Synthesis of poly(ε‐caprolactone)/clay nanocomposites using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane surfactants as organic modifier and initiator

Poly(ε‐caprolactone)/clay nanocomposites were synthesized by in situ ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone in the presence of montmorillonite modified by hydroxyl functionalized, quaternized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) surfactants. The octa(3‐chloropropyl) polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane was prepared by hydrolytic condensation of 3‐chloropropyltrimethoxysilane, which was subsequently quaternized with 2‐dimethylaminoethanol. Montmorillonite was modified with the quaternized surfactants by cation exchange reaction. Bulk polymerization of ε‐caprolactone was conducted at 110°C using stannous octoate as an initiator/catalyst. Nanocomposites were analyzed by X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. Hydroxyl functionalized POSS was employed as a surface modifier for clay which gives stable clay separation for its 3‐D structure and also facilitates the miscibility of polymer with clay in the nanocomposites due to the star architecture. An improvement in the thermal stability of PCL was observed even at 1 wt % of clay loading. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Effect of surface roughness and surface modification of indium tin oxide electrode on its potential response to tryptophan

The effect of surface modification of indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode on its potential response to tryptophan was investigated for ITO substrates with different surface roughness. It was found that a small difference in surface roughness, between ∼1 and ∼2 nm of R_a evaluated by atomic force microscopy, affects the rest potential of ITO electrode in the electrolyte. A slight difference in In:Sn ratio at the near surface of the ITO substrates, measured by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectrometry and Auger electron spectroscopy is remarkable, and considered to relate with surface roughness. Interestingly, successive modification of the ITO surface with aminopropylsilane and disuccinimidyl suberate, of which essentiality to the potential response to indole compounds we previously reported, improved the stability of the rest potential and enabled the electrodes to respond to tryptophan in case of specimens with R_a values ranging between ∼2 and ∼3 nm but not for those with R_a of ∼1 nm. It was suggested that there are optimum values of effective work function of ITO for specific potential response to tryptophan, which can be obtained by the successive modification of ITO surface.     

Effects of different pH medium on swelling properties of 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic-chitosan-filled chitosan bio-composites

Investigating the swelling properties of chitosan (Cs) film was deemed meaningful, as it plays an important role in predicting the life span of the film. Due to the limits in stability properties, the insertion of reinforcement agent is expected to increase the properties of Cs film. To this purpose, 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic-chitosan (BTC) filler was inserted into the Cs matrix. The effect on the degree of swelling (Q _t ) and the rate of swelling (Q _r ) of the composite film at varying compositions of BTC filler (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 wt/v%) was investigated. The Q _r and Q _t both decrease with an increasing BTC content, which may be attributed to the looser packaging structure, and the improvement of the hydrophobic character of the composites film. Thus, the addition of BTC filler, up to 10 wt/v%, makes the Cs film more stable with a prolonged swelling time. Meanwhile, electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding between the swelling medium and neutral groups, of the polymeric chains of the composites, contributed to the obtained values of Q _t and Q _r . The FTIR results support the argument for the Q _t and Q _r values of different compositions of BTC filler in the Cs matrix, in the different swelling medium (pH 2–14).     

Direct Growth and Photoluminescence of SiO<Subscript>x</Subscript> Nanowires and Aligned Nanocakes by Simple Carbothermal Evaporation

The growth of SiO_x nanowires and nanocakes on an Au-coated n-type-Silicon (100) substrate was achieved via carbothermal evaporation. The effects of the Au layer thickness and the rapid heating rate on the morphology of obtained SiO_x nanowires were investigated. A broad emission band from 290 to 600 nm was observed in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of these nanowires. There are four PL peaks: one blue emission peak 485 nm (2.56 eV) two green bands centered at 502 nm (2.47 eV) and 524 nm (2.37 eV) for nanocakes and one ultraviolet emission peak at 350 nm (3.54 eV) and a hemisphere curve over the bluish green area taken for SiO_x nanowires. These emissions may be related to the various oxygen defects and twofold coordinated silicon lone pair centers.     

Selective oxidation of olefins and aromatic alcohols with tert‐butylhydroperoxide catalyzed by polymer‐anchored transition‐metal complexes

Three polymer‐anchored metal complexes (Co, Cu, and Pd) were synthesized and characterized. The catalytic performance of these complexes was tested for the oxidation of olefins and aromatic alcohols. These complexes showed excellent catalytic activity and high selectivity. These complexes selectively gave epoxides and aldehydes from olefins and alcohols, respectively. Individually, the effect of various solvents, oxidants, substrate oxidant molar ratios, temperatures, and catalyst amounts for the oxidation of cyclohexene and benzyl alcohol were studied. Under optimized reaction conditions, 96, 81, and 71% conversions of cyclohexene and 86, 79, and 73% conversions of benzyl alcohol were obtained with Co(II), Cu(II), and Pd(II) catalysts, respectively. The catalytic results reveal that these complexes could be recycled more than five times without much loss in activity. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Flammability behavior of fiber–fiber hybrid fabrics and composites

The effect of heat flux levels on burning behavior and heat transmission properties of hybrid fabrics and composites has been investigated using cone calorimeter and heat transmission techniques. The hybrid fabric structures woven out of E‐glass (warp) and polyether ether ketone (PEEK) (weft) and E‐glass (warp) and polyester (weft) have been studied at high heat flux levels keeping in view the flame retardant requirements of structural composites. The performance of the glass–PEEK fabric even at high heat flux levels of 75 kW/m² was comparable with the performance of glass–polyester fabric evaluated at 50 kW/m². The results further demonstrate that glass–PEEK hybrid fabrics exhibit low peak heat release rate, low heat release rate, low heat of combustion, suggesting an excellent combination of materials and fall under the low‐risk category and are comparable with the performance of carbon fiber‐epoxy‐based systems. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Physico-mechanical and degradation properties of biodegradable photografted coir fiber with acrylic monomers

Coir fibers were modified with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (2-HEA) solutions under UV radiation. Monomer concentration and radiation dose were optimized in terms of grafting and tensile properties. It was found that 20 % HEMA at 20th UV pass, 30 % MMA at 15th UV pass and 25 % 2-HEA at 20th UV pass of radiation produced higher tensile properties over untreated sample. Urea of different concentrations (0.5–2 %) were incorporated into optimized solutions and 1 % urea showed the best properties of the fiber. Water uptake behavior and simulating weathering degradation properties were also performed.