On the Rayleigh-Plateau instability

In this paper,we study the surface instability of a cylindrical pore in the absence of stress. This instability is called the Rayleigh-Plateau instabilty. We consider the model developed by Spencer et ...     

Control of thermoresponsivity of biocompatible poly(trimethylene carbonate) with direct introduction of oligo(ethylene glycol) under various circumstances

Poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) is a well‐known biodegradable polymer with good biocompatible properties which make it suitable for biomedical applications. Poly(5‐[2‐{2‐(2‐methoxyethoxy)ethyoxy}‐ethoxymethyl]‐5‐methyl‐1,3‐dioxa‐2‐one) (PTMC‐MOE3OM) and copolymers, bearing oligo ethylene glycol (OEG) at the side chain of PTMC backbone, were selected to investigate the cloud point behavior by solvents such as PBS, water, 10% ethanol solution and various ionic strengths. A pH‐responsive copolymer, poly(TMCM‐MOE3OM‐co‐(5‐methyl‐5‐carboxylic‐1,3‐dioxane‐2‐one)) as carboxylic acid carbonate showed a decreased critical temperature at pH 2. Photo‐responsive copolymer, poly(TMCM‐MOE3OM‐co‐coumarin derivatives) bearing 1% and 10% of photo‐induced molecules (7‐[(5‐(5‐methyl‐1,3‐dioxa‐2‐one)methoxy)]‐methoxy coumarin (TMCM‐coumarin)) exhibited a low cloud point because of the hydrophobic moieties. Meanwhile, alternative coumarin polymer including 2% of 4‐methyl‐7‐[(5‐(5‐methyl‐1,3‐dioxa‐2‐one)methoxy)butoxy)]‐methoxy coumarin (TMCM‐4‐methyl‐coumarin) has been successfully synthesized and copolymerized as a novel molecule. The various combinations of monomers were studied and the significant properties were determined via external triggers after copolymerization. This study showed basically synthetic progress toward designs and trivial rationalization of thermoresponsive copolymers close to body temperature. At present, various pendant groups as side part affect to the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and biodegradable polymer in order to utilize the actual external stimuli application. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 3466–3474     

Dual‐responsive supramolecular self‐assembly of inclusion complex of an azobenzene‐ended poly(ε‐caprolactone) with a water‐soluble pillar[6]arene and its application in controlled drug release

Dual photo‐ and pH‐responsive polymeric vesicles are constructed from a host–guest complex between a water‐soluble pillar[6]arene and an azobenzene ended functionalized poly(ε‐caprolactone). Reversible morphological transitions between vesicles and solid aggregates are achieved upon repeated UV stimulus and pH stimulus. Moreover, the polymeric vesicles present excellent cytocompatibility toward HepG2 cells and can be further applied for controlled release of a hydrophilic model drug, DOX?HCl. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55 , 2477–2482     

Solvent replacement to thermo‐responsive nanoparticles from long‐subchain hyperbranched PSt grafted with PNIPAM for encapsulation

Long‐subchain hyperbranched polystyrene (lsc‐hp PSt) with uniform subchain length was obtained through copper‐catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition click chemistry from seesaw macromonomer of PSt having one alkynyl group anchored at the chain centre and two azido group attached to both chain ends [alkynyl‐(PSt‐N₃)₂]. After precipitation fraction, different portions of lsc‐hp PSt having narrow overall molecular weight distribution were obtained for further grafting with alkynyl‐capped poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (alkynyl‐PNIPAM), which was obtained via single‐electron transfer living radical polymerization of NIPAM with propargyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate as the initiator and grafted onto the peripheral azido groups of lsc‐hp PSt via click chemistry. Thus, amphiphilic lsc‐hp PSt grafted with PNIPAM chains (lsc‐hp PSt‐g‐PNIPAM) was obtained and would have star‐like conformation in tetrahydrofuran (THF). By replacing THF with water, lsc‐hp PSt‐g‐PNIPAM was dissolved at molecular level in aqueous solution due to the hydrophilicity of PNIPAM and exhibited thermal induced shrinkage of PNIPAM arms. The water‐insoluble lsc‐hp PSt would collapse densely and could be served as a reservoir to absorb hydrophobic chemicals in aqueous solution. The influence of overall molecular weight of lsc‐hp PSt on the absorption of pyrene was studied. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Cyclic welding behavior of covalent adaptable network polymers

Surface welding effect of covalent adaptable network (CAN) polymers enables self‐healing, reprocessing and recycling of thermosets, but little is known about their welding behaviors during repeated welding‐peeling cycles. In this article, we study the cyclic welding effect of an epoxy based thermal‐sensitive CAN. Surface roughness is generated by rubbing the sample on sandpapers with different grid sizes. The welding‐peeling cycles are repeated on the same pair of samples for five times, with roughness amplitude and interfacial fracture energy measured in each cycle. It is shown that the roughness gradually decreases during the repeated welding cycles, especially when a long welding time or high welding pressure is applied. Even though lower roughness amplitude promotes the contact area, the interfacial fracture energy reduces due to the increased BER activation energy after long‐time heating. A multiscale constitutive model is adopted, where we incorporate an explicit expression of interfacial contact area as a function of root‐mean‐square roughness parameter. The model is able to capture the evolving interfacial fracture energy during repeated welding cycles by using the measured roughness parameter, network modulus and BER activation energy. The study provides theoretical basis for the design and applications of CANs involving cyclic welding‐peeling operations. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 402–413.     

A calibrated model of local food system of Hawaii: What are the economic implications of the state's food goals and policies?

We develop a fully calibrated positive mathematical programming model for Hawaii's local food systems—which captures the production and the consumer sides of the market. Then we use the model to assess two proposed policies—a general excise tax (GET) exemption on locally produced foods, and an investment in agricultural infrastructure. For the GET exemption case, our results indicate an economic gain of $118 per $100 cost. On the other hand, an investment in 1,200 acres of land injected to support local production may generate an economic gain of up to $357 per $100 annual cost of the investment. However, these estimates should be considered preliminary, and thus viewed with caution. Although the model is used to capture Hawaii's local food systems, we believe that our model is generalizable and can be adopted by other economies to assess their respective food localization policies. Recommendations for Resource Managers

• Local food policies need to be based on quantitative terms instead of mere armchair speculation because often their potential outcomes may vary significantly.

• The current modeling framework demonstrates the potential of using positive mathematical programming (PMP) in capturing the intricacies of local food systems. However, this exploratory exercise should be viewed as preliminary in nature and the ensuing results were taken with caution because many important factors such as labor availability may have been left out.

• Thus, further model refinements are necessary to better capture the complexities of local food systems such as farm heterogeneity, availability of farm labor, water availability, and interisland transportation of farm products in the case of Hawaii.

     

Thermoresponsive polymersome from a double hydrophilic block copolymer

The article describes synthesis and thermally triggered self‐assembly of a Poly (ethylene oxide)‐block‐poly (N‐insopropylacrylamide) (PEO‐b‐PNIPAm) in aqueous medium. At rt, the polymer remains as unimer, however, at lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of PNIPAm (32 °C), it forms a rather large undefined aggregate which at slightly elevated temperature (～40 °C) converges to well defined polymersome structure (Critical aggregation concentration = 0.45 mg/mL) with hydrodynamic diameter of 40–50 nm. By lowering the temperature, initial swelling of the compact vesicle followed by reversible disassembly to unimer was noticed. The polymersome exhibits encapsulation ability to a hydrophilic dye Calcein which can be spontaneously released by lowering the temperature below cloud point. Likewise a hydrophobic dye namely 8‐Anilino‐1‐naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS) can also be encapsulated and released by thermal trigger. Detail photoluminescence studies reveal ANS dye can be used as a generalized probe molecule for detecting LCST of a thermoresponsive polymer by “fluorescence on” above LCST even by cursory observation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2444–2451     

Effects of graft length and density of well‐defined graft polymers on the thermoresponsive behavior and self‐assembly morphology

A series of well‐defined thermoresponsive graft polymers with different lengths and graft densities, poly(glycidyl methacrylate)‐graft‐poly(N‐isopropylacrylate) (PGMA‐g‐PNIPAM), were successfully prepared by combination of controlled/living free radical polymerization and click chemistry. Effects of grafting length and density on the thermoresponsive behavior, aggregating mean diameter, and self‐assembly morphology are systematically investigated. The thermosensitive characteristics of graft polymers in aqueous solution prove that the length and graft density had positive co‐relationship with the lower critical solution temperature value and mean diameter of micelles as well as the size distribution, while the effect of graft length of polymers is more significant than that of density. Transmission electron microscopy analysis shows that the conformations of PGMA₄₅‐g‐PNIPAM₂₀ and PGMA₄₅‐g‐PNIPAM₄₆ with longer length and bigger grafting density in aqueous solutions are spherical nanoparticles with the increasing trend of the diameters, while that of PGMA₄₅‐g‐PNIPAM_{(73, 50%)} shows a spherical‐like morphology, which indicates that the graft length and density have a significant effect on the mean diameter of micelle but not on the self‐assembly morphology. These results reveal that to obtain desired thermoresponsive behavior and self‐assembly morphology of functional polymers, it is essential to design and fabricate the structure of graft polymers with proper length and graft density. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 2442–2453     

Dynamic control of volume phase transitions of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) based microgels in water using hydrazide‐aldehyde chemistry

We demonstrate that the volume phase transition temperature (VPTT) of copolymer microgel particles made from N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) and methacryloyl hydrazide (MH) can be tailored in a reversible manner upon the reaction of the hydrazide functional groups with aldehydes. The microgels were synthesized by precipitation polymerization in water. Due to the water‐soluble nature of the MH monomer, the VPTT at which the microgel particles contract shifts to higher values by increasing the incorporated amounts of methacryloyl hydrazide from 0 to 5.0 mol %. The VPTT of the copolymer microgel dispersions in water can be fine‐tuned upon addition of hydrophobic/hydrophilic aldehydes, which react with the hydrazide moiety to produce the hydrazone analogue. This hydrazone formation is reversible, which allows for flexible, dynamic control of the thermo‐responsive behavior of the microgels. The ability to “switch” the VPTT was demonstrated by exposing hydrophilic streptomycin sulfate salt incubated microgel particles to an excess of a hydrophobic aldehyde, that is benzaldehyde. The temperature at which these microgels contracted in size upon heating was markedly lowered in these aldehyde exchange experiments. Transformation into benzaldehyde hydrazone derivatives led to assembly of the microgel particles into small colloidal clusters at elevated temperatures. This control of supracolloidal cluster formation was also demonstrated with polystyrene particles which had a hydrazide functionalised microgel shell. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1745–1754