Polymer chain motion from viscosity and dielectric dispersion measurements

Shear viscosity and dielectric dispersion measurements have been made on a series of concentrated solutions of poly-p-chlorostyrene in toluene, chlorobenzene, and diethylbenzene, as well as on the pure polymer. It is found that the product ην_m/T is nearly temperature-independent in the present range of measurement (30 ≤ ν_m ≤ 30 ≤ 10⁴ Hz), where ν_m is the frequency at which the dielectric loss maximum occurs. For the pure polymer, ην_m (200/T) is 10^11.5 poise/sec. This leads to a segmental jump distance of 5 Å. Although the results in this range correspond quite well to the concept of a segmental friction constant determined by the matrix viscosity, deviations appear as the apparent energy of activation for viscous flow decreases below 13 kcal/mole. There is reason to believe that these deviations reflect the increasing importance of bond rotation barriers at low matrix viscosity. It is speculated that the damped torsional oscillator interpretation of f₀ proposed by Tobolsky will become valid in systems still more fluid.     

On some mechanical effects in glassy polymers attributed to chain entanglements

The important role of the entanglements in the deformation of high-molecular-weight glassy polymers is demonstrated by two phenomena: the build-up of material resistance in polymethylmethacrylate after chain interpenetration and the intrinsic crazing of polycarbonate which is observed when the entanglement network reaches its limits of extension.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. F. H. Müller.     

Two-photon dispersion in conjugated polymers

The frequency dependence of the dispersive and absorptive parts of a strongly allowed two-photon transition is determined in a series of conjugated polymer solutions. The data analysis yields the energy and width of the two-photon transition, symmetry assignment for the two-photon transition (A_g → A_g), and oscillator strengths for both the one-photon and two-photon transitions.     

Interconnection between chain growth in the Herington scheme and secondary reactions involving ethylene in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

It is shown that C₄₊ hydrocarbons are predominantly formed from intermediates containing three carbon atoms at high values of chain growth probability, but result from interactions of two carbon fragments at low values of chain growth probability. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i éksperimental’naya Khimiya, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 178–183, May–June, 2006.     

Dielectric dispersion of oriented polymers

Summary Expressions have been derived for the tensor of the complex dielectric permitivity of an oriented polymer containing polar groups in the main chain. The relevant intramolecular and intermolecular interactions have been assumed to be independent of the degree of orientation; the anisotropy of dielectric permitivity is expected to be given only by the orientation of local equilibrium positions of the dipoles. For the low-temperature dispersion of a polymer oriented by cold-drawing, both the spectra of relaxation times and the magnitudes of the components of the dielelectric permitivity tensor have been calculated. Relation between the calculated values and the dipole-dipole interaction parameters, diffusion coefficients and average dipole-chain angle are given.

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Zusammenfassung Es wurden Ausdrücke für den komplexen Tensor der Dielektrizitätskonstantante an orientierten Polymeren, die polare Gruppen in der Hauptkette enthalten, abgeleitet. Die maßgebenden intra- und intermolekularen Wechselwirkungen wurden als unabhängig vom Orientierungsgrad angenommen; die Anisotropie der Dielektrizitätskonstante dürfte nur durch die Orientierung lokaler Gleichgewichtspositionen der Dipole gegeben sein. Für die Tieftemperaturdispersion eines kalt verstreckten Polymeren wurden das Spektrum der Relaxationszeiten und die Relaxationsstärken des Tensors berechnet. Beziehungen zwischen berechneten Werten und den Dipol-Dipol-Wechselwirkungsparametern, Diffusionskoeffizienten und den mittleren Winkel zwischen Dipol und Kette sind angegeben.

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With 5 figures     

On the structure and the chain conformation of side-chain liquid crystal polymers

Abstract

Backbone anisotropy and the structure of the mesophases of a series of side-chain liquid crystal polymers have been studied in the bulk by neutron scattering. The backbone conformation is obtained by small-angle neutron scattering on mixtures of hydrogenous polymers with deuteriated backbones. The components of the radius of gyration parallel, R _⊥ and perpendicular, R ∥ to the magnetic field are determined as a function of temperature for both the nematic phase and the smectic phase. It is shown that the polymer backbone is deformed in both phases. When the polymer exhibits only a nematic phase, it adopts a prolate conformation, where the average backbone direction is more or less parallel to the aligned mesogenic groups. Upon transition from the smectic phase to a nematic phase, the backbone in the nematic phase assumes a slightly oblate shape. This tendency towards oblate shape is due to the smectic fluctuations which are always present in such nematic phases. The exentricity of the oblate backbone conformation in the smectic phase is always larger than in the nematic phase. This is attributed to a periodic distribution of the backbone between the mesophase layers. Then, the backbone anisotropy depends not only on the smectic structure (S_A1, S_Ad), but also on the temperature dependence of the density of aligned mesogenic groups in the layers. On the other hand, it is shown that the isotopic mixtures are no longer ideal when polymers deuteriated in the mesogenic moieties are mixed with the corresponding hydrogenous polymers.     

On the expansion of hole in main chain polymers determined by positron annihilation

The temperature dependence of positron annihilation characteristics, ₃ andI ₃, has been studied on sample of poly(butadiene), poly(isobutylene) and poly(chloroprene). The temperature range was between 15 and 470 K. The rate of expansion of holes or free-volume in all samples was deduced belowT _g as well aboveT _g as appr. 3·10^–3 K^–1 and 2·10^–2 K^–1, respectively. These values are very close to the rate of the mean squared displacement of scatterer<r ²>observed in neutron scattering experiments. A possibility to use an inverse value of free-volume,V _f ^–1 for study of viscoelastic state of polymers is demonstrated.     

UHMWPE with short‐chain branches synthesized by alkenyl substituted phenoxy–imine catalysts in ethylene polymerization

The alkenyl substituted phenoxy–imine complexes [2‐C₃H₅‐6‐(2, 3, 5, 6‐C₆F₄H‐N?CH)C₆H₃O]₂TiCl₂ (C₃H₅=? CH₂? CH?CH₂ or ? CH?CH? CH₃) are synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and elemental analysis. When activated by MAO, they show high activity for the polymerization of ethylene to UHMWPE under different conditions (temperatures and polymerization time). Most of the resulting polymers have high molecular weights (>1.0 × 10⁶ g·mol^?1) and high melting points as well as crystallinity. To clarify the effect of the alkenyl group on the catalytic performance and the resultant polymer microstructure, the corresponding saturated complexes of type [2‐C₃H₇?6‐(2, 3, 5, 6‐C₆F₄H‐N?CH)C₆H₃O]₂TiCl₂ where C₃H₇ = –CH₂? CH₂? CH₃ or ? CH(CH₃)₂ were synthesized and tested as catalysts in ethylene polymerization under the same reaction conditions. The microstructure and morphologies of these two species of PE samples were fully compared by the analysis of ¹³C NMR, GPC, DSC, and SEM. As a result, the allyl substituted complex show the highest activity to prepare the highest molecular weight polyethylene of all the catalysts. An interesting feature of the UHMWPE produced by these four catalysts is that they contain only a few short‐chain branches (mainly methyl, isobutyl and 2‐methylhexyl branches) in a low amount (<2.7 branches/1000 C). © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 3808–3818     

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of biodegradable polymers containing glucobiose branches

Polymerizable sugar esters including glucobiose were synthesized from maltose or trehalose and divinyl adipate using enzyme in DMF. ¹³C NMR data showed that 6'-position of maltose and mono-6-position of trehalose were esterified. Further, these glucobiose esters was polymerized with azo-initiator to give the corresponding polymers.     

Influence of the polyether chain on the dissociation of “living” polymers obtained in the anionic polymerization of ethylene oxide

Conductivity studies were carried out on block copolymers of composition K⁺, ?(EO)_n- αMeSt-(St)_x -αMeSt-(EO)_n^?, K⁺, where n = 1–5 or 20, in THF. The conductivity of the solutions exhibits a strong tendency to increase as n is raised up to 3, and to change only slightly on further extension of the polyether chain. An equilibrium between ion pairs and free ions is established in the solution only when n is 1 or 2; for n ? 3, ion triplets are formed also. The dissociation constants for the ion pairs and the ion triplets and their temperature dependence were determined. The formation of ion triplets, as well as the changes in dissociation of the ion species on extending the polyether block, are explained by solvation of the counter-ion by the polyether chain.     

A molecular approach to chain entanglement in linear polymers

The phenomenon of chain entanglement in undiluted linear amorphous polymers is treated by calculating the probability of forming closed intramolecular loops. Adoption of the rotational isomeric state model of polymer chains permits an appropriate accounting of the detailed molecular structure to be made through the configurational characteristics of the polymer. The second (〈r〉₀) and fourth (〈r〉₀) moments of the vector r_hk connecting groups h and k in the isolated polymer chain and averaged over all chain conformations are calculated and used to evaluate the probability W_x(0) that r_hk is 0, or that an intramolecular loop of x = k ? h bonds is formed. Several linear polymers with widely differing molecular structures are treated. An attempt is made to correlate the degree of chain entanglement they manifest in the bulk with their ability to fold back upon themselves to form closed intramolecular loops.     

Chemical shifts due to long range dispersion interactions

Dispersion chemical shifts, σ_w, for a variety of solute-solvent systems have been obtained by three different methods. The value of σ_w for a given system differs with the method employed for evaluating the characteristic frequency.     

A deuteron NMR study of axial motion and side chain conformation in the mesophase of discotic liquid crystal main-chain polymers

Pulsed deuteron NMR spectroscopy has been used to examine the axial motion and the side-chain conformation in both oriented and unoriented mesophases of discotic liquid crystal main-chain polymers based on pentyloxy or heptyloxy substituted triphenylenes. Lineshape simulations show that the rotational motion of the triphenylene rings about the column axes can be described by an inhomogeneous distribution of reorientation angles around 45°. However, only about 60% of the discs are involved in such large amplitude motions; the remaining 40% have reorientation angles below 10°. This illustrates the severe restrictions imposed on the rotation of the discs by the interlinkage of the columns via the alkylene spacers. Furthermore, the simulations demonstrate that, at the -carbon, the side chains show very little fast internal motion, but have a relatively complex conformation involving a disorder which does not change on the microsecond timescale. Since such a disorder is not present in the corresponding monomeric samples it is ascribed to the presence of the spacers. These results are also consistent with the presence of large sterical hindrances between the first side chains segments of adjacent discs, and they indicate a correlated reorientation of the discotic units within a column.     

Mixed motion in deterministic ratchets due to anisotropic permeability

Nowadays microfluidic devices are becoming popular for cell/DNA sorting and fractionation. One class of these devices, namely deterministic ratchets, seems most promising for continuous fractionation applications of suspensions (Kulrattanarak et al., 2008 [1]). Next to the two main types of particle behavior, zigzag and displacement motion as noted by the inventors (Huang et al., 2004 [2]) and (Inglis et al., 2006 [3]), we have shown recently the existence of a intermediate particle behavior, which we named 'mixed motion'. In this paper we formulate the hypothesis that the occurrence of mixed motion is correlated with anisotropy in the permeability of the obstacle array. This hypothesis we base on the comparison of experimental observations of mixed motion and the flow lane distribution as obtained from 2-D flow simulations.     

Thermal conversions of polymers with macroheterocycles in the chain

Thermal conversion of polyhexazocyclanes and compound modeling the fragments of polymers were explored within 300–600°C under vacuum (10^?5 torr) and in water vapor. At temperatures below 450°C, the hydrolytic degradation plays a key role in the thermal degradation of polyhexazocyclanes. At a higher temperature, the homolytic processes prevail, water, strongly retained by the macroheterocycle, is most important in the hydrolysis process. It was shown that the increase in the thermohydrolytic stability of polymers with the system of condensed cycles in the macroheterocycles and that of polyhexazocyclanes modified by polymer analogous conversion at the secondary amino groups of the isoindole cycle was caused by the absence of bound water.     

Cross-shaped mesogens in main chain polymers

The synthesis of semiflexible main chain polyesters with cross-shaped mesogens and their phase behaviour, investigated by polarizing microscopy, DSC and X-ray diffraction, is presented. Polyesters of this type show mesophases with dominating nematic character and relatively high clearing temperatures. Systematic variation of the spacer and the terminal groups of the mesogens shows that longitudinally fixed rod-like parts of the mesogens have a strong influence on the clearing temperature and, therefore, on the mesophase behaviour. The corresponding rod-like but laterally fixed parts of the cross-shaped mesogens influence the melting temperatures significantly. This is critical in determining crystallization. However, laterally fixed rod-like parts contribute also to the formation of mesophases, but clearly to a far less extent.