Synthesis and association of poly(N,N‐dimethylacrylamide) copolymers with perfluorocarbon pendent groups connected through polyethylene‐glycol tethers

The synthesis is reported of copolymers of N,N‐dimethylacrylamide (DMA) and methacrylates containing 2,2′‐dihydroperfluorodecanoyl (RF) groups separated from the methacrylate by long polyethylene glycol (PEG) tether groups (between 1000 and 14,000 Da). At concentrations of between 1 and 8 wt % the copolymers with macromonomer contents of 1 mol % or less give gels in organic solvents such as dioxane, THF, or methanol, as well as in water. Given the low molecular weights, this indicates very efficient association of very low numbers of RF groups. Association and gel formation is enormously enhanced in the presence of longer PEG tethers. This is consistent with smaller poly(N,N,‐dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA) intermolecular excluded volume effects that are mediated by the longer PEG tethers and possibly by the incompatibility of PEG and PDMA that may lead to the formation of PEG microdomains. This increases the local concentrations of the RF groups in the PEO domains that are not diluted by the PDMA chains, as would be the case in the absence of PEG tethers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 360–373, 2004     

Behavior of cellulose in NaOH/Urea aqueous solution characterized by light scattering and viscometry

Cellulose was dissolved in 6 wt % NaOH/4 wt % urea aqueous solution, which was proven by a ¹³C NMR spectrum to be a direct solvent of cellulose rather than a derivative aqueous solution system. Dilute solution behavior of cellulose in a NaOH/urea aqueous solution system was examined by laser light scattering and viscometry. The Mark–Houwink equation for cellulose in 6 wt % NaOH/4 wt % urea aqueous solution at 25 °C was [η] = 2.45 × 10^?2 weight‐average molecular weight (M_w)^0.815 (mL g^?1) in the M_w region from 3.2 × 10⁴ to 12.9 × 10⁴. The persistence length (q), molar mass per unit contour length (M_L), and characteristic ratio (C_∞) of cellulose in the dilute solution were 6.0 nm, 350 nm^?1, and 20.9, respectively, which agreed with the Yamakawa–Fujii theory of the wormlike chain. The results indicated that the cellulose molecules exist as semiflexible chains in the aqueous solution and were more extended than in cadoxen. This work provided a novel, simple, and nonpollution solvent system that can be used to investigate the dilute solution properties and molecular weight of cellulose. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 347–353, 2004     

NMR investigation of concentrated alumina and silica slurries

The longitudinal relaxation times (T₁) of water in concentrated silica and alumina slurries were measured as a function of solids content. It was shown that the results could be fit very well with a two-phase fast-exchange model between free and surface-bound water. As expected, values of T₁ for bound water were in the order of 20–2000 times lower than that for free water, indicating a higher effective viscosity of the surface-bound water. The strength of the interaction depended on the particular surface, and all of the aluminas examined interacted more strongly with water than the two silicas studied, which themselves differed considerably. The chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) removal rate of tantalum by silica slurries was shown to be directly correlated with the interaction parameters, derived from the NMR relation times rather than with total surface hydroxyl group concentration.     

The Squeezing Effect in a Mesoscopic RLC Circuit

Using the path integral method we derive quantum wave function and quantum fluctuations of charge andcurrent in the mesoscopic RLC circuit. We find that the quantum fluctuation of charge decreases with time, oppositely,the quantum fluctuation of current increases with time monotonously. Therefore there is a squeezing effect in the circuit.If some more charge devices are used in the mesoscopic-damped circuit, the quantum noise can be reduced. We also findthat uncertainty relation of charge and current periodically varies with the period π/2 in the under-damped case.     

Effect of end groups on complexation kinetics between cyclodextrins and guest polymers

α‐Cyclodextrin (α‐CD) has been complexed with various poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) derivatives in aqueous solution. It has been found that the end groups of PEG derivatives affect the complexation kinetics greatly, but have only a little influence on the thermodynamic behavior. By increasing the hydrophobicity of end groups, the complexation speeds up rapidly. On the other hand, the bulky end groups slow down the threading of polymeric guests into the cavity of CD. By changing the hydrophobicity and the size of end groups, the complexation rate can be adjusted in the range of several orders of magnitudes, which should be quite useful in the design of new supramolecular systems. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2050–2057, 2006     

Spectral Representation Theory for Dielectric Behavior of Nonspherical Cell Suspensions

Recent experiments revealed that the dielectric dispersion spectrum of fission yeast cells in a suspension was mainly composed of two sub-dispersions. The low-frequency sub-dispersion depended on the cell length, while the high-frequency one was independent of it. The cell shape effect was simulated by an ellipsoidal cell model but the comparison between theory and experiment was far from being satisfactory. Prompted by the discrepancy, we proposed the use of spectral representation to analyze more realistic cell models. We adopted a shell-spheroidal model to analyze the effects of the cell membrane. It is found that the dielectric property of the cell membrane has only a minor effect on the dispersion magnitude ratio and the characteristic frequency ratio. We further included the effect of rotation of dipole induced by an external electric field, and solved the dipole-rotation spheroidal model in the spectral representation.Good agreement between theory and experiment has been obtained.     

Melt rheology of polylactide/montmorillonite nanocomposites

In this article, the linear and nonlinear shear rheological behaviors of polylactide (PLA)/clay (organophilic‐montmorillonite) nanocomposites (PLACNs) were investigated by an Advanced Rheology Expanded System rheometer. The nanocomposites were prepared by master batch method using a twin‐screw extruder with poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) as a compatibilizer. The presence of org‐MMT leads to obvious pseudo‐solid‐like behaviors of nanocomposite melts. The behaviors caused by the formation of a “percolating network” derived from the reciprocity among the strong related sheet particles. Therefore, the storage moduli, loss moduli, and dynamic viscosities of PLACNs show a monotonic increase with MMT content. Nonterminal behaviors exists in PLACNs nanocomposites. Besides the PLACNs melts show a greater shear thinning tendency than pure PLA melt because of the preferential orientation of the MMT layers. Therefore, PLACNs have higher moduli but better processibility compared with pure PLA. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 3189–3196, 2007     

Nonlinear rheological behavior of silica filled solution‐polymerized styrene butadiene rubber

The reinforcement and nonlinear viscoelastic behavior have been investigated for silica (SiO₂) filled solution‐polymerized styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR). Experimental results reveal that the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of the filled rubber is similar to that of unfilled SSBR, which is inconsistent with the general concept that this characteristic comes from the breakdown and reformation of the filler network. It is interesting that the curves of either dynamic storage modulus (G′) or loss tangent (tan δ) versus strain amplitude (γ) for the filled rubber can be superposed, respectively, on those for the unfilled one, suggesting that the primary mechanism for the Payne effect is mainly involved in the nature of the entanglement network in rubbery matrix. It is believed there exists a cooperation between the breakdown and reformation of the filler network and the molecular disentanglement, resulting in enhancing the Payne effect and improving the mechanical hysteresis at high strain amplitudes. Moreover, the vertical and the horizontal shift factors for constructing the master curves could be well understood on the basis of the reinforcement factor f(φ) and the strain amplification factor A(φ), respectively. The surface modification of SiO₂ causes a decrease in f(φ), which is ascribed to weakeness of the filler–filler interaction and improvement of the filler dispersion. However, the surface nature of SiO₂ hardly affects A(φ). © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2594‐2602, 2007     

Polymerization of cyclopentadiene initiated by methylaluminoxane

The polymerization of cyclopentadiene (CPD) was effectively initiated by methylaluminoxane (MAO) to generate poly(cyclopentadiene) (polyCPD). The effects on the polymerization of some reaction parameters such as the monomer concentration, the initiator concentration, and solvents were investigated. The conversion of CPD was monitored with gas chromatography to investigate the reaction kinetics. The polymerization rate was proportional to the concentrations of MAO in the first order and of the CPD monomer in the second order, and a reasonable cationic polymerization mechanism was suggested on the basis of the kinetic study. PolyCPD obtained at a low temperature could be dissolved in toluene or chloroform, and this indicated lower cross‐coupling during the polymerization reaction. ¹H NMR and IR analysis of the polymer indicated that there were almost equal amounts of 1,2‐enchainment and 1,4‐enchainment in the polymer chain. The measurement of polyCPD showed its unique properties as a potential candidate for stable wrappings or electronic packaging materials. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 264–272, 2006     

Novel Poly（thienylene Ethynylene）s with Electron-accepting Groups

Since the early works of A. J. Heeger, A G. MacDiarmid and Hideki Shirakawa on semiconducting polymers, π-conjugated oligomers and polymers have been actively investigated for a variety of optoelectronic applications, such as field effect transitors (FET…