Thermotropic homopolyesters—VI. A study of polymers based on 4′-hydroxyphenyl-4-hydroxybenzoate

Polyesters were synthesized from 4′-acetoxyphenyl-4-acetoxybenzoate and dibasic acids having 6–12 methylene units using the transesterification procedure described by van Luyen and Strzelecki. These polymers are designated S_n, where n is the number of methylene units in the diacid. The transition temperatures of our polymers stand in reasonable agreement with those reported by Strzelecki and Liébert. The nematic phase extends over a broad temperature range (70–100°), and the biphasic region spans an additional 50°. The texture of the nematic phase is normal for S7-1 having η_inh = 0.30 dl/g, but the other polymers show bright nematic droplets on a darker background. The density of droplets decreases with increasing η_inh in the S7 series, and as η is increased for the other polymer homologues. Only S7-1 exhibits Williams domains on application of an electric field. Quite different properties are found for the polyester having η_inh = 0.80 dl/g prepared from 4′-hydroxyphenyl-4-hydroxybenzoate and the diacid chloride. It melted sharply 24° higher, and its nematic phase showed a normal texture. Moreover, its nematic-isotropic transition appears in the DSC as a sharp peak, and the biphasic region spans only 9°. We believe the transesterification reaction occasionally involves the internal ester linkage in the monomer unit, producing a polymer with no definite repeating unit structure and a distribution of hard segment lengths.     

Thermotropic homopolyesters. I. The preparation and properties of polymers based on 4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyl

A homologous series of polyesters was prepared from 4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyl and dibasic acids having 5-12 methylene units. The mesophases formed at elevated temperatures were studied by differential scanning calorimetry and polarized light microscopy. This family exhibits an unusual odd-even effect when the transition temperatures are plotted as a function of the number of methylene units in the dibasic acid. Not only do the points for odd and even members fall on different curves, but the odd members exhibit a nematic phase over a very short temperature interval, while the even members form a highly ordered smectic phase. For both the odd and even series, the transition temperatures are significantly depressed when the inherent viscosity falls below 0.2 dL/g. The largest depression occurs for the crystal melting transition, so that polymers of low η_inh show anisotropic and biphasic regions over wider temperature ranges. A copolymer formed from an equimolar mixture of sebacic and chiral (+)-3-methyl adipic acid forms a cholesteric phase. Evidently copolymerization destabilizes the smectic phase which would have been expected. The results are discussed in terms of existing theory.     

Thermotropic homopolyesters. III. Preparation and properties of polymers based on 4′-hydroxyphenyl-4-hydroxycinnamate

Low-molecular-weight 4′-acetoxyphenyl-4-acetoxyoinnamate, as well as several polyesters synthesized from this monomer and aliphatic dibasic acids, exhibit thermotropic nematic phases. DSC heating curves for all of the polymers exhibit multiple transitions. The amount of crystallinity of these polymers at room temperature is small and the degree of order along the chain axis in the crystalline phase is poor. For the lower homologues the nematic phase exists over a broad temperature range of approximately 100°C. The polyester from chiral (+)-3-methyl adipate forms a thermotropic cholesteric phase. Both the diacetoxy monomer and azelate polymers of low molecular weight adopt the homeotropic texture on glass slides, but with increasing molecular weight the planar texture becomes preferred. Investigation of the effects of electric fields in the conduction regime upon the nematic phase of the diacetoxy monomer revealed that Williams domains are formed only with difficulty. In most cases, a stationary pattern appeared instead. At higher voltage the dynamic scattering mode (DSM) was obtained, and above this a field-induced transition to the isotropic phase. The azelate polyesters exhibited Williams domains and the DSM in the conduction regime. The formation time for Williams domains was fairly short for polymers having η_inh < 0.44 dL/g, but increased to 80 min when η_inh = 0.68 dL/g. The DSM was only observed for polymers having η_inh < 0.61 dL/g. For these polymers the critical frequency separating the conduction and dielectric regimes exhibits a stronger temperature dependence than that of low-molecular-weight nematogens. A new instability pattern is reported for the azelate polyesters in the dielectric regime.     

Thermotropic homopolyester. I. Synthesis and characterization of homopolyesters containing the mesogenic unit,bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene

Homopolyesters based on bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene as a mesogenic group were prepared and characterized. The use of bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene in these homopolyesters lowered the symmetry of the resulting systems enough to lead to the observation of melting behavior.     

Liquid crystal polymers. IV. Thermotropic polyesters with flexible spacers in the main chain

Two closely related series of polyesters that contain mesogenic units interconnected by flexible spacers along the main chain were prepared and characterized for their liquid crystal properties. All of these polymers showed theotropic behavior, which was examined by DSC, hot-stage microscopy on a polarizing microscope, small-angle light and wide-angle x-ray scattering methods, and visual observation of stir-opalescence of the polymer melts. The effect of the length of the flexible spacer and the nature of the substituent, which is on the central aromatic ring of the mesogenic unit, on the stability and molecular order of the mesophase for each of the polymers was investigated and the results are discussed on the basis of the thermodynamic data obtained.     

Study of transition temperature through mixed crystal formation,IV

The study of homogeneous distribution coefficients in determining the transition temperatures of isomorphologically analogous components and in predicting the existences of some new unstable compounds has been carried out in detail with special references to vitriols of nickel, manganese, zinc, copper and magnesium. In the course of the investigation with NiSO₄·7H₂O as host and⁵⁴Mn as guest, the transition temperature of orthorhombic NiSO₄·7H₂O was shown to be 26.5 °C, and with orthorhombic ZnSO₄·7H₂O and MgSO₄·7H₂O as host and copper sulphate as guest, the limits of existences of orthorhombic CuSO₄·7H₂O and newly predicted CuSO₄·6H₂O were found to be 13.5° to 44 °C and 44° to 51 °C, respectively. In addition, the transition temperatures of orthorhombic MnSO₄·7H₂O (10 °C), stable NiSO₄·7H₂O (30.5±5 °C) and orthorhombic ZnSO₄·7H₂O (39 °C) were verified. The new method of approach is very simple, reproducible and easily adaptable.     

Interactions between collagen chains and fiber formation.

The temperature-dependent dissociation of neutral salt-soluble collagen into its component chains was measured in 0.6-1.6 M urea solutions at pH 7.3. The temperature-dependent association of the same radioactively labeled collagen into fibers was measured in 0-0.4 M urea solutions, pH 7.3. The effect of urea on the temperature, Tm(G), for half dissociation into chains was small, and the value extrapolated to zero urea concentration was 39 degrees C. In contrast, the effect of urea on the temperature, Tm(F), for half association into fibers was large, and the value at zero urea concentration was 30 degrees C. We conclude that while body temperature provides excellent conditions for the matching of collagen chains to form molecules, the conditions are not optimal for the formation of highly ordered fibers. The large effects of 0.1 M urea suggest that other factors in vivo may help to destabilize mismatched molecular association during fiber growth. Alternately this might be facilitated by parts of the extension peptides of procollagen.     

Polyethylene fiber formation in tubular flow. I. Observations of growth pattern and fiber properties

The process of seeded growth of fibrillar polyethylene crystals has been studied in a tubular flow geometry for 0.01-wt % solutions of a high-molecular-weight polyethylene in xylene. The transformation sequence has been followed visually by using polarized-light illumination in conjunction with a video camera. Data are presented to show that transformation is initiated by the formation of a concentrated, unoriented, amorphous precursor fiber within which oriented birefringent crystals subsequently grow in consequence of the stresses transmitted by the flowing solution. Time constants for the precursor formation, birefringence initiation, and completion of birefringence were measured as functions of temperature and flow rate over a range of growth conditions. Wide-angle x-ray diffraction, overall birefringence, and optical hot-stage melting data were also obtained on the grown fibers. The net result of these observations is to conclude that fibrillar crystal growth during flow is always preceded by the formation of a liquidlike phase transformation which produces the concentrated, unoriented precursor. Subsequent orientation is in consequence of stress-induced crystallization with overall fiber orientation showing an increase with solution flow rate at a fixed temperature and a decrease with temperature at a fixed flow rate. At higher temperatures and lower flow rates, birefringence develops in an oscillatory fashion, indicating a remelting process possibly due to slippage of trapped chain entanglements formed by flow. A discussion is given of the implications of these observations for the understanding of flow-induced structure development, phase transformation, and oriented crystallization; this is expanded upon in a companion paper, Part II.     

Molecular mechanics calculations on carbonyl compounds. IV. Heats of formation

Molecular mechanics (MM4) calculations on the heats of formation of aldehydes and ketones were carried out for a total of 59 compounds (10 aldehydes and 49 ketones). Optimization of the heat of formation parameters was obtained by a least squares fit to the experimentally known heats of formation. With the optimized MM4 heat of formation parameters, the MM4 calculated heats of formation showed significant improvement over those of MM3. The standard and weighted root mean square deviations for the MM4 values were 0.35 and 0.31 kcal mol^?1, respectively, whereas for the MM3 values they were 0.42 and 0.39 kcal mol^?1, respectively. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 22: 1476–1483, 2001     

Electrostatic fiber spinning from polymer melts. I. Experimental observations on fiber formation and properties

It is demonstrated that continuous filaments of rapidly crystallizing polymers, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, can be spun from the melt using an electric field as the only driving force. The molten polymer is fed into a metallic capillary forming a hemispherical drop at the end of the orifice. An electrical field is applied between the capillary and a conducting plate held perpendicular to the axis of the orifice. Above a critical field intensity a fine continuous jet of molten polymer is drawn; rapid crystallization ensues and a continuous fiber is formed. For fibers spun in an uncontrolled thermal environment, corresponding to ambient air temperature, and at electric field intensities of 6 and 7 kV cm^?1, the properties are typically those of unoriented or slightly oriented polyolefin fibers, such as would be obtained in a conventional fiber spinning process.     

主链型热致性液晶高分子芳香共聚酯的红外光谱研究

本文用傅里叶红外光谱法结合变温方法和偏振技术研究了主链型芳香共聚酯热致性高分子液晶。测定了光谱的变温性质以及液晶的有序度参数。结果表明分子链中液晶基元上苯环之间的相互作用在液晶相形成过程中起重要作用。液晶有序度参数与Roca和Yoon的理论值相一致。     

Polyethylene fiber formation in tubular flow. II. Discussion of precursor formation and nucleation time analysis

This is a continuation of the preceeding paper, Part I, and presents a discussion of the nature of the precursor structure formation process observed in the flow-induced crystallization experiments described in I. A discussion of stress-induced crystallization theory as applied to these experiments is also given and a first-order analysis of crystal nucleation rates is presented. Conclusions regarding the nature of flow-induced crystallization and our current ability to quantitatively model the overall process are also presented.     

Study of crosslink formation by partial conversion properties. IV. Copolymerization of styrene with poly(ethylene fumarate)

The mechanism of the crosslinking reaction in the copolymerization of poly(ethylene fumarate) and styrene has been studied by using partial conversion number-average molecular weights and viscosities. In dilute solution the reaction is mainly the formation of intramolecular crosslinks, illustrated by a reduced dependence of \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$\overline{\overline M}_n$\end{document} and \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$[\overline{\overline \eta}]$\end{document} on conversion. Increasing the monomer concentrations increases the contribution from intermolecular reactions and gives a much greater dependence of \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$\overline{\overline M}_n$\end{document} and \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$[\overline{\overline \eta}]$\end{document} on conversion.     

Pu(IV) polymer formation

Nearest-neighbor coagulation is proposed as a mechanism for Pu(IV) polymer formation. The distribution of colloids generated by this process is intuitive and easy to understand.     

Heterogeneous polymer systems. IV. Mechanism of rubber particle formation in rubber-modified vinyl polymers

A mechanism for the formation of rubber particles in the polymerization of solutions of rubber in vinyl monomers is presented. A polymeric oil-in-oil emulsion is formed in the first phase of the polymerization. This polymeric oil-in-oil emulsion is transtormed into a solid dispersion of rubber in vinyl polymer in the second phase of the polymerization. A phase inversion takes place in the emulsion in the first phase of the polymerization. Rubber solution droplets are formed at the phase inversion point. These droplets harden as the polymerization proceeds and are gradually transformed into the solid, crosslinked rubber particles of the final polymer.     

Shielding effects in polymer-polymer reactions. IV. Intermolecular contact formation between star-branched molecules

Pairs of star-branched molecules--taken from ensembles of athermal five-way cubic lattice chains prepared by Monte Carlo simulation--are analyzed for the relative probability of mutual contact formation between particularly specified segments i and j belonging to different chains within these pairs. These contact probabilities--termed shielding factors K(ij)--are calculated by means of exact enumeration as a function of chain length ranging from n = 8 to 256 bonds per arm, as a function of functionality (i.e., the number of arms) ranging from F = 2 to 6 arms, and as a function of segment position within the arms ranging from central to terminal segments. In addition, changes of properties that characterize the size and shape of the involved molecules while approaching and penetration are evaluated as a function of chain separation.     

Thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers. I. Cholesterol-containing polymers and copolymers

An approach to the creation of thermotropic cholesterol-containing liquid crystalline polymers by the chemical binding of cholesterol molecules with side chains of comblike polymers is presented. This type of structure permits a decrease in the steric hindrances provided by the backbone chains for the purpose of realizing the liquid crystalline state. A number of new cholesteric esters of poly(N-methacryloyl-ω-aminocarbonic acid)s (PChMAA-n) with different side-chain lengths (n = 2–11) as well as a series of copolymers of ChMA-n with n-alkylacrylates and n-alkylmethacrylates have been synthesized. The experimental evidence of liquid crystalline structure formation in these polymers in glass, viscoelastic, and fluid states is discussed. Molecular and supermolecular structures of cholesterol-containing comblike polymers have been studied and the model of macromolecular packing in the liquid crystalline state is proposed. It is shown that the existence of a layered order of side methylene groups together with ordering of cholesterol groups is necessary to the production of the liquid crystalline state in these polymers.     

Thermotropic mesophases of ionic amphiphiles

In part I of this article the thermotropic mesophases of anhydrous ionic amphiphiles were discussed. In this part the thermotropic mesophases of ionic amphiphiles in aqueous media, as determined by thermal analysis, microscopic studies, X-ray diffraction and other techniques are reviewed. The fatty acids saturated or unsaturated that are found in the above molecules are: Lauric acid (C₁₂H₂₄O₂); myristic acid (C₁₄H₂₈O₂); palmitic acid (C₁₆H₃₂O₂); stearic acid (C₁₈H₃₆O₂); arachic acid (C₂₀H₄₀O₂); behenic acid (C₂₂H₄₄O₂); oleic acid (C₁₈H₃₄O₂).     

Thermotropic aromatic copolyesters of catechol

Three new series of thermotropic aromatic main-chain polymers were synthesized and studied by differential scanning calorimetry and hot-stage polarized microscopy. The polymers were random copolyesters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (from 60 to 10 mol %), catechol (from 20 to 45 mol %), and one of the following dicarboxylic diacids: terephthalic acid (series 1 ), 2,6-naphtalenedicarboxylic acid (series 2 ), and 1,2-bis-p-carboxyphenoxy ethane (series 3 ). Copolyesters with more than 25 mol % catechol in their structures were soluble in common organic solvents such as chloroform. All the synthesized copolyesters showed hysteresis of the heat capacity at the mesophase glass transition region and nematic mesophases above their T_g's which were stable over very broad ranges of temperature. Copolyesters containing the 2,6-naphtylenedioyl group showed the most stable nematic phases due to the increased anisometry of the 2,6-naphtylenedioyl unit compared to that of the therephthaloyl or the 4-oxybenzoyl units. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.