Ultrasonic Solution Degradations of Polystyrene and Substituted Polystyrenes in Tetrahydrofuran as Solvent

Abstract

Ultrasonic (70 W, 20 kHz) solution (2% THF) degradations of polystyrene (PS), poly(α-methylstyrene) (PαMeS), poly(p-isopropyl α-methylstyrene) (PpiPrαMeS), poly(p-chlorostyrene) (PpCIS), poly(p-bromostyrene) (PpBrS), and poly(p-methoxystyrene) (PpOMeS) have been carried out in tetrahydrofuran at 27° C. The average number of chain scissions S (where S = [(M _n)₀/(M _n)_t] - 1), computed from the overall values of [(M _n)₀ and (M _n)_t, were found to be different from those of S' (where S' = α([(M _n)₀/(M _n)_t] - 1)) based on the component (only that part of the polymer which is involved in degradation) data of the weight fraction (α), (M _n)₀, and (M _n)_t), S' for polystyrene and substituted polystyrene follows the order PS gt; PpCIS gt; PpiPrαMeS gt; PpBrS gt; PpOMeS gt; PαMeS. In the case of PS where degradations were also carried out at -20°C, lowering of the temperature increased the weight fraction of polymer degraded as well as S. Based on the viscosity and GPC data, it is concluded that the ultrasonic solution degradation of PS does not lead to branched polymers.     

Thermal Decomposition and Glass Transition Temperature Study of Poly-p-isopropylstyrene

Thermal decomposition and glass transition temperature studies have been carried out on poly-p-isopropylstyrene (PpiPrS) with a differential scanning calorimeter. The un-decomposed polymer as well as its decomposition products were analyzed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). During isothermal treatments in the 25–150°C temperature range (α < 3%), the observed increase in M arose primarily from interchain linking between the longer radical-bearing chains. Beyond 315°C (α > 6%), the molecular weight increases result from crosslinking reactions between decomposed polymer and longer undecomposed chains. During interchain linking, the number of isomethyl groups (iso-CH³) increase. In the crosslinking reactions that take place at temperatures beyond 315°C, the number of iso-CH³ and terminal or α-methyl groups (α-CH³) both increase while the number of methylene groups (CH²) decreases. Activation energies of decomposition for various homologs of polystyrene (PS) obey the following order: E_PS > E_PpiPrS > E_PpiPrαMeS ≥ E_PαMeS. A comparison of the Tg_e values of PS with those of PpiPrS, poly-α-methylstyrene (PαMeS) and poly-p-isopropyl-α- methylstyrene (PpiPrαMeS) shows that the presence of the p-isopropyl groups lowers the T_g of PS as well as that of PaMeS by about 30–35° K.     

Polymerization of α-Methylstyrene with Potassium as Initiator. VII. Thermal Decomposition of the Reaction Products

The polymerization of α-methylstyrene, initiated with high concentrations of potassium in tetrahydrofuran and in p-dioxane or with a butyllithium-tetramethylethylenediamine complex in bulk, was carried out at temperatures above 25°C. The resulting products comprising varying proportions of both low (D + A of [Mbar]w = 2.0 to 4.0 × 10³) and high (B + C of [Mbar]W > 20.0 × 10³) molecular weight components were subjected to 50 min isothermal treatments at different temperatures. The poly-α-methylstyrene samples, prepared under the above mentioned solvent-conditions, which had similar proportions of components D + A and B + C, as characterized by gel permeation chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance showed that their thermal stability decreased with the following order of solvent-conditions: Bulk > p-dioxane > THF. A comparison of the decomposition results obtained with polymers made up of components D + A and B + C and those made up exclusively of component B + C showed that the percent weight-loss and the decrease in molecular weight associated with the latter component B + C is more pronounced when the low molecular weight component D + A is present.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Photoactive Amphiphilic Polymers

We have synthesized light sensitive nano micelles for their applications as drug delivery agents. Various azo compounds having different dipole moment values have been covalently attached to an amphiphilic pegylated co‐polymer and their light sensitive behavior has been studied in both aqueous and organic media with ultra violet light to understand the light dependent supramolecular organization.     

Kinetics of Alkali-Catalyzed 2,5-Dimethylphenol-Forrnaldehyde Reaction

A kinetic study of the reaction between 2,5-dimethylphenol (2,5-DMP) and formaldehyde has been carried out at 65, 70, 75, and 80 ± 0.05° C by using sodium hydroxide as the catalyst. The solvent mixture used in the kinetic experiments was 50% (v/v) methanol-water. The various alkali concentrations used were 0.003, 0.006, 0.010, 0.018 and 0.025 N. The reaction was found to obey second-order rate law. The rate of reaction was observed to increase with an increase in the alkali concentration. The effect of changing the reactant concentrations and the nature of the solvent was also studied. The overall rate constant has been resolved into stepwise rate constants. The entropy of activation and Arrhenius parameters for the overall reaction have also been calculated.     

Polymerization of α-Methylstyrene at High Temperatures in Tetrahydrof uran with Potassium as Initiator. I. Thermodynamic Study and Gel-Permeation Chromatographic Analyses of the Polymers

The acetals of aryl aldehydes react with aryl amines to produce Schiff bases in quantitative yields. This reaction was also facile with diamines and diacetals. It involves a two-step elimination of alcohol; kinetic data indicate that k ₂ is equal to or greater than k ₁ and this complicates the isolation of any intermediate compound.

Because of overlap of absorption bands, the existence of intermediates was not confirmed by infrared spectral measurements. Adducts of the acetals and the aniline hydrochlorides were isolated as hydrochlorides; their molecular weights, as well as the products obtained by neutralization, indicated that the intermediate is not a monoalkoxy compound. The acetals react, also, with N-acyl aniline by the elimination k ₁ of the alcohol and k ₂ of the ester, in which k ₁ k ₂, to produce Schiff bases in less than quantitative yields. These reactions of acetals with amines and their N-acyl derivatives are of interest in the syntheses of polymers.     

Ultrasonic Degradation of Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Solutions in Water,Ethanol, and Tetrahydrofuran

Ultrasonic degradations of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) have been carried out in water, ethanol, and tetrahydrofuran (THF) solutions. In the HPC-water system, cavitation intensity did not increase linearly with ultrasound intensity because of a lower threshold of ultrasonic intensity below which cavitation does not occur. At 27°C the rate of degradation in the three solvents followed the order water > ethanol > THF which is not in line with their characteristic impedance values. The rate of degradation for 20 kHz, 70 W ultrasound intensity was found to increase with a decrease in solution volumes, concentration of HPC, and temperature. Increased rate of degradation at lower temperatures supports the concept based on sonoluminescence experiments that it is the cavitation in a polymer solution that is responsible for ultrasonic degradations and the dissolved polymer molecules do not act as cavitation nuclei. Increased surface tension and density of the solvent are thought to be responsible for improved cavitation at low temperatures. Infrared spectroscopy and x-ray analysis of HPC subjected to ultrasonic treatments remained unchanged, suggesting that there were no chemical or structural (e.g., degree of order) changes on irradiation. The decreases in molecular weights on irradiation arise due to random chain scission whereas similar decreases in Huggins coefficients can be attributed to physical changes (decrease in molecular weight or branching) in the degraded HPC samples.     

Dispersion of circumferential waves in cylindrically anisotropic layered pipes in plane strain

Dispersion spectra of circumferential waves along the periphery of circular pipes made of layered anisotropic materials do not seem to be available in literature. This note attempts to partially fill this gap by providing the dispersion spectra in two and three layered cylindrically anisotropic pipes in plane strain motion. The spectra for pipes executing time harmonic vibrations in plane strain condition are obtained as roots of a numerical characteristic equation derived extending a weighted residual method of solution of the governing equations for a single layer pipe [Towfighi et al., J. Appl. Mech. 69, 283-291 (2002)] to a general N layered pipe. The anisotropic elastic coefficients are considered to be independent of position coordinates and the bond condition at interfaces of the layers is assumed to be perfect. Numerical illustrations are presented for two and three layered pipes with anisotropy directions differing in adjacent layers. Increase in curvature of the pipe and inclination of the fiber orientation in the outermost layers to propagation direction are factors that seem to influence the mode number and pattern within the limited examples worked out.     

A Tailored Heptazine-Based Porous Polymeric Network as a Versatile Heterogeneous (Photo)catalyst

A heptazine-based microporous polymeric network, HMP-TAPA was synthesised by direct coupling of trichloroheptazine and tris(4-aminophenyl)amine (TAPA). A high surface area of 424 m²/g was achieved, which is the highest surface area among heptazine-based polymeric networks (HMPs). The tailored electron-donor and -acceptor units in HMP-TAPA give broad visible-light absorption. HMP-TAPA was employed as metal-free photocatalyst for oxidative coupling of amines to imines under visible light irradiation with 98 % selectivity. Furthermore, the surface basicity of HMP-TAPA was used to achieve metal-free heterogeneous base catalysis for Knoevenagel condensation under base-free conditions with >99 % conversion. In addition, HMP-TAPA showed extreme robustness over a wide pH range (1–14). The versatility and flexibility of the current material design is beneficial for understanding its photoactivity and surface basicity so as to design dual active (photo)catalyst materials for specific applications.