Effect of cyclic stress on structural changes in polycarbonate as probed by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) is used to probe structural changes in glassy polycarbonate in terms of changes in the hole volume and the number density of holes during fatigue (cyclic stress) aging. The ortho-positronium (o-Ps) pickoff annihilation lifetime τ₃, as well as the intensity I₃, were measured as a function of cyclic stresses and various previous thermophysical aging histories. It is found that τ₃, the longest of the three lifetime components resolved in the PALS of glassy polycarbonate, increases when a cyclic stress is applied. These results indicate that there is a structural change during fatigue aging. The “holes” where o-Ps can localize become larger upon fatigue aging. These results also suggest that a significant distinction exists between structural changes induced by thermophysical aging and fatigue aging. The o-Ps annihilation intensity, which is a relative measure of the hole density in a material, showed a continuous decrease upon fatigue aging, indicating the possibility of hole coalescence, which could be a precursor of crazing. The interaction between thermophysical aging and fatigue aging corresponds very well with the enthalpy relaxation behavior as reported previously, viz., a well-aged sample is much more sensitive to cyclic stress. More importantly, it is hypothesized that fatigue failure initiation is probably closely related to hole size and density fluctuation.     

A positron annihilation lifetime measurement system with an intense positron microbeam

An intense positron microbeam was formed using an electron linear accelerator. The beam is pulsed to apply positron lifetime spectroscopy to very small samples and to obtain positron lifetime images by scanning it. Positron lifetimes are measured with time resolution of <300 ps and with lateral spatial resolution of 30–100 μm. A counting rate of the γ-ray to measure positron lifetime is about 10³ s⁻¹ which is 10 times higher than that achieved by the radioisotope based microbeam.     

On-line detection of emulsion polymerization by solid-state NMR spectroscopy

 The on-line detection of emulsion polymerization processes by means of solid-state NMR spectroscopy is demonstrated for the first time using poly(butyl acrylate) as a model system. Relatively short time intervals are accessible via ¹H detection while the use of ¹³C NMR spectroscopy results in an increased spectral resolution. Details of sample preparation and experimental techniques are given, while remaining artifacts of the preliminary results will be addressed in further investigations. Received: 7 November 1997 Accepted: 5 January 1998     

Analysis of swelling process of protein by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry

The change in the nanoscopic structure and bound state of water in the protein gel were investigated using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Gelatin was used as a protein. To examine the bound state of water in gelatin gel, the amount of freezing and nonfreezing water in gelatin gels were evaluated by fusion enthalpy of DSC curves. Below water content of 40% (w/w), the whole amount of water was nonfreezing water, whereas above water content of 40% (w/w), the amount of freezing water increased according to increase in water content. To investigate the nanoscopic spatial structure under coexistence of polymer and water, positron annihilation lifetime measurement was performed. The lifetime of o‐Ps or the pore size increased according to increase in water content, particularly below the water content of 40% (w/w). When the water penetrates into the gelatin network, the water molecules form hydrogen bonds with hydrophilic groups inside the helical structure in gelatin gel. The water molecules inside the helical structure expand the structure outward, leading to increase in pore size. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2031–2037, 2007.     

Characterization of poly(silylenemethylene)s by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy. I.

Amorphous and crystalline poly(silylenemethylene)s with the repeating PhRSiCH₂ (R : Me or Ph) units were characterized by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) to gain insights into the molecular motions of these polymers. The temperature dependence of the ortho-positronium lifetime (τ₃) and intensity (I₃) was examined from 50 to 470 K for each sample. The glass transition temperature of each polymer was easily distinguished by a change in the slope of τ₃ spectrum. Both polymers exhibited a steep drop of I₃ at 130–140 K being probably assignable to the transition arising from the motions of phenyl groups, which was almost undetectable by means of differential scanning calorimetry or dynamic mechanical analysis. Several other transitions of these polymers detected by PALS are also discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 755–761, 1998     

Topotactic solid-state polymerization of 3-aminocrotonamide by radiation

Radiation-induced solid-state polymerization of 3-aminocrotonamide (3-amino-2-butenamide) was carried out at room temperature, in open air atmosphere and under vacuum condition. The polymer obtained was white powder, soluble in methanol, but insoluble in water. The nature of polymers were investigated by IR, UV, x-ray, DP-MS, and elemental analysis to elucidate the mechanism of the polymerization. The polymer was crystalline with melting point in the range of 245–255°C. The cell parameters and space group of monomer and polymers were determined from powder x-ray diffraction patterns. The similarity of crystal structures of monomer and polymer indicated a topotactic polymerization. It was shown by spectroscopic investigations and elemental analyses that the polymerization proceeds by condensation reaction with evolution of one mole ammonia per two combined moles of monomer through a free radical mechanism. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Study of molecular motions in alkyl cyanobiphenyls using positron lifetime spectroscopy

Positron lifetime measurements have been carried out in two liquid-crystal-forming homologues of alkyl cyanobiphenyls, 7CB and 10CB. In each of these two compounds measurements were performed during the heating cycle of samples prepared either by quenching or by slow cooling from the respective liquid crystalline phase. In both compounds, the behavior of quenched and slow-cooled samples is found to be different. Unlike the slow-cooled sample, the material in the quenched sample seems to have transformed into a glassy solid. Theo-Ps pick-off lifetime in the quenched sample exhibits a strong temperature dependence. In each case, its value exhibits six broad peaks at various characteristic temperatures which have been ascribed to various motions associated with the molecules of these compounds. The quenched samples of 7CB and 10CB exhibit glass transitions at 268 and 266 K, respectively. The present work demonstrates an interesting application of positron lifetime spectroscopy (PLS).     

Free volume‐size dependence on temperature and average molecular‐weight in poly(ethylene oxide) determined by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy

Positron lifetime measurements were carried out in a series of poly(ethylene oxide)—PEO—of different average molecular weights (M _w): 1000, 1500, 6000, 10,000, 300,000, and 4 M. The mean radius (R ) and the mean free volume size (V_f) values were determined using a semiempirical equation that correlates the ortho‐positronium (o‐Ps) lifetime (τ₃) and size of holes existing in the amorphous phases. The hole mean radius values determined at room temperature from lifetime spectra were found to be between 2.68 and 2.97 Å, and the hole volumes between 80 and 110 ų. Free volume size evolution was studied with temperature variation until the melting temperature of the PEO samples. The degree of crystallinity and the melting temperatures were determined by Differential Scanning Calorimetry. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 219–226, 1999     

Peculiarities of the thermal polymerization of the complex-bonded acrylamide

Peculiarities of the thermal polymerization of acrylamide bonded in a complex with Co^II, Ni^II, or Cu^II nitrate have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The polymerization can occur in the regions prior to the melting of the complex, during melting, or right after it, depending on the rate of heating and the nature of the complexing agent. The effect of the addition of water and inorganic or polymeric powders on the form and character of the polymerization thermograms, which have a complex multimodal structure in the polymerization region, has been studied. The analysis of the results obtained indicates that during heating and melting complexes of a number of structures differing in their polymerization properties are formed.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 1410–1413, August, 1993.     

The temperature dependence of the local free volume in polyethylene and polytetrafluoroethylene: A positron lifetime study

Positron lifetime measurements, performed in the temperature range 80–300 K, are reported for polyethylene (PE) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The lifetime spectra have been analyzed using the data processing routines LIFSPECFIT and MELT. Two long-lived components appear, which are attributed to pick-off annihilation of ortho-positronium in crystalline regions and at holes in the amorphous phase. The ortho-positronium lifetimes, τ₃ and τ₄, are used to estimate the crystalline packing density and the size of local free volumes in the crystalline and amorphous phases. The interstitial free volume in the crystals exhibits a weak linear increase with the temperature which is attributed to thermal expansion of the crystal unit cell. In the amorphous phase, the hole volume varies between 0.053 and 0.188 nm³ (PE) and between 0.152 and 0.372 nm³ (PTFE). Its temperature variation may be fitted by two straight lines, the intersection of which is used to estimate a glass transition temperature of T_g = 195 K for both PE and PTFE. The slopes of the free volume in the glassy and crystalline phases with the temperature correlate well with each other. The coefficients of thermal expansion of the hole volume are compared with the macroscopic volume change below and above the glass transition. From this comparison a fractional hole volume at T_g of 4.5 (PE) and 5.7% (PTFE) and a number of 0.73 (PE) and 0.36 (PTFE) × 10²⁷ holes/m³ is estimated. Finally, it is found that the intensity of o-Ps annihilation in crystals shows a different temperature dependence to that in the amorphous phase. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 1513–1528, 1998     

Free volumes in polystyrene probed by positron annihilation

Free volume characteristics in three samples of monodisperse polystyrene were investigated by positron annihilation technique over a temperature range from 300 to 380 K. The number-average molecular weight of the samples ranged from 5730 to 1,524,000. The observed lifetime spectra were resolved into three components, where the longest lifetime, τ₃ was associated with the pick-off annihilation of ortho-positronium (o-Ps) trapped by free volumes. The change of the temperature coefficient of τ₃ was observed at around 350 K, at which the value of τ₃ was a constant value of 2,3 ns for all specimens with different molecular weights. There was no discrete change of τ₃ in intensity, which is corresponding to the number of free volumes. The size of free volume at glass transition was evaluated to be 0.l nm³. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Positron annihilation lifetime study of PTFE/silica composites

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) was used to study the microstructure of PTFE/silica composites. The positron lifetimes (τ_n) and intensities (I_n) of PTFE and the composites (30-62% silica) were measured at room temperature as a function of specimen thickness. Four lifetime components were found in PTFE and the composites. The longer lifetime components, τ₃ = 1.4 ns and τ₄ = 4.4 - 4.1 ns, were interpreted to be due to the presence of two different sized free volume cavity distributions within the PTFE/silica composites. A strong silica concentration dependence was found in the bulk intensities (I_3b and I_4b). The I_3b value increased from 13.0% in PTFE to 28.2% in the 62% composite, while the I_4b value decreased from 17.5% in PTFE to 4.5% in the 62% composite. The smaller-void size, free volume fraction (τ₃I_3b) values increased linearly between 0 and 100% silica concentration, while the larger void size, free volume fraction (τ₄I_4b) values decreased nonlinearly with silica concentration. Since silica has a long lifetime component (τ₃ = 1.6 ns), this behavior is ascribed to silica particles occupying the large free volume cavities (370 ų) in the PTFE/silica composites. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Solvent‐free synthesis of polyacrylamide by frontal polymerization

Polymerization and characterization of polyacrylamide prepared by frontal polymerization are described. Frontally polymerized polyacrylamide is imidized and crosslinked during polymerization. Imide formation was determined by elemental analysis. The addition of commercial polyacrylamide or barium carbonate to the monomer (acrylamide) and initiator (potassium persulfate) decreased the reaction temperature from 235 °C to < 100 °C, thereby reducing imide formation. The commercial polyacrylamide‐diluted product, frontally polymerized polyacrylamide‐diluted product, and the barium carbonate‐diluted product were characterized by IR, TGA, and elemental analysis. Molecular weights of barium carbonate‐diluted samples were determined by light scattering and found to be on the order of one million. Conversion of the barium carbonate‐diluted product was determined to be 76 ± 6%, independent of the amount of diluent over the range 0.8:1–1.5:1. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1129–1135, 2000     

Thermal polymerization of acrylamide during the formation of the structures of acrylamide complexes with metal nitrates

The effects of the composition of Mn^II, Co^II or Ni^II nitrate hydrate — acrylamide (AAM) mixtures and of the duration of their aging at ambient temperature on the structurization of acrylamide complexes and on the character of their thermal polymerization have been studied by scanning and isothermic differential calorimetry. Structurization is a rather prolonged step in the synthesis of acrylamide complexes. The peculiarities and rate of this step are determined by the composition of the mixture and by the nature of the complexforming compound; it yields several structural modifications of the AAM complexes. The thermal polymerization of those structural forms of acrylamide complexes that polymerize at low temperatures may be formally described as polymerization in an acrylamide-nitrate-water mixture. The effective activation energy of the polymerization of acrylamide mixed with Mn^II nitrate hydrate is 45 kJ mol^–1.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 679–683, April, 1995.This work was carried out with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Project No. 93-03-4162.     

Solid-state polymerization of hexaphenylcyclotrisiloxane

The anionic solid-state polymerization of triclinic crystals of hexaphenylcyclotrisiloxane (HPhTS) initiated by KOH and potassium oligo(methylphenylsiloxane) has been studied. It was found that this reaction can yield high molecular weight poly(diphenylsiloxane) (PDPhS) with a specific viscosity up to 5 (1 wt % diphenyloxide solution at 145°C). The main features of the process are as follows: (a) this is a heterogeneous reaction that proceeds inward from the surface of HPhTS crystals; (b) the crystalline polymer is obtained from the crystalline trimer; (c) OPhTS simultaneously forms along with the polymer; (d) the specific viscosity of the resulting polymer remains constant or decreases with polymerization time and, consequently, with the conversion of HPhTS; and (e) the crystallinity of polymerized PDPhS samples depends inversely on its specific viscosity. Together, these features suggest that polymerization and crystallization proceed successively. The morphologies of the resulting PDPhS phase revealed by means of scanning electron microscopy are consistent with this mechanism. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35: 1973–1984, 1997     

Radical polymerization of vinyl monomer having diacylurea moiety

N-acryloyl-N′-benzoylurea ( 1 ) was prepared and its radical homopolymerization and copolymerization with styrene were carried out. 1 was synthesized yield by the reaction of benzoylisocyanate and acrylamide in tetrahydrofuran in 78%. Radical polymerization of 1 was carried out at 60 or 80°C in DMF (0.1-2.5M) for 5 h in a sealed tube using AIBN (3 mol %) or BPO (3 mol %) as initiators to obtain poly(N′-acryloyl-N′-benzoylurea) ( 2 ) as a methanol-insoluble part in good yield (75–82%) independent of concentration. Number-average molecular weights of 2 were 2700–91,900. Furthermore, copolymerization of 1 with styrene was carried out in various feed ratios to confirm the alternating character in the copolymerization (r₁r₂ = 0.21) and Q, e values of 1 were evaluated as 0.52, 1.16, respectively. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The crystal structure of 1,4-benzenedithiol by rietveld analysis and studies on the mechanism of solid-state addition polymerization of 1,4-benzenedithiol to 1,4-diethynylbenzene

The crystal structure of 1,4-benzenedithiol (BDT) was determined by the Rietveld method based on the calculation of the atomic coordinates of the BDT molecule using the Molecular Mechanics Program (MMP2). The refined crystal structure of BDT was monoclinic P₂₁/c with dimensions, a = 7.795, b = 7.290, c = 5.955 Å, β = 92.16°, z = 2. The R factor of the refined structure was 0.038. Using above results, the mechanism of solid-state addition polymerization of BDT to 1,4-diethynylbenzene (DEB) was studied. Sublimed BDT piles up onto glass plate substrate and forms the layer structure along with the a axis. An inclination angle of the piled BDT column was 60° toward the substrate surface. DEB crystal structure was also monoclinic P₂₁/c with a = 4.007, b = 6.018; c = 15.340 Å, β = 91.42°, z = 2. Sublimation of equimolar mixture of BDT and DEB gave a crystal having 1 : 1 composition, in which DEB column is situated between the columns of BDT. Relative arrangement of both monomers was suitable for the addition of  SH and  CCH groups, since the distance between the two groups is 3.3 Å by CERIUS II calculation. Therefore, the addition polymerization of BDT to DEB easily proceeded by UV irradiation and the resulting polymer had a highly layer structure along with the a axis of BDT crystal. Tentatively estimated crystal structure of polymer obtained is monoclinic with a = 7.73, b = 7.30, c = 5.95 Å, β = 92.16°. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35 : 1621–1625, 1997