Cyclodextrins in polymer synthesis: photocrosslinkable films via free radical copolymerization of methylated β-cyclodextrin-complexed styrene with sodium 4-(acrylamido)-phenyldiazosulfonate in aqueous medium
The copolymerization of a methylated-β-cyclodextrin (m-β-CD) 1:1 host-guest compound of styrene (1a) with various molar ratios of sodium 4-(acrylamido)-phenyldiazosulfonate (2) is described. The copolymerization of complex 1a with 2 was carried out in water with 2,2′-azobis(N,N′-dimethyleneisobutyramidine)-dihydrochloride as the free radical initiator at 40°C. Depending on the amount of 2 incorporated in the copolymer, water- or DMF-soluble copolymers of high molar mass were obtained. Irradiation of the copolymers with UV light in solution resulted in rapid decomposition of the azo chromophore, and irradiation of the polymers as films led to crosslinking and thus to insolubility.
Polypropylene-based melt mixed composites with singlewalled carbon nanotubes for thermoelectric applications: Switching from p-type to n-type by the addition of polyethylene glycol
Abstract The thermoelectric properties of melt processed conductive nanocomposites consisting of an insulating polypropylene (PP) matrix filled with singlewalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and copper oxide (CuO) were evaluated. An easy and cheap route to switch p-type composites into n-type was developed by adding polyethylene glycol (PEG) during melt mixing. At the investigated CNT concentrations of 0.8 wt% and 2 wt% (each above the electrical percolation threshold of ∼0.1 wt%), and a fixed CuO content of 5 wt%, the PEG addition converted p-type composites (positive Seebeck coefficient (S)) into n-type (negative S). PEG was also found to improve the filler dispersion inside the matrix. Two co…
The Next 100 Years of Polymer Science
International audience; The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the first article on poly merization, published by Hermann Staudinger. It is Staudinger who realized that polymers consist of long chains of covalently linked building blocks. Polymers have had a tremendous impact on the society ever since this initial publication. People live in a world that is almost impossible to imagine without synthetic polymers. But what does the future hold for polymer science? In this article, the editors and advisory board of Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics reflect on this question.
Naphthalenediimide Polymers with Finely Tuned In-Chain π-Conjugation: Electronic Structure, Film Microstructure, and Charge Transport Properties
Naphthalenediimide-based random copolymers (PNDI-TVTx) with different π-conjugated dithienylvinylene (TVT) versus π-nonconjugated dithienylethane (TET) unit ratios (x = 100→0%) are investigated. The PNDI-TVTx-transistor electron/hole mobilities are affected differently, a result rationalized by molecular orbital topologies and energies, with hole mobility vanishing but electron mobility decreasing only by ≈2.5 times when going from x = 100% to 40%.