluene gave a highly isotactic polymer. The isotacticity of the polymer was independent of the catalyst concentration but increased with a decrease in the initial monomer concentration and decreased slightly on raising the reaction temperature. When the polymerizations were carried out in toluene—nitroethane mixtures, a gradual decrease in the isotacticity and a rapid decrease in the molecular weight of the polymer were observed with increasing nitroethane in the solvent. The molecular weight of the polymer was almost constant, regardless of the catalyst concentration, and increased with increasing initial monomer concentration and decreasing polymerization temperature. When the polymerization was performed in toluene at ?78°C with a small amount of water or benzyl alcohol, a linear relationship was found between the reciprocal DP of the polymer and water or benzylalcohol concentration. The mechanisms of the initiation reaction and the stereoregulation in the polymerization were also discussed.     

Functionalization of hydrogen-terminated silicon via surface-initiated atom-transfer radical polymerization and derivatization of the polymer brushes

Surface-initiated atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of poly(ethylene glycol) monomethacrylate (PEGMA) was carried out on the hydrogen-terminated Si(100) substrates with surface-tethered alpha-bromoester initiator. Kinetic studies confirmed an approximately linear increase in polymer film thickness with reaction time, indicating that chain growth from the surface was a controlled "living" process. The "living" character of the surface-grafted PEGMA chains was further ascertained by the subsequent extension of these graft chains, and thus the graft layer. Well-defined polymer brushes of near 100 nm in thickness were grafted on the Si(100) surface in 8 h under ambient temperature in an aqueous medium. The hydroxyl end groups of the poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) side chains of the grafted PEGMA polymer were derivatized into various functional groups, including chloride, amine, aldehyde, and carboxylic acid groups. The surface-functionalized silicon substrates were characterized by reflectance FT-IR spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Covalent attachment and derivatization of the well-defined PEGMA polymer brushes can broaden considerably the functionality of single-crystal silicon surfaces.     

Effect of reaction medium on the radical polymerization and copolymerization of potassium and sodium p-styrenesulphonate

The kinetics of the homogeneous free radical polymerization of potassium p-styrenesulphonate and sodium p-styrenesulphonate (SSS) in water-salt, water-dioxane, water-dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO), DMSO—dioxane mixtures and copolymerization of SSS with acrylamide in water-salt and water-DMSO mixtures have been investigated. The overall rate of the process, the kinetic orders with respect to monomer and initiator, overall activation energy and also the properties of the resulting polymers (molecular weight, copolymer composition and compositional inhomogeneity) depend on the nature of the reaction medium. It is mainly connected with the influence of ionic strength (due to varying ionogenic monomer concentration, addition of salts and also the change of the conversion degree) and with the influence of the polarity of solvent on the rate constants for propagation and termination. The chemical and physical characteristic of the reaction mainly influence parameters of the electrostatic interactions in the system “macroradical-counterions-anions of monomer”. This leads to conformational variation of polymer chains and influences the reactivities of growing macroradicals and ionogenic monomers in polymerization and copolymerization. Data on conductivity and viscometric measurements confirmed the dependence of the conformation of polymer and copolymer macromolecules upon the composition of the medium.     

Dielectric relaxation of a short molecule in a liquid-crystalline solvent

Dielectric relaxation measurements of 5 mole % 4-n-hexyloxycyanobenzene (I) dissolved in 4-n-pentyloxyphenyl-trans-4-n-octylcyclohexylcarboxylate (II) were carried out from 1 kHz to 10 MHz in the nematic, smectic A and smectic B phases. The relaxation frequency of I parallel to the director is about 05 MHz in the S_Bphase and increases rapidly at the transition from S_B to S_A.     

Ring-opening polymerization of 1,5-dioxepan-2-one initiated by a cyclic tin–alkoxide initiator in different solvents

Ring-opening polymerization of 1,5-dioxepan-2-one initiated by 1,1,6,6-tetra-n-butyl-1,6-distanna-2,5,7,10-tetraoxacyclodecane was carried out in chloroform, dichloromethane, or 1,2-dichloroethane. Effects of reaction temperature, solvent, and monomer-to-initiator ratio were investigated. Polymerization kinetics showed a first-order dependence on the monomer for polymerization in chloroform and dichloromethane at 40°C. The kinetic order with respect to the initiator were a first order when dichloromethane was used as the solvent, the order in initiator changed, depending on the initiator concentration when chloroform was used. A maximum in molecular weight was observed at 40°C when chloroform was used as the solvent. The change of solvent did not markedly alter the polymerization rate or the molecular weight of the polymers prepared, as expected from the coordination insertion mechanism. Depolymerization of the polymers formed was observed when the reaction was allowed to continue after complete monomer conversion in chloroform as reaction medium at 40°C. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3407–3417, 1999     

Kinetic evidence of a “matrix effect” in the bulk polymerization of acrylonitrile

The kinetics of the γ-ray-initiated polymerization of acrylonitrile in bulk are reexamined in broad ranges of temperatures and radiation dose rates. The discussion of the results coupled with an analysis of earlier data indicate that the polymerization of acrylonitrile proceeds by different mechanisms depending on the reaction temperature. Above 60°C the precipitated growing chains recombine readily; therefore, the autoaccelerated conversion curves cannot be accounted for by an “occlusion effect.” It is suggested that autoacceleration is caused by a fast propagation taking place in oriented monomer aggregates which result from dipole-dipole association of the monomer with the polymer chains formed in the early stages of the reaction (“matrix effect”). Below 10°C the precipitated growing chains are buried in the dead polymer and monomer diffusion toward the occluded chain ends is very limited (“occlusion effect”). Between 10 and 60°C the system gradually changes from one dominated by “occlusion” to one where the “matrix effect” determines the kinetic behavior. The conclusion based on kinetic data is in agreement with results obtained from studies of the postpolymerization in these various systems.     

Liquid crystalline phases of perfluorinated compounds with segregated sublayers

The liquid crystalline polymorphism (S_A, S_B, CrE) and the structures of the phases of N-n-perfluoralkylethyl-(4-phenylbenzylidene)imines are described. It is shown that the smectic layer consists of two sublayers in to which the incompatible moieties of the compounds segregate. It is proved that the perfluoralkyl chains remain disordered until crystallization occurs, whereas with decreasing temperature, the aromatic parts are ordered in types of S_B and CrE structure.     

Radiation-induced heterogeneous polymerization of methyl methacrylate in precipitants

The radiation-induced heterogeneous polymerization of methyl methacrylate in various precipitants, mainly methyl alcohol, was carried out, and the effects of reaction conditions on the polymerization behavior and the molecular weight distribution of polymer were studied. Bimodal molecular weight distributions were found for the polymer produced by the heterogeneous polymerizations in methyl alcohol and in tert-butyl alcohol. The apparent activation energy is 1.0 and 4.5 kcal/mole, respectively, for the polymerization at a monomer concentration of 10 vol-% in methyl alcohol above and below 35°C. The polymerization at a monomer concentration lower than 40 vol-% in methyl alcohol proceeded with the precipitation of polymer. The dose rate exponent of the mean rate of heterogeneous polymerization decreased from 0.5 to a smaller value as the polymerization progressed. The ratio of the two peaks in the bimodal molecular weight distributions of polymer produced in methyl alcohol was affected by the reaction conditions. These results show the coexistence in the polymerizations of two different physical states of propagating chain, a loose state and a rigid one. The reaction scheme is discussed in connection with the physical factors which affect the solubility or the mobility of propagating chains, and the rate of elementary reactions, which influences the degree of propagating chains.