Synthesis of linear and starlike polymers from poly(propylene glycol) methacrylate using controlled radical polymerization

The copper‐catalyzed atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of poly(propylene glycol) methacrylate (PPGM) in solution to produce linear and starlike polymers is reported, using methylethyl ketone as the solvent and a temperature of 80 °C. The ATRP system used was efficient for polymerization of the functionalized monomer without protecting hydroxyl end groups of monomer. The polymerizations were consistent with “living” or controlled processes, as revealed by the linear evolution of molecular weight with conversion. Increasing the [M]₀:[I]₀ ratio resulted in increasing molecular weights, whereas the polydispersity indices remained low (M_w/M_n < 1.4) even at high conversion. Decreasing the [CuBr]₀:[I]₀ ratio resulted in lower conversions, slightly larger polydispersities, and decreased molecular weights, likely resulting from a lower initiation efficiency. Polymers were characterized by ¹H and ¹³C NMR; molecular weights of polymers with low degrees of polymerization were estimated by end‐group analysis from ¹³C NMR spectra obtained using distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer and the gated decoupling techniques. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 334–343, 2002     

Microgravimetric Investigations of High-Temperature Superconductors

It has been confirmed that, in oxide superconductors, the superconducting transition temperature T_c depends strongly on the oxygen content and oxygen ordering. The microgravimetric method is very useful in the analysis of oxide superconductors, because it allows investigations in vacuum and controlled environments in classical applications: thermogravimetric analysis, kinetics and thermodynamics of reaction, determination of oxygen contents in redox reactions, investigations of the correlation of the deviation from stoichiometry and carrier concentration and also the combined measurement of mass and additional parameters, e.g. evolved gas analysis, etc. Selected papers are reviewed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Guest-Host Type Liquid Crystal Displays

Eight modes of the guest-host cells (GH-cells), in which types of dye, liquid crystal and their alignments are adequately combined, are surveyed, and the color contrast of each mode is calculated.

Three modes among them are of positive type display, that is, colored patterns on the colorless background contrary to the initially proposed fundamental GH-cell. Another three modes are the GH-cells without polarizer, by which bright display can be obtained.

Light stability of dyes are also discussed and lifetimes of various dyes are estimated by accelerated life test. As a result, it is found that diazo-and axomethine-dayes without thiazole groups as well as anthraqunone-dyes have satisfying lifetimes as long as they are used indoors.     

Vacuum birefringence in strong magnetic fields: (I) Photon polarization tensor with all the Landau levels

Photons propagating in strong magnetic fields are subject to a phenomenon called the “vacuum birefringence” where refractive indices of two physical modes both deviate from unity and are different from each other. We compute the vacuum polarization tensor of a photon in a static and homogeneous magnetic field by utilizing Schwinger’s proper-time method, and obtain a series representation as a result of double integrals analytically performed with respect to proper-time variables. The outcome is expressed in terms of an infinite sum of known functions which is plausibly interpreted as summation over all the Landau levels of fermions. Each contribution from infinitely many Landau levels yields a kinematical condition above which the contribution has an imaginary part. This indicates decay of a sufficiently energetic photon into a fermion–antifermion pair with corresponding Landau level indices. Since we do not resort to any approximation, our result is applicable to the calculation of refractive indices in the whole kinematical region of a photon momentum and in any magnitude of the external magnetic field.     

Use Of Diffusion Controlled Preconcentration Systems With Chemically Immobilized Coatings For The Determination Of Atmospheric Nitric Acid

Abstract

A new coating procedure for different diffusion controlled preconcentration methods (tubular denuder, annular denuder, diffusion screen) is described for the determination of nitric acid in air. In this study, a silanization reaction is applied to obtain a chemically fixed coating with an end placed functional NH₂-group, which can be used as a sink to collect acidic compounds from air. This coating must be carried out only once and can be used for a long time. The denuders, coated with this procedures, were compared with conventionally coated NaF denuders.     

Controlled release of acetochlor from poly (butyl methacrylate-diacetone acrylamide) based formulation prepared by nanoemulsion polymerisation method and evaluation of the efficacy

Acetochlor is an important herbicide for gramineous weeds and some small seed broadleaf weeds. Controlled-release formulations of herbicide are highly desirable not only for attaining the most effective utilisation of the weed control, but also for reducing environmental pollution. Acetochlor was incorporated in poly (butyl methacrylate-diacetone acrylamide) based formulation to obtain controlled release properties. The acetochlor nanocapsules were characterised by size distribution, infrared spectroscopy (IR) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and factors related to loading efficiency, swelling behaviour of the formulation were investigated. For this controlled-release formulation, the loading efficiency could reach about 50% (w/w). n, the diffusion parameter was indicative of the transport mechanism, and the values for ‘n’ were in the range of 0.28–0.61, which indicated that the release of acetochlor was diffusion-controlled. The time taken for 50% of the active ingredient to be released into water, t₅₀, was also calculated for the comparison of formulations in different conditions. The formulation with higher temperature and more diacetone acrylamide had lower value of t₅₀, which means a quicker release of the active ingredient. This study highlighted some pieces of evidence that improved herbicide incorporation and slower release were linked to potential interactions between the herbicide and the polymer.     

Cyano terminated tolane compounds for polymer dispersed liquid crystal application: relationship between cyano terminated tolane based molecular structures and electro-optical properties

ABSTRACT

The structures of the liquid crystal (LC) molecules have a key role in impacting the electro-optical performance of a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) film. In this paper, the relationship between the LC molecular structures and the electro-optical properties of PDLC films is investigated based on an unexplored cyano-terminated tolane compounds (CTTCs) doped E8 LCs/UV polymers system. Due to the high polarity of CTTCs, LCs doped with the cyano-terminated tolane (CTT) molecules exhibit high birefringence and large positive dielectric anisotropy. On the whole, PDLC films doped with the CTT molecules exhibit a lower driving voltage than that doped with the pure E8. More excitingly, PDLC films based on CTT molecules with larger length-to-width ratio and longer conjugated system show higher contrast ratio (CR) and faster response time. Eventually, the mechanism of the effects of CTT-based molecular structures and the relationship between the electro-optical performance of PDLC films and CTT molecules are illustrated. This work paves a new way for optimising the electro-optical properties of PDLC films.     

Modern Inorganic Aerogels

Essentially, the term aerogel describes a special geometric structure of matter. It is neither limited to any material nor to any synthesis procedure. Hence, the possible variety of materials and therefore the multitude of their applications are almost unbounded. In fact, the same applies for nanoparticles. These are also just defined by their geometrical properties. In the past few decades nano‐sized materials have been intensively studied and possible applications appeared in nearly all areas of natural sciences. To date a large variety of metal, semiconductor, oxide, and other nanoparticles are available from colloidal synthesis. However, for many applications of these materials an assembly into macroscopic structures is needed. Here we present a comprehensive picture of the developments that enabled the fusion of the colloidal nanoparticle and the aerogel world. This became possible by the controlled destabilization of pre‐formed nanoparticles, which leads to their assembly into three‐dimensional macroscopic networks. This revolutionary approach makes it possible to use precisely controlled nanoparticles as building blocks for macroscopic porous structures with programmable properties.     

Cationic addition polymerization of 1,4‐dioxene using gacl3 as lewis acid catalyst: Long‐lived species‐mediated polymerization

Effective cationic addition polymerization of 1,4‐dioxene, a six‐membered cyclic olefin with two oxygen atoms adjacent to the double bond, was performed using a simple metal halide catalyst system in dichloromethane. The polymerization was controlled when the reaction was conducted using GaCl₃ in conjunction with an isobutyl vinyl ether–HCl adduct as a cationogen at –78°C to give polymers with predetermined molecular weights and relatively narrow molecular weight distributions. The long‐lived properties of the propagating species were further confirmed by a monomer addition experiment and the analyses of the product polymers by ¹H NMR and MALDI–TOF–MS. Although highly clean propagation proceeded, the apparent rate constant changed during the controlled cationic polymerization of 1,4‐dioxene. The reason for the change was discussed based on polymerization results under various conditions. The obtained poly(1,4‐dioxene) exhibited a very high glass transition temperature (T_g) of 217°C and unique solubility. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012