Miscible blends of modified poly(aryl ether ketones) with aromatic polyimides

The phase behavior of binary blends of poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK), sulfonated PEEK, and sulfamidated PEEK with aromatic polyimides is reported. PEEK was determined to be immiscible with a poly(amide imide) (TORLON 4000T). Blends of sulfonated and sulfamidated PEEK with this poly(amide imide), however, are reported here to be miscible in all proportions. Blends of sulfonated PEEK and a poly(ether imide) (ULTEM 1000) are also reported to be miscible. Spectroscopic investigations of the intermolecular interactions suggest that formation of electron donoracceptor complexes between the sulfonated/sulfamidated phenylene rings of the PEEKs and the n-phenylene units of the polyimides are responsible for this miscibility. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Influence of Variable Convective Velocities on Longitudinal Diffusion

Solutions are presented for the impulsively started uniformstream and simple shear flows past a point source of momentum,which can be interpreted to describe the position and the widthof the front which transmits the knowledge of the singularitythrough a slightly viscous fluid. These understandings are thengeneralized to show that the front always moves with velocityslower than that of a (strictly monotonic) convective velocity,and also that its width always grows faster than with simplediffusion. Finally, a remarkably simple, exact expression is given forvorticity due to a simple shear flow past a point vortex.     

On the existence and the stability of solutions for higher-order semilinear Dirichlet problems

We investigate the existence and stability of solutions for higher-order two-point boundary value problems in case the differential operator is not necessarily positive definite, i.e. with superlinear nonlinearities. We write an abstract realization of the Dirichlet problem and provide abstract existence and stability results which are further applied to concrete problems.     

Shape transition from InAs quantum dash to quantum dot on InP(3 1 1)A

We report on the shape transition from InAs quantum dashes to quantum dots (QDs) on lattice-matched GaInAsP on InP(3 1 1)A substrates. InAs quantum dashes develop during chemical-beam epitaxy of 3.2 monolayers InAs, which transform into round InAs QDs by introducing a growth interruption without arsenic flux after InAs deposition. The shape transition is solely attributed to surface properties, i.e., increase of the surface energy and symmetry under arsenic deficient conditions. The round QD shape is maintained during subsequent GaInAsP overgrowth because the reversed shape transition from dot to dash is kinetically hindered by the decreased ad-atom diffusion under arsenic flux.     

Nonlinear optical properties of regioregular main‐chain polyesters

We have prepared new polyesters containing quadratic, nonlinear optical (NLO) active chromophores covalently incorporated into the main chain. In these polymers, the sequence of the chromophore units along the main chain is rigorously head to tail. All the polyesters are processable, both in the melt and in solution. For one polyester, a full second‐order NLO characterization has been performed. An out‐of‐resonance d₃₃ coefficient of 21 pm/V at 1368 nm has been measured. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2719–2725, 2007     

Influence of organic modifiers on morphology and crystallization of poly(ϵ‐caprolactone)/synthetic clay intercalated nanocomposites

ε‐caprolactone was polymerized in the presence of neat montmorillonite or organomontmorillonites to obtain a variety of poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL)‐based systems loaded with 10 wt % of the silicates. The materials were thoroughly investigated by different X‐ray scattering techniques to determine factors affecting structure of the systems. For one of the nanocomposites it was found that varying the temperature in the range corresponding to crystallization of PCL causes reversible changes in the interlayer distance of the organoclay. Extensive experimental and literature studies on this phenomenon provided clues indicating that this effect might be a result of two‐dimensional ordering of PCL chains inside the galleries of the silicate. Small angle X‐ray scattering and wide angle X‐ray scattering investigation of filaments oriented above melting point of PCL revealed that polymer lamellae were oriented perpendicularly to particles of unmodified silicate, while in PCL/organoclay systems they were found parallel to clay tactoids. Calorimetric and microscopic studies shown that clay particles are effective nucleating agents. In the nanocomposites, PCL crystallized 20‐fold faster than in the neat polymer. The crystallization rate in nanocomposites was also significantly higher than in microcomposite. Further research provided an insight how the presence of the filler affects crystalline fraction and spherulitic structure of the polymer matrix in the investigated systems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2350–2367, 2007     

Diblock copolymers based on allyl methacrylate: Synthesis,characterization, and chemical modification

Different diblock copolymers constituted by one segment of a monomer supporting a reactive functional group, like allyl methacrylate (AMA), were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Bromo‐terminated polymers, like polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA) were employed as macroinitiators to form the other blocks. Copolymerizations were carried out using copper chloride with N,N,N′,N″,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as the catalyst system in benzonitrile solution at 70 °C. At the early stage, the ATRP copolymerizations yielded well‐defined linear block copolymers. However, with the polymerization progress a change in the macromolecular architecture takes place due to the secondary reactions caused by the allylic groups, passing to a branched and/or star‐shaped structure until finally yielding gel at monomer conversion around 40% or higher. The block copolymers were characterized by means of size exclusion chromatography (SEC), ¹H NMR spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In addition, one of these copolymers, specifically P(BA‐b‐AMA), was satisfactorily modified through osmylation reaction to obtain the subsequent amphiphilic diblock copolymer of P(BA‐b‐DHPMA), where DHPMA is 2,3‐dihydroxypropyl methacrylate; demonstrating the feasibility of side‐chain modification of the functional obtained copolymers. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3538–3549, 2007     

Unified approach to best unbiased estimation in control problems and linear models

An analog of a sufficient statistic is proposed in the finite-dimensional linear space of statistics. It is shown that the unbiased estimator of the linear function of a parameter closest to a given function, expressed in terms of a minimal linearly sufficient statistic, is potentially unbiased and optimal.Translated from Statisticheskie Metody Otsenivaniya i Proverki Gipotez, pp. 51–58, 1986.