Polymer Journal
Vol. 40, No. 6 (June, 2008)

[Award Accounts: SPSJ Mitsubishi Chemical Award Accounts] Web Release Date: May 2, 2008

485-494 Structural Design of Polymer Membranes for Concentration of Bio-ethanol  T. Uragami [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

Porous poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) membranes for the concentration of aqueous solutions of dilute bioethanol were applied to a temperature-difference controlled evapomeation method. When the temperature of feed solution was kept at constant and the temperature of membrane surroundings was changed, with decreasing temperature of the membrane surroundings the ethanol/water selectivity increased remarkably. The ethanol/water selectivity of a porous PDMS membrane was almost equal to that of a dense PDMS membrane but the permeation rate of the former was higher by three orders of magnitude than that of the latter.

[Short Communication] Web Release Date: April 16, 2008

496-497 ARGET ATRP Synthesis of Thermally Responsive Polymers with Oligo(ethylene oxide) Units  S. Yamamoto and K. Matyjaszewski [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE) -Supporting Information-]

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (MEO2MA) was performed in the presence of limited air and with a very small (typically ppm) amount of copper catalyst together with appropriate reducing agent. This simple new method to prepare thermally responsive materials does not require any special equipment and can be carried out in vials without deoxygenation.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: April 9, 2008

498-502 Recycling of Polyethylene Terephthalate Using High-pressure Steam Treatment  A. Noritake, M. Hori, M. Shigematsu, and M. Tanahashi [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

In this experiment, polyethylene terephthalate was decomposed into fine particles during the high-pressure steam treatment at 1.6 MPa without crushing or using acidic or alkaline catalysts and solvents. PET was decomposed from the surface by the high-pressure steam. Additionally, the molecular weight of PET gradually decreased to an oligomer with increasing high-pressure steam treatment time, and then further reduced to a monomer.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: April 23, 2008

503-512 Phonon Dispersion and Heat Capacity in Microbial Poly(ε-L-lysine)(M-ε-PL)  M. Singh, A. K. Mishra, N. K. Misra, P. Tandon, K.-K. Kunimoto, and V. D. Gupta [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

Microbial poly(ε-L-lysine)(M-ε-PL) is naturally occurring biomaterial, which is water soluble, biodegradable, edible and non-toxic towards humans and environment. Normal mode analysis including phonon dispersion has been performed to understand completely the vibrational spectra of this polymer. Various characteristic features of the dispersion curves have been reported. The heat capacity is calculated as a function of temperature via density-of-states in the range 1–450 K.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 2, 2008

513-519 Room Temperature Ionic Liquids as Replacements for Organic Solvents: Direct Preparation of Wholly Aromatic Polyamides Containing Phthalimide and S-valine Moieties  S. Mallakpour and M. Kolahdoozan [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

Direct polyamidation of 5-(2-phthalimidyl-3-methylbutanoylamino)isophthalic acid containing S-valine and phthalimide groups with various aromatic diamines were carried out in ionic liquids in the presence of triphenyl phosphite. Ionic liquids are non volatile and non toxic, therefore, this process is a green method for polymerization. The resulting novel wholly aromatic optically active polyamides with inherent viscosities ranging from 0.35–0.71 dLg−1, were obtained in good yields. The introduction of pendent bulky groups along the polymer backbone increased the solubility property.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: April 16, 2008

520-527 Graft Reaction of Styrene-acrylonitrile onto Metallocene-Based Polyethylene-Octene Elastomer and its Toughening Effect on SAN  Y. Li, L. Wang, J. Dai, and A. Zhang [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

Polyethylene-Octene Elastomer-graft-styrene/acrylonitile (POE-g-SAN) was synthesized by grafting St and An onto POE. The reaction was carried out in toluene using benzyl peroxide as initiator at 75 °C. The effects of reaction conditions were studied. POE-g-SAN was characterized by FT/IR, 1H NMR and DSC. According to the research on mechanical properties of the SAN/POE blend, a remarkable toughening effect of POE-g-SAN on SAN resin was found.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: April 9, 2008

528-533 Primary Structure of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Synthesized by Radical Polymerization. Effects of Polymerization Solvents  T. Kawaguchi, Y. Kojima, M. Osa, and T. Yoshizaki [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

The interpenetration function Ψ in methanol at 25.0 °C for poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) synthesized in benzene (△) becomes remarkably larger than that for linear polystyrene (PS) in benzene at 25.0 °C as the weight-average molecular weight Mw is increased, while that for PNIPA synthesized in tert-butanol (○) becomes slightly larger than that for the linear PS. The result indicates that the number of branch points is larger in the former PNIPA than in the latter.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: April 9, 2008

534-537 Miniaturization of Surface Patterns by Combination of Contact Etching Lithography and Multi-step Shrinking of Stretched Polymer Films  H. Yabu and M. Shimomura [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE) -Supporting Information-]

We demostrate here a novel pattern transferring method named “Contact Etching Lithography” onto stretched polymer films by using a solvent-swollen polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molds as a template. Furthrermore, the transferred patterns can be miniaturized by thermal shrinking of the patterned streteched polymer film.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: April 16, 2008

538-542 Organic-Inorganic Polymer Hybrids of Polystyrene with Ladderlike Polyphenylsilsesquioxanes  Y.-C. An, N.-Y. Jang, S. W. Lee, J.-H. Lim, and K.-M. Kim [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

Polymer hybrids from ladderlike PPSQ with PS showed that the homogeneity gradually increased as the weight ratio of PS to PPSQ increased. Thus, physical bonding, namely aromatic (π-π) interactions between phenyl groups of PS and ladderlike PPSQ played a critical role for the homogeneity and transparency of polymer hybrids. The obtained homogeneous and transparent hybrid materials could be dissolved in solvents and cast again without any separation because of physical bonding between PS and ladderlike PPSQ.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: April 16, 2008

543-548 Block Copolymers Prepared by Free Radical Polymerization Using α-Methylstyrene-containing Precopolymer as Macroinitiator  S. Jiang, J. Deng, and W. Yang [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

A novel way to prepare block copolymers is presented. Copolymers (PAG) of α-methylstyrene (AMS) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) acted as macroinitiators when heated with other monomers. On the basis of this finding, a series of block copolymers, PAG-block-PMMA (Mn=63100 g/mol, Mw/Mn=1.77) and PAG-block-PSt (Mn=44700 g/mol, Mw/Mn=1.63), were prepared. This simple method is expected to be applied to kinds of monomers to prepare highly functional copolymers with unique structures.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: April 23, 2008

549-553 Synthesis of Core-shell Star Poly(methyl methacrylate) with Benzene Arborol Core by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization  H. Zhang, Z. Huang, and Q. Zhang [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

Core-shell type star poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with benzene arborol core and linear PMMA shell having controlled chain lengths and numbers average molecular weights were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of multifunctional benzene arborol macroinitiator.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: April 23, 2008

554-558 Novel Thermodynamic Property and Molecular Chain of Polystyrene Nano-Platelet  J. J. Guo and X. Y. Li [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

A novel lamellar polymer nanomaterial-polystyrene nano-plateletl (L-PS) was prepared by free-radical polymerization in surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) liquid-crystal template. The L-PS had novel DSC result, and it could form ordered structure under some conditions. Considering its especial polymerized template, we thought there were many molecular chain segments which had the same orientation and length on the thickness of L-PS. L-PS should be a novel nano-polymer which had never been found before.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: April 23, 2008

559-565 Topologically Linked Branch Polymers from Mono-amino-cyclodextrins and Polyethylene Glycol Dicarboxylic Acid  K. Tamura, N. Oya, K. Hatanaka, and N. Yoshie [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

Topologically linked branch polymers were prepared by condensation of mono-6-deoxy-mono-6-aminocyclodextrin (NH2αCD, NH2βCD, and NH2γCD) with polyethylene glycol dicarboxylic acid (PEGdiCOOH). Some NH2CD molecules and PEGdiCOOH chains form inclusion complexes prior to condensation reaction. Since these complexes act as multifunctional monomers, the condensation product contains topologically linked branch polymers, in which CD rings act both as a topological cross link and as a capping site to prevent dethreading of CD molecules from PEG chains.

[Regular Article] Web Release Date: May 2, 2008

566-571 Mean-Square Radius of Gyration and Second Virial Coefficient of Poly(diisopropyl fumarate) in Dilute Solution  M. Nakatsuji, M. Hyakutake, M. Osa, and T. Yoshizaki [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

The mean-square radius of gyration ‹ S2› (○, in Å2) and second virial coefficient were determined from light scattering measurements for poly(diisopropyl fumarate) with the fraction of racemo diads fr=0.22 in a range of weight-average molecular weight Mw from 4.02× 104 to 8.59× 105 in tetrahydrofuran at 30.0 °C, and are simultaneously analyzed on the basis of the Kratky–Porod (KP) wormlike chain with excluded volume (EV).

[Note] Web Release Date: April 23, 2008

572-576 ATRP-RCM Synthesis of 8-Shaped Poly(methyl acrylate) Using a 4-Armed Star Telechelics  S. Hayashi, K. Adachi, and Y. Tezuka [Full Text PDF(J-STAGE)]

A dicyclic, 8-shaped poly(methyl acrylate), PMA, has been synthesized through double metathesis polymer cyclization (MPC) of a 4-armed star polymer precursor having allyl groups at each chain ends, prepared through the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using a tetrafunctional initiator and subsequent end-capping reaction with allyltributyltin. The double ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reaction took place under dilution (0.4 g/L) in the presence of Grubbs catalyst.