Tricyclic heteroaromatic systems. 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]quinoxaline

The parent 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]quinoxaline was prepared by a few-step reaction from ethyl N¹-(2-nitrophenyl)-N³-ethoxalyloxamidrazonate, which afforded the key intermediate diethyl 1-(2-nitrophenyl)-1,2,4-triazole-3,5-dicarboxylate in satisfactory yield. The latter was cyclized, hydrolyzed, decarboxylated, reduced and dehydrogenated to yield the title compound.     

Transport properties of an hydrophobic-hydrophilic copolymer

Sorption and diffusion properties of a copolymer composed by hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks have been analyzed. The material, obtained as a film by moulding the powders under pressure, was submitted to thermal treatments, and the structural organization of the samples was investigated using water vapour and dichloromethane as permeants. The polar solvent (water) has been useful to investigate the hydrophilic amorphous regions, while the apolar one (methylene chloride) gave information about the organization of the hydrophobic amorphous phases.     

Solvent-induced crystallization of syndiotactic polystyrene in toluene

The diffusion of toluene in glassy syndiotactic polystyrene was analyzed for films with different thickness. It was found that the reduced sorption curves superimpose, denoting that the diffusion follows a Fickian behaviour. The intensity of transmitted light in a polarizing microscope was followed during swelling, and it was found that there is development of order and it is strongly diffusion-controlled. Films dried after immersion in toluene show a crystalline wide angle X-ray pattern, while in the swollen state the possibility of a liquid-crystalline-like state can be suggested.     

Solvent induced structural transitions in a liquid crystalline polyester

Quenched nematic films of a liquid crystalline polyester were crystallized either thermally or by solvent induced crystallization, and their structural organization was analyzed. All techniques show that the thermal crystallization transforms part of the nematic phase into a crystalline one, the remaining part leaving unchanged. By contrast, the solvent induced crystallization does transform a part of the nematic phase into a crystalline phase, leaving the residual part in a much more disordered state resembling the amorphous state.     

Recognition of the syndiotactic polypropylene polymorphs via dynamic-mechanical analysis

Three syndiotactic polypropylene samples were crystallized under different conditions in order to obtain different polymorphs. A first sample was crystallized at high temperature, obtaining the helical form I; a second was crystallized from the melt at 0°C for many days obtaining the trans-planar mesophase; a third sample was obtained by solvent induced crystallization followed by annaeling of the trans-planar mesophase, leading to a mixture of both the helical forms I and II. In the dynamic-mechanical analysis the helical form I showed only one peak of tan δ corresponding to the amorphous glass transition. The other polymorphs also showed this transition centered at about the same temperature. Beside the peak corresponding to the Tg, the trans-planar mesophase was characterized by a peak appearing at 70°C, and the helical form II by a peak at 100°C. These peaks, unambiguously associated to transitions of the different forms, can be considered a distinctive evidence for the polymorphs obtained in different processing conditions.     

Influence of water on the physical aging of poly(ethylene terephtalate)

Physical aging in polyethylene terephtalate (PET) has been studied on samples well characterized in terms of aging history and their content of water. This allows us to better understand the role played by water in the complex phenomenology of the physical aging in a hygroscopic material as PET. No appreciable changes in the thermal behavior in the sample aged in water at room temperature for one month were noted, while substantial changes were observed in samples aged in more severe conditions like 50°C under vacuum and 50°C in water for one month. The results are consistent with the formation of small regions in which segments of chains are closely packed.     

Mechano‐reversible physical aging of elastic oriented syndiotactic polypropylene

Syndiotactic polypropylene (sPP), obtained at 0 °C in the trans‐planar mesophase, was drawn at room temperature up to λ = 6, and left at room temperature for 1 year with fixed or relaxed ends. Data analysis allowed the clarification of the structure of the crystalline phases and their transformations during the aging. In both oriented samples similar structural changes were observed, although they were due to different aging mechanisms. The physical aging led to the crystallization in both samples of an oriented helical form, due to a partial transformation of the mesophase and of the amorphous phase. In the oriented sample aged with fixed ends, a small fraction of the crystalline trans‐planar form III became stable even by releasing the tension after 1 year. This last sample did not undergo the large shrinkage, always observed by unloaded sPP after drawing, and therefore was no more elastic. Also, the sample aged with free ends for 1 year showed a reduced elasticity in terms of both dissipated energy and permanent set. However, after a new deformation up to λ = 6, the fiber recovered its previous elasticity. Indeed a mechano‐reversibility was apparent for the oriented elastic sample of sPP aged at room temperature with free ends, leading to a renewed elasticity. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 599–606, 2008     

Tunnelling time of a gaussian wave packet through two potential barriers

The resonant and non-resonant dynamies of a Gaussian quantum wave packet travelling through a double barrier system is studied as a function of the initial characteristics of the spectrum and of the parameters of the potential. The behaviour of the tunnelling time shows that there are situations where the Hartman effect occurs, while, when the resonances are dominant, and in particular for b>π/Δk (b being the inter-barrier distance and Δk the spectrum width), the tunnelling time becomes very large and the Hartman effect does not take place.