Influence of thermodynamic conditions of polymerization on supramolecular and molecular structure of the polymers

The problems of the formation of the supramolecular and molecular structure of polymers are considered. Based on kinetic investigations of trioxane polymerization, the thermodynamic approach to the problem of regulating the supramolecular and molecular structure of polymers during synthesis is formulated. A method for producing polymers with the given supramolecular structure is suggested. It is noted that the application of this method allows one to regulate the structure during the synthesis of three-dimensional cross-linked polymer systems as single-component, filled, reinforced, and other composite materials.     

Anionic graft copolymerization of diene polymers with vinyl monomers

A mixture of homopolymer and graft copolymer was obtained by adding the monomer at 0°C to the polylithiodiene solution. Styrene, methyl methacrylate, and acrylonitrile were used as the monomers. Polylithiodienes were prepared by the metalation of diene polymers, i.e., polybutadiene or polyisoprene, with the use of n-butyllithium in the presence of a tertiary amine (N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine) in n-heptane. The graft copolymers were separated by solvent extraction and were confirmed by turbidimetric titration and elementary analysis. Oxidation of the polybutadiene–styrene grafts revealed that the molecular weight of the side chains was the same as the molecular weight of the free polystyrene formed. The grafting efficiency and grafting percentage were studied for polybutadiene–styrene graft copolymers prepared under various conditions.     

Surface structure of polymers for biomedical applications

Biological reactions with synthetic polymers are strongly influenced by the surfaces of those materials. The surfaces are often substantially different in composition and structure from the bulk. By using contemporary surface analysis methods, we can understand polymer surfaces. The surfaces of polymers can also be modified to generate desired biological responses. These points are illustrated with examples involving polyurethanes and RF plasma-deposited films.     

Influence of molecular motions on radiation-induced reactions in polymers

There have been several investigations dealing with the influence of the glass transition on the rate of radiation-induced reactions, especially the crosslinking reaction. On the other hand, no correlation has been reported between secondary transitions and the variation of a reaction rate. In the present work, the degradation of poly(methyl methacrylate) in the temperature range of ?196 to 160°C has been studied. Two breaks in the Arrhenius plot were found. The first one is located at ?5°C and can be correlated with the γ transition, which has been assigned to the hindered rotation of the ester group whose scission initiates the degradation. It is concluded that the thermal excitation of the bond rotation can either increase the scission rate or decrease the recombination rate of reactive intermediates by expanding the cage of the surrounding molecules. If the second mechanism occurs, the rotation of the α-methyl group should also be expected to favor the degradation. However, a second break in the Arrhenius plot was found at ?130°C, and therefore significantly above the δ transition. The influence of this motion is therefore not clear. Certain radiation-induced reactions of poly(vinyl chloride), known from literature, seem to be influenced by a secondary transition. It is concluded that secondary transitions may be significant for scission reactions. This suggests, with respect to the known significance of the glass transition, that the various types of molecular motions in polymers may influence radiation-induced reactions.     

Influence of additives on the structure and properties of polymers

Investigations into the transformation of hexagonal into monoclinic modification in isotactic polypropylene (iPP) were carried out. The hexagonal phase () was obtained by crystallization from a melt of iPP samples containing small molecular compounds (additives). A decline in the amount of-modification and changes of dimensions of ordering areas, perpendicular to the chain axes of iPP, was analysed at various temperatures and times of heating.The interdependence between the structure of additives and the amount of-phase occurring and also the stability of this modification during thermal treatment was observed.Obtained results indicated that only some additives play the role of moderating agents for the phase transition process.A preliminary report of this work has been presented at XIII Congress of the International Union of Crystallography (9–18 August 1984).     

Comparison of methods of calculation of 13C-NMR chemical shifts of diene polymers with applications to isomerized natural rubber

Natural rubber was isomerized by two methods that involved either dehydrobromination of hydrobrominated natural rubber or heating natural rubber with butadiene sulfone. The ¹³C-NMR spectra of the methylene region of isomerized natural rubber was interpreted in terms of dyad arrangements for which assignments were made by calculating chemical shifts according to three different published methods. One method [Gronski, Murayama, Cantow, and Miyamoto, Polymer, 17 , 358 (1976)] gave the best overall agreement with the experimental chemical shifts; another [Sato, Ono, and Tanaka, Polymer, 18 , 580 (1977)] was better for C-1 and C-3 methylene carbon atoms; and still another [Khatchaturov, Dolinsky, Prozenko, Abramenko, and Kormer, Polymer 18 , 871 (1977)] gave results which deviated considerably from the other methods. From ¹³C-NMR intensity measurements it was shown that the elimination of HBr from hydrobrominated natural rubber occurred by a random process. Contrary to literature reports, it was found that the sulphur dioxide catalyzed isomerization of natural rubber was accompanied by a significant amount of double bond migration; a possible reaction scheme was proposed.     

Thermal analyses of polymers. III. Influence of isocyanate structure on the molecular interactions in segmented polyurethanes,

The thermal responses of various polyurethane elastomers in the form of changes in heat capacity, linear expansion, and tensile strain have been examined. Most of the change which can be attributed to the backbone of polyethylene adipate, found in several modes of thermal analysis, are still apparent, though shifted somewhat, among most of the diisocyanate extended elastomers used in this study. Tolylene diisocyanate extension changes the modulus properties markedly, low modulus properties being observed at ambient temperatures. Both hydrogenated MDI and MDI elastomers show comparable expansion and modulus response, whereas the hydrogenated TDI elastomer does not have the same characteristics as TDI-based elastomers. The thermal properties of the hydrogenated TDI elastomer resemble more those exhibited by the polyol mixture extended with hexamethylene diisocyanate, and in addition this latter elastomer exhibits more crystallinity, as shown by the large endotherm in the specific heat measurement. The structure of the diisocyanate naturally changes the behavior of the hard segment.     

Biosynthesis of new polymers of controlled molecular structure

This paper describes the use of artificial genes to direct bacterial synthesis of new polypeptides of precisely defined molecular structure. This approach has been applied to three problems in polymer chemistry and physics: i) control of chain folding in crystalline polymers, ii) biosynthesis of polypeptides containing unnatural amino acids, and iii) preparation of monodisperse helical polymers.     

Influence of the low molecular weight amides on the dynamic behavior of polymers

Dependence of the dynamic shear modulus G′ and mechanical damping tan δ was measured for mixtures of low molecular amides with VC/VAc copolymer and polystyrene, respectively. A new secondary relaxation was found, which in some cases depends on content of moisture. The effect of molecular structure and concentration of amide is shown.     

Influence of molecular stiffness on the dynamic structure factor

Characteristic features of the influence of molecular stiffness on the dynamic structure factor of macromolecules are briefly outlined. The relaxation times characterizing the internal dynamics of the macro‐molecules exhibit a crossover from Rouse‐Zimm to bending modes with increasing mode number. As a consequence the dynamic structure factor is strongly influenced by the molecular stiffness. In particular, a stretched exponential relaxation of the dynamic structure factor at scattering vectors larger than the inverse persistence length is predicted and confirmed by a comparison with experimental data. Moreover, the influence of polydispersity is discussed.     

The influence of the molecular structure of polymers on their reactivity in polycondensation

The influence of the conditions of synthesis, the chain length and the chemical structure of macromolecules on their reactivity is examined. The main emphasis is placed on the connection between polymer molecular structure and macromolecular effects in polycondensation. The far order effect is presented as the principal chemical factor determining the reactivity of macromolecules in solution polycondensation reactions.     

Influence of the molecular architecture on the adsorption onto solid surfaces: comb-like polymers

The processes of adsorption of grafted copolymers onto negatively charged surfaces were studied using a dissipative quartz crystal microbalance (D-QCM) and ellipsometry. The control parameters in the study of the adsorption are the existence or absence on the molecular architecture of grafted polyethyleneglycol (PEG) chains with different lengths and the chemical nature of the main chain, poly(allylamine) (PAH) or poly(L-lysine) (PLL). It was found out that the adsorption kinetics of the polymers showed a complex behavior. The total adsorbed amount depends on the architecture of the polymer chains (length of the PEG chains), on the polymer concentration and on the chemical nature of the main chain. The comparison of the thicknesses of the adsorbed layers obtained from D-QCM and from ellipsometry allowed calculation of the water content of the layers that is intimately related to the grafting length. The analysis of D-QCM results also provides information about the shear modulus of the layers, whose values have been found to be typical of a rubber-like polymer system. It is shown that the adsorption of polymers with a charged backbone is not driven exclusively by the electrostatic interactions, but the entropic contributions as a result of the trapping of water in the layer structure are of fundamental importance.     

Monolithic columns with optimized pore structure for molecular size-based separations of synthetic polymers

Monolithic capillary columns based on divinylbenzene were synthesized using different alcanols as porogens. Prepared columns were tested in separation of polystyrene standards according to their molar mass (MM) and were characterized by corresponding calibration graphs. It was demonstrated that a decrease of alcanol chain length from dodecanol to octanol resulted in a decrease of column permeability and in an improved column ability to separate polystyrene standards. In contrast, removing a good solvent from porogen mixture results in an increase of column permeability and in a decrease of column performance toward polystyrene standards. Optimized synthetic conditions included porogen composed of nonanol and toluene or mesytilene, and the column prepared with this porogen was capable of separating a mixture of 14 polystyrene standards with MM ranged from several millions to oligomers.     

Formation of molecular complexes in the diene synthesis reaction

Summary Using the spectrophotometric method it was shown that molecular complexes are formed in the diene synthesis reaction of acrolein, acrylic acid, acrylonitrile and methyl acrylate with cyclopentadiene and of SO₂ with 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimisheskaya, No. 7, pp. 1290–1292, July, 1965