A conjugated alkyne functional bicyclic polybenzoxazine with superior heat resistance

A difunctional benzoxazine (coPh‐apa) with a conjugated alkyne group is synthesized by the oxidative coupling reaction from a monocycle‐benzoxazine (Ph‐apa) containing an alkyne group. A model compound, 1,4‐diphenylbutadiyne (coPa), is used to study the curing reaction process of coPh‐apa by DSC, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and ¹³C NMR, and the results suggest that the conjugated alkyne groups are involved in the crosslinking reaction via the trimerization reaction of the conjugated alkynyl groups and the Diels–Alder reaction. Furthermore, thermal properties of the polybenzoxazine are studied by dynamic thermomechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. A glass‐transition temperature (T_gs) of as high as 412 °C and a char yield of 75.6% at 800 °C under nitrogen are obtained with the aid of the conjugated alkyne groups. Its excellent heat resistance dominates most thermosetting resins and will serve for heat shields. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 1587–1592     

Nucleophilic substitution of ferrocenyl alcohols catalyzed by bismuth(III) in aqueous medium at room temperature

A nucleophilic substitution reaction of an α‐ferrocenyl alcohol with various amines, indoles and thiols was successfully developed by using a catalytic amount of Bi(NO₃)₃.5H₂O at room temperature without the aid of phase transfer catalyst. The reactions proceeded in aqueous media, leading to the formation of new C=C, C=N and C=S bonds bearing ferrocenyl substituent with high efficiency. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combined prostate diffusion tensor imaging and dynamic contrast enhanced MRI at 3T — quantitative correlation with biopsy

The purpose of this work was to compare diagnostic accuracy of Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE MRI) and their combination in diagnosing prostate cancer. Twenty-five patients with clinical suspicion of prostate cancer underwent MRI, prior to transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsies. MRI data were correlated to biopsy results. Logistic regression models were constructed for the DTI parameters, DCE MRI parameters, and their combination. The areas under the receiver operator characteristic curves (AUC) were compared between the models. The nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for statistical analysis. The sensitivity and specificity values were respectively 81% (74–87%) and 85% (79–90%) for DTI and 63% (55–70%) and 90% (85–94%) for DCE. The combination “DTI or DCE MRI” had 100% (97–100%) sensitivity and 77% (69–83%) specificity, while “DTI and DCE MRI” had 44% (37–52%) sensitivity and 98% (94–100%) specificity. The AUC for DTI+DCE parameters was significantly higher than that for either DTI (0.96 vs. 0.92, P=.0143) or DCE MRI parameters (0.96 vs. 0.87, P=.00187) alone. In conclusion, the combination of DTI and DCE MRI has significantly better accuracy in prostate cancer diagnosis than either technique alone.     

Ultra-lightweight cellulose foam material: preparation and properties

Ultra-lightweight cellulose foams were prepared by regeneration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)/cellulose/NaOH/urea blend solution via mechanical agitation and then freeze-drying. The morphology and properties of the blend solutions and foams were investigated via optical microscope, rheometer, BET and SEM. As a result, it was found that the inclusion complex structure between cellulose macromolecules and the solvent molecules was not destroyed. Moreover, the bubbles were about 20–50 μm in the solutions and larger (>100 μm) in the foams. Not only the micropores (bubbles) but also the nanopores could be observed in the wet and dried foams. The cellulose foams possessed ultra-low density of about 30 mg/cm³ and high specific surface area. The result of X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that the cellulose foams were transited from cellulose I to cellulose II after dissolution and gelation. Bubbles inside the wet foams weakened the mechanical properties, but inversely increased the mechanical properties in the dried foams. Typical “J”-shaped curves were observed during the mechanical test, which revealed good compressive strength of dried foams. In this work, cellulose foams with ultra-lightweight and good mechanical properties were obtained, which exhibited great potentials for further development and comprehensive utilization of cellulose.     

The Effect of Weight Fraction of H-PDMS on the Latex Membrane and the Stability of Composite Emulsion of H-PDMS/Acrylate

High hydrogen-containing polymethylsiloxane(H-PDMS)/polyacrylate composite emulsion was synthesized by a drop-adding method for monomer emulsion. The effects of weight fraction of H-PDMS on the stability of composite emulsion, water resistance and heat-aging resistance of the latex membrane have been investigated. The TEM demonstrated that latex particles are a core-shell structure. By analyzing the spectrums of FTIR and ¹H-NMR, it can be indicated that H-PDMS had reacted with acrylate monomer resulting chemical bond formation. The core-shell structure and chemical bond play an important role to restrain phase separation of composite emulsion and enhance the stability of the emulsion. By analyzing the surface tension, apparent viscosity and morphological structure, the results showed that the stable composite emulsion system can be obtained in which the average latex particle size was smaller than 90 nm when weight fraction of H-PDMS is below 16% (based on the weight of acrylate monomer), the stable emulsion system can be obtained in which the average latex particle size becomes larger than 90 nm when the weight fraction of H-PDMS is above 20% of the acrylate monomer. The DSC demonstrated that the T_g of pure polyacrylate is 49°C, and there is only one T_g (35°C) when the weight fraction of H-PDMS is 13%, but there are two T_g (15°C and 25°C) when the weight fraction of H-PDMS is 16%. In addition, the water resistance and heat-aging resistance of composite latex membrane enhanced gradually with the increase of amount of H-PDMS.     

Surface Modification of GTA Crosslinked Collagen‐based Composite Scaffolds with Low Temperature Plasma Technology

In this study for preparing the better performance scaffold materials for peripheral nerve repairing, the collagen‐based composite scaffolds are crosslinked with glutaraldehyde and their structure and performance are investigated. The results of FTIR indicated that the collagen and chitosan are certainly crosslinked through GTA without any significant change in the chemical property. It was observed under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) that the crosslinked collagen‐based composite scaffolds had a porous three‐dimensional cross‐linked structure. The experiments showed that the biostability of the scaffold is greatly enhanced, but the GTA crosslinking induces the potential cytotoxicity and poor hydrophilic nature. To overcome these disadvantages, the low temperature plasma technology is utilized to modify the surface of the cross‐linked collagen‐based composite scaffolds in this study. Measurements of water contact angle showed that hydrophilic nature of surface of the scaffolds was improved after low temperature plasma technology modification. The cell proliferation experiments revealed that the modified collagen‐based composite scaffolds still kept their bioactivity and benefited the proliferation.     

Characterizing affinity epitopes between prion protein and β-amyloid using an epitope mapping immunoassay

Cellular prion protein, a membrane protein, is expressed in all mammals. Prion protein is also found in human blood as an anchorless protein, and this protein form is one of the many potential sources of misfolded prion protein replication during transmission. Many studies have suggested that β-amyloid_1–42 oligomer causes neurotoxicity associated with Alzheimer''s disease, which is mediated by the prion protein that acts as a receptor and regulates the hippocampal potentiation. The prevention of the binding of these proteins has been proposed as a possible preventative treatment for Alzheimer''s disease; therefore, a greater understanding of the binding hot-spots between the two molecules is necessary. In this study, the epitope mapping immunoassay was employed to characterize binding epitopes within the prion protein and complementary epitopes in β-amyloid. Residues 23–39 and 93–119 in the prion protein were involved in binding to β-amyloid_1–40 and _1–42, and monomers of this protein interacted with prion protein residues 93–113 and 123–166. Furthermore, β-amyloid antibodies against the C-terminus detected bound β-amyloid_1–42 at residues 23–40, 104–122 and 159–175. β-Amyloid epitopes necessary for the interaction with prion protein were not determined. In conclusion, charged clusters and hydrophobic regions of the prion protein were involved in binding to β-amyloid_1–40 and _1–42. The 3D structure appears to be necessary for β-amyloid to interact with prion protein. In the future, these binding sites may be utilized for 3D structure modeling, as well as for the pharmaceutical intervention of Alzheimer''s disease.     

The Special Issue Dedicated to the Memory of Professor Wei-Shan Zhou(周维善)

This special issue is dedicated to the memory of thelate Professor Wei-Shan Zhou at Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry,Chinese Academy of Sciences.     

NiCF/ABS复合材料的制备及电磁屏蔽效能研究

探讨了碳纤维(CF)表面镍金属的化学镀工艺,制备了镀镍碳纤维(NiCF),采用密炼工艺制备了ABS基体复合材料,研究了CF和NiCF含量对复合材料的导电性能及电磁屏蔽效能的影响。结果表明:采用化学镀的方法在碳纤维表面镀覆了金属镍,所形成的镀层均匀致密;镀覆时间为5min时,镀镍后的碳纤维电阻率降低两个数量级;复合材料电阻率随CF、NiCF含量的增加而逐渐减小;复合材料电磁屏蔽效能随CF、NiCF含量的增加而逐渐增加,当NiCF含量为25%(wt)(约13.3vol%)时,电磁屏蔽效能最高可达51dB。