LAMELLAR STRUCTURE OF THERMOTROPIC LIQUID CRYSTALLINE POLYMERS

The lamellar structure of a thermotropic aromatic polyester with flexible spacer has beenstudied by using transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the lamellar structure couldbe observed in the crystalline samples of this semirigid polymer crystallized from different states.The thickness of lamellae is around 10 nm, which is similar to that of the conventional polymersof flexible chain molecules. The molecular chains in the lamellae are oriented in the thicknessdirection as determined by electron diffraction. The possibility of molecular chains folding in the lamellae has been discussed.     

DETERMINATION OF PHASE INVERSION POINT IN THE EMULSIFICATION OF POLYMERS

Polymer Physics Laboratory, Institute of Chemistry,The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China     

A STUDY ON RADIATION CROSSLINKING OFPOLYDIMETHYLSILOXANE （PDMS） RUBBER LATEX

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) rubber latex with two sorts of sensitizers, trimethylol propane tri-methacrylate (TMPTMA) and diethylene glycol di-acrylate (DEGDA), was irradiated with y-rays and electron beams in various conditions. The radiation crosslinking reaction of PDMS occurs in the inner phase of the latex and is relatively isolated from the water phase. Therefore the oxygen and the radicals produced by the radiolysis reaction of water almost have no effect on the crosslinking reaction of polymer. The experimental data correspond with the Charlesby-Pinner relationship in the main. The gelation doses, degree of crosslinking and degradation as well as G values of crosslinking were calculated. From them, the sensitization coefficients were derived to offer a quantitative measurement of the enhancing effect of sensitizer on the radiation crosslinking.     

STUDIES ON ENHANCED CONDUCTIVITY OF STRETCHED CONDUCTING POLYMERS

A physical model of series of the conductivity on chain and the interchain conductivitybetween chains is proposed to explain enhanced conductivity of stretched conducting polymers.This model suggests that the enhanced conductivity for stretched conducting polymers might bedue to increasing of the interchain conductivity between chains along the elongation direction afterdrawing processes if the conductivity on chain is assumed much larger than that of the interchainconductivity between chains. According to this model, it is expected that the temperaturedependence of conductivity measured by four-probe method for stretched conducting polymers iscontrolled by a variation of the interchain conductivity between chains with temperature, whichcan be used to explain that a metallic temperature dependence of conductivity for stretchedconducting polymers is not observed although the conductivity along the elongation direction isenhanced by two or three orders of magnitude.     

EFFECTS OF CHAIN STRUCTURE OF POLYPYRROLONES ON THE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF PYROLYZED POLYPYRROLONES

Three kinds of polypyrrolones (PMDA-DAB, PMDA-TADPE and DEDA-DAB) werepyrolyzed at high temperature in order to study the effect of the chain structure of polypyrro-lones on the electrical properties of the pyrolyzed polymers. Results show that the num-ber of fusing rings in the main chain of polymers has a little effect on the pyrolysis pro-cess, whereas, the ether bond in the main chain plays an important role during pyrolysis.Structure characterizations by elemental analyis, XPS spectra, X-ray diffraction and SEMimages indicate that because the ether bond is easy to break, it is difficult to form largearea planar network. This hampers the formation of the graphite-like structure in thepolypyrrolones containing ether bond even after being pyrolyzed at 1200℃.     

RADIATION CROSSLINKING OF BRANCHED POLY (VINYL ACETATE)

In the present work, radiation crosslinking of different branched poly (vinyl acetate) have beemstudied and the validity of the relationship between sol fraction and radiation dose: R(S+S~(1/2)=1/U_(1qo)+p′_o/q_oR~βto branched poly(vinyl acetate) have been assured.     

DIPOLE POLARIZATION RELAXATION AND MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF MAIN-AND SIDE-CHAIN LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE POLYMERS

Molecular mobility in thermotropic polyesters and side-chain polymers with different struc-ture of mesogens and spacers has been studied by dielectrical method in dilutesolutions. The results made it possible to establish the multiplicity of dielectric relaxationtransitions which reflects the small- and large-scale types of molecular motion. It was shownthat dielectric relaxation processes occurring in accordance with local mechanism (relaxationtimes 10~(-9)--10~(-7)s. and the activation energy 10--50kJ/mol) are due to the mobility of kineticchain elements of different length within a monomer units. It was found that the dielectricrelaxation process connected with a large-scale form of molecular motion (relaxation times10~(-5)--10~(-6)s. and the activation energy 100kJ/mol) did not depend on the molecular massbut was infiuenced by factors changing the conformational state of the macromolecule. It isestablished tha the cooperative reorientation mobility of associated mesogenic fragments isthe source of the large-scale process.     

A NEURAL NETWORK STUDY ON GLASS TRANSITION TEMPERATURE OF POLYMERS

In this paper, an atificial neural network model is adopted to study the glass transition temperature of polymers. Inour artificial neural networks, the input nodes are the characteristic ratio C_∞, the average molecular weigh M_e betweenentanglement points and the molecular weigh M_(mon) of repeating unit. The output node is the glass transition temperature T_g,and the number of the hidden layer is 6. We found that the artificial neural network simulations are accurate in predicting theoutcome for polymers for which it is not trained. The maximum relative error for predicting of the glass transitiontemperature is 3.47%, and the overall average error is only 2.27%. Artificial neural networks may provide some new ideas toinvestigate other properties of the polymers.     

SYNTHESES AND PROPERTIES OF SOME ORGANOSILANE POLYMERS

Some organosilane polymers with high molecular weights have been synthesized by cocondensztion of organosilicon dihalide monomers with sodium metal in toluene. These polymers are both soluble in common solvents and meltable at lower temperatures, and can be molded, cast into films or drawn into fibers. Exposure of the solid polymers to ultraviolet light leads to degradation or crosslinking.     

EFFECT OF IRRADIATION TEMPERATURE ON GENERAL EQUATION OF SOL FRACTION-DOSE RELATIONSHIP FOR FLUOROPOLYMERS

In this paper, the effect of irradiation temperature on sol fraction-dose relationship of tluoropolymers was studied. It was found that the increasing of irradiation temperature can result in the decreasing of βvalue of fluoropolymer, which increases the crosslinking probability of fluoropolymer. The relationship between crosslinking parameter βand irradiation temperature (T_i)of fluoropolymer is established as follows:β=2.2×10~(-3) T_g+4×10~(-4)(T_g-T_i)+0.206.values of some tluoropolymers calculated from the above expression are in agreement with the experimental values.     

STUDY ON THERMAL DECOMPOSITION KINETICS OF URUSHIOL METAL CHELATE POLYMERS

The thermal decomposition kinetics of urushiol-Cu, urushiol-Nd and urushiol-Ti chelatepolymers has been studied by non-isothermal thermogravimetry. The results suggest that thethermal decomposition kinetics of three chelate polymers are all of first order. Their averageactivation energy values of the thermal decomposition calculated by Ozawa-(I) method are 110,79, 136. 98 and 163. 64 kJ mol~(-1) respectively, which increase linearly with the metal valence of themetal chelate polymers     

THE EFFECTS OF MONOMER STRUCTURE OF CYCLIC KETENE ACETALS ON THE BEHAVIOR OF CONTROLLED RADICAL RING-OPENING POLYMERIZATION

Polymerization of three cyclic ketene acetals: i.e., 5,6-benzo-2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane (BMDO), 2-methylene-4-phenyl-1,3-dioxolane (MPDO) and 4, 7-dimethyl-2-methylene-1, 3-dioxepane(DMMDO) were carried out in the presence ofethyl α-bromobutyrate/CuBr/2, 2'-bipyridine respectively. The structures of poly(BMDO), poly(MPDO) and poly(DMMDO)were characterized by ~1H and ~(13)C-NMR spectra. The effects of monomer structure on the behavior of atom transfer freeradical ring-opening polymerization were investigated and the mechanism of controlled free radical ring-openingpolymerization was discussed.     

THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF KINETICS OF NONISOTHERMAL CRYSTALLIZATION OF POLYMERS

The classical crystallization theories proposed by Avrami, Evans, and Mandelkern wereextended to the nonisothermal situation. The expressions derived from the classical equations canbe expressed in either the differential form or the integral form. A method was provided so as toobtain the parameters characterizing the crystallization rate and mechanism from DSC curves withseveral constant heating or cooling rates. The rate constants of crystallization obtained from bothisothermal and nonisothermal curves of poly(ethylene terephthalate)were compared.     

THE EFFECTS OF IRRADIATION ON THE THERMAL PROPERTIES OF SEMI-CRYSTALLINE POLYAMIDES

Irradiation crosslinking of semi-crystalline polyamides was performed by high energy electronswith various dosages. It is known that the melting behavior of the polymers after irradiation is acomplex phenomenon. In company with the wide angle X-ray diffraction and DSC data of irradiatedand unirradiated polyamides it is possible to develop the local order and perfection of the crystallinitiesslightly which resulted from introduction of intermolecular crosslinking in amorphous region, incl-uding in amorphous-crystalline interface and crystalline defect regions due to irradiation. It canbe explained that slight increase of melting temperature (T_m) and heat of fusion (△H_f) with increasingdosage for both of higher crystallinity nylon 4 and nylon 6. For irradiated lower crystallinity nylons,in contrast, the T_m and △H_f decrease obviously with increasing dosage. In this case, radiation cross-linking "freeze in" the pre-existing morphology, and then the prevention for reorganization duringheating is a dominant effect. The T_m from the second melting for all of the samples were depressed,corresponding with Flory theory. Therefore the crosslinks imposed on the molecules restrainedthe molecular mobility, and that not only depresses the crystallinity but also increases the imperfec-tion of crystallites when the radiated polymer melted and then recrystallized. These are also reflectedin the depression of heat and entropy of fusion as well as the appearance of double melting peakson the DSC thermograms.     

CROSSLINKING AND COMPATIBILIZATION IN BLENDS OF POLYSTYRENE AND POLYETHYLENE

This paper investigated the influences of butadiene rubber (BR) and dicumylperoxide (DCP) on thermal and rheological behaviour, morphology and mechanical proper-ties of PS/LLDPE/SBS blend. Addition of DCP alone was found to decrease the mechanicalproperties of PS/LLDPE/SBS blend due to the decomposition of PS. When BR was addedtogether with DCP, it is found that the co-crosslinking of BR, SBS and PE takes place,and the decomposition of PS is reduced simultaneously because of the consumption of thefree radicals in the crosslinking process. Synergism was thus realised which resulted in theimprovement of the ductility of blend.     

STUDY ON UV CURABLE POWDER COATINGS BASED ON HYPERBRANCHED POLYMERS*

By introducing semicrystalline moieties into hyperbranched molecular smictures three kinds of prepolymers of potential use as UV powder coatings were prepared and characterized.     

THE EFFECTS OF HINDERED AMINES ON METHYL METHACRYLATE POLYMERIZATION

The effects of hindered amines, such as TMP, TMPM, TUV-770, on MMA and St homopoly-merization have been studied. It was found that in the MMA polymerization initiated with BPO orAIBN, the presence of TMPM, TUV-770 prolonged the induction period and a little change on R_p wasobserved. However, in the presence of TMP R_p increased slightly. The activation energy of poly-merization and polymerization rate equation were determined.     

STATISTICAL MODELS FOR SEMI-RIGID NEMATIC POLYMERS

Semi-rigid liquid crystal polymer is a class of liquid crystal polymers different from long rigidrod liquid crystal polymer to which the well-known Onsager and Flory theories are applied. Inthis paper, three statistical models for the semi-rigid nematic polymer were addressed. They arethe elastically jointed rod model, worm-like chain model, and non--homogeneous chain model.The nematic-isotropic transition temperature was examined. The pseudo-second transition tem-perature is expressed analytically. Comparisons with the experiments were made and the agree-ments were found.     

THE EFFECT OF POLAR ADDITIVES ON THE γ RADIATION INDUCED POLYMERIZATION OF STYRENE*

The γ induced polymerization of styrene in the presence of polar additives such as tributylphosphate, triethyl amine and ethanol was studied at dose rate of 5.0×10~(17) eV/ml. min. The re-sult shows that radiation induced polymerization of styrene was sensitized by the three kinds ofadditives at the approximate same rate and the experimental results were in agreement with thetheoretical calculation of WAS equation. The cause of sensitization is due to the proton transfer.     

REACTION MECHANISM OF BENZOPHENONE-PHOTOINITIATED CROSSLINKING OF POLYETHYLENE

The radical intermediates, the crosslink microstructures, and the reaction mechanism of benzophenone (BP)-photoinitiated crosslinking of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and model compounds (MD) have been reviewed in detail.The spin-trapping electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra obtained from the LDPE/BP systems with spin-trap agents showthat two kinds of polymer radical intermediates are mainly formed: tertiary carbon and secondary carbon radicals. The spin-trapping ESR studies of MD/BP systems give further evidence that photocrosslinking reactions of PE predominantly takeplace at sites of tertiary carbon, secondary carbon, and especially allylic carbon when available. The high resolution ~(13)C-NMR spectra obtained from LDPE and MD systems show that the crosslink microstructures have H- and Y-type links andthat their concentrations are of the same order. The fluorescence, ESR ~(13)C and ~1H-NMR spectra from the PE and MDsystems demonstrate that the main photoreduction product of BP(PPB) is benzpinacol formed by the recombination of twodiphenylhydroxymethyl (K·) radical intermediates. Two new PPB products: an isomer of benzpinacol with quinoid structure,1-phenylhydroxymethylene-4-diphenylhydroxymethyl-2, 5-cyclohexadiene and three kinds of α-alkyl-benzhydrols have beendetected and identified. These results provide new experimental evidence for elucidating the reaction mechanism in the BP-photoinitiated crosslinking of polyethylene.