Ultrasonic spectroscopic evaluation of the ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of dicyclopentadiene

An in situ ultrasonic spectroscopy technique was used to study the ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of dicyclopentadiene catalyzed by bis(tricyclohexylphosphine)benzylidene ruthenium dichloride. A reaction cell employing a flexible poly(ethylene terephthalate) window for pulse echo ultrasonic spectroscopy was used to monitor the polymerization. The changes in the density, wave speed, acoustic modulus, and attenuation were all simultaneously monitored. In comparison with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy data, the changes in the density, velocity, and modulus only accurately measured the rate constant for the metathesis of the cyclopentyl unsaturation. The ultrasonic values were within 6% of the values determined by FTIR. The activation energy for metathesis of the cyclopentyl unsaturation was 84 kJ mol^?1, following first‐order kinetics. Rate constants for the polymerization of the norbornyl unsaturation could not be determined by ultrasound. The gel point, vitrification, and qualitative information about the reaction rate could be determined from the change in the attenuation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1323–1333, 2003     

On Oscillation Criteria of Fourth Order Linear Differential Equations

The paper deals with oscillation criteria of fourth order linear differential equations with quasi-derivatives.     

Mechanisms of n‐butanol formation in butyl acrylate latexes

The mechanisms involved in the formation of n‐butanol during the synthesis of butyl acrylate containing latices were investigated. The experimental results showed that neither the hydrolysis of butyl acrylate nor of the ester bond in the butyl acrylate segments of the polymer played a major role in the formation of n‐butanol, which was mainly generated from the polymer backbone, by transfer reactions to polymer chain followed by cyclization. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5838–5846, 2007     

Magnetic poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) microspheres by dispersion and inverse emulsion polymerization

The aim of this study was to develop novel thermally responsive polymer microspheres with magnetic properties. Dispersion and inverse emulsion copolymerization of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and N,N′‐methylenebisacrylamide (MBAAm) was investigated in the presence of γ‐Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. The resulting microspheres were characterized in terms of morphology, size, polydispersity, iron content, and temperature‐dependent swelling using optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, QELS, and AAS. The effects of several variables, such as the concentration of γ‐Fe₂O₃, MBAAm crosslinking agent, Span 80 surfactant, 2,2′‐azobis(2‐methyloctanenitrile) (AMON) initiator, and polymerization temperature on the properties of the microspheres were studied. Swelling and thermoresponsive behavior of the microspheres containing γ‐Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were also investigated. The microspheres contained about 8 wt % of iron. The presence of magnetic nanoparticles and their concentration changes did not have any significant effect on the temperature sensitivity of the composites. The particles gradually shrink into an increasingly collapsed state when the temperature is raised to 40 °C since the increase in temperature weakens the hydration and PNIPAAm chains gradually become more hydrophobic, which leads to the collapse of the particles. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5884–5898, 2007     

Self‐assembly of amphiphilic tris(2,2′‐bipyridine)ruthenium‐cored star‐shaped polymers

Amphiphilic tris(2,2′‐bipyridine)ruthenium‐cored star‐shaped polymers consisting of one polystyrene block and two poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) blocks were prepared by the “arm‐first” method in which RAFT polymerization and nonconvalent ligand–metal complexation were employed. The prepared amphiphilic star‐shaped metallopolymers are able to form micelles in water. The size and distribution of the micelles were studied by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Preliminary studies indicate that the polymer concentration and the hydrophilic poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) block length can affect the morphologies of the formed metal‐interfaced core–shell micelles in water. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 4204–4210, 2007     

Rhythmic growth of ring‐banded spherulites in blends of liquid crystalline methoxy‐poly(aryl ether ketone) and poly(aryl ether ether ketone)

Rhythmic growth of ring‐banded spherulites in blends of liquid crystalline methoxy‐poly(aryl ether ketone) (M‐PAEK) and poly(aryl ether ether ketone) (PEEK) has been investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized light microscopy (PLM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The measurements reveal that the formation of the rhythmically grown ring‐banded spherulites in the M‐PAEK/PEEK blends is strongly dependent on the blend composition. In the M‐PAEK‐rich blends, upon cooling, an unusual ring‐banded spherulite is formed, which is ascribed to structural discontinuity caused by a rhythmic radial growth. For the 50:50 M‐PAEK/PEEK blend, ring‐banded spherulites and individual PEEK spherulites coexist in the system. In the blends with PEEK as the predominant component, M‐PAEK is rejected into the boundary of PEEK spherulites. The cooling rate and crystallization temperature have great effect on the phase behavior, especially the ring‐banded spherulite formation in the blends. In addition, the effects of M‐PAEK phase transition rate and phase separation rate on banded spherulite formation is discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 3011–3024, 2007     

Probing the Stau-Stau-Higgs Couplings in the MSSM at NLC

In the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with CP violating phases, this paper discussesthe production of the lightest neutral Higgs boson in association with tau sleptons at future high-energy e e- linearcolliders. In parameter space of the constrained MSSM, the production cross section of e e- → h0τ1 τ1- can be verysubstantial at high energies. This process would provide a production mechanism for probing couplings of neutral Higgsbosons to tau sleptons as well as some soft supersymmetric breaking parameters at next linear colliders.     

An inner product lemma

Given the operator product BA in which both A and B are symmetric positive‐definite operators, for which symmetric positive‐definite operators C is BA symmetric positive‐definite in the C inner product 〈x, y〉C? This question arises naturally in preconditioned iterative solution methods, and will be answered completely here. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.