Dielectric Properties of Polyimide‐Mica Hybrid Films

Summary: Polyimide‐mica hybrid films were prepared via ultrasonic dispersion and in situ polymerization process from a solution of a polyimide precursor and mica in N,N‐dimethylacetamide, and their structure was characterized by FTIR and XRD techniques. The dependence of dielectric properties, such as dielectric constant and electrical breakdown strength, of the hybrid films on the content of mica was studied at room and cryogenic temperatures. The results show that the dielectric constant of PI‐mica hybrid films decreases with the increase of the mica content at temperatures from −150 to 150 °C and at frequency range from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. It was found that the cryogenic electrical breakdown strength of the PI‐mica hybrid films could meet the requirements of cryogenic insulating materials.

Effect of frequency on the dielectric constant of PI‐mica hybrid films at 140 °C at the frequency from 1 kHz to 1 MHz.     

An All‐ROMP Route to Graft Copolymers

A new versatile synthesis strategy for macromonomers has been developed that uses the living ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) with commercial Grubbs first generation ruthenium initiators. Homopolymers as well as diblock copolymers were end‐functionalized with norbornene derivatives to serve as macromonomers. The graft copolymerization of the macromonomers was also carried out employing ROMP. Well‐defined and highly functional graft copolymers are accessible by this new synthetic route.

     

A New Route for the Preparation of Brain‐Like Nanostructured Polyaniline

A novel approach has been explored to prepare brain‐like polyaniline (PANI) nanostructures with many convolutions (140–170 nm in average diameter) using aniline/citric acid (CA) salt as the template and chlorine gas as the oxidant by a gas/solid reaction for the first time. The method provided here differs significantly from the traditional one in which the polymerization of PANI is usually carried out in acidic solution.

     

Selective Localization and Migration of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes in Blends of Polycarbonate and Poly(styrene‐acrylonitrile)

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) have been introduced into blends of polycarbonate (PC) and poly(styrene‐acrylonitrile) (SAN) by melt mixing in a microcompounder. Co‐continuous blends are prepared by either pre‐compounding low amounts of nanotubes into PC or SAN or by mixing all three components together. Interestingly, in all blends, regardless of the way of introducing the nanotubes, the MWNTs were exclusively located within the PC phase, which resulted in much lower electrical resistivities as compared to PC or SAN composites with the same MWNT content. The migration of MWNTs from the SAN phase into the PC phase during common mixing is explained by interfacial effects.

     

Self‐Assembly of Cylinder‐Forming ABA Triblock Copolymers under Cylindrical Confinement

The self‐assembly of two types of linear ABA triblock copolymers confined in cylindrical nanopores is studied using simulated annealing. The effects of pore size and block copolymer chain architecture on morphology, chain conformations and bridging fraction are investigated. For the bulk cylinder‐forming copolymers, novel structures such as helices and stacked toroids form, which depend sensitively on the pore size. Several significant differences between the two types of copolymers are predicted and explained based on the differences in their chain conformations and chain architectures. A simple model is proposed to explain the mean square radius of gyration for the bridge and loop chains.

     

Hybrid Nanocomposite Films from Mono‐ and Multi‐Functional POSS Copolyacrylates in Miniemulsion

Summary: The synthesis of aqueous dispersions of hybrid acrylic copolymer particles with either a monofunctional or a multifunctional polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane methacrylate comonomer has been performed by free radical heterophase polymerization. The miniemulsion process gives stable latexes, whereas the less controlled emulsion route results in colloidal instability of the products. The thermal and mechanical properties of the nanocomposite latex films have been preliminarily investigated.

The nanocomposite latex particles based on hybrid copolyacrylates with highly dispersed POSS cages.     

Glass Transition of Low‐Dimensional Polystyrene

Summary: A unified model is developed for the finite size‐effect on the glass‐transition temperature of polymers, T_g(D), where D denotes the diameter of particles or thickness of films. In terms of this model, T_g depends on both the size and interface conditions. The predicted results are consistent with the experimental evidence for polystyrene (PS) particles and films with different interface situations.

T_g(D) function of free‐standing PS films.     

Cooperative Self‐Assembly of Nanoparticle Mixtures in Lamellar Diblock Copolymers: A Dissipative Particle Dynamics Study

Summary: Dissipative particle dynamics simulations are performed on the distribution of binary nanoparticle mixtures in lamellar diblock copolymers. The results show that the self‐assembly of nanoparticle mixtures in polymer matrix is a cooperative assembly that is affected by various factors, providing molecular‐level information for the rational design of new polymer nanocomposites with tailored properties.

The simulated polymer nanocomposite structure (the polymer matrix was omitted for clarity; P, gray; Q, black).     

Synthesis of Amphiphilic Mushroom Cap‐shaped Colloidal Particles towards Fabrication of Anisotropic Colloidal Crystals

In this work, we design and synthesize a kind of amphiphilic mushroom cap‐shaped particles with wettability difference on the opposite sides of the particles. Colloidal crystals consisting of uniformly oriented anisotropic particles were fabricated on the water–air interface based on the wettability difference of particles. This simple approach offers a new way for self‐assembly of anisotropic colloidal crystal by amphiphilic design of particles.

     

Directed Crystallisation of Synthetic Polymers by Low‐Molar‐Mass Self‐Assembled Templates

A novel and powerful method of microstructure control in polyolefins is presented. By dispersing tiny amounts of sorbitol derivatives in the polymer, the subsequent crystal growth can be controlled with modest prior flow‐fields; in particular high levels of preferred orientation are generated in the resultant crystals. Under shear flow, the additive forms highly extended crystals which lie parallel to the flow‐field and which serve to direct the crystallisation of the polymer leading to a massive amplification of the anisotropy present in the melt.

TEM image of a carbon replica taken from an etched surface of a PE sample containing 1% of DBS.     

Facile Fabrication of pH‐Responsive and Size‐Controllable Polymer Vesicles From a Commercially Available Hyperbranched Polyester

A novel pH‐responsive polymer vesicle obtained by the aqueous self‐assembly of carboxy‐terminated hyperbranched polyesters is reported. The synthesis is very simple, just a one‐step esterification of the commercially available hydroxy‐terminated hyperbranched polyester of Boltorn Hx (x = 20, 30, 40) with succinic anhydride. The vesicle size can be controlled from 200 nm to 10 µm by simply adjusting the solution pH as well as the degrees of branching (or generation).