Control of self‐organized low‐dimensional morphology in poly(styrene‐b‐4vinylpyridine)/polystyrene blend thin films

The surface morphologies of poly(styrene‐b‐4vinylpyridine) (PS‐b‐P4VP) diblock copolymer and homopolystyrene (hPS) binary blend thin films were investigated by atomic force microscopy as a function of total volume fraction of PS (?_PS) in the mixture. It was found that when hPS was added into symmetric PS‐b‐P4VP diblock copolymers, the surface morphology of this diblock copolymer was changed to a certain degree. With ?_PS increasing at first, hPS was solubilized into the corresponding domains of block copolymer and formed cylinders. Moreover, the more solubilized the hPS, the more cylinders exist. However, when the limit was reached, excessive hPS tended to separate from the domains independently instead of solubilizing into the corresponding domains any longer, that is, a macrophase separation occurred. A model describing transitions of these morphologies with an increase in ?_PS is proposed. The effect of composition on the phase morphology of blend films when graphite is used as a substrate is also investigated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3496–3504, 2004     

Detection of Pb2+ using a hydrogel swelling microcantilever sensor.

Hydrogels containing benzo-18-crown-6 were used to modify microcantilevers for measurements of the concentration of Pb2+ in aqueous solutions. These microcantilevers undergo bending deflection upon exposure to solutions containing various Pb2+ concentrations as the result of a swelling of the hydrogels. It was found that a concentration of 10(-6) M Pb2+ can be detected using this technology. Other cations, such as Na+, have no effect on the deflection of this cantilever. The cation K+, which also complexes with benzo-18-crown-6, could interfere with Pb2+ detection, but only at high concentrations (> 10(-4) M).     

Electrospinning of ultrafine cellulose acetate fibers: Studies of a new solvent system and deacetylation of ultrafine cellulose acetate fibers

Electrospinning of cellulose acetate (CA) in a new solvent system and the deacetylation of the resulting ultrafine CA fibers were investigated. Ultrafine CA fibers (∼2.3 μm) were successfully prepared via electrospinning of CA in a mixed solvent of acetone/water at water contents of 10–15 wt %, and more ultrafine CA fibers (0.46 μm) were produced under basic pH conditions. Ultrafine cellulose fibers were regenerated from the homogeneous deacetylation of ultrafine CA fibers in KOH/ethanol. It was very rapid and completed within 20 min. The crystal structure, thermal properties, and morphology of ultrafine CA fibers were changed according to the degree of deacetylation, finally to those of pure cellulose, but the nonwoven fibrous mat structure was maintained. The activation energy for the deacetylation of ultrafine CA fibers was 10.3 kcal/mol. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 5–11, 2004     

Effects of poly[styrene‐b‐(ethylene‐co‐butylene)‐b‐styrene] on the charge distributions of low‐density polyethylene/polystyrene blends

The effect of the triblock copolymer poly[styrene‐b‐(ethylene‐co‐butylene)‐b‐styrene] (SEBS) on the formation of the space charge of immiscible low‐density polyethylene (LDPE)/polystyrene (PS) blends was investigated. Blends of 70/30 (wt %) LDPE/PS were prepared through melt blending in an internal mixer at a blend temperature of 220 °C. The amount of charge that accumulated in the 70% LDPE/30% PS blends decreased when the SEBS content increased up to 10 wt %. For compatibilized and uncompatibilized blends, no significant change in the degree of crystallinity of LDPE in the blends was observed, and so the effect of crystallization on the space charge distribution could be excluded. Morphological observations showed that the addition of SEBS resulted in a domain size reduction of the dispersed PS phase and better interfacial adhesion between the LDPE and PS phases. The location of SEBS at a domain interface enabled charges to migrate from one phase to the other via the domain interface and, therefore, resulted in a significant decrease in the amount of space charge for the LDPE/PS blends with SEBS. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 2813–2820, 2004     

Structural effects of multiple-bonds on aggregating tendencies of long-chain esters

The kinetics of the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl esters of three types of single-chain carboxylic acids, namely, saturated, olefinic and acetylenic, was investigated in two aquiorgano binary solvent systems, DMSO-H₂O and dioxane (DX)-H₂O. The ester probes used are: octanoic (C8), dodecanoic (C12) , stearic (C18) , oleic (C18-ol) , elaidic (C18-el ) and stearolic (C18-st). The order of measured CAgC values is: C18-ol>C18-el>C18>C18-st, whereas the order of decreasing magnitude of the observed hydrolytic rate constants of the monomeric species (k_m) is: C18>C18-el>C18-ol> C18-st. These rather unanticipated results are discussed.     

Bager第五图的完善

１９８９年发表的Ｂａｇｅｒ第五图，包含关于三角形元素的３５个二次规范画数之间的５１个不等式通过细致的分析，本文给出了其中遗漏的１２个基本不等式     

Preparation of antimicrobial poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibers containing silver nanoparticles

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers containing Ag nanoparticles were prepared by electrospinning PVA/silver nitrate (AgNO₃) aqueous solutions, followed by short heat treatment, and their antimicrobial activity was investigated for wound dressing applications. Since PVA is a water soluble and biocompatible polymer, it is one of the best materials for the preparation of wound dressing nanofibers. After heat treatment at 155 °C for 3 min, the PVA/AgNO₃ nanofibers became insoluble, while the Ag⁺ ions therein were reduced so as to produce a large number of Ag nanoparticles situated preferentially on their surface. The residual Ag⁺ ions were reduced by subsequent UV irradiation for 3 h. The average diameter of the Ag nanoparticles after the heat treatment was 5.9 nm and this value increased slightly to 6.3 nm after UV irradiation. It was found that most of the Ag⁺ ions were reduced by the simple heat treatment. The PVA nanofibers containing Ag nanoparticles showed very strong antimicrobial activity. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2468–2474, 2006