Potassium,rubidium and ammonium salts of μ‐(formato‐κ2O:O′)‐μ‐oxido‐bis[oxidobis(peroxido‐κ2O,O′)molybdate(VI)]

The unit‐cell parameters of the three title salts, namely, tripotassium, K₃[Mo₂(CHO₂)O₃(O₂)₄], trirubidium, Rb₃[Mo₂(CHO₂)O₃(O₂)₄], and triammonium μ‐(formato‐κ²O:O′)‐μ‐oxido‐bis[oxidobis(peroxido‐κ²O,O′)molybdate(VI)], (NH₄)₃[Mo₂(CHO₂)O₃(O₂)₄], which were all crystallized at pH 3, are quite similar, but the potassium and rubidium salt structures are noncentrosymmetric, whereas that of the ammonium salt is centrosymmetric. Formate acts as an O:O′‐bridging ligand in the complex anion and is bound to a μ‐oxido‐bis(oxidodiperoxidomolybdate) unit.     

Counterion mixing effects on the conformational transitions of polyelectrolytes. I. Volume phase transition and coil‐globule transition of alkali metal poly(acrylate)s

Counterion mixing effects on the volume phase transition and the coil‐globule transition of alkali metal poly(acrylate)s (PAAM) in aqueous organic solvents were investigated by observing the swelling behavior of PAAM gel and by measuring the solution viscosity and the conductivity as a function of the counterion mixing ratio. Marked transitions to the collapsed states were induced only for Li⁺/Cs⁺ system in most solvent systems; namely, PAA gel significantly collapsed in the presence of Li⁺ and Cs⁺ counterions irrespective of the solvent species employed, while only a slight deswelling was observed for Li⁺/K⁺ system in some aqueous organic solvents. Corresponding specific decrements in the solution viscosity and conductivity were also confirmed for the combination of Li⁺ and Cs⁺ in aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) system. A simple analysis of the conductivity decrement observed for Li⁺/Cs⁺ system in 60 vol % DMSO suggested that only Cs⁺ is tightly bound upon addition of Li⁺ while no restriction is induced for Li⁺ upon mixing with Cs⁺. A working hypothesis is proposed for the apparently intriguing behaviors of the counterions in the mixed system. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 2122–2131, 2009     

Synthesis of novel hyperbranched polymer through cationic ring‐opening multibranching polymerization of 2‐hydroxymethyloxetane

The cationic ring‐opening multibranching polymerization of 2‐hydroxymethyloxetane ( 1 ) as a novel latent AB₂‐type monomer was carried out using trifluoromethane sulfonic acid or trifluoroboron diethyl etherate by a slow‐monomer‐addition (SMA) method. The polymer yield of poly‐1 ranged from ca. 58–88%, which increase with the increasing monomer addition time on the SMA method. The absolute molecular weights (M_w,MALLS) and the polydispersities of poly‐1 were in the range of 8,000–43,500 and 1.45–4.53, respectively, which also increased with the increasing monomer addition time. The Mark‐Houwink‐Sakurada exponents α in 0.2 M NaNO₃ aq. were determined to be 0.02–0.25 for poly‐1 , indicating that poly‐1 has compact forms in the solution because of the highly branched structure. The degree of the branching value of poly‐1 , which was calculated by Frey's equation, ranged from ca. 0.50 to 0.58, which increased with the increasing monomer addition time. The steady shear flow of poly‐1 in aqueous solution exhibited a Newtonian behavior with steady shear viscosities independent of the shear rate. The results of the MALLS, NMR, and viscosity measurements indicated that poly‐1 is composed of a highly branched structure, i.e., the hyperbranched poly (2‐hydroxymethyloxetane). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Enhanced Capacitive Characteristics of Activated Carbon by Secondary Activation

The effect of the improvement of commercial activated carbon(AC) on its specific capacitance and high rate capability of double layer(dl) charging/discharging process has been studied. The improvement of AC was carried out via a secondary activation under steam in the presence of catalyst NiCl2, and the suitable condition was found to be a heat treatment at about 875 ℃ for 1 h. Under those conditions, the discharge specific capacitance of the improved AC increases up to 53. 67 F/g, showing an increase of about 25% as compared with that of as-received AC. The good rectangular-shaped voltammograms and A.C. impedance spectra prove that the high rate capability of the capacitor made of the improved AC is enhanced significantly. The capacitance resistance (RC) time constant of the capacitor containing the improved AC is 1.74 s, which is much lower than that of the one containing as-received AC(an RC value of 4. 73 s). It is noted that both kinds of AC samples show a similar specific surface area and pore size distribution, but some changes have taken place in the carbon surface groups, especially a decrease in the concentration of surface carbonyl groups after the improvement, which have been verified by means of X-photoelectron spectroscopy. Accordingly, it is suggested that the decrease in the concentration of surface carbonyl groups for the improved AC is beneficial to the organic electrolyte ion penetrating into the pores, thus leading to the increase in both the specific capacitance and high rate capability of the supercapacitor.     

Phase Development Mechanism during Drawing from Highly Entangled Polyethylene Melts

Summary: The phase development mechanism during drawing from a highly entangled melt of ultra‐high‐molecular‐weight polyethylene is analyzed by simultaneous measurements of in situ X‐ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation and stress/strain behavior. The stress/strain curve exhibits a plateau region at the initial stage of the draw, and no crystalline reflections appear on a series of in situ X‐ray diffraction patterns. However, as the sample draw proceeds above a critical strain, a metastable hexagonal reflection appears and becomes predominant, where the stress/strain curve still shows a plateau deformation. With a further increase of the strain, the intensity of the hexagonal reflection peak begins to decrease and subsequently that of the usual orthorhombic ones increase. Correspondingly, a rapid increase of draw stress, because of the strain‐hardening behavior, is recorded.

Stacked line profiles extracted from in situ WAXD patterns along the equatorial direction. The red profile was obtained at the critical time of 162.5 s.     

Synthesis of A New Terpyridine Ligand Combined with Ruthenium(II) Complex and its Usage in the Stepwise Fabrication of Complex Polymer Wires on Gold

Summary: A ruthenium complex-combined terpyridine ligand, tpyRu(dpp)-(epe)- tpyPF₆, was synthesized. Stepwise coordination reactions at the gold surface using this ligand gave Co-Ru hetero-metal complex wires, [ 1Co1Ru ], which underwent reversible redox reactions of both redox complex units.     

Geometrical minimum units of fracture patterns in two-dimensional space: Lattice and discrete Walsh functions

We present the geometrical minimum units of fracture patterns in two-dimensional space. For this analysis, a new method is developed from the algebraic approach: the concept of lattice (a type of partially ordered set) is applied to the discrete Walsh functions that have been used to measure symmetropy (an object related to symmetry and entropy) of fracture patterns. We concluded that the minimum units of fracture patterns can be expressed as three kinds of lattice. Our model is applied to the temporal change of the spatial pattern of acoustic-emission events in a rock-fracture experiment. As a result, the symmetropy of lattice decreases with the evolution of fracture process. We find that the pre-nucleation process of fracture corresponds to the subcritical states, and the propagation process to the critical states. Moreover, using a particular mathematical structure called sheaf on a lattice, we suggest the algebraic interpretation of fracture process, and provide justification to regard fracturing as an irreversible process.     

Development of high‐performance networked polymers consisting of isocyanurate structures based on selective cyclotrimerization of isocyanates

Selective and quantitative cyclotrimerization of p‐tolylisocyanate proceeded by using sodium p‐toluenesulfinate as a catalyst and 1,3‐dimethylimidazolidinone as a solvent. Exploitation of this system to the cyclotrimerization of methylene diphenyl 4,4′‐diisocyanate (MDI) permitted formation of the corresponding networked polymer, which was selectively consisted of isocyanurate moiety and thus exhibited excellent thermal stability. Utilization of phenyl isocyanate (PhNCO) as a comonomer with varying feed ratio [MDI]₀/[PhNCO]₀ allowed successful control of flexibility of the networked polymers, while retaining its high thermal stability. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011