Fluorinated,crosslinkable terpolymers based on vinylidene fluoride and bearing sulfonic acid side groups for fuel‐cell membranes

The radical terpolymerization of 8‐bromo‐1H,1H,2H‐perfluorooct‐1‐ene with vinylidene fluoride (VDF) and perfluoro(4‐methyl‐3,6‐dioxaoct‐7‐ene) sulfonyl fluoride is presented. Changing the feed compositions of these three fluorinated comonomers enabled us to obtain different random‐type poly[vinylidene fluoride‐ter‐perfluoro(4‐methyl‐3,6‐dioxaoct‐7‐ene) sulfonyl fluoride‐ter‐8‐bromo‐1H,1H,2H‐perfluorooct‐1‐ene] terpolymers containing various sulfonyl fluoride and brominated side groups. Yields higher than 70% were reached in all cases. The hydrolysis of the sulfonyl fluoride group into the ? SO₃Li function in the presence of lithium carbonate was quantitatively achieved without the content of VDF being affected, and so dehydrofluorination of the VDF base unit was avoided. These original terpolymers were then crosslinked via dangling bromine atoms in the presence of a peroxide/triallyl isocyanurate system, which produced films insoluble in organic solvents such as acetone and dimethylformamide (which totally dissolved uncured terpolymers). The acidification of ? SO₃Li into the ? SO₃H function enabled protonic membranes to be obtained. The thermal stabilities of the crosslinked materials were higher than those of the uncured terpolymers, and their electrochemical performances were investigated. According to the contents of the sulfonic acid side functions, the ion‐exchange capacities ranged from 0.6 to 1.5 mequiv of H⁺/g, whereas the water uptake and conductivities ranged from 5–26% (±11%) and from 0.5 to 6.0 mS/cm, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4566–4578, 2006     

Colossal magnetoresistance manganites: A new approach

Manganites of the LA_1−x Ca _x MnO₃ family show a variety of new and poorly understood electronic, magnetic and structural effects. Here we outline a new approach recently proposed by us, where we argue that due to strong Jahn-Teller (JT) coupling with phonons the twofold degeneratee _g states at the Mn sites dynamically reorganize themselves into localised, JT polaronsl with exponentially small inter-site hopping, and band-like, nonpolaronic statesb, leading to anew 2-band model for manganites which includes strong Coulomb and Hund’s couplings. We also discuss some results from a dynamical mean-field theory treatment of the model which explains quantitatively a wide variety of experimental results, including insulator-metal transitions and CMR, in terms of the influence of physical conditions on the relative energies and occupation of thel andb states. We argue that this microscopic coexistence of the two types of electronic states, and their relative occupation and spatial correlation is the key to manganite physics. Dedicated to Professor C N R Rao on his 70th birthday     

Self-assembled lipid nanotube hosts: The dimension control for encapsulation of nanometer-scale guest substances

Supramolecular nanotube hosts with precisely controlled inner or outer diameters have been synthesized by self-assembly of unsymmetrical bolaamphiphilic monomers or glucopyranosylamide lipids, respectively. Time-resolved fluorescent measurement using 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonate (ANS) as a probe revealed that the water confined in a cardanyl-β-D -glucopyranoside lipid nanotube has relatively lower solvent polarity corresponding to that of propanol than bulk water. Extensively developed hydrogen bond networks also characterize the confined water in comparison to the case in bulk water. Encapsulation ability of the glucopyranosylamide lipid nanotube has been examined by filling the lyophilized LNTs with gold or silver nanoparticles, ferritin, or magnetic crystals. Filling the unsymmetrical bolaamphiphile nanotube possessing positively charged inner surfaces with negatively charged polymer beads or ferritin proved to be successful without depending on capillary action. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5137–5152, 2006     

Effect of stoichiometry on liquid crystalline supramolecular polymers formed with complementary nucleobase pair interactions

We report herein studies on the liquid crystalline behavior of a series of supramolecular materials that contain different ratios of two complementary symmetrically-substituted alkoxy-bis(phenylethynyl)benzene AA- and BB-type monomers. One monomer has thymine units placed at either end of the rigid mesogenic core, while the other has N⁶-(4-methoxybenzoyl)-adenine units placed on the ends. Differential scanning calorimetric and polarized optical microscopy studies have been carried out on these systems. These studies show that the material's behavior is strongly dependent on its thermal history. As a result, the materials can exhibit, on heating, either a liquid crystalline phase, a crystalline phase, or the coexistence of crystalline and liquid crystalline regions. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5049–5059, 2006     

Double‐hydrophilic block copolymer for encapsulation and two‐way pH change‐induced release of metalloporphyrins

A double hydrophilic block copolymer composed of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(4‐vinyl pyridine) (P4VP) was obtained through hydrolysis of diblock copolymer of poly(tert‐butyl acrylate) (PtBA) and P4VP synthesized using atom transfer radical polymerization. Water‐soluble micelles with PAA core and P4VP corona were observed at low (acidic) pH, while micelles with P4VP core and PAA corona were formed at high (basic) pH. Two metalloporphyrins, zinc tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP) and cobalt tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP), were used as model compounds to investigate the encapsulation of hydrophobic molecules by both types of micelles. UV–vis spectroscopic measurements indicate that micelles with P4VP core are able to entrap more ZnTPP and CoTPP as a result of the axial coordination between the transition metals and the pyridine groups. The study found that metalloporphyrins encapsulated by the micelles with PAA core could be released on pH increase, while those entrapped by the micelles with P4VP core could be released on pH decrease. This behavior originates from the two‐way pH change‐induced disruption of PAA‐b‐P4VP micelles. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1734–1744, 2006     

Metallocene copolymers of propene and 1‐hexene: The influence of the comonomer content and thermal history on the structure and mechanical properties

The relationships between the structure and properties have been established for copolymers of propylene and 1‐hexene synthesized with an isotactic metallocene catalyst system. The most important factor affecting the structure and properties of these copolymers is the comonomer content. The thermal treatment, that is, the rate of cooling from the melt, is also important. These factors affect the thermal properties, the degree of crystallinity, and therefore the structural parameters and the viscoelastic behavior. A slow cooling from the melt favors the formation of the γ phase instead of the α modification. Regarding the viscoelastic behavior, the β relaxation, associated with the glass‐transition temperature, is shifted to lower temperatures and its intensity is increased as the 1‐hexene content raises. The microhardness values are correlated with those of the storage modulus deduced from dynamic mechanical thermal analysis curves, and good linear relations have been obtained between these parameters. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1253–1267, 2006     

A reply to “a comment on generalized electromagnetism and Dirac algebra”

Issues raised by W. A. Rodrigues, Jr. are discussed.1. This is not a new result; see,e.g., Rohrlich.⁽³⁾ 2. A typographical error in Eq. (77) is corrected here: The productj A in the right-hand parentheses was erroneously transcribed in Ref. (2) as A.3. I define electromagnetic fieldF = A to be that generated by electric charges and the magnetoelectric fieldG = M to be that generated by magnetic monopoles:F F +₅ G. 4. Rodrigues, on the other hand, takes the position that the importance of the Lagrangian formulation should be downgraded if not discarded altogether: ... it is redundant to look for Lagrangians.⁽¹⁾ 5. In fact, he reformulates it using the language of differential forms.6. It is interesting to observe that this bilinear form has the additional virtue of being appropriate for dealing with the monopolecharge parity question, which was pointed out long ago.⁽¹⁴⁾ 7. In fact, even mathematics looks to Nature for its authority.⁽¹⁶⁾ There is evidence that Rodrigues does not understand this concept.⁽¹⁷⁾     

Fermi and Coulomb correlations in the 21 S state of the helium isoelectronic sequence

The Fermi and Coulomb holes of the 2¹ S state of the helium isoelectronic sequence are investigated. Several interesting differences between the results obtained and those which might be expected on the basis of the corresponding 2³ S state are pointed out and discussed.     

Photochemical properties and structures ofN-amino andN-azomethine derivatives of 2,4,6-triphenylpyridinium perchlorates

The molecular structures of the initial compounds and the products of photocyclization involving amino and azomethine groups in perchlorates ofN-amino (1) andN-azomethine (2) derivatives of 2,4,6-triphenylpyridinium cations were studied. Cations1 and2 have an essentially non-coplanar arrangement of the -Ph rings, and the product of photocyclization of2, cation3, is characterized by a flattened structure. It was found that the orientation of the lone electron pair of the N atom with respect to one of the planes of the -Ph rings in molecule1 is more favorable for monocyclization involving the amino group. The structure of molecule2 allows two routes of the photoreaction,viz., O N proton transfer and monocyclization with an -Ph ring. However, the structural features of molecule2 are more favorable for photocyclization.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 296–301, February, 1995.