Multifunctionality in spin crossover materials

One of the most important trends in the spin crossover (SCO) field is focused on the synthesis of new molecule-based functional materials in which the SCO properties may be combined with other physical or chemical properties in a synergic fashion. The current stage of investigations regarding interplay and synergic effects between SCO, magnetic coupling, liquid crystalline properties, host-guest interactions, non-linear optical properties, electrical conductivity, and ligand isomerization is highlighted and discussed.     

Thermoanalytical studies on specialty polymers in Japan

Thermoanalytical studies on specialty polymers in Japan are reviewed. The basic and applied researches for the developments of new specialty polymers such as high-performance polymers, liquid crystalline polymers, and biodegradable polymers during the 1990's are introduced from the standpoint of thermal analysis. Many studies were performed for the improvements of durability and thermal stability of engineering polymers, biodegradable polymers and so on. A special topic of researches on the thermal behavior of polymers by high-pressure differential thermal analysis is included in this review. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The crystallinity of polyaryl ether ether ketone

Measurement of the degree of crystallinity of the polymer matrix in a composite is complicated by the presence of the reinforcing additive. This is particularly the case in APC-2 in which as much as 70% can be carbon fibre. A First Law procedure, developed for determining the degree of crystallinity of PEEK, which involves direct measurement of the enthalpy changes associated with melting, crystallization and heat capacity changes, has found to be an effective method for the determination of the crystallinity of the PEEK matrix. The procedure has been applied to carbon fibre and glass fibre PEEK composites.     

单臂冠醚液晶LB膜的相变研究

研究了两种单臂冠醚液晶及配合物(1, 2及1.Eu^3^+)的LB膜的成膜特性,实验发出它们均可在气-液界面形成单分子膜, 但不易转移, 化合物1在压膜过程中出现一维相变。用CPK模型对成膜分子构型和面积进行估算, 其结果与实验相一致, 并讨论了冠醚液晶结构对LB膜相变的影响。     

Formation and Crystallization Behavior of Gels in the Na2O-SiO2-TiO2-ZrO2 System

SiO₂-TiO₂-ZrO₂ and 5Na₂O·95(SiO₂ + TiO₂ + ZrO₂) gels were synthesized and role of Na₂O in gel formation and crystallization behavior of gels were studied. From Si(OC₂H₅)₄, Ti(iso-OC₃H₇)₄, Zr(n-OC₃H₇)₄ and NaOCH₃ solutions in EtOH without H₂O, transparent and opaque gels were obtained. Opaque bulk gels, rich in TiO₂ or ZrO₂ composition in Na₂O containing SiO₂-TiO₂-ZrO₂ system, contain agglomerated spherical particles of diameter small <10 m, in contrast with opaque gels having large particles <30 m in alkali-free SiO₂-TiO₂-ZrO₂ system. Crystallization temperature (Tc) was measured by DTA on dried gels. Compared with the alkali-free SiO₂-TiO₂-ZrO₂ gels, 5 mol% Na₂O containing gels gave lower Tc in SiO₂ rich compositions and higher in TiO₂ rich or ZrO₂ rich compositions.     

Synchrotron-radiated X-ray and neutron diffraction study of native cellulose

Precise determination of d-spacings and compositional ratio of cellulose I_α and I_β in various native cellulose samples was successfully carried out by synchrotron-radiated X-ray diffraction and time-of-flight (TOF) neutron diffraction from quasi-powder specimens. X-ray diffraction peaks were separated by the deconvolution method using six types of profile function: Gaussian, Lorentzian, intermediate Lorentzian, modified Lorentzian, pseudo-Voigt, and Pearson VII. In terms of R-factors, the pseudo-Voigt function gave the best fit with the observation, and was used for determination of d-spacings. The numerical results for Valonia cellulose were: dI_α (1 0 0) = 0.613 nm; dI_β (1 1 0) = 0.603 nm; dI_β (1 1 0) = 0.535 nm; dI_α (0 1 0) = 0.529 nm; I_α content = 0.65. The differences determined between dI_α (1 0 0) and dI_β (1 1 0) and between dI_β (1 1 0) and dI_α (0 1 0) were similar to those previously reported. Comparison between unresolved peaks for the two types of cellulose samples revealed a small but definite difference between dI_α (1 1 0) and dI_β (2 0 0). The TOF neutron diffractometry using deuterated samples confirmed this difference. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Packed capillary column supercritical fluid chromatography of fat-soluble vitamins using liquid crystal polysiloxane coated particles

Summary Liquid crystal polysiloxane stationary phases were prepared by coating two different polymers on deactivated porous silica particles (10 m diameter, 80 Å pores). Deactivation of the silica particles before coating was necessary to prepare highly efficient and inert stationary phases for supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). Fat-soluble vitamins E, A, K₁, K₂, D₂, and D₃ were separated on these columns using neat supercritical CO₂ as mobile phase. The analyses were completed within 40 min at 70 °C. The results were compared to those obtained using a capillary column packed with less ordered liquid crystalm,m-cyanobiphenyl-substituted polysiloxane coated particles. Reduced shape selectivity was observed with this cyanobiphenyl phase. The response factors of vitamins A, E, K₁, K₂, D₂, and D₃ when using the flame ionization detector (FID) were determined to be very similar.     

以对-(4-烯丙氧基苯甲酰氧基)苯甲酸对-甲氧基苯酚酯为单体的液晶聚硅氧烷的合成与表征

侧链型液晶聚合物是目前很有兴趣的研究课题之一。在国内,有关的研究报道也逐渐增多,本工作设计并合成了对-(4-烯丙氧基苯甲酰氧基)苯甲酸对-甲氧基苯酚酯单体,其结构式为:     

Synthesis of novel multi-arm star azobenzene side-chain liquid crystalline copolymers with a hyperbranched core

A series of novel multi-arm star side-chain liquid crystalline (LC) copolymers with hyperbranched core moieties were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using a multi-functional hyperbranched polyether as the initiator and chlorobenzene as the solvent. The multi-functional hyperbranched polyether initiator was prepared from poly(3-ethyl-3-(hydroxymethyl)oxetane) (PEHO) and 2-bromo-2-methylpropionyl bromide. The azobenzene side-chain liquid crystalline arms were designed to have an LC conformation of poly[6-(4-methoxy-4^′-oxy-azobenzene)hexyl methacrylate] with different molecular weights. Their characterization was performed with ¹H NMR, size exclusion chromatograph (SEC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal polarized optical microscopy (POM). The multi-arm star side-chain liquid crystalline copolymers exhibited a smectic and a nematic phase, and the phase transition temperatures from the smectic to the nematic phase and from the nematic to isotropic phase increased with increasing the molecular weight of the multi-arm star side-chain liquid crystalline copolymers from 1.78 × 10⁴ to 9.07 × 10⁴.     

Modular design of icosahedral metal clusters

The concept of crystalline module, that is, an unambiguously isolated, repeated quasi-molecular element, is introduced. This concept is more general than the concept of crystal lattice. The generalized modular approach allows extension of the methods and principles of crystallography to quasi-crystals, clusters, amorphous solids, and periodic biological structures. Principles of construction of aperiodic, nonequilibrium regular modular structures are formulated. Limitations on the size of icosahedral clusters are due to the presence of spherical shells with non-Euclidean tetrahedral tiling in their structure. A parametric relationship between the structures of icosahedral fullerenes and metal clusters of the Chini series was found.