Study of polymer-stabilised blue phase liquid crystal on a single substrate

One outstanding feature of the polymer-stabilised blue phase (PSBP) is that it is unnecessary to form an alignment film, which requires a high-temperature baking process. Therefore, PSBPs may enable flexible liquid crystal displays (LCDs) on plastic substrates. In this study, polymer stabilisation of a blue phase (BP) on a single substrate was performed without using a conventional sandwich-type cell, and the electro-optical properties are demonstrated to be similar to those of a sandwich-type PSBP LCD cell. It was experimentally shown that the oxygen which inhibits radical polymerisation is required to be excluded in order to complete the polymer stabilisation in blue phase.     

Evaluation of image sticking property on liquid crystal displays with polymer layers produced from phenanthrene-carrying monomers

As a model of polymer-sustained-alignment liquid crystal display (PSA-LCD), the liquid crystal (LC) cells having the polymer layers produced from monomers of phenanthrene (Phen)-carrying monomers, 2,7-, 3,8-, 1,8- and 3,6-dimethacryloyl-oxy-phenanthrene (DMAPhen), were prepared and investigated image sticking phenomenon with evaluations of residual direct current voltage (V_rDC) and difference in pretilt angle before and after application of alternate current voltage (Δtilt). The V_rDC values were small for the LC cells with the polymer layers produced from the Phen-carrying monomers used in this study. On the other hand, Δtilt depends on the molecular structure of the Phen-carrying monomer. The Δtilt values became small with increasing the linearity of the monomer structure for the Phen-carrying monomers. The findings would be useful for obtaining the small level of image sticking in the PSA-LCDs produced from the Phen-carrying monomers.     

Stabilizer-free precipitation copolymerization of renewable bio-based α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone and styrene

Stabilizer-free precipitation copolymerization of α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone (MBL) and styrene (St) was carried out in isoamyl acetate with BPO as initiator at 80°C. The influence of monomer feed ratio, initiator concentration and reaction time on the size and morphology of the obtained polymer particle was investigated in details. It was found that the monomer feed ratio play an important role on the particle formation process. When the monomer feed ratio of MBL to St was 1:2, narrow size distributed spherical polymer particles were formed with number average diameters in the range of 785–2620 nm. The formation process of polymer particle was studied to get a deep insight into the polymerization process of this reaction system. It was found that the formation mechanism of the poly(MBL-co-St) particles was similar to that of conventional precipitation polymerization. After a short nucleation stage (10 min), the amount of polymer particles remained constant and the particle growth mainly came from the capturing of newly formed polymer chains. The chemical composition and thermal property of the poly(MBL-co-St) were fully characterized by FTIR, ¹H-NMR spectra, and DSC.     

Recent advances in phenothiazine-based dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells

Dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs) have attracted significant attention as alternatives to conventional silicon-based solar cells owing to their low-cost production,facile fabrication,excellent stability and high power conversion efficiency(PCE).The dye molecule is one of the key components in DSSCs since it significant influence on the PCE,charge separation,light-harvesting,as well as the device stability.Among various dyes,easily tunable phenothiazine-based dyes hold a large proportion and achieve impressive photovoltaic performances.This class of dyes not only has superiorly non-planar butterfly structure but also possesses excellent electron donating ability and large π conjugated system.This review summarized recent developments in the phenothiazine dyes,including small molecule phenothiazine dyes,polymer phenothiazine dyes and phenothiazine dyes for co-sensitization,especially focused on the developments and design concepts of small molecule phenothiazine dyes,as well as the correlation between molecular structures and the photovoltaic performances.     

Influence of thermal and UV treatment on the polypropylene/graphite composite

Electrically conductive polypropylene/graphite (PP/graphite) composites were prepared via blending granulated PP with maleic anhydride grafted PP and natural graphite. Electrical conductivity of prepared samples containing either 65, 70, or 75 wt% of graphite was measured and the most conductive sample containing 75 wt% of graphite was exposed to UV irradiation for 1 and 24 h or thermally treated at 170 °C for 1 h. The influence of thermal and UV exposure on the structural and electrical changes in such treated samples was studied. Local current measurements on the surface were made using scanning spreading resistance microscopy and morphology of the surface was studied by atomic force microscopy. X-ray diffraction analysis, infrared and Raman spectroscopy were also used for the structural characterization. Properties of treated and untreated samples are compared and differences are discussed.     

Measuring densities of polymers by magneto-archimedes levitation

In magneto-Archimedes levitation, a polymer can be levitated to a balanced position, and its levitation height is mainly related to the density of the polymer. Here, a novel method for measuring the density of polymers based on magneto- Archimedes levitation is proposed. For a designed measurement device, an equation can be fitted by a series of experiments with standard density glass beads. Then, the polymer's density can be calculated via the equation. In this paper, a device with magnets at a distance of 60 mm was chosen as an example. Experimental results showed that the proposed method could measure all types of polymer with an accuracy of 0.002–0.01 g/cm³. Moreover, the proposed method can clearly distinguish between polymers with small density differences (<0.03 g/cm³). Because of its high accuracy, high sensitivity, low cost and convenience, the proposed method could be widely used in polymer testing, especially in density-based testing.     

共混合聚(醚-酯)多嵌段共聚物的表面表征及其血液相容性研究

本文通过X-射线光电子能谱(XPS)、表面接触角、表面ξ电位和血液相容性实验,研究了聚(醚-酯)多嵌段共聚物及其共混物的表面组成和性质与血液相容性的关系。实验结果表明,疏水性的PET-PTMO多嵌段共聚物的血液相容性很差,并且与表相中软段的富集量无关;当亲水性的PET-PEO多嵌段共聚物与疏水性的PET-PTMO多嵌段共聚物共混后,发现存在着一个最佳的共混比例,此时材料表面的血小板粘附量大大降低。对于共混物,表相△[C—O)/[C—O]和表面ξ电位可以较好地与血小板粘附量相关联。以上结果清楚地表明,材料表面的亲-疏水性平衡、软段深度层次分布及表面电位是影响血液相容性的重要因素。     

HYDROFORMYLATION CATALYSIS USING POLYMER-SUPPORTED MULTINUCLEAR RHODIUM CARBONYL CLUSTER CATALYSTS

A series of polymer-supported tetranuclear rhodium carbonyl cluster catalysts were prepared b the reaction of Rh_4(CO)_(12) with several kinds of polymer supports such as crosslinked poly (N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PNVP) and crosslinked poly ( styrene-co-maleic anhydride) (PMAn), and subsequently were used to catalyze the hydroformylation of olefins. The catalysts were characterized by IR, SEM and XPS. The influence of the supports structure and crosslinking, metal's content and particle size of the supports on the catalysts hydroformylation properties was studied. The factors which affect the catalytic conversion were also examined. The experimental results show that the polymer-supported Rh cluster catalysts possess very high catalytic activity and aldehyde selectivity as well as good reproducibility.     

On-line analysis of polymer melt processes

Molten polymer process streams are difficult to analyze either in- or on-line because of sampling problems due to the high temperature and viscosity of the molten state. Real-time monitoring of chemical compositions in these processes can significantly improve safety and product quality and minimize process costs and waste. The information content of the mid-infrared spectrum combined with the recent development of rugged process Fourier transform (FT) IR spectrometers is stimulating the application of process FT-IR to industrial polymer melt processes. Sampling considerations for polymer melts are reviewed. Also, the use of FT-IR spectrometry for on-line measurements of the polymer composition for polymer blends and copolymers in the melt, and the question of how this information could be used to monitor and control the quality of the product given by the process are discussed.     

INVERSE OPALINE STRUCTURE TITANIA PHOTONIC CRYSTALS BY FUNCTIONALLY MODIFIED COLLOIDAL CRYSTALS TEMPLATING

Ordered macroporous titania photonic crystals （PCs） and photonic balls were fabricated by functional modified polymer colloidal crystals. The TiO2 PCs and balls formed through this method exhibit no cracks and lacunae in large areas on their surface and their inner structures.