Morphology and microphase separation of star copolymers

Star copolymers have attracted significant interest due to their different characteristics compared with diblock copolymers, including higher critical micelle concentration, lower viscosity, unique spatial shape, or morphologies. Development of synthetic skills such as anionic polymerization and controlled radical polymerization have made it possible to make diverse architectures of polymers. Depending on the molecular architecture of the copolymer, numerous morphologies are possible, for instance, Archimedean tiling patterns and cylindrical microdomains at symmetric volume fraction for miktoarm star copolymers as well as asymmetric lamellar microdomains for star‐shaped copolymers, which have not been reported for linear block copolymers. In this review, we focus on morphologies and microphase separations of miktoarm (A_mB_n and ABC miktoarm) star copolymers and star‐shaped [(A‐b‐B)_n] copolymers with nonlinear architecture. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1–21     

Syntheses,Characterization, and Luminescence Properties of Three Coordination Complexes with Sulfonate-Phenol Anions and Trivalent Metal Ions

Russian Journal of General Chemistry - A dinuclear Tb complex, Tb2(H2L)3(phen)2 (1), and two similar N-donor coordination complexes, Fe(phen)3·HL (2), Fe(bipy)3·HL·5H2O (3) (Na2H2L =...     

Synthesis of self‐healing polyurethane urea‐based supramolecular materials

Supramolecular polyurethane ureas are expected to have superior mechanical properties primarily due to the reversible, noncovalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding interactions. We synthesized polyurethane prepolymers from small molecular weight of poly(tetramethylene ether)glycol and isophorone diisocyanates, which were end capped with propylamine to synthesize polyurethane ureas with high contents of urea and urethane groups for hydrogen‐bonding formations to facilitate self‐healing. The effects of polyurethane urea molecular weight (3000 ≤ M_n ≤ 9000), crosslinking, and cutting direction were studied in terms of thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties with an emphasis on the self‐healing efficiency. It was found that the thermal self‐healability was more pronounced as the molecular weight of polyurethane urea decreased, showing a maximum of more than 96% with 3000 M_n when the sample was cut along the stretch direction. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 468–474     

Metabolic profiles of dioscin in rats revealed by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Dioscin (DIS), one of the most abundant bioactive steroidal saponins in Dioscorea sp., is used as a complementary medicine to treat coronary disease and angina pectoris in China. Although the pharmacological activities and pharmacokinetics of DIS have been well demonstrated, information regarding the final metabolic fates is very limited. This study investigated the in vivo metabolic profiles of DIS after oral administration by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry method. The structures of the metabolites were identified and tentatively characterized by means of comparing the molecular mass, retention time and fragmentation pattern of the analytes with those of the parent compound. A total of eight metabolites, including seven phase I and one phase II metabolites, were detected and tentatively identified for the first time. Oxidation, deglycosylation and glucuronidation were found to be the major metabolic processes of the compound in rats. In addition, a possible metabolic pathway on the biotransformation of DIS in vivo was proposed. This study provides valuable and new information on the metabolism of DIS, which will be helpful for further understanding its mechanism of action. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of the performance of a soft X-ray charger for the bipolar charging of nanoparticles

The use of soft X-rays in a neutrahzer represents an alternative technique that could replace conventional radioactive sources.In this study,we evaluated the charging characteristics of a soft X-ray aerosol neutralize!".In addition,the results from the evaluation of the soft X-ray charger were compared with results obtained using a neutralizer incorporating an ²⁴¹Am radioactive source.The tandem differential mobility analyzer technique was used previously to determine the size-dependent positive,negative,and neutral charge fractions of a soft X-ray neutralizer.This technique was used to show that the neutral fractions obtained using the soft X-ray charger agreed well with the predictions of bipolar diffusion charging theory,and that the soft X-ray charger could be used as a neutralizer for a scanning mobility particle sizer system.     

Investigation of the Effect of Artificial Internal Defects on the Tensile Behavior of Laser Powder Bed Fusion 17–4 Stainless Steel Samples: Simultaneous Tensile Testing and X-Ray Computed Tomography

Experimental Mechanics - Insufficient data are available to fully understand the effects of metal additive manufacturing (AM) defects for widespread adoption of the emerging technology....