Permeability control in electro‐sensitive microcapsules with immobilized ferroelectric liquid crystalline segments

Nylon‐polystyrene microcapsules with immobilized ferroelectric liquid crystalline segments were prepared, and permeability control of an encapsulated core material was investigated under an external electric field. A ferroelectric liquid crystal monomer possessing both mesogenicity and chirality responded effectively to the external electrical field. Permeation of the material (oxprenolol) contained in the inner aqueous core of the microcapsules was enhanced under a weak electric field (2 V). Furthermore, the permeability of oxprenolol did not depend on the external electric field in the absence of the ferroelectric liquid crystal segments. To clarify the controlled‐release mechanism of the core material, the light transmittance of the polymer membranes was quantitatively evaluated under an external electric field using a handmade polarized light transmittance apparatus. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1749–1757, 2008     

Effects of Pluronics surfactants on morphology and porosity of hematite particles produced from forced hydrolysis reaction

The shape and porosity of hematite particles, produced from a forced hydrolysis reaction of acidic FeCl₃ solution, were controlled by using Pluronics as nonionic surfactants (0–4 wt.%). Pluronics possess a nominal formula of (PEO) _x –(PPO) _y –(PEO) _x . The effect of Pluronics with low hydrophilicity (PEO contents were less than 50 mol%) was small and provided spherical particles the same as that of the system without Pluronics (control system). However, Pluronics with higher hydrophilicity (PEO contents were over 50 mol%) gave ellipsoidal hematite particles. This effect on the particle morphology was enhanced by an increase in their molecular weight. On the other hand, the Pluronics possessing an opposite nominal formula [(PPO) _x –(PEO) _y –(PPO) _x ] exhibited no effect on the particle shape; it only depressed phase transformation from ?-FeOOH to hematite. Not only the morphology but also the pore size of hematite particles was controlled from nonporous to mesoporous by using Pluronics. The N₂ adsorption experiment and t-plot curve analysis revealed that the hematite particles changed from mesoporous to microporous by an increase in the concentration of Pluronics. On the other hand, in the presence of very low amounts of Pluronics molecules (0.1 wt.%), nonporous hematite particles were produced via strong aggregation of PN particles by their hydrogen bonding between hydroxyl and PEO or PPO groups. The dynamic light scattering measurement for the system with Pluronics clarified the existence of polynuclear (PN) particles with a hydrodynamic particle diameter (D _a) of ca. 40 nm after these were aged for 6 h. The size of PN particles remained constant at ca. 40 nm during aging time of 12 h～3 days, but the scattering intensity was decreased. This decrease in the scattering intensity reveals that the number of PN particles is reduced by aggregation. The transmission electron microscope, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, and total organic carbon analysis measurements employed on the systems produced for ellipsoidal particles elucidated that the formation of ellipsoidal hematite particles is attributed to the adsorption of Pluronics on the surfaces of PN and growing hematite particles.     

Phomactins K–M,three novel phomactin-type diterpenes from a marine-derived fungus

Three novel diterpenes, phomactins K–M (1–3), were isolated from the cultures of an unidentified marine-derived fungus. The structures of 1–3 were elucidated from spectroscopic data (NMR, MS, IR), and the absolute configurations of 1, 2, and the relative configuration of 3 were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis.     

Itinerant ferromagnetism in the multiorbital Hubbard model: a dynamical mean-field study

In order to resolve the long-standing issue of how itinerant ferromagnetism is affected by lattice structure and Hund's coupling, we compare various three-dimensional lattice structures in the single- and multiorbital Hubbard models with the dynamical mean-field theory with an improved quantum Monte Carlo algorithm that preserves the spin-SU(2) symmetry. The result indicates that both the lattice structure and the d-orbital degeneracy are essential for the ferromagnetism in the parameter region representing a transition metal. Specifically, (a) Hund's coupling, despite the common belief, is important, which is here identified to come from particle-hole scatterings, and (b) the ferromagnetism is a correlation effect (outside the Stoner picture) as indicated from the band-filling dependence.     

Reducing end-group of cellulose as a reactive site for thermal discoloration

Thermal discoloration of cellulose (Avicel PH-101 and Whatman No. 42 filter paper) was studied in N₂ at 160-280 °C with glycerol-treated and NaBH₄-reduced samples, to understand the role of the reducing end. Thermal discoloration of glycerol-treated Avicel PH-101, in which some of the reducing ends were converted into glycosides (non-reducing ends), was suppressed compared with the original cellulose, and the level of suppression was directly related to the extent of glycosylation of the reducing ends. The stabilization efficiency of glycerol-treated Whatman No. 42 filter paper suggested that the reducing ends newly formed by reduction of the degree of polymerization (DP) (to about 200) during heat treatment contributed to the discoloration. The important role of the reducing ends in thermal discoloration was supported by the stabilization of Avicel PH-101 by reduction with NaBH₄ (giving a reducing end content that was 2% of that of the original cellulose). Thermally induced discoloration was also inhibited by heating cellulose in suspension in the polyether tetraethyleneglycol dimethylether, which has been reported to inhibit the thermal degradation of reducing sugars.