Fluorinated,crosslinkable terpolymers based on vinylidene fluoride and bearing sulfonic acid side groups for fuel‐cell membranes

The radical terpolymerization of 8‐bromo‐1H,1H,2H‐perfluorooct‐1‐ene with vinylidene fluoride (VDF) and perfluoro(4‐methyl‐3,6‐dioxaoct‐7‐ene) sulfonyl fluoride is presented. Changing the feed compositions of these three fluorinated comonomers enabled us to obtain different random‐type poly[vinylidene fluoride‐ter‐perfluoro(4‐methyl‐3,6‐dioxaoct‐7‐ene) sulfonyl fluoride‐ter‐8‐bromo‐1H,1H,2H‐perfluorooct‐1‐ene] terpolymers containing various sulfonyl fluoride and brominated side groups. Yields higher than 70% were reached in all cases. The hydrolysis of the sulfonyl fluoride group into the ? SO₃Li function in the presence of lithium carbonate was quantitatively achieved without the content of VDF being affected, and so dehydrofluorination of the VDF base unit was avoided. These original terpolymers were then crosslinked via dangling bromine atoms in the presence of a peroxide/triallyl isocyanurate system, which produced films insoluble in organic solvents such as acetone and dimethylformamide (which totally dissolved uncured terpolymers). The acidification of ? SO₃Li into the ? SO₃H function enabled protonic membranes to be obtained. The thermal stabilities of the crosslinked materials were higher than those of the uncured terpolymers, and their electrochemical performances were investigated. According to the contents of the sulfonic acid side functions, the ion‐exchange capacities ranged from 0.6 to 1.5 mequiv of H⁺/g, whereas the water uptake and conductivities ranged from 5–26% (±11%) and from 0.5 to 6.0 mS/cm, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4566–4578, 2006     

Thermal behaviour of polyacrylamidoxime-copper chelates

The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of several factors (anion type in the copper salt, pH and concentration of the salt solution) on the structure and thermo-oxidative degradation of the polyacrylamidoxime-copper chelates, by using elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy and dynamic thermogravimetry. The chelates containing copper ions as sulphate exhibit a better initial thermal stability than the polyacrylamidoxime fibre presumably due to the crosslinking generated by the intermolecular complexation of the ions; the removal of the sulphate anions takes place concomitantly with the second step of polymeric chain decomposition. The initial thermal decomposition of the chelates formed by copper ions as nitrate begins at lower temperatures as compared to the polyacrylamidoxime fibre, probably by the nitrate anion release, which partly overlaps the initial decomposition of the copper ion-crosslinked polymeric chains. Copper ions as either sulphate or nitrate catalyse the reactions involved in the main step of polyacrylamidoxime fibre decomposition; the higher the copper amount, the stronger the catalytic effect.     

Nuclear forward scattering vs. conventional Mössbauer studies of atomically tailored Eu-based materials

With the decrease in size of devices, rapid characterization of nano-devices is an inevitable necessity. It is shown that Mössbauer spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation from the advanced photon source provides such a tool of investigation. Results are presented and compared for conventional Mössbauer and Nuclear Forward Scattering for ¹⁵¹Eu-doped magnesium sulfide as an example, especially at low concentrations.     

Thermochemically induced binding of methyl orange to polycations containing primary amine groups

The thermochemical transformation of electrostatically formed complexes of methyl orange (MO) with polycations containing primary amine groups such as ammonium salts afforded new polymers with a high concentration of covalently bound 4‐N,N‐dimethylaminoazobenzene groups in the side chain. Poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and poly(β‐aminoethylene acrylamide hydrochloride) were employed as support polycations for MO. The transformation of sulfonate–ammonium ion pairs into sulfonamide bonds, via heating at an elevated temperature, was supported by the polymer properties before and after the thermal treatment. The polymer structure changes were monitored with elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared, ¹H NMR, and ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The spacer length between the backbone and azobenzene structures used as side chains strongly influenced the polymer properties before and after the heat‐induced reaction. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5898–5908, 2006     

Synthesis,characterization, and electrical properties of polypyrrole/multiwalled carbon nanotube composites

Size‐controllable polypyrrole (PPy)/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composites have been synthesized by in situ chemical oxidation polymerization directed by various concentrations of cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Raman spectra, FTIR, SEM, and TEM were used to characterize their structure and morphology. These results showed that the composites are core (MWCNT)–shell (PPy) tubular structures with the thickness of the PPy layer in the range of 20–40 nm, depending on the concentration of CTAB. Raman and FTIR spectra of the composites are almost identical to those of PPy alone. The electrical conductivities of these composites are 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than those of PPy without MWCNTs. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 6449–6457, 2006     

Structural anisotropy in friction‐deposited layers of polystyrene

Friction‐deposited layers of atactic polystyrene (PS) on inert and OH‐grafted gold substrates were the subject of this study to establish a relationship between the friction process and the resulting anisotropy of the transferred polymer chains. We show, by using polarization‐modulation infrared reflection‐absorption spectroscopy that the deposited PS chains involve an anisotropy in which PS main backbone is rather perpendicular to the friction support, fact that is surprising when compared with the majority of polymers where the anisotropy is along the sliding direction. Moreover, our calculation of the orientation angles revealed that PS chains are more perpendicular in the transferred layers than in spin‐coated films. This particular anisotropy is probably due to a parallel reorientation of the phenyl ring on the friction support whatever the surface chemistry is. On the other hand, this study was useful to rectify the assignment of infrared bands unclearly reported in the literature. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3272–3281, 2006     

Characterization and electrical properties of polypyrrole/multiwalled carbon nanotube composites synthesized by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization

This study describes the preparation of polypyrrole (PPy)/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) composites by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization. Various ratios of MWNTs, which served as hard templates, were first dispersed in aqueous solutions with the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide to form micelle/MWNT templates and overcome the difficulty of MWNTs dispersing into insoluble solutions of pyrrole monomer, and PPy was then synthesized via in situ chemical oxidative polymerization on the surface of the templates. Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) were used to characterize the structure and morphology of the fabricated composites. Structural analysis using FESEM and HRTEM showed that the PPy/MWNT composites were core (MWNT)–shell (PPy) tubular structures. Raman and FTIR spectra of the composites were almost identical to those of PPy, supporting the idea that MWNTs served as the core in the formation of a coaxial nanostructure for the composites. The conductivities of these PPy/MWNT composites were about 150% higher than those of PPy without MWNTs. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1413–1418, 2006     

Efficient Synthesis of Nitroflavones by Cyclodehydrogenation of 2′-Hydroxychalcones and by the Baker-Venkataraman Method

Summary. Several nitroflavone derivatives were synthesized by cyclodehydrogenation of 2′-hydroxychalcones and by the Baker-Venkataraman approach, starting from 2′-hydroxyacetophenones and benzoic acid derivatives. Nitroflavones synthesised by the first synthetic approach were obtained in better global yields than those obtained by the later method. The structures of all new compounds were elucidated by microanalyses, 1D and 2D NMR, IR, and mass spectroscopic measurements.     

Energy levels in doped SiGe quantum well studied by admittance spectroscopy

SiGe/Si quantum wells (QWs) with different Boron doping concentrations were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on p-type Si(1 0 0) substrate. The activation energies of the heavily holes in ground states of QWs, which correspond to the energy differences between the heavy hole ground states and Si valence band, were measured by admittance spectroscopy. It is found that the activation energy in a heavily doped QW increases with doping concentration, which can be understood by the band alignment changes due to the doping in the QWs. Also, it is found that the activation energy in a QW with a doping concentration of 2 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³ becomes larger after annealing at a temperature of 685 °C, which is attributed to more Boron atoms activation in the QW by annealing.     

Electrocatalytic activity of ordered intermetallic PtSb for methanol electro-oxidation

Ordered intermetallic PtSb had been synthesized by arc-melted and then sintering treatment. The electro-oxidation of liquid methanol on PtSb was investigated at room temperature by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The results are compared to those at a polycrystalline platinum electrode surface. It was found that PtSb intermetallic was catalytically more active than pure platinum according to the onset potential and current density. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and XPS technologies had been used to investigate the crystal structure and electron effect.