Metal Salt‐Induced Ferroelectric Crystalline Phase in Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Films

In this Communication, the effect of varying mass fractions (0–20 wt.‐%) of calcium chloride (CaCl₂) salt on the α‐ and β‐phase content of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) as‐cast films were investigated. Spectral and X‐ray studies revealed the maximum ferroelectric β‐phase for the addition of 15 wt.‐% of CaCl₂ in PVDF compared to neat PVDF samples. The dense β‐phase dominant PVDF–CaCl₂ (15 wt.‐%) thick film used as a ferroelectric insulator in one‐capacitor (1C) type random access memory device exhibited a remnant polarization of 3.1 µC · cm², and is a good indication that the unoriented PVDF–CaCl₂ films can be used in electronic applications without further stretching process.

     

Production of radicals in polyoxymethylene by ultraviolet photolysis: An EPR study

Polyoxymethylene (POM) was photolyzed at 2537 and at 3130 Å at ?196°C. The EPR spectra of the radical intermediates were recorded. Photolysis in vacuo produces a small number of radicals, apparently due to the presence of traces of chromophores. Photolysis in oxygen, however, is a type of photo-oxidation. The radicals HCO, , CH₃·, and HOO· were detected and identified as intermediate products of photolysis. Hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl radicals were too reactive (i.e., mobile) at ?196°C to be observed. Alkoxy and alkyl radicals and the POM peroxy radical were probably formed as well but could not be characterized with certainty.     

Jewelry Box of Morphologies with Mesoscopic Length Scales – ABC Star‐shaped Terpolymers

Among several star molecules studied so far, the results for two similar but slightly different systems composed of all hydrophobic components, i.e. one low T_g arm and two high T_g arms were compared and discussed mainly. They are polyisoprene‐arm‐polystyrene‐arm‐poly(2‐vinylpyridine) stars and polystyrene‐arm‐polybutadiene‐arm‐poly(2‐vinylpyridine) ones, and are abbreviated as ISP and SBV, respectively, in the original literatures. Several periodic Archimedean tiling patterns can be naturally formed when the relative lengths of three chains are similar one another in both series. Core‐shell type morphologies and actually three‐phase four layer lamellar structures were also commonly observed for two series. A quasicrystalline tiling with dodecagonal symmetry can also be conformed at the targeted composition of ISP/homopolymer blend and a zinc‐blende type structure was created at just a little outside of tiling region for the same blend. Furthermore, the several interesting structures from amphiphilic molecules, composed of a hydrophilic component, poly(ethylene oxide), a hydrophobic component, polymethylmethacrylate and a highly water‐repellent polymer poly(perfluoropropyleneoxide) are described and introduced.

     

Metastable decompositions of cyclopentanol ions and [C5H10O]+˙ ions with the oxygen on the first carbon

Ionized cyclopentanol and [C₅H₁₀O]+˙ ions with the oxygen on the first carbon lose methyl, ethylene, ethyl, ethane and water in their metastable decompositions. We show by collisionally activated decompositions of the products that the losses of ethyl form CH₃CH₂C?O⁺, the losses of ethylene form , and the losses of methyl probably yield . Deuterium labeling indicates that ethyl loss from ionized cyclopentanol occurs following α-cleavage of the ring, isomerization to the enol isomer of ionized n-pentanal and subsequent isomerization to the 3-pentanone ion.     

Synthesis of Well‐Defined Rod‐Coil‐Rod Polyhexylisocyanate‐block‐polystyrene‐block‐polyhexylisocyanate via One‐Pot Anionic Polymerization

A rod‐coil‐rod block copolymer, polyhexylisocyanate‐block‐polystyrene‐block‐polyhexylisocyanate, of controlled molecular weight was synthesized quantitatively via living anionic polymerization using potassium naphthalenide in the presence of sodium tetraphenylborate. The use of K⁺ as the counterion for the polymerization of styrene, and Na⁺ (NaBPh₄) for the polymerization of isocyanate leads to the formation of a well‐controlled novel triblock copolymer.

     

Very low-pressure pyrolysis (VLPP) of t-butylmethyl ether

The thermal decomposition of t-butylmethyl ether has been studied using the VLPP technique. The recommended Arrhenius parameters for the molecular elimination, reaction (1), are A(800°K) = 10^{1 3, 9} sec^?1 and E_a (800°K) = 59.0 ± 1.0 kcal/mole. No radical reactions occur under the conditions used. These parameters are in good agreement with earlier experimental work and with theoretical estimates of both A and E.     

Novel Biodegradable and Thermosensitive Dex‐AI/PNIPAAm Hydrogel

The dextran‐allyl isocyanate/poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (Dex‐AI/PNIPAAm) hydrogel was designed and prepared by copolymerization of the modified dextran with N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm). This novel Dex‐AI/PNIPAAm hydrogel is biodegradable and intelligent due to its biodegradable dextran linkage and thermosensitive PNIPAAm moiety. With an increase in dextran content, it exhibits the increased lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and decreased porous microstructure. Also, the thermosensitivity of this hydrogel is also controllable and adjustable depending on the different compositions.

SEM micrographs of the Dex‐AI/PNIPAAm hydrogels.     

Photolysis of carbon tetrachloride in the presence of alkanes

The photolysis of carbon tetrachloride in the presence of a number of alkanes has been investigated in the gas phase. The products obtained from the photolysis experiments were those expected from a chain reaction in which trichloromethyl radicals abstract hydrogen atoms from the alkane. The data have been used to determine Arrhenius parameters for hydrogen abstraction from the series of alkanes CH₄, C₂H₆, C₃H₈, and i-C₄H₁₀ by trichloromethyl radicals, The rate data obtained are used to explain why termination reactions involving alkyl radicals become less significant as the alkane becomes more complex.     

Massenspektrometrische Untersuchung organischer Stickstoffverbindungen. XXVII—Intramolekulare Redoxreaktionn bei ionisierten ortho-substituierten Nitroaromaten

Collisional activation demonstrates that the stable ions from o-nitrobenzaldehydedimethylacetale possess the structure of ionized o-nitroso benzoic acid methyl ester. Contrary to previous conclusions it is demonstrated that the structure of the stable ions (m/e 135) from different precursors [i.e. o-nitrobenzyl alcohol o-nitrobenzyl cyanide and o-nitrobenzaldoxime is best represented by 2,1-benzisoxazoline-3-one. Ionized o-nitrosobenzaldehtde rearranged to 2,1-benzisoxazoline-3-one prior to collision induced decomposition, whereas 2-benzoxazolinone and 3-hydroxy-1,2-benzisoxazole do not rearrange within 10^?5 s.     

Competition entre les réactivités dipolarophiles et nucléophiles des pyrazolines-2 dans l'action de l'oxyde de benzonitrile. Synthèse,identification, comportement chimique des tétrahydropyrazolo-[4,5-b] oxadiazoles-1,2,4

The reaction of benzonitrile oxide with different series of Δ²-pyrazolines provides evidence for the three reactive centers of compounds i.e., the dipolarophile reactivity of the C = N-bond, and the presence of the two the other nucleophilic sites: the N₁ nitrogen atom and the C₃ carbon atom for unsubstituted pyrazolines at these corresponding positions. Furthermore the regiospecificity of the cycloaddition reaction leading to new series of condensed heterocycles is well demonstrated.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of new benzo[f]furo[2,3‐h]‐and benzo[f]pyrano[2,3‐h]coumarin derivatives.

Furocoumarins 3,5 and pyranocoumarin 7 were synthesized from the reaction of furonaphthalenediones 2,4 and pyranonaphthalenedione 6 respectively with carbethoxymethylene(triphenyl)phosphorane in refluxing DCM for 3‐6 hours or under microwave irradiation in toluene for a few minutes. Compounds 3,5,7 and their precursors were tested as anti‐inflammatory/antioxidant agents. They were found to compete significantly high DMSO for OH radicals, to scavenge O₂^? and to inhibit lipoxygenase to a high extent.     

A Facile Method for Controlling the Molecular Weight of Hyperbranched Light‐Emitting Polymers

Summary: Two series of hyperbranched conjugated polymers were synthesized via an A₃ + B₂ type Wittig reaction. The molecular weights of the polymers were successfully tuned by simply changing the feed ratio of the monomers. Polymers with higher molecular weights presented more efficient photoluminescence, higher thermal stability and higher performance of LEDs.

     

Thermal decomposition of azoisopropane. I. Primary decomposition processes

The thermal decomposition of azoisopropane (AIP) was studied by detailed product analysis in the temperature and pressure intervals 498–563 K and 0.67–5.33 kPa. Besides the predominant termination and hydrogen-abstraction reaction of the 2-propyl radical, the decomposition is characterized by a very short chain process. The following rate constants were determined from the measurements for the following reactions:      

IR Laser‐Induced Degradation of Poly(vinyl acetate): Novel Thermal Reactions in Solid Polymers

Summary: Pulsed‐IR laser‐induced decomposition of poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAC) differs remarkably from its conventional pyrolysis, which results in the formation of acetic acid and non‐polar carbonaceous residue. In contrast, the products in the former case are (i) vinyl acetate (low energy channel), (ii) products of cleavage in the acetate group, and (iii) an ablatively deposited polar polymeric film containing roughly half of the acetoxy groups initially present.

Schematic of the different routes of poly(vinyl acetate) degradation.     

Stopped-flow studies of the mechanisms of ozone–alkene reactions in the gas phase propene and isobutene

The reactions of ozone with propene and isobutene have been studied in the gas phase at 298°K and 530 Pa (4 torr) using a stopped-flow reactor coupled to a photoionization mass spectrometer. Reactant and product concentrations were followed as a function of reaction time. The major reaction products monitored were CH₂O, CH₃CHO, CO₂, and H₂O from the propene reaction, and CH₂O, (CH₃)₂CO, CO₂, and H₂O from the isobutene reaction. The observations were interpreted on the basis of the Criegee mechanism for ozonolysis in solution: for which we find k_A≈k_B.In the gas phase the carbene peroxy radical is postulated to isomerize and decompose into molecular and free-radical products.     

Zur Darstellung von Cyclophosphaten,Cyclophosphatophosphonaten, Diphosphonaten und Diphosphiten in Harnstoffschmelzen

Preparation of Cyclophosphates, Cyclophosphatophosphonates, Diphosphonates, and Di-phosphites in Urea Melts Ammonium cyclotriphosphate (NH₄)P₃O₉, ammonium cyclotetraphosphate [P^IV? P^IV ? O? ]₂, ammonium cyclotriphosphatophosphonates Ammonium organyldiphosphonates And ammonium diphosphites are prepared in high yields on heating acidic phosphates, phosphonates, and phosphites in urea or urea/ammonium nitrate melts. The mechanism of the dehydration of phosphorus compounds containing POH groups in molten urea is discussed.     

Supramolecular Dynamics as Origin for Thermally Induced Insoluble‐to‐Soluble‐to‐Insoluble Transitions of Copolymers in Water

The synthesis of cationic mono‐(6‐O‐(1‐vinylimidazolium))‐ß‐cyclodextrin with toluenesulfonate as the corresponding anion is described. Free‐radical copolymerization of the resulting host–guest complex with N‐isopropylacrylamide or N,N‐diethylacrylamide yielded copolymers showing a temperature‐controlled solubility window in water. The impact of different anionic guests and salt concentrations on solubility behavior was investigated via turbidity measurements.

     

Glass Transition Temperature Depression at the Percolation Threshold in Carbon Nanotube–Epoxy Resin and Polypyrrole–Epoxy Resin Composites

Summary: The glass transition temperatures of conducting composites, obtained by blending carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or polypyrrole (PPy) particles with epoxy resin, were investigated by using both differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamical mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). For both composites, dc and ac conductivity measurements revealed an electrical percolation threshold at which the glass transition temperature and mechanical modulus of the composites pass through a minimum.

DC conductivity, σ_dc, as a function of the conducting filler concentration of the CNT– (▪) and PPy– (○) epoxy resin composites.     

Controllable Optical,Electrical, and Morphologic Properties of 3,4‐Ethylenedioxythiophene Based Electrocopolymerization Films

This contribution presents a kind of novel and neutral network films based on EDOT formed by in situ electrocopolymerization (ECP). The ECP films which are neutral and colorless exhibit the conductivity of 0.2–0.5 S · cm⁻¹, W_F of 4.79–5.20 eV, and RMS roughness of 3.51–5.26 nm. The electroluminescent devices where ECP films acted as hole‐transport layer (HTL) exhibit higher brightness, current density, efficiency (20–30% improvement), and stability than that of PEDOT:PSS HTL device. The ECP films also significantly benefit the stability of neighboring organic layer compared to PEDOT:PSS. This kind of new ECP films affords more opportunities to develop organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) with high performances and stability.