Surface characterization of fluorinated polymers (PTFE, PVDF, PFA) for use in ultratrace analysis

Surface characterization of new unused PTFE, PFA and PVDF labware has been carried out by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, profilometry and atomic force microscopy. It has been found that in spite of higher micro-roughness, PFA exhibits the lowest nano-roughness and hence seems best suited as vessel material for relatively mild pressureless chemical operations for sample preparation of ultrapure substances, as container material for storage of ultrapure liquids, and for transport of such liquids, e.g., from the producer in the chemical to the end user in the microelectronics industry. This suitability refers only to the surface quality of the investigated materials. PTFE-surfaces, due to the sintering process of production, exhibit the most unfavourable surface quality of the investigated fluorinated polymers.     

The response of microstructure to processing in a series of poly(siloxaneimide) copolymers

Poly(siloxaneimide) (PSI) segmented copolymers exhibit organized microdomains if the blocks are sufficiently incompatible. As with neat diblock and triblock copolymers, the processing route employed to prepare films of PSI materials is expected to influence the dimensions and/or morphology of the resultant microstructure. In this work, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is utilized to characterize the disordered microstructure found in films of a series of PSI copolymers which are subjected to solvent casting and various thermal treatments. Microstructural dimensions such as the periodicity and correlation length are deduced from the Teubner-Strey (TS) model for disordered microemulsions. The scattering intensity of each copolymer up to q = 5.0 nm^?1, where q is the scattering vector, is found to scale as q^?2.8+?0.1. Results indicate that processing the materials as cast films or as melt-pressed films allowed to cool slowly has a small, but discernible, effect on microstructural characteristics. SANS profiles of films quenched from elevated temperatures reveal a clear transition in microdomain periodicity, which correlates well with the glass transition temperature of the imide microphase in these and other materials of similar chemical structure. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Antimicorbial effects of newly synthesized organotin(IV) and organolead(IV) derivatives

Triorganotin(IV) and triorganolead(IV) derivatives of the types Me₃Sn(SCZ) and Ph₃Pb(SCZ) (where SCZ^? is the anion of a semicarbanzone ligand) have been synthesized by substitution reactions of trimethyltin chloride and triphenyl-lead chloride with semicarbazones derived from heterocyclic ketones. The resulting complexes have been characterized by elemental analyses, molecualr weight determinations and conductivity measurements. The mode of bonding has been established on the basis of infrared and ¹H, ¹³C and ¹¹⁹Sn NMR spectroscopic studies. Some respresentative complexes have also been evaluated for their antimicrobial effects on different species of pathogenic fungi and bacteria; the results of these investigations have been reported in the present paper.     

Light transmission by polymer-dispersed liquid crystals

Light transmission of nematic liquid crystals dispersed in a polymeric matrix is investigated. The paper gives a theoretical analysis of light transmission by the liquid crystal-polymer and liquid crystaldye-polymer systems based on determination of the total cross section of extinction. The mathematical model is considered in the anomalous diffraction approximation. The theoretical calculations are in good agreement with experimental data obtained for films based on cyanodiphenyl dispersed into a polyvinyl acetate matrix.Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 118–122, November–December, 1993.Translated by L. Chernomorskaya