六(甲氧基甲基)三聚氰胺/多元醇/二甲基丙烯酸酯的混合体系的聚合

六(甲氧基甲基)三聚氰胺(HMMM)-二缩三乙二醇(T_3EG)和二缩三乙二醇二甲基丙烯酸酯(T_3EGMA)的混合体系加入潜酸催化剂后,在较高温度下可同时进行缩聚和自由基聚合并表现出协同效应.在这一混合聚合体系中HM-MM不仅是交联剂,而且是体系中活泼亚甲基氧化为过氧化氢物的催化剂,由潜酸催化剂分解出的酸是缩聚的催化剂,也是过氧化氢物分解为自由基的催化剂,生成的自由基可引发T_3EGMA聚合.有关凝胶时间实验,吸氧实验和活性氧测定的结果支持上述论断.     

Synthesis and properties of amphiphilic vinyl acetate triblock copolymers prepared by copper mediated living radical polymerisation

Polymerisation of vinyl acetate by conventional free radical polymerisation using a diazo initiator followed by copper mediated living radical polymerisation with a range of monomers was studied. This method led to the synthesis of triblock copolymers. We have thus successfully prepared several new ABA triblock copolymers where B is poly(vinyl acetate) and A is (dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA), (polyethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (MeO(PEG)MA) or solketal methacrylate (SMA). The sequential conventional/living radical polymerisation approach provided an efficient route to synthesis of new block copolymers. The properties of these amphiphilic polymers have been subsequently investigated by ¹H NMR, fluorescence spectroscopy, tensiometry and dynamic light scattering to investigate their behaviour as potential surfactants.     

Mathematical Analysis of the Formation of Molecule Sizes on a Spinning Disc Reactor

A mathematical analysis of the behaviour of the molecular weights of addition polymers during a polymerisation process is described. Spinning disc reactor (SDR) technology has been shown to yield significant improvements in terms of polymerisation rates whilst retaining close control of the molecular weights and the molecular weight distributions^[1,2]. However, understanding of the kinetics of the polymerisation process on a SDR remains unresolved. One of the questions to be addressed concerns the sizes of the macromolecules preferably formed during the polymerisation process. To address this question, a mathematical analysis of the observed trends in number and weight average molecular weight, monomer concentration and polydispersity during the polymerisation process on a SDR has been undertaken. To validate the results, experimental data obtained from benzoyl peroxide initiated free radical polymerisation of styrene on a SDR^[2] was used. It was concluded that most of the monomers consumed are in the growth of smaller size chains.     

Facile synthesis of gemini surface-active ATRP initiator and its use in soap-free AGET ATRP mini-emulsion polymerisation

A novel cationic gemini surfactant has been readily synthesised in 70 % total yield. The functional gemini surfactant can act both as an emulsifier and an atom transfer radical polymerisation (ATRP) initiator in mini-emulsion polymerisation of methyl methacrylate (MMA), in which no other emulsifier was required. 1-(Dimethylamino)dodecane (N,N-dimethyldodecylamine, DMDA) was found to be a good ligand in the activator generated by electron transfer (AGET) ATRP reaction. Kinetic studies indicated that the polymerisation featured controlled/living radical polymerisation.     

Recent developments in polymer–block–polypeptide and protein–polymer bioconjugate hybrid materials

In the last few years, polymer bioconjugates have been shown to be useful in many emerging areas of materials science. Consequently, the synthesis of polymer bioconjugates has suddenly become a central topic in polymer chemistry. The versatility and robust nature of modern synthetic methods such as controlled radical polymerisation (CLRP),¹ ring-opening polymerisation (ROP), and ‘click’ chemistry make them excellent tools for the preparation of tailor-made polymer bioconjugates. CLRP in combination with other techniques has been shown to be a mature technology for building tailor-made block copolymers and protein–polymer conjugates with a wide range of applications, especially in biomedical domains. This review describes the recent advances and progress in the rapidly expanding field of bioconjugation, outlining the work performed up to 2012.     

Ultrasound in polymer chemistry: Revival of an established technique

The history of ultrasound in polymer chemistry goes back a long way. Initially, its uses were limited to being an alternative method of initiating radical polymerizations through the decomposition of solvents to form radicals or through the breakage of polymers leading to macroradicals. Recently, the raw power of ultrasound has been focused through the use of weak linkages in polymer chains, which enables the production of well‐defined macroradicals and coordinatively unsaturated metal complexes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5445–5453, 2006     

Initiating efficiency of poly(ethylene glycol)-based initiators for transition metal mediated living radical polymerisation

The kinetics of the copper mediated living radical polymerisation of methyl methacrylate initiated by [poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether]-based initiators (MeOPEG) of various molecular weights was followed by ¹H NMR. The initiator efficiency of the macroinitiators was investigated. It was found that temperature and solvent have little effect on the reactivity of the macroinitiator, whilst chain length affects greatly the MeOPEG initiating efficiency. Steric hindrance is thought to be a main drawback, as difficult access of the monomer to the MeOPEG active chain-end and coordination of the copper catalyst to the MeOPEG chains can prevent the monomer to react with the macroinitiator.     

Chromatographic pattern in recycled high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) - Occurrence of low molecular weight compounds during the life cycle

The analysis of the chromatographic pattern of virgin, reprocessed, thermo-oxidised, and recycled high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) proves to be a suitable and sensitive tool to assess the degree of degradation of HIPS during its first life and subsequent recycling. Different low molecular weight compounds, such as residues of polymerisation, degradation products, and additives have been identified and relatively quantified in HIPS, using microwave-assisted extraction and further analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The release of residues of polymerisation has been proven to occur during reprocessing, thermo-oxidation, and in recycled samples, which may show the emissions of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds during the life cycle of HIPS. A wide range of oxidised degradation products are formed during reprocessing and thermo-oxidation; these products can be identified as oxidised fragments of polystyrene (PS), oxidised fragments from polybutadiene (PB) phase, and oxidised fragments from the grafting points between the PS and PB phase. Real recycled HIPS samples may also contain contaminations and fragments from additives included in their original formulations; the presence of brominated fragments from flame retardants in electronic waste is here observed.     

Hindered, 1,1-disubstituted monomers. Chain transfer to benzene in the radical polymerisation of di-n-butyl itaconate

The transfer constant to benzene in the radical polymerisation of di-n-butyl itaconate, DBI, was measured at 60 °C and found to have the value of 2.2 × 10⁻³. This value is surprisingly high considering that benzene has no readily extractable hydrogen atoms and is usually considered to be a relatively inert solvent in radical polymerisations. The high values of transfer constants in the radical polymerisation of itaconates must be taken into consideration when planning the tailored polymerisation of these monomers.     

Radical desorption in the emulsion polymerisation of vinyl monomers

The dependence of emulsion polymerisation rates on a number of important parameters is considered. Attention is paid to the use of seeded emulsion systems for the evaluation of radical desorption coefficients (k _o). Experimental conditions are shown to be important. When the average number of radicals per particle is low, large changes in the rate coefficient for chain termination do not have a large effect on the kinetics. With styrene and methylmethacrylate, radical re-absorption by the polymer particles is shown to be important and radical capture efficiences can be high. Consistency is established between the results of a number of workers and values fork _o are shown to be lower than those calculated from chain transfer rates.     

Temperature-triggered capture of dispersed particles using deposited Laponite with grafted poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) chains

A method has been developed that enables a conductive surface to be modified so as to capture dispersed particles when the temperature is increased; poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) was grafted from electrodeposited Laponite particles using surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerisation and used to capture dispersed polystyrene particles.     

Synthesis and characterisation of low density porous polymers by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)

PolyHIPE foams with densities of 0.05–0.1 g cm^?3 have been prepared by the polymerisation of the continuous phase of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). The internal aqueous phase in HIPE occupies more than 74 % of the total volume, which leads to highly porous and open-cell morphologies. In this paper a method of preparing polyHIPE foams by using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerisation has been investigated. Polystyrene-co-polymethyl methacrylate (PS-co-PMMA) has been studied and by using a variety of characterisation methods, it was possible to compare the polyHIPEs prepared by the conventional free radical polymerisation (FRP) to those by RAFT polymerisation. Scanning electron microscopy images have confirmed the presence of a cellular polyHIPE structure. PS-co-PMMA polyHIPEs made by RAFT have significantly narrower molecular weight distribution with values for the polydispersity index (PDI) for PS-co-PMMA between 1.46 and 2.08 compared to 4.68 observed by FRP. The effects of different concentrations of the RAFT agent on structure, glass transition temperature (T _g) and PDI of PS-co-PMMA polyHIPE foams are presented.     

Bulk Polymerisation or Copolymerisation in a Novel Continuous Kneader Reactor

A new type of kneader reactor is proposed for the continuous radical (co-) polymerisation without solvent, based on the proven design of mature (kneader-) dryer technology. The reactor has been developed to satisfy all major aspects required for (co-) polymerisation while maintaining the safety and reliability of the previous mechanical design. The new kneader reactor offers a perfect combination of surface renewal and evaporative cooling to control temperature to high conversion (85 to 95%), even for bulk systems that have a strong gel effect (Trommsdorff's effect) and high exothermicity. The reactor can be tested batch-wise to optimise the recipe, as shown in this work for bulk free radical polymerisation of methyl methacrylate (MMA). A simulation program was correlated to the experimental batch data to determine the optimum concentrations of initiator and of chain transfer agent to target a given molecular weight of PMMA. Design of a continuous kneader reactor to optimise the conversion as a function of residence time, to eliminate foam formation, and to produce copolymers without composition drift, is also presented.     

Starch‐graft‐copolymer latexes initiated and stabilized by ozonolyzed amylopectin

A method is presented for synthesizing surfactant‐free latexes comprising a starch‐graft‐vinyl polymer, (1) starting with a suspension of the highly branched starch amylopectin, either native or degraded, (2) then using ozonolysis to create free‐radical initiation sites on this amylopectin scaffold, and (3) finally adding the monomer and inducing polymerization. The ozone simultaneously thins the starch and creates initiating/grafting sites on the starch, from which starch‐graft‐copolymer latexes can be grown. The encapsulation of starch inside the hydrophobic polymer particles created by a heterogeneous free‐radical polymerization process is demonstrated with energy‐dispersive spectroscopy; this is the first time that the particle morphology of such a latex has been so characterized. The data unambiguously prove that low‐molar‐mass degraded starch can be encapsulated within a latex particle. The underlying mechanisms have been explored, and data quantifying the rates of production of hydroperoxides by ozone, the thermal decomposition of the starch hydroperoxides so formed, and the degradation of amylopectin by ozone are reported. The activation energy for the thermal decomposition of the starch macroinitiator, determined in this work to be 125 ± 8 kJ mol⁻¹, is consistent with the proposition that the initiating species are mainly hydroperoxides. Colloidally stable poly(styrene‐co‐n‐butyl acrylate) latexes based on high‐molar‐mass amylopectin have been developed. These are stable against electrolytes (several months in 4 mol L⁻¹ NaCl), with 20% of the starch effectively grafted to the particles. Films cast from such latexes are more pliable than starch films and are readily redispersed in water. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5832–5845, 2006     

Fluorescently tagged polymer bioconjugates from protein derived macroinitiators

BSA and lysozyme have been transformed into macroinitiators for living radical polymerisation and used to produce well-defined bioconjugates which can be fluorescently labelled providing a versatile strategy for the preparation of bioconjugates which is complementary to traditional PEGylation.     

Polymerisation of dithiocarbamates by oxidative coupling using iodine as oxidant—I. Synthesis and characterisation

A novel polymer has been synthesised by reacting hexamethylene diamine with carbon disulphide by the oxidative coupling method using iodine as oxidant. The first step of the polymerisation involves the formation of dithiocarbamate by reacting a diamine with carbon disulphide in alkaline medium at low temperature (5–10°) in a protic solvent such as alcohol or water. Next, the dithiocarbamate is coupled with a diamine using iodine as the oxidant at ambient temperature. The polymerisation proceeds by a radical mechanism. The molecular weight of the polymer is not very high (∼ 12,000); it is soluble in polar solvents. It was characterised by elemental analysis (N, S) and i.r. and NMR spectroscopy. The physical characteristics have been studied.     

Aqueous polymerization of acrylonitrile initiated by the Mn3+/citric acid redox system

Kinetics of polymerization of acrylonitrile initiated by the redox system Mn³⁺/citric acid were investigated in aqueous sulphuric acid in the range of 20–25°; initial rates of polymerization and Mn³⁺ disappearance etc. were measured. The effects of certain water miscible organic solvents and certain cationic and anionic detergents on the rate of polymerization have been examined. A mechanism has been suggested involving formation of a complex between Mn³⁺ and citric acid, decomposition of which yields the initiating free radical and with polymerization being terminated by mutual interaction of growing radicals.     

Chemical and thermo‐responsive characterisation of surfaces formed by plasma polymerisation of N‐isopropyl acrylamide

Plasma polymerisation of N ‐isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAAm) presents an exciting route for the production of thermally responsive coatings on a wide variety of substrates for applications in tissue culture and microfluidics. One issue associated with the polymerisation of NIPAAm via plasma polymerisation is the limited volatility of the monomer and the subsequent requirement for monomer and reactor heating to create and maintain the vapour. It is already well established that power is critical in the balance between polymer functionality and coating stability in plasma polymers. However, little is known of how reactor and substrate temperatures may be used to influence the physico‐chemical characteristics of polymers produced from such low‐volatility monomers. In this paper, we examine the effects of a range of plasma deposition parameters on the functionality and stability of plasma‐polymerised NIPAAm surfaces. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), near‐edge X‐ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS), ellipsometry and contact angle goniometry have been used to examine coating chemistry, stability in aqueous environments, deposition rates and thermo‐responsive behaviour. Our results indicate that plasma polymerisation at low powers and low temperatures enhances the ability of plasma‐polymerised NIPAAm to display a wettability phase transition, but also contributes to instability of the coating to dissolution or delamination in water. Our spectroscopic measurements confirm that retention of the monomer structure is facilitated by low power and temperature deposition and reveal that conversion of the amide groups to amine and nitrile groups occurs during the polymerisation process, particularly at high discharge powers. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Polymerization of Acrylonitrile Initiated by the Thiourea-Mn3+ Redox System

Kinetics of vinyl polymerization initiated by the redox system thiourea-Mn³⁺ were investigated in the temperature range 30–40°C in sulfuric acid, and the rates of polymerization R_p and disappearance of Mn³⁺ have been measured. The effect of certain water-miscible organic solvents and anionic surfactant on the rates of polymerization was investigated. A mechanism involving the formation of a complex between Mn³⁺ and thiourea whose decomposition yields the initiating free radical with the polymerization terminated by mutual intraction of growing radicals is suggested.