Preparation and surface activity of modified soy protein

A series of novel surfactants have been prepared by the reaction of hydrolyzed soy protein with alkyl succinic anhydride. These novel surfactants exhibit excellent surface active properties including surface tension, foaming, emulsifying, wetting power, and buffer ability. The hydrophobic modified protein exhibit more surface activity than original protein because of the enhanced hydrophobicity in structure. The increase in hydrophobic chain length leads to an increase in the surface activity. The surface tension reduction is correlated to the hydrophobicity of the modified molecule, which was determined by a fluorescent probe. In application on cotton bleaching procedures, these surfactants increase the whiteness of fabrics. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 3498–3503, 2006     

Manufacturing and foaming of high melt viscosity of polypropylene by using electron beam radiation technology

The high melt viscosity of polypropylene was studied by grafting bifunctional monomers, 1,6‐hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) and tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPGDA), onto homopolypropylene (HPP) and random ter‐polypropylene (RTPP) under electron‐beam irradiation. Creation of the high‐melt‐viscosity polypropylene was possible at low radiation dosage and low monomer content, under a prohibition of both radiation degradation and homopolymerization. TPGDA monomer was more effective in increasing the melt viscosity of HPP compared with RTPP, whereas HDDA monomer was more effective for enhancing the melt viscosity of RTPP. Such different effects of monomers on melt viscosity may arise from different monomer structures, namely, TPGDA has additional three methyl groups, but HDDA has no methyl groups. Electron‐beam radiation technology, on an increase of the melt viscosity, was much more effective in HPP than RTPP, when compared with virgin polymers. Modified RTPP and HPP with high melt viscosity were capable of foaming with numerous fine cells, of which the modified HPP with 1.5 mmol TPGDA and 0.5 kGy could create more spherical foam cells and its bending strength was 1.5 times more than that of the foamed RTPP. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 46:431–437, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Comparative study of the physical aging of the epoxy systems BADGE n = 0/m‐XDA and BADGE n = 0/m‐XDA/PEI

The physical aging of the epoxy network consisting of a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A, m‐xylylenediamine, and polyetherimide was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The glass transition temperature and the variation of the specific heat capacities have been calculated using the method, based on the intersection of both enthalpy–temperature lines for glassy and liquid states. The apparent activation energy (E_H) was calculated using a single method that involved separate temperature and excess enthalpy dependency. All calorimetric data were compared with those obtained for the epoxy network without thermoplastic. thermoplastic. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 3931–3935, 2006     

Preparation and properties of polyimide/silica hybrid composites based on polymer‐modified colloidal silica

A new type of polyimide/silica (PI/SiO₂) hybrid composite films was prepared by blending polymer‐modified colloidal silica with the semiflexible polyimide. Polyimide was solution‐imidized at higher temperature than the glass transition temperature (T_g) using 3,3′,4,4′‐biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and 4,4′‐diaminodiphenyl ether (ODA). The morphological observation on the prepared hybrid films by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pointed to the existence of miscible organic–inorganic phase, which resulted in improved mechanical properties compared with pure PI. The incorporation of the silica structures in the PI matrix also increased both T_g and thermal stability of the resulting films. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 2053–2061, 2006     

羧甲基纤维素接枝丙烯酰胺高吸水树脂的制备

以羧甲基纤维素、丙烯酰胺为原料,采用氧化还原引发体系,通过自由基接枝共聚制备了高吸水树脂,分别考察了原料配比、引发剂浓度、交联剂浓度、聚合温度、树脂粒径等因素对高吸水树脂吸收能力的影响,确定了最佳制备条件.     

CaCO3/natural rubber latex nanometer composite and its properties

Calcium carbonate/natural rubber (NR) latex nanometer composites were prepared by adding nanometer CaCO₃ whose surface had been treated to natural rubber latex (NRL) before sulfuration. The physical, thermooxidative aging, and thermal degradation properties and the ultra‐microstructure were analyzed with a multipurpose material testing meter, a thermal analysis meter and a Philips XL‐30 SEM, respectively. The results showed that the structures and properties of nanometer composites could be clearly improved by NRL mixed with surface‐treated nanometer CaCO₃. The physical properties of the nanometer composites were best when the content of surface treatment agent was 2.5% (to nanometer CaCO₃), the nanometer CaCO₃/NRL content was 3:100, and the stirring time for treating the surface of the nanometer CaCO₃ was 20 min. Simultaneously, the thermooxidative aging resistance of the nanometer composites also was significantly improved. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 3442–3447, 2006     

Synthesis and characterization of hydrophilic nanocomposite coating on glass substrate

Hydrophilic coatings based on 3‐glicidoxy propyl trimethoxy silane (GPTMS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) were prepared with the incorporation of tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) and silica nanoparticle colloidal suspension by a sol–gel process. Characterization of the coatings has been performed by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared (ATR‐IR) techniques. Morphological properties were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The distribution of Si atoms in the hybrid system was obtained by Si mapping. The particle size in sol solution of the coating was measured by light scattering analyzer. Optical properties were characterized by using UV–vis spectrophotometer. The hydrophilicity of the coating was determined by contact angle measurements, and also the results have been confirmed by surface energy and water uptake investigations. The obtained results indicate that the surfactants affected the contact angles remarkably but did not change the transparency. It has been found that applying silica nano particles leads to coatings with different properties than those using TMOS, while siloxane contents were the same in these two set of coatings. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 5322–5329, 2006     

Preparation and characterization of syndiotactic polystyrene/ethylene‐propylene copolymer blends

The reactive compatibilization of syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS)/oxazoline‐styrene copolymer (RPS)/maleic anhydride grafted ethylene‐propylene copolymer (EPR‐MA) blends is investigated in this study. First, the miscibility of sPS/RPS blends is examined by thermal analysis. The cold crystallization peak (T_cc) moved toward higher temperature with increased PRS, and, concerning enthalpy relaxation behaviors, only a single enthalpy relation peak was found in all aged samples. These results indicate that the sPS/RPS blend is miscible along the various compositions and RPS can be used in the reactive compatibilization of sPS/RPS/EPR‐MA blends. The reactive compatibilized sPS/RPS/EPR‐MA blends showed finer morphology than sPS/EPR‐MA physical blends and higher storage modulus (G') and complex viscosity (η*) when RPS contents were increased. Moreover, the impact strength of sPS/RPS/EPR‐MA increased significantly compared to sPS/EPR‐MA blend, and SEM micrographs after impact testing show that the sPS/RPS/EPR‐MA blend has better adhesion between the sPS matrix and the dispersed EPR‐MA phase. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 2084–2091, 2002     

Synthesis and biological activity of phthalimide‐based polymers containing 5‐fluorouracil

The attachment of anticancer agents to polymers is a promising approach towards reducing the toxic side‐effects and retaining the potent antitumour activity of these agents. A new tetrahydrophthalimido monomer containing 5‐fluorouracil (ETPFU) and its homopolymer and copolymers with acrylic acid (AA) and with vinyl acetate (VAc) have been synthesized and spectroscopically characterized. The ETPFU contents in poly(ETPFU‐co‐AA) and poly(ETPFU‐co‐VAc) obtained by elemental analysis were 21 mol% and 20 mol%, respectively. The average molecular weights of the polymers determined by gel permeation chromatography were as follows: M_n = 8900 g mol^?1, M_w = 13 300 g mol^?1, M_w/M_n = 1.5 for poly(ETPFU); M_n = 13 500 g mol^?1, M_w = 16 600 g mol^?1, M_w/M_n = 1.2 for poly(ETPFU‐co‐AA); M_n = 8300 g mol^?1, M_w = 11 600 g mol^?1, M_w/M_n = 1.4 poly(ETPFU‐co‐VAc). The in vitro cytotoxicity of the compounds against FM3A and U937 cancer cell lines increased in the following order: ETPFU > 5‐FU > poly(ETPFU) > poly(ETPFU‐co‐AA) > poly(ETPFU‐co‐VAc). The in vivo antitumour activities of all the polymers in Balb/C mice bearing the sarcoma 180 tumour cell line were greater than those of 5‐FU and monomer at the highest dose (800 mg kg^?1). © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Structure and properties of poly(ethylene‐co‐chlorotrifluoroethylene) and polyvinylidene fluoride exposed to water,hydrochloric acid,hydrobromic acid and tetrachloroethylene

The transport of water, hydrochloric acid, hydrobromic acid and tetrachloroethylene in an poly(ethylene‐co‐chlorotrifluoroethylene) and polyvinylidene fluoride were studied at 70°C by the sorption/desorption technique. The effects on the structure and mechanical properties were studied using size‐exclusion chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and tensile testing. Solute concentrations in the polymers indicated that both the water and HCl/HBr components diffused into the polymers on exposure to acid solutions. The calculated water contents of the diffusing acids generally differed from the water content in the solution. The ratio of water content in the diffusing acid to that in the surrounding acid solution was generally a function of the relative vapor activity of water and HCl/HBr. It was possible to describe the 35%HCl and 47%HBr desorption data using a two component model. It was here assumed that the water and HCl/HBr diffused separately, each having its own constant diffusion coefficient. The water diffusivity was obtained from the pure water system, and this allowed the HCl/HBr diffusivity to be calculated. It was found that the diffusivity decreased, in a non‐simple way, as a function of solute size. The exposure to solute did not lower the molar mass of the polyvinylidene fluoride. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated the development of low‐melting point polyvinylidene fluoride crystals during the exposure to all solutes. This seemed to be a consequence of the long‐term exposure (175 to 376 days) at 70°C. The long‐term exposure stiffened several of the polyvinylidene fluoride resins and occasionally made them less ductile. The poly(ethylene‐co‐chlorotrifluoroethylene) also became stiffer, but it was otherwise unaffected as far as observation by the other available techniques was concerned.