Rare earth photoionization study by the resonant microwave cavity technique

Photoconductivity spectra of rare earth-doped insulating materials are measured using the resonant microwave cavity method. This technique is based on the detection of the cavity Q-factor changes induced by irradiation of the sample (inserted in the cavity) by a pulsed tunable laser. Results obtained with Lu₂(SiO₄)O:Ce³⁺ and BaF₂:Eu²⁺ are presented and discussed. Photoionization thresholds at 400 nm (3.1 eV) and 310 nm (4.0 eV) are measured for Lu₂(SiO₄)O:Ce³⁺ and BaF₂:Eu²⁺, respectively.     

Block copolymers of acrylic acid and butyl acrylate prepared by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization: Synthesis,characterization, and use in emulsion polymerization

Amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(acrylic acid‐b‐butyl acrylate) were prepared by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization in a one‐pot reaction. These copolymers were characterized by NMR, static and dynamic light scattering, tensiometry, and size exclusion chromatography. The aggregation characteristics of the copolymers corresponded to those theoretically predicted for a star micelle. In a butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate emulsion polymerization, low amounts of these copolymers could stabilize latices with solid contents up to 50%. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 684–698, 2003     

Poly(vinyl chloride) stabilization with organo-tin compounds: Part VI—The behavior of dibutyltin dilaurate

The reaction between dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTL) and chloro-4-hexene-2 (containing its isomer chloro-2-hexene-3) as a model compound for the allylic chlorine atom in poly(vinyl chloride) has been studied in dichlorobutane solution at 80°C. The reactions observed—elimination of HCl to give hexadiene and substitution of the laurate group to give hexenyl laurate—are believed to obey E2 and SN2 mechanisms through a common intermediate carbocation, with a rather low selectivity towards the substitution owing to the associated structure of the DBTL. The kinetics are complex because of the complex nature of the exchange reaction between DBTL and Bu₂SnCl₂. A reverse reaction between the hexenyl laurate and the organo-tin chloride is proposed to explain the limitation of the substitution reaction.     

Catalyseurs Zieger-Natta supportés sur MgCl2 pour la polymérisation stéréorégulée du propène. II. Système catalytique simple: Solide binaire MgCl2-TiCl4 et solution cocatalytique triéthylaluminium,benzoate d'ethyle

The kinetics of propene polymerization in heptane slurry at 1–4 bars was studied with a catalytic system that consisted of a solid catalyst prepared by adsorption of TiCI₄ on pure porous MgCl₂ (by dehydrating MgCl₂, 6 H₂O with thionyl chloride) and a cocatalytic, heptanic solution of ethylbenzoate (BE) and triethylaluminium (TEA). At a temperature approaching 60°C/polymerization began immediately after the introduction of the monomer. The polymerization rate decreased continuously during the reaction. The loss in activity, however, was not due to a diffusional effect (e.g., blocking of the catalyst by the growing polymer). Studies of the ageing of the catalytic system showed a deactivation of the catalytic system itself as a function of the time of contact between the catalyst and the cocatalyst. The product of the thermal decomposition of the complex 1:2 formed by the reaction of BE with TEA was not associated with the deactivation process or stereospecific control, which depend on the BE/AI ratio and the presence of the complex.     

Pyrolysis of acrylonitrile-methacrylic acid copolymers and derivatives

Pyrolyses of acrylonitrile-methacrylic acid copolymers and their sodium salts were studied under inert atmosphere at various heating rates using thermogravimetric analysis coupled with gas liquid chromatography, thermal volatilization analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and flash pyrolysis coupled with GLC and eventually mass spectrometric analysis. The mechanisms of the nitrile oligomerization and subsequent chain scission, giving rise to volatilization, are discussed in connection with the sequence distribution of monomeric units in the copolymers.     

Nouvelle méthode de détermination des taux de réativité des copolymères par résonance magnétique nucléaire: Application aux poly(méthacrylate de méthyle–chlorure de vinylidène)

Constant-composition copolymers of methyl methacrylate and vinylidene chloride produced by radical copolymerization are studied by ¹H-NMR at 60 and 250 MHz. The different methods of the literature for the derivation of reactivity ratios from either the copolymer composition or the sequence average lengths, or even the diad distribution, are applied but lead to rather dispersed results. A new graphical method is proposed, based on the use of peculiar values of the triad distribution functions. It allows us to detect a penultimate effect for the vinylidene chloride-rich region. In the same range, a change in tacticity of the diads and triads on the methylmethacrylate sequences, as compared with homopolymers, is observed; it suggests that the anomaly is caused by the competition of the depropagation reaction.