Reactive compatibilization of poly(styrene-Co-maleic anhydride)/poly(phenylene oxide) blends

Primary amine terminated polystyrene (PS-NH₂), with Mn=12,000 g/mol and Mw=23,000 g/mol, was applied as a reactive compatibilizer for poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride)/poly(phenylene oxide) (SMA/PPO) blends, in which both an impact modifier for the continuous SMA phase, viz. ABS, and the dispersed PPO phase, viz. SEBS, was incorporated. During melt blending, SMA-g-PS copolymers are generated at the interface between the SMA/ABS and the PPO/SEBS phases. The addition of 10 wt % of the reactive PS-NH₂ compatibilizer to a SMA/ABS/PPO/SEBS 30/30/30/10 blend results in a more significant refinement of the dispersed PPO/SEBS particles than 10 wt % of a commercially available, bulky PS-graft-PMMA copolymer with Mn=45,300 and Mw=293,400 g/mol. In addition, PS-NH₂ gives a more pronounced enhancement of the yield stress, the stress at break and the notched Izod Impact than the PS-g-PMMA. On the other hand, the elongation at break is higher in the case of the non-reactive PS-g-PMMA. It was demonstrated that surface imperfections, probably introduced by an observed strongly elastic character due to partial crosslinking of the SMA/ABS phase by difunctional H₂N-PS-NH₂, are responsible for the lower elongation at break for the PS-NH₂ based blends.     

Transport properties of water in hydroxypropyl methylcellulose

The relation between the self-diffusion coefficient, D_self, of water and the free volume hole size, V_h, has been investigated in a hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC)-water system in the water content range 0.08-0.36 w/w, at room temperature. Furthermore, the thermal properties of the water in the HPMC-water system, as measured with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the tensile storage, E′, and tensile loss, E″, moduli, of the HPMC-water systems, as determined with dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), have been probed. Pulsed-field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG NMR) was used to measure the D_self of water and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) was used to measure the ortho-Positronium (o-Ps) lifetime in the HPMC-water system. The glass transition temperature of the HPMC was found to be reduced by the water to room temperature in the water content range 0.10-0.15 w/w. The relation between ln D_self of water and the inverse free volume hole size of the HPMC-water system was non-linear. Furthermore, the PALS measurements showed that molecular water co-existed with water clusters in the HPMC-water system.     

Span‐Length Distributions of Star‐Branched Polymers

Many relations between the physical, rheological or mechanical properties of linear polymers and their molar mass are well known. For disperse polymers, parameters that express these relations are typically related to (a combination of) the moments of the molar‐mass distribution. Properties of branched, nonlinear polymers have been far more difficult to describe in the form of general relations. Monodisperse star polymers or regular stars, with a distinct number of arms and equal arm length, are the simplest member of the family of branched polymers and have served as model compounds in many studies. For these regular stars, the relation between zero shear viscosity and arm or span length has been determined. To establish equivalent relations for disperse star‐branched polymers, it is important to assess the span‐length distribution and its moments; these parameters can be calculated when the distribution of the molar mass of the arms of a star‐branched polymer is known, for instance, for a known polymerization mechanism.

Span‐length probability functions of star‐branched polycondensates with x_n = 100: f = 1 (•), f = 2 (○), f = 3 (▪), f = 5 (□), and f = 10 (+).     

Depth profiling of porcine adipose tissue by Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy was applied on a depth profile of porcine adipose tissue (from skin to meat) with the purpose of (1) discriminating between fat layers and (2) estimating the variation in fatty acid composition as a function of fat depth and fat layer: total degree of unsaturation (iodine value), fractions of saturated, and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The thickness and composition of the outer layer of porcine adipose tissue influences the final quality of backfat. A too‐thick outer layer is associated with problems such as oily appearance, rancidity development, and difficulties in separating muscle and adipose tissue when cutting. From principal component analysis on standard normal variate preprocessed Raman spectra (1800–800 cm^–1), it was possible to discriminate between the outer and the inner backfat layer. Principal component analysis loadings showed that the separation of layer was mainly explained by variation in the bands originating from vibration of double bond C = C stretching plus = C–H twisting and rocking. In the prediction of iodine value a three‐component partial least squares regression model based on full range Raman spectra showed a root mean square error of cross validation of 2.00 and R² = 0.69. Applying Cauchy–Lorentz band fitting proved that information regarding fat unsaturation was found not only in band intensity, but also in band parameters such as location and width. The results suggest Raman spectroscopy as a potential measurement technique for rapid grading of pork carcasses. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multicomponent synthesis of 3,6-dihydro-2H-1,3-thiazine-2-thiones

Non-fused 3,6-dihydro-2H-1,3-thiazine-2-thiones constitute a so far rather unexplored class of compounds, with the latest report dating back more than two decades. Thiazine-2-thiones contain an endocyclic dithiocarbamate group, which is often found in pesticides, in substrates for radical chemistry and in synthetic intermediates towards thioureas and amidines. We now report the multicomponent reaction (MCR) of in situ-generated 1-azadienes with carbon disulfide. With this reaction, a one-step protocol towards the potentially interesting 3,6-dihydro-2H-1,3-thiazine-2-thiones was established and a small library was synthesized.     

Collision induced absorption in the a1Δ(v = 2) ← X3Σg(-)(v = 0) band of molecular oxygen

Using cavity ring-down spectroscopy we measured the collision induced absorption spectrum associated with the a(1)Δ(v = 2) ←X(3)Σ(g)(-)(v = 0) band of oxygen near 922 nm both in pure oxygen and in mixtures of oxygen and nitrogen. For pure oxygen, we report for this band an integrated absorption of (1.56 - 0.04/+0.40) × 10(-5) cm(-2) amg(-2). We find that collisions between oxygen and nitrogen do not result in any measurable CIA signal. At 1 bar of oxygen, this collision induced transition is much stronger than the allowed magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole transitions.     

Formation and structure of ionomer complexes from grafted polyelectrolytes

We discuss the structure and formation of Ionomer Complexes formed upon mixing a grafted block copolymer (poly(acrylic acid)-b-poly(acrylate methoxy poly(ethylene oxide)), PAA₂₁-b-PAPEO₁₄) with a linear polyelectrolyte (poly(N-methyl 2-vinyl pyridinium iodide), P2MVPI), called grafted block ionomer complexes (GBICs), and a chemically identical grafted copolymer (poly(acrylic acid)-co-poly(acrylate methoxy poly(ethylene oxide)), PAA₂₈-co-PAPEO₂₂) with a linear polyelectrolyte, called grafted ionomer complexes (GICs). Light scattering measurements show that GBICs are much bigger (~70–100 nm) and GICs are much smaller or comparable in size (6–22 nm) to regular complex coacervate core micelles (C3Ms). The mechanism of GICs formation is different from the formation of regular C3Ms and GBICs, and their size depends on the length of the homopolyelectrolyte. The sizes of GBICs and GICs slightly decrease with temperature increasing from 20 to 65 °C. This effect is stronger for GBICs than for GICs, is reversible for GICs and GBIC-PAPEO₁₄/P2MVPI₂₂₈, and shows some hysteresis for GBIC-PAPEO₁₄/P2MVPI₄₃. Self-consistent field (SCF) calculations for assembly of a grafted block copolymer (having clearly separated charged and grafted blocks) with an oppositely charged linear polyelectrolyte of length comparable to the charged copolymer block predict formation of relatively small spherical micelles (~6 nm), with a composition close to complete charge neutralization. The formation of micellar assemblies is suppressed if charged and grafted monomers are evenly distributed along the backbone, i.e., in case of a grafted copolymer. The very large difference between the sizes found experimentally for GBICs and the sizes predicted from SCF calculations supports the view that there is some secondary association mechanism. A possible mechanism is discussed.