Synthesis and gas barrier characterization of poly(ethylene isophthalate)

Poly(ethylene isophthalate) (PEI) was synthesized for this research with essentially a condensation polymerization of isophthalic acid and ethylene glycol catalyzed by zinc acetate and antimony trioxide. Several samples were obtained, and their characteristics were observed and compared with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The synthesized PEI samples were chemically identified by ¹H NMR. Thermal analysis with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) yielded results that indicate the samples were primarily amorphous, with a glass‐transition temperature of 55–60 °C. Molecular weights of these PEI samples were also obtained through intrinsic viscosity measurements (Mark–Houwink equation). Molecular weights varied with conditions of the polymerization, and the highest molecular weight achieved was 21,000 g/mol. Finally, the diffusion coefficient, solubility, and permeability of CO₂ gas in PEI were measured and found to be substantially lower than in PET, as anticipated from their isomeric chemical structures. This is because in PET the phenyl rings are substituted in the para (1,4) positions, which allows for their facile flipping, effectively permitting gases to pass through. However, the meta‐substituted phenyl rings in PEI do not permit such ring flipping, and thus PEI may be more suitable for barrier applications. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4247–4254, 2004     

Shell effects in the symmetric-modal fission of pre-actinide nuclei

Mass distributions of fragments in the low-energy fission of nuclei from ¹⁸⁷Ir to ²¹³At have been analysed. This analysis has shown that shell effects in symmetric-mode fragment mass yields from the fission of pre-actinide nuclei could be described if one assumes the existence of two strongly deformed neutron shells in the arising fragments with neutron numbers N₁ ≈ 52 and N₂ ≈ 68. A new method has been proposed for quantitatively describing the mass distributions of the symmetric fission mode for pre-actinides with A ≈ 180–220.     

Research problems

This section appears from time to time. Contributions are invited, and should be submitted to R. C. Thompson, Mathematics Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106.     

III-V compound semiconductor (001) surfaces

There has been renewed interest in the structure of III-V compound semiconductor (001) surfaces caused by recent experimental and theoretical findings, which indicate that geometries different from the seemingly well-established dimer models describe the surface ground state for specific preparation conditions. I review briefly the structure information available on the (001) surfaces of GaP, InP, GaAs and InAs. These data are complemented with first-principles total-energy calculations. The calculated surface phase diagrams are used to explain the experimental data and reveal that the stability of specific surface structures depends largely on the relative size of the surface constituents. Several structural models for the Ga-rich GaAs (001)(4×6) surface are discussed, but dismissed on energetic grounds. I discuss in some detail the electronic properties of the recently proposed cation-rich GaAs (001)ζ(4×2) geometry. Received: 18 May 2001 / Revised version: 23 July 2001 / Published online: 3 April 2002     

Synthesis and characterization of a semiflexible liquid crystalline polyester with a broad nematic region

In this paper, we report on the synthesis and detailed characterization of a new semiflexible nematic liquid crystalline polyester which could serve as a 'model' polyester for a variety of physical and physico-chemical investigations. The polymer is a nematic liquid over a wide temperature range-from the glass transition temperature at ∼95°C to the isotropic transition at ∼240°C. We expect this polyester to be particularly useful for studying the effect of flow on the orientation of liquid crystalline polymers, as well as the production and removal of disclinations.     

Octahedral metallo-mesogens of chromium, molybdenum and tungsten with 1,4,7-trisubstituted 1,4,7-triazacyclononane and three carbonyl groups as ligands

Liquid crystalline complexes with chromium, molybdenum and with tungsten as metallic centres are reported. 1,4,7-Trisubstituted 1,4,7-triazacyclononane and three carbonyl groups are coordinated in an octahedral geometry. The observed mesophases are characterized as disordered rectangular columnar of a pyramidic type.     

1.2 Anorganische analyse

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Orientation and relaxation of polymer–clay solutions studied by rheology and small-angle neutron scattering

The influence of shear on viscoelastic solutions of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and clay [montmorillonite, i.e., Cloisite NA+ (CNA)] was investigated with rheology and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The steady-state viscosity and SANS were used to measure the shear-induced orientation and relaxation of the polymer and clay platelets. Anisotropic scattering patterns developed at much lower shear rates than in pure clay solutions. The scattering anisotropy saturated at low shear rates, and the CNA clay platelets aligned with the flow, with the surface normal parallel to the gradient direction. The cessation of shear led to partial and slow randomization of the CNA platelets, whereas extremely fast relaxation was observed for laponite (LRD) platelets. These PEO–CNA networklike solutions were compared with previously reported PEO–LRD networks, and the differences and similarities, with respect to the shear orientation, relaxation, and polymer–clay interactions, were examined. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3102–3112, 2004