《高分子化学》课程中“活性自由基聚合”的教学实践

《高分子化学》课程是五大化学基础课程(无机化学、有机化学、分析化学、物理化学、高分子化学)之一,是化学类、高分子材料与工程、材料化学专业的必修课程。"活性"/可控自由基聚合是一种相对较新且重要的聚合物合成技术和方法,针对目前《高分子化学》课程中活性自由基聚合的教学比较薄弱的现状,从教学的角度探讨了活性聚合和可控/"活性"自由基聚合的本质和特点,介绍了本人在这方面的教学实践活动,遵循成果导向教育理念,通过以学为中心的教学方式,打造金课,提高教学质量。     

钛及钛合金表面羟基磷灰石涂层结合强度及稳定性

钛(Ti)及其合金凭借优异的机械性能和良好的生物相容性,一直是骨和牙种植体的主要临床应用材料。由于钛及其合金自身的生物惰性,不易与周围骨组织进行快速的骨整合,因此其表面的生物活性有待进一步提高。羟基磷灰石(HA)是人体骨和牙齿的主要无机成分,具有良好的生物活性和生物相容性,受其力学性能的制约,常被作为涂层材料覆盖在钛基体表面,用以提高植入体的生物活性。但一直存在涂层与基体界面结合强度低和涂层力学稳定性差的问题,成为限制其临床广泛应用的主要因素。本文从涂层结构设计、成分设计及制备方法等方面,就国内外改善钛基底与HA涂层界面结合性能的研究现状和发展动态作一综述,为高性能钛植入体的制备和应用提供参考。     

Barrier properties of polymer/alumina nanocomposite membranes fabricated by atomic layer deposition

Novel polymer/ceramic nanocomposite membranes were fabricated, characterized and tested for their barrier performance. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) was used to deposit alumina films on primary, micron-sized (16 and 60 μm) high-density polyethylene (HDPE) particles at a rate of 0.5 nm/cycle at 77 °C. Well-dispersed polymer/ceramic nanocomposites were obtained by extruding alumina coated HDPE particles. The dispersion of alumina flakes can be controlled by varying the number of ALD coating cycles and substrate polymer particle size. The diffusion coefficient of fabricated nanocomposite membranes can be reduced to half with the inclusion of 7.29 vol.% alumina flakes. However, a corresponding increase in permeability was also observed due to the voids formed at or near the interface of the polymer and alumina flakes during the extrusion process, as evidenced by electron microscopy. The low surface wettability of the alumina outerlayers was believed to be one of the main reasons of void formation. Particle surface wettability was improved using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS) to coat the particle ALD surface modified polymer particles prior to extrusion. The diffusion coefficient and permeability of the membrane using surfactant-modified particles decreased by 20%, relative to the non-modified case.     

Decongestion of methylene spectra in biological and non-biological systems using picosecond 2DIR spectroscopy measuring electron-vibration–vibration coupling

Methylene is found in the repeat units of many polymers including proteins. In some cases it appears to be a useful reporter of variation in local environment whilst in other contexts average behaviour seems to dominate. In this paper we apply a particular 2DIR technique to a range of systems containing methylene groups, showing that mode frequencies, linewidths and splittings can be easily extracted even when the infrared absorption bands are too congested to allow reliable analysis. 2DIR spectra of polyethylene and several liquid alkanes are compared and it is shown for the case of l-arginine that the methylene scissor modes are split and that this can be resolved by tracking the 2DIR spectrum as a function of time. Calculations from first principles reveal that for most of the methylene modes studied, electrical anharmonicity is the dominant contributor to the 2DIR cross-peak intensity, with the mechanical anharmonicity making only a small contribution.     

Fabrication and characterization of high performance cathode supported small-scale SOFC for intermediate temperature operation

A high performance small-scale solid oxide fuel cell supported by a microtubular cathode was successfully developed via the extrusion of a (La_0.8Sr_0.2)_0.97MnO₃ cathode support and subsequent surface coating with a (La_0.8Sr_0.2)_0.97MnO₃–Ce_0.9Gd_0.1O_1.95 activation layer followed by Sc₂O₃-doped ZrO₂ electrolyte and NiO–Ce_0.9Gd_0.1O_1.95 anode slurries. The cell was electrochemically evaluated in a humidified hydrogen (3% H₂O) atmosphere, and exhibited a stable open circuit voltage above 1.05 V in the temperature range from 550 to 750 °C. Maximum power densities of 46.5, 163.2 and 452.8 mW cm⁻² were generated at 550, 650 and 750 °C, respectively. The results indicate the realization of a stable and high performance cathode-supported micro SOFC.     

Modeling the solid-like behavior of entangled polymer nanocomposites at low frequency regimes

A theory for the linear viscoelastic behavior of entangled polymeric liquids reinforced with non-aggregated colloidal nanoparticles is presented. Composites with low filler concentration and strong polymer-particle interaction are considered. A fraction of entangled chains is assumed to be reversibly adsorbed on the surface of fillers, due to the affinity between the polymer molecules in the matrix and dispersed filler particles. The relaxation of the system is analyzed by the combination of stress relaxation functions for free and adsorbed polymer chains. It is demonstrated that the emergence of solid-like behavior at low frequency regimes, is due to the significant slow down in relaxation of adsorbed chains. Fitting the model predictions with relevant experimental data indicates that while the effect of constraint release should be considered to obtain a reasonable estimation of neat polymer behavior, the linear combination of stress relaxation functions of free and adsorbed chains (i.e., no thermal constraint release) leads to a better agreement with experimental data of filled systems.     

Tribological behavior of polyurethane-based composite coating reinforced with TiO2 nanotubes

The unmodified and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) modified TiO₂ nanotubes, were used for fabricating TiO₂ nanotubes (TiNTs)/polyurethane (PU) composite coating. The effects of applied load and sliding speed on the tribological behavior of the composite coating were investigated using a block-on-ring wear tester. Compared to the TiO₂ nanotubes filled PU composite coating, the HDI modified TiO₂ nanotubes (TiNTs-HDI) filled one had the lower friction coefficient and higher wear life under various applied loads and sliding speed. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) investigation showed that the TiNTs-HDI filled PU coating had smooth worn surface under given applied load and sliding speed, and a continuous and uniform transfer film formed on the surface of the counterpart ring, which helped to reduce the wear of the coating. The improvement in the tribological properties of TiNTs-HDI/PU composite coating might due to an improvement in interfacial adhesion between TiNTs and PU after HDI treatment. The strong interfacial coupling of the composite coating made TiNTs-HDI not easy to detach from the PU matrix, and prevented the rubbing-off of PU composite coating, accordingly improved the friction and wear properties of the composite coating.     

High density polyethylene-grafted-maleic anhydride low-k porous films prepared via thermally induced phase separation

Low dielectric constant (low-k) porous films of high density polyethylene-grafted-maleic anhydride were prepared via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) using di-n-octyl phthalate as the solvent and methanol as the extractant. The results show that, for the process of TIPS, cellular structures of spherical pores were obtained. Lower polymer concentration and lower cooling rate induced larger pores and higher porosity. For the dielectric constant, the introduction of pores considerably reduced the dielectric constant from 2.60 to 1.56 at most. Pore size showed little effect on dielectric constant in our experiment, but porosity was found to be the key influential factor. The relationship between dielectric constant and porosity was found to be best fit to Rayleigh model.     

Characterization of PVdF-HFP/Nafion/AlO[OH]n composite membranes for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC)

Poly-(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP)/Nafion ionomer/aluminum oxy hydroxide nanocomposite membranes were prepared by phase inversion technique. The resultant membranes were subjected to protonic conductivity, methanol permeability, infra-red and thermogravimmetric analysis. The infra-red spectroscopic measurements revealed the presence of sulfonic acid groups in the composite membranes. The thermal stability and ionic conductivity of the polymer membranes have been greatly varied upon the addition of AlO[OH]_n. Although the PVDF-HFP/Nafion/AlO[OH]_n composite membranes have moderate protonic conductivity it has lower methanol permeability and may be considered as a candidate for DMFC applications.     

Synthesis of polypeptide/inorganic hybrid block copolymers

Polypeptide/inorganic hybrid copolymers were obtained by a four-step synthetic approach combining (i) atom transfer polymerization of tert-butyl acrylate, (ii) chemical modification of the bromo end groups of ATRP-polymers into primary amino group using Gabriel reaction, (iii) ring opening polymerization of N_ε-trifluoroacetyl-l-lysine or γ-benzyl-l-glutamate N-carboxyanhydrides followed by (iv) the transamidification reaction using a large excess of (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane to substitute the tert-butyl groups of the poly(tert-butyl acrylate) block. Products were characterized using ¹H NMR, FT-IR, DSC and MALDI-TOF MS. These techniques proved that polymerization of tert-butyl acrylate was controlled whatever the molecular weight targeted and that bromide was quantitatively converted to amino end group by a original method leading to the synthesis of copolymers in the presence of N-carboxyanhydrides as monomers. Amphiphilic polypeptide/inorganic hybrid copolymers were then achieved.