Study of the chemical copolymerization of 2-aminoterephthalic acid and aniline.: Synthesis and copolymer properties

Aniline (ANI) and 2-aminoterephthalic acid (2ATA) copolymers, with different compositions, were prepared by chemical oxidative polymerization varying the feed ratio. The new materials have been characterized by techniques such as XPS, FTIR, Raman spectroscopies and thermal analysis. It has been checked that 2ATA units are included in the polymer backbone. Different properties have been studied as solubility, conductivity, optical absorption, fluorescence and electroactivity. The copolymers are soluble in aqueous alkaline medium and show clear electroactivity in aqueous acid medium.     

Fluorinated-plasma coating on polyhydroxyalcanoate PHBV: Effect on the biodegradation

Poly(3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-3-hydroxyvaleric acid) (PHBV) was covered with an hydrophobic layer from plasma polymerization of tetradecafluorohexane, octadecafluorooctane, 3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,6-nonafluoro-hex-1-ene and 3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-tridecafluoro-oct-1-ene. The water contact angle increased from 74° for untreated films to 98° for the treated films and the surface energy decreased from 40.9 to 18.8 mJ m⁻². XPS analysis showed the introduction of 54% fluorine and 3-7% oxygen, the binding energies were assigned to chemically differently bonded carbon atoms. CF₂/CF₃ molar ratio in plasma layers was lower than that in the monomers due to molecular fragmentation, however the extent of monomer structure retention in PFH, PFO saturated chains is higher than in NFH, TDFO unsaturated chains. Biodegradation tests under aerobic conditions showed that the fluorinated plasma layer inhibited the biodegradation of the PHBV film underneath.     

Synthesis of electrically conductive polypyrrole-polystyrene composites using supercritical carbon dioxide: II. Effects of the doping conditions

A polymer composite of polypyrrole (PPy) and polystyrene (PS) was synthesized in this study. Pyrrole was firstly impregnated within the PS substrate where supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO₂) at 40 °C and 10.5 MPa was used as the solvent. The resulting polymer composite was then soaked in a solution of metallic salt to form an electrically conductive product. Thermal analyses were carried out in this study. Glass transition temperatures from the DSC curves and thermal decomposition temperatures from the TGA curves were observed. These temperatures rise gradually from pure PS, undoped blend to doped composite that indicates blending took place in SCCO₂, and polymerization was proceeding when the pyrrole/PS blend was soaking in the doping solution. Furthermore, various effects of the doping conditions on the conductivity of the PPy/PS composite were investigated. Water and acetonitrile were used as the solvents where the former yielded a higher conductivity of the product. Various doping temperatures were studied and a maximum conductivity was observed at 25 °C. The conductivity also depends on the nature of the oxidant. A bell-shaped profile of the conductivity with respect to the concentration of each oxidant was obtained. The maximum conductivity of the composites with iron compounds as oxidants decreases in the following order of anions: chloride > sulfate > perchloride > nitrate in aqueous solutions. Comparison of the scanning electron microscope results of the composite was presented where chloride and nitrate anions were used as the oxidant. It was found that the composite with higher conductivity has higher bulk density and less porous morphology.