Polymer Journal
Vol. 38, No. 6 (June, 2006)


[Award Accounts: SPSJ Hitachi Chemical Award (2005)] Web Release Date: May 25, 2006
507-515 Selective Microsphere Adsorption and Metallization on Photopatterned Polycation Single-layered Adsorption Films
 M. Nakagawa
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
 Multivalent cationic molecular and macromolecular adsorbates with plural pyridinium groups were adsorbed irreversibly on a substrate surface taking a negative charge, giving their single-layered adsorption film showing high desorption resistance toward deionized water. Positive- or negative-type micropatterning, consisting of the surface adsorption, the pattern exposure, and the development, could be carried out on the basis of the promotion or suppression of desorption controlled by photochemical means. The photopatterned adsorption films were available as templates for selective microsphere adsorption and metallization by electroless deposition.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 17, 2006
516-522 Living Radical Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate with a Rhodium(III) Complex–Organic Halide System in Dimethyl Sulfoxide
 N. Kameda
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
The rhodium(III) complex RhH2(Ph2N3)(PPh3)2 in conjunction with CCl4 was successfully used in the living radical polymerization of MMA in DMSO. For this system, polymerization followed first-order kinetics with respect to the monomer, and the number-average molecular weight ( Mn) of the polymers produced increased in direct proportion to the monomer conversion. On addition of further monomer, the Mn of the polymer continued to increase in direct proportion to the monomer conversion. The polymers obtained had broad molecular-weight distributions.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 17, 2006
523-526 Preparation and Fluorescent Property of Eu(TTA)3Phen Incorporated in Polycarbonate Resin
 S. Zhao, L. Zhang, W. Li, and L. Li
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
 Rare earth complex Eu(TTA)3Phen was synthesized with a new method. The strong fluorescence and high thermal stability of Eu(TTA)3Phen were used for modification of resin. The fluorescence spectra showed that the prepared Eu(TTA)3Phen-PC composite materials retained the fluorescent characteristic and strong red emission of Eu3+ complex and its fluorescence intensity was found to be increased with increase in the mass fraction of Eu(TTA)3Phen in PC resin.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 17, 2006
527-541 Thermosensitive PNIPA-Based Organic–Inorganic Hydrogels
 M. Lutecki, B. Strachotová, M. Uchman, J. Brus, J. Pleštil, M. Šlouf, A. Strachota, and L. Matějka
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
Thermosensitive organic–inorganic hydrogels were prepared by introducing an inorganic phase into the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) gels. Tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) or [3-(methacryloyloxy)propyl]trimethoxysilane (MPTMOS) were used to form silica or silsesquioxane domains by the sol-gel process in situ within the organic matrix. The presence of the inorganic phase, dispersed in the PNIPA gels or covalently attached to the organic polymer, leads to faster swelling-deswelling kinetics and better mechanical properties of the organic–inorganic hydrogels.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 17, 2006
542-547 Role of Amorphous Region on the Deformation Behavior of Crystalline Polymers
 M. Fukuoka, T. Aya, H. Saito, S. Ichihara, and H. Sano
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
The yield stress and Young’s modulus decreased by extracting the petroleum resin dissolved in the interlamellar amorphous region of HDPE/petroleum resin blends. The TEM observation for the stretched specimen revealed that the decrease of the overall stress is ascribed to the enhancement of the lamellar separation associating with large void formation and lamellar deflection due to the low number density of tie chains which act as a transmitter of the external force.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 17, 2006
548-553 Novel Contamination and Gas Sensor Materials from Amphiphilic Polymer-Grafted Carbon Black
 H. Morohashi, T. Nakanoya, H. Iwata, T. Yamauchi, and N. Tsubokawa
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
 The responses of electric resistance of composites prepared from amphiphilic polymer-grafted carbon blacks to contamination in solution and solvent vapor were investigated. The electric resistance of the composites from amphiphilic polymer-grafted carbon blacks drastically increased, when it was dipped in n-hexane containing contaminations and returned immediately to the initial resistance when it was transferred into dry air. The response of electric resistance of the composite from PNIPAM-grafted carbon black was found to be linearly proportional to chloroform as contamination in n-hexane solution and relative humidity.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 17, 2006
554-558 Assembly, Morphology and Thermal Stability of Polyamide 6 Nanotubes
 J.-J. Li, G.-J. Song, X.-L. She, P. Han, Z. Peng, and D. Chen
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
 PA6 nanotubes array has been prepared successfully using small pore anodic aluminum oxide as a template via polymer solution and melt wetting method. And the morphology of PA6 nanotubes was highly influenced both by the concentration and the quantity of polymer solution. And its thermal properties were characterized by thermal gravity analysis.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 17, 2006
559-566 Temperature Dependence of Crystallization Behavior in a Phase-Separated Blend of Poly(ε-caprolactone) Homopolymer and Poly(ε-caprolactone)-block-Polybutadiene Copolymer
 M. Akaba and S. Nojima
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
 The crystallization behavior in a macroscopically phase-separated blend consisting of poly(ε-caprolactone) homopolymer (PCL) and PCL-block-polybutadiene copolymer (PCL-b-PB) is investigated by synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SR-SAXS) and polarized optical microscope (POM) as a function of crystallization temperature Tc. When the blend with ξ = 2.5 μm (ξ: characteristic size of phase separated structure) is quenched into various Tc, two scattering peaks are observed in the SR-SAXS curve during crystallization, which arise from the crystallized PCL and PCL-b-PB regions. The growth rates of these scattering peaks are identical at lower Tc ( ≤ 35 °C), while they deviate gradually with increasing Tc.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 17, 2006
567-576 Fabrication of Hierarchically Ordered Hybrid Structures over Multiple Length Scales via Direct Etching of Self-Organized Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) Functionalized Block Copolymer Films
 T. Hayakawa, M. Seino, R. Goseki, T. Hirai, R. Kikuchi, M. Kakimoto, M. Tokita, H. Yokoyama, and S. Horiuchi
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
 A novel fabrication of hierarchically ordered organic and inorganic hybrid structures at length scales ranging from nanometers to micrometers was demonstrated by oxygen plasma treatment of self-organized silicon-containing block copolymer films. As a rod-coil type silicon-containing block copolymer, polystyrene-b-polyisoprene with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) -modified side chains was successfully synthesized. The block copolymer was formed hierarchically structures of hexagonally packed micropores and phase-separated nanodomains via self-organization. An oxygen plasma etching to the films provided novel hierarchically ordered hybrid structures.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 19, 2006
577-584 Polymerization of Vinyl Ether by Use of Yttrium Silicate Gel as Solid Acid
 O. Moriya, T. Sugizaki, A. Kamejima, K. Iwakura, T. Kumon, and T. Kageyama
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
The gel of yttrium silicate was found to be an effective solid catalyst for the polymerization of vinyl ethers. The polymerization of ethyl and butyl vinyl ether proceeded readily at 18 °C in the presence of a catalytic amount of the silicate gel, in which the content of yttrium was only 1 mol % to the monomer. When the polymerization of ethyl vinyl ether was carried out in benzene solution, the corresponding polymer was obtained quantitatively irrespective of the concentration of the monomer.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 19, 2006
585-591 Polymer Structure of Lignophenol I —Structure and Function of Fractionated Lignophenol—
 K. Mikame and M. Funaoka
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
A polymer structure and function of lignophenol was examined by various structural analysis of lignophenols fractionated with preparative SEC. The base unit of lignophenol is 1,1-bis (aryl) propane-2-O-aryl ether unit in all the molecular weight areas by NMR analysis. But the amounts of combined cresol and phenolic hydroxyl groups were increased with decreasing molecular weight of fractionated lignophenols. The protein-adsorbing capacities and thermoplastic property of fractionated lignophenols differed with the molecular weights.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 19, 2006
592-596 Polymer Structure of Lignophenol II —Comparison of Molecular Morphology of Lignophenol and Conventional Lignins—
 K. Mikame and M. Funaoka
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
The molecular morphology of lignophenol and conventional lignins were analyzed with SEC-MALLS system. The difference in the molecular weight of lignin determined by MALLS and conventional calibration methods using linear polystyrene standard can show the difference of molecular morphology of lignin. The molecular morphology of lignocresol was more spreading and linearity, compared with other lignins. It was suggested that this characteristic of lignophenol is concerned with thermoplasticity of lignophenol that other lignins do not have.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 25, 2006
597-602 The EB-DNA Liquid Crystalline Complex with High Concentration of Mg2+
 B. Liao, B. He, S. Chen, and Y. Huang
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
The DNA liquid crystal complexed with ethidium bromide (EB) in the high ionic strength of Mg2+ were investigated. It was found that the cholesteric pitch and the fraction of liquid crystal phase in the EB-DNA solution is obviously affected by EB with the same ionic strength of Mg2+ at room temperature. The intercalation of EB changes the ionic environment close to the DNA chains and the stiffness of DNA, which affects the liquid crystal behavior of DNA.

[Note] Web Release Date: May 25, 2006
603-605 Elasticity of Sphere-forming Polystyrene-b-polyisoprene-b-poly(2-vinylpyridine)/Polystyrene-b-polyisoprene/Polyisoprene-b-poly(2-vinylpyridine) blends: The role of Dangling Chains
 Y. Takahashi, Y. Akazawa, A. Takano, and Y. Matsushita
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
 Effects of the dangling ends on the elasticity of sphere-forming ABC tirblock copolymer are examined by addition of AB and BC diblock copolymers. The Young’s moduli are proportional to the bridge fraction of middle blocks and the difference between dangling ends and loops are very minor.

[Note] Web Release Date: May 25, 2006
606-609 Preparation of Organic/Inorganic Polymer Hybrid from a New Class of Novolac
 T. Kimura, Y. Nakamoto, and G. Konishi
[Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]
The preparation of an organic/inorganic polymer hybrid from a new class of novolac is described. The hybrid was prepared by the acid-catalyzed sol–gel reaction of phenyl-trimethoxysilane (PhTMOS) in the presence of anisole novolac. The resulting film was transparent and showed a high heat stability. The dispersion of two components might be due to the utilization of the π–π interaction between the phenyl ring of the silica matrix and that of novolac. This makes it possible to prepare a hybrid glass having a highly content of novolac derivatives.