Polymer Journal
Vol. 41, No. 3 (March, 2009)


[Review Article] Web Release Date: December 26, 2008
157-173 Wormlike Micelles of Polyoxyethylene Alkyl Ethers CiEj
 Y. Einaga
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Surfactant polyoxyethylene alkyl ether CiEj forms wormlike micelles in dilute aqueous solutions. It is demonstarted that the results by static and dynamic light scattering can be analyzed to yield structure and characteristic properties of the “isolated” micelles at specified surfactant (or micelle) concentration. The excess Rayleigh ratio as a function of surfactant concentration and radius of gyration, intrinsic viscosity, and hydrodynamic ratio as functions of molar mass of the micelle are quantitatively represented by the corresponding wormlike chain theory. Effects of mixing of different CiEj′s and uptake of n-alcohol and n-alkane into micelles on solution properties of the micelles are also discussed.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: January 15, 2009
174-180 Synthesis and Properties of Novel Fluorinated Polyamides Based on Noncoplanar Sulfoxide Containing Aromatic Bis(ether amine)
 A. Shockravi, E. Abouzari-Lotf, A. Javadi, and S. Taheri
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A novel fluorinated diamine monomer, 2,2′-sulfoxide-bis[4-methyl(2-trifluoromethyl)4-aminophenoxy) phenyl ether] (M2) was successfully synthesized in two steps route including the Williamson etherification reaction followed by catalytic reduction. A series of fluorine-containing polyamides were synthesized from such diamine with various aromatic dicarboxylic acids. These poly(sulfoxide ether amide)s were amorphous in nature, readily soluble in common polar organic solvents, and showed high thermal stability.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: January 7, 2009
181-188 Coil-Globule Transition and/or Coacervation of Temperature and pH Dual-Responsive Carboxylated Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)
 T. Maeda, M. Takenouchi, K. Yamamoto, and T. Aoyagi
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An ionic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based functional polymer, poly(NIPAAm-co-CIPAAm), which has carboxyl groups, can show both a coil-globule transition and a coacervation in response to temperature and pH changes.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: January 15, 2009
189-194 Micellization Behavior of an Amphiphilic Statistical Copolymer in Water-Methanol Mixtures
 T. Mori, A. Hashidzume, and T. Sato
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Sedimentation equilibrium measurements were made on an amphiphilic statistical copolymer p(AMPS/C6) made of sodium 2-(acrylamido)-2-methylpropanesulfonate (AMPS) and n-hexyl methacrylate (C6), dissolved in water-methanol mixtures with 0.2 M LiClO4 and different methanol contents over a wide polymer concentration range. The experimental results were analyzed in terms of a micellar solution theory for amphiphilic polyelectrolytes to estimate the aggregation number of the micelle and the internal free energy change due to micellization.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: January 7, 2009
195-200 Photocarrier Transport Property of Phenylene-vinylene Dendrimer Studied by Time-of-Flight Method
 M. Mizusaki, M. Yamahara, Y. Yamada, S. Obara, and K. Tada
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The carrier transport property of π-conjugated dendrimer surrounded by soluble surface groups was studied by time of flight method. The result shows the mobility increases with decreasing electric field, and the intrinsic mobility is same order as ladder-type π-conjugated polymers having alkyl chains as soluble groups. Therefore, the structure of the dendrimer we prepared would be a disk shape. The result indicates the soluble π-conjugated dendrimers have probability of applications toward organic electronic devices.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: January 15, 2009
201-207 Solution Properties of Amylose Tris(Phenylcarbamate): Local Conformation and Chain Stiffness in 1,4-Dioxane and 2-Ethoxyethanol
 K. Terao, T. Fujii, M. Tsuda, S. Kitamura, and T. Norisuye
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Light and small-angle X-ray scattering, sedimentation equilibrium, viscosity, circular dichroism, and infrared absorption measurements have been made on 1,4-dioxane and 2-ethoxyethanol solutions of seven amylose tris(phenylcarbamate) samples. Analyses of gyration radius, scattering function, and intrinsic viscosity data in terms of the wormlike chain model yield Kuhn segment lengths of 22 ± 2 nm and 16 ± 2 nm in 1,4-dioxane and 2-ethoxyethanol, respectively, and a contour length per residue of 0.33 ± 0.02 nm in both.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: January 15, 2009
208-213 Modification of Monodisperse Colloidal Silica by Radical Copolymerizatoin of Cationic Surface Active Vinyl Monomers
 J.-M. Moon, K.-T. Lee, B.-S. Kim, J.-O. Lee, T. Tanaka, and K. Yoshinaga
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Adsorption and radical copolymerization of surface active monomers on colloidal silica were investigated. Silica composite homogeneously coated with cross-linked polymer was successfully prepared and their surface structure was investigated. Polymer modification of colloidal silica gave stable silica composite in organic solvents. Radical copolymerization of adsorbed monomer having carboxyl group on colloidal silica, which gave polymer-coated silica composite and exhibited a negative ξ-potential in water due to dissociation of carboxyl group.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: January 21, 2009
214-218 Selective Sorption and Desorption of Organic Solvent for δ-Syndiotactic Polystyrene
 T. Nakaoki, N. Goto, and K. Saito
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Sorption and desorption of organic solvent for δ-syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) was investigated as a function of molar volume and shape of the solvent molecules. Solvents with large molar volume are tightly packed in the pores of δ-sPS; therefore, desorption from clathrate δ-sPS treated in scCO2 is slow. The sorption process into the cavity of empty δ-sPS was investigated for various shaped alcohols. OH-branched alcohols were incorporated, but methyl branched alcohols were not, due to steric effects.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: January 21, 2009
219-227 Phase Structure and Mechanical Property of Blends of Organosolv Lignin Alkyl Esters with Poly(ε-caprolactone)
 Y. Teramoto, S.-H. Lee, and T. Endo
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Miscibility of organosolv lignin (OSL) esters with poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) was investigated through DSC, morphological observation, and spectroscopy. DSC revealed a composition-dependent Tg shift in blends of OSL propionate, butyrate, and valerate with PCL. Therefore, these systems can be regarded as miscible on a Tg-detection scale. Thermal-molded sheets of the miscible blends attained ≥500% of elongation at rupture, even at the composition containing 50 wt % of the respective esterified lignin components.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: January 28, 2009
228-236 Acceleration Mechanism in Critical Nucleation of Polymers by Epitaxy of Nucleating Agent
 T. Urushihara, K. Okada, K. Watanabe, A. Toda, N. Kawamoto, and M. Hikosaka
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Effect of epitaxy of nucleating agent (NA) on nucleation rate I of polymers was investigated based on kinetic study. I depends on free energy for forming critical nucleus Δ G*(Δσ), where Δσ is interfacial energy between NA and nucleus. Δσ of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) mixed with three NAs was evaluated by the fit of theoretical equation to the experimental data of I. I increased significantly with decreasing Δσ. We concluded that Δ G*(Δσ) is essentially important for acceleration of I.

[Note] Web Release Date: January 28, 2009
237-240 Kinetic Analysis of Engineered Polyhydroxyalkanoate Synthases with Broad Substrate Specificity
 K. Matsumoto, F. Shozui, Y. Satoh, K. Tajima, M. Munekata, and S. Taguchi
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Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase polymerizes hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A (CoA) with various carbon numbers as substrates, and produces homopolyester and copolyester. Relative polymerizing rate and affinity to substrates of PHA synthase determine monomer composition of the copolyesters. We previously created single or multiple mutants with amino acid substitution(s) occurred at beneficial positions related to enzyme activity and substrate specificity. Synergistic effects of beneficial mutations were obtained for increasing activities towards two substrates with different side-chain lengths, as revealed by in vitro kinetic analysis.