Complex formation of montmorillonite clay with polymers. Part 2: The use of montmorillonite clay–vinyl monomer complex as a comonomer in the copolymerization reaction of styrene–acrylonitrile monomers

The bulk copolymerization of styrene–acrylonitrile monomers using styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite complex as a comonomer in the polymerization was studied. The X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that part of the styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite complex remained non‐dispersed (immiscible) and the copolymer was excluded from the interlayer of the immiscible part of the clay. The successive chemical extraction process revealed that a reasonable amount of the styrene–acrylonitrile copolymer was directly attached to the styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite complex and enveloped the clay. Highly exfoliated clay lamella and nanospheres (3–5 nm) were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The montmorillonite clay assume two different morphologies, immiscible and exfoliated, on the basis of the XRD and TEM data. A simple method of calculation of the ratio of the exfoliated/immiscible amounts of the clay indicated that the amount of the styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite complex exfoliated into separate lamella was 40 % (w/w) of the amount of the clay samples containing 2 % of the (styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite complex) clay. This amount of exfoliated clay decreases with the increase of the concentration of the clay. The presence of the styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite clay in the copolymerization reaction had a minor effect on both the copolymer composition and the molecular weight. Modification of the clay with the derivatized styrene monomer can achieve a nanocomposite using a percentage no more than 4 % (w/w) of complex in the copolymer. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Slow eroding biodegradable multiblock poloxamer copolymers

Biodegradable multiblock poloxamers (BMPs) with gel duration of 8 h to several weeks were prepared by varying their molecular weights from 4000 to 40 000 g mol^?1. The molecular weight of the BMP was controlled by changing the poloxamer to coupling agent ratio. Assuming a micelle packing model of the BMP gel, as in the case of a poloxamer gel, the micelle properties and critical gel concentration of BMPs were investigated on the basis of the scaling concept. The findings suggest that the control of molecular weight by hydrolyzable groups can be a facile approach to optimize the gel properties for biomedical applications. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Phase behavior in liquid crystallization for diblock copolymers consisting of rubbery amorphous and side-chain liquid crystalline components

Phase behavior in liquid crystallization was studied for a series of liquid crystalline (LC) diblock copolymers consisting of rubbery amorphous and side-chain liquid crystalline components, poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PBA) and poly[11-(4′-cyanophenyl-4″-phenoxy)undecyl acrylate] (PLC), respectively, using a time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques, DSC and polarized optical microscopy (POM). The block copolymers used had three kinds of copolymer compositions, 44, 20 and 15 wt% of PLC compositions (BLC44, BLC20 and BLC15, respectively). BLC44 showed a smectic liquid crystalline structure. In the process of liquid crystallization for BLC44, the SAXS peak due to the microphase separation structure existing before liquid crystallization was changed continuously to be at a smaller angular side, and at almost the same time, a new peak appeared at a further smaller angular side and developed. The former peak disappeared with the development of liquid crystallization. The behavior of these SAXS peaks suggests that the microphase separation structure was changed discretely at the transition from isotropic to smectic and that two phases coexist in the early stage of the liquid crystallization. The coexistence of two peaks in the early stage of the liquid crystallization corresponded to the POM observation. In the isotropization process, coexistence of two phases was not observed. For BLC20 exhibiting a cylindrical structure in both isotropic and liquid crystalline states, the liquid crystalline structure was not smectic but probably nematic, and the spacing was changed continuously in liquid crystallization. No liquid crystallization was observed in SAXS, POM and DSC for BLC15. The orientation of smectic layers within lamellar domains was investigated using 2D-SAXS images. The smectic layer was aligned perpendicularly to the lamellar interface.     

Highly ordered microstructures of poly(styrene-b-isoprene) block copolymers induced by solution meniscus

Microstructures of hundreds of micron thick poly(styrene-block-isoprene) copolymer films solution-cast in a cylindrical tube with the solvent evaporation controlled were investigated by transmission electron microscope (TEM), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and optical microscope (OM). In a block copolymer with cylindrical polyisoprene microdomains, the orientation of the cylinders was varied along radial direction of the cylindrical tube. Highly aligned hexagonal arrays of in-plane polyisoprene cylinders were formed with their cylindrical axis parallel to the circumference of the tube in the regimes close to the wall edge. In contrast randomly ordered microdomains were observed at the center of the tube. We have also found that the orientation depends on the solvent evaporation rate and an intermediate rate (∼2.3 nL/s) provides the best orientation. In the case of a block copolymer with a bicontinuous double gyroid structure, we obtained a globally ordered microstructure where [111] crystallographic direction was parallel to the circumference of the tube. For both block copolymers, the area of highly ordered arrays of nanoscopic domains is over 1 mm². Development of the orientation was explained by coupling two orthogonal fields: (1) The flow of a solution induced by strong capillary force at a meniscus between the cylindrical tube wall and the block copolymer solution and (2) the solvent evaporation.     

端羟基聚二甲基硅氧烯改性环氧树脂

用羟基封端的聚二甲基硅氧烷改性环氧树脂，得到具有两相结构的改性树脂，其耐热性明显提高．环氧树脂／有机硅（20／80）共混物涂层有很低的表面能，主要的机械性能则变化不大，可作为一种疏水性防护徐层．     

HIPS-g-MA共聚物对HIPS/PC共混物相容性、形态和拉伸性能的影响

研究了HIPS／PC共混物的相容性及HIPS－MA对HIPS（30）／PC（70）共混物的相容性、形态和拉伸性能的影响。DSC研究结果表明，HIPS／PC共混物中PS的玻璃化转变温度（Tg)不随组成而变化，而PC的Tg随其质量分数的降低逐渐向低温移动，说明HIPS／PC是部分相容体系。通过DSC、扫描电镜形态观察和拉伸性能测试结果发现，当HIPS－g-MA的含量低于7．5％时，共混物的相容性改善不明显，当其含量达到7．5％时，对共混物有明显的乳化作用，说明饱和的界面浓度在7．5％左右。HIPS－g-MA接枝共聚物在HIPS（30）／PC（70）共混物中的增容作用可能是酯交换反应原位生成的嵌段共聚物所致。     

高透明耐冲击聚氯乙烯接枝聚合研究

研究高透明耐冲击聚氯乙烯接枝聚合工艺，讨论了加料顺序、复合分散体系以及采用聚集粒子乳液、并用碱性物质调节其ｐＨ值等对接枝聚合物性能的影响，确定了接枝聚合最佳工艺条件。     

聚苯乙烯溴代并接技聚二甲基硅氧烷

聚苯乙烯（PS）在苯溶液中与溴代丁二酰亚胺（NBS）反应，经分离提纯得到了固体溴代聚苯乙烯（PSB）。将所得PSB溶于苯并与低分子量的聚二甲基硅氧烷硅醇锂（PDMSOLi）反应，经分离提纯得到固体的溴代聚苯乙烯接枝聚二甲基硅氧烷（PSB－g-PDMSO),所得PSB-g-PDMSO的结构经^1H-NMR、IR及TEM表征。     

聚氨酯-聚丙烯酸酯共聚乳液的成膜和性能

通过XPS和接触角测试研究了聚氨酯-聚丙烯酸酯共聚乳液在不同基材上的成膜情况，并对共聚胶膜的耐水性和附着力进行了考察．由于该共聚乳液同时存在着亲水组分和疏水组分，所以它在不同的基材上成膜可导致其膜表面的组成成分不同，因而导致其耐水性和附着力也随基材而异。结果表明，亲水性的聚氨酯组分均富集于胶膜内部，但胶膜底层聚氨酯组分的含量却随基材的不同而不同。在憎水且表面张力较高的基材上，共聚胶膜的耐水性良好；共聚胶膜的附着力在表面张力较高的基材上也良好。     

A generalized equation for the prediction of melting temperatures of homopolymers and copolymers

A generalized equation was derived to calculate the melting temperatures of homopolymers and copolymers. The Gibbs‐Thomson equation for homopolymers and a modified application to copolymers were derived using the proposed equation. The melting temperature T_m⁰ in the Flory equation corresponds to the melting temperature T_m^C,∞ of copolymer crystals with stems of infinite length. Also, T_m^C,n*, the melting temperature for copolymer crystals with stems containing the maximum possible number of structural units, n*, should be used instead of T_m⁰ as the basis of supercooling in crystallization. The proposed equation shows good agreement with experimental data for α‐alkene‐ethylene homogeneous copolymers.