Dithioacetalisation of PEEK: a general technique for the solubilisation and characterisation of semi-crystalline aromatic polyketones

The family of semi-crystalline, aromatic, high-temperature thermoplastics known as poly(ether-ketone)s are insoluble in conventional organic solvents, but undergo completely general and quantitatively reversible reactions with alkanedithiols in strong acid media, to give soluble poly(dithioacetal)s, which are readily characterisable by GPC and light scattering techniques.

Rapid, uncatalyzed ring-opening polymerization of individual macrocyclic poly(arylene thioether ketone)s under dynamic heating conditions

Uncatalyzed, ring-opening polymerization of individual macrocyclic poly(arylene thioether ketone)s (1-4) and mixtures (5) under dynamic heating conditions has been demonstrated for the first time. High-molecular-weight, film-forming products were obtained after heating of the macrocycles up to 480 degreesC, with a heating rate of 10-20 degreesC /min. Depending on the macrocyclic structure and heat treatment conditions, the polymers obtained were amorphous or semicrystalline, soluble or slightly crosslinked. NMR analyses of the soluble polymers revealed their linear, highly regular structure. According to NMR, DSC, and TGA studies, the polymers obtained do not contain any residual macrocycles. The polymers with thio-p-arylene moieties in the main chain were thermally stabile. The catalyzed ring opening polymerization of 5 carried out in diphenyl sulfone solution is also reported for comparison. Using quantum mechanical calculations of the ring opening of macrocycles, a reaction mechanism is suggested. Preparation of nanosized poly(thioether ketone) fibrils by a replication method is described.

Direct iminization of PEEK

Semi-crystalline poly(ether ketone)s are important high-temperature engineering thermoplastics, but are difficult to characterize at the molecular level because of their insolubility in conventional organic solvents. Here we report that polymers of this type, including PEEK, react cleanly at high temperatures with low-volatility aralkyl amines to afford stable, noncrystalline poly(ether-imine)s, which are readily soluble in solvents such as chloroform, THF and DMF and so characterizable by conventional size-exclusion chromatography.

Environmental effects on viscoelastic behavior of carbon fiber/PEKK thermoplastic composites

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Photophysical behavior of poly(propyl ether imine) dendrimer in the presence of nitroaromatic compounds

This paper deals with a study of the photophysical property of poly(ether imine) (PETIM) dendritic macromolecule in the presence of aromatic compounds. The inherent photoluminescence property of the dendrimer undergoes quenching in the presence of guest aromatic nitro-compounds. From life-time measurements study, it is inferred that the lifetimes of luminescent species of the dendrimer are not affected with nitrophenols as guest molecules, whereas nitrobenzenes show a marginal change in the lifetimes of the species. Raman spectral characteristic of the macromolecular host-guest complex is conducted in order to identify conformational change of the dendrimer and a significant change in the stretching frequencies of methylene moieties of the dendrimer is observed for the complex with 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, when compared to other complexes, free host and guest molecules. The photophysical behavior of electron-rich, aliphatic, neutral dendritic macromolecule in the presence of electron-deficient aromatic molecules is illustrated in the present study. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Blends based on sulfonated poly[bis(benzimidazobenzisoquinolinones)] and poly(vinylidene fluoride) for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

A new blend system consisting of an amorphous sulfonated poly[bis(benzimidazobenzisoquinolinones)] (SPBIBI) and the semi-crystalline poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) was prepared for proton exchange membranes. The miscibility behavior of a series of blends of SPBIBI with PVDF at various weight ratios was studied by WXRD, DSC and FTIR. The properties of the blend membranes were investigated, and it was found that the introduction of PVDF in the SPBIBI matrix altered the morphological structure of the blend membranes, which led to the formation of improved connectivity channels. For instance, the conductivity of the blend membrane containing 10 wt% PVDF displayed the highest proton conductivity (i.e., 0.086 S cm(-1)) at room temperature, a value almost twofold that of the pristine SPBIBI membranes (i.e., 0.054S cm(-1)) under identical conditions.

Crystallization and melting behavior of amorphous poly(iminosebacoyl iminodecamethylene)

Multiple melting behavior was observed in the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) scans for the isothermally crystallized poly(iminosebacoyl iminodecamethylene) (PA1010) samples. Coexistence of crystal populations with different lamellar thickness in PA1010 was discussed by means of DSC, wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), and small-angle X-ray scattering techniques. During crystallization of the polymer, a major lamellar crystal population developed first, which possessed a higher melting temperature. However, a small fraction of the polymer formed minor crystal population with thinner lamellae, which was metastable and, upon post-annealing, could grow into more stable and thicker lamellae through melting and recrystallization process. Lamellae insertion or stacks would develop during the post-annealing at a lower temperature for the isothermally crystallized samples; thus, multiple crystal populations with different thickness could be produced. It is the multiple distribution of lamella thickness that gives rise to multiple melting behavior of crystalline polymers. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

New insight into melting and crystallization behavior in semicrystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate)

After isothermal crystallization, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) showed double endothermic behavior in the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) heating scan. During the heating scans of semicrystalline PET, a metastable melt which comes from melting thinner lamellar crystal populations formed between the low and the upper endothermic temperatures. The metastable melt can recrystallize immediately just above the low melting temperature and form thicker lamellae than the original ones. The thickness and perfection depends on the crystallization time and crystallization temperature. The crystallization kinetics of this metastable melt can be determined by means of DSC. The kinetics analysis showed that the isothermal crystallization of the metastable PET melt proceeds with an Avrami exponent of n = 1.0 similar to 1.2, probably reflecting one-dimensional or irregular line growth of the crystal occurring between the existing main lamellae with heterogeneous nucleation. This is in agreement with the hypothesis that the melting peaks are associated with two distinct crystal populations with different thicknesses. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Macrocyclic oligomeric arylene ether ketones: Synthesis and polymerization

Some novel macrocylic(arylene ether ketone)oligomers were synthesized in high yields by a nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction of 4,4'-dinitrobenzophenone with bisphenols in the presence of anhydrous potassium carbonate under pseudo-high-dilution conditions. Detailed structural characterization of these oligomers by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), H-1 NMR and FT-IR confirmed their cyclic nature and the compositions of the oligomeric mixtures was indicated by GPC analysis. Ring-opening polymerization of cyclic oligomers 3a to a high molecular weight polymer with M-w of 52.3 and M-n of 17.2 k was achieved by heating at 280 degrees C for 40 min in the presence of a nucleophilic initiator.

The synthesis of a 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol-based bis(ether anhydride) and aromatic polyimides derived therefrom

2,2'-Bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)-1,1'-binaphthyl dianhydride was used as a new monomer with various aromatic diamines to obtain polyimides by the usual two-step method. The bis(ether anhydride) was prepared by a nucleophilic substitution of I,1'-bi-2-naphthol with N-phenyl-4-chlorophthalimide, N-methyl-4-nitrophthalimide or 4-nitrophthalonitrile in aprotic polar solvent, and subsequent hydrolysis of the resulting bis(ether imide)s or bis(ether dinitrile), and then dehydration of the corresponding tetracarboxylic acid to afford the dianhydride. Most of the obtained polyimides were soluble in chloroform, pyridine, DMF, etc. The polyimide prepared from p-phenylene diamine was partial crystalline, whereas the others showed amorphous patterns in a WAXD study. These polymers have glass transition temperatures between 255-294 degrees C and 5% weight loss temperatures in the range of 502-541 degrees C in nitrogen and 473-537 degrees C in air. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Enhanced Proton Conduction in Polymer Electrolyte Membranes as Synthesized by Polymerization of Protic Ionic Liquid-Based Microemulsions

Proton-conducting membranes were prepared by polymerization of microemulsions consisting of surfactant-stabilized protic ionic liquid (PIL) nanodomains dispersed in a polymerizable oil, a mixture of styrene and acrylonitrile. The obtained PIL-based polymer composite membranes are transparent and flexible even though the resulting vinyl polymers are immiscible with PIL cores. This type of composite membranes have quite a good thermal stability, chemical stability, tunability, and good mechanical properties. Under nonhumidifying conditions, PIL-based membranes show a conductivity up to the order of 1 x 10(-1) S/cm at 160 degrees C, due to the well-connected PIL nanochannels preserved in the membrane. This type of polymer conducting membranes have potential application in high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

液晶聚芳醚酮/聚芳醚酮共混体系的相行为、凝聚态结构与流变性能研究

聚芳醚酮是一种高性能热塑性材料，但其熔融温度高，熔体粘度大，流动性较差。液晶聚芳醚酮则具有非常丰富的液晶相织构和复杂的相转变行为，并且其熔体粘度低，流动性较好。将二者共混，液晶的加入势必降低聚芳醚酮的熔融粘度，改善其熔体流动性，另一方面液晶聚芳醚酮的液晶织构和相行为等势必受很大影响。因此开展这一研究工作不但有重要的理论意义，同时对改善这类材料的性能和拓宽其应用范围具有重要的实际意义。发现液晶聚芳醚酮／聚醚醚酮共混物的复杂相行为与组成密切相关。在以液晶聚芳醚酮为主的共混物中，高分子量的聚醚醚酮易于从低分子量的液晶聚芳醚酮基质相中分离出来，形成了特殊的环带结构。在50：50液晶聚芳醚酮／聚醚醚酮共混物中，两个组分在熔融状态下发生了液一液相分离，导致环带结构和聚醚醚酮球晶同时形成。在以聚醚醚酮为基质相的共混物中，低分子量的液晶聚芳醚酮很难从高分子量的聚醚醚酮基质相中分离出来，最后只能在聚醚醚酮球晶的边界形成单独的相区。当聚醚醚酮含量很高时，仅生成聚醚醚酮球晶。首次在液晶聚芳醚酮与聚醚醚酮共混物中发现了环带球晶，并利用溶剂选择性蚀刻的方法确定了其相结构和组成。环带球晶中的亮心和亮环是液晶聚芳醚酮相，其c轴（分子链方向）垂直于膜平面，而。和b轴则在膜平面内没有固定的取向。暗环则是聚醚醚酮与部分液晶聚芳醚酮的共存相，其中液晶聚芳醚酮晶体的分子链也垂直于膜平面，但聚醚醚酮片晶则呈现复杂的结晶取向。确定环带球晶的形成机理，从分子水平上提出环带球晶的生长模型，即间歇式增长过程，符合结构不连续模型。总结了环带球晶的形成规律和必要条件为：（l）液晶聚芳醚酮为主要成分；（2）液晶聚芳醚酮与聚醚醚酮有一定相容性，至少在熔融态分子相容；（3）液晶聚芳醚酮的各向同性相向液晶相的转变温度要高于聚芳醚酮的结晶温度；（4）液晶聚芳醚酮相转变（或结晶）速率与共混物的相分离速率相匹配或前者略大于后者；（5）降温速率或等温结晶温度适当。聚醚醚酮／含氟液晶聚芳醚酮共混物在熔体状态下的流动行为与共混物的组成、两相的相容性及相的转变有着密切的关系。在聚醚醚酮／含氟液晶聚芳醚酮共混物中，当前者为主要成份时，流动曲线形状与纯PEEK的相似，而当后者为主要成份时，表现出与含氟液晶聚芳醚酮相似的流变行为。共混物的复数粘度、储存模量和损失模量总体来说随F一队EK含量的增加而逐渐下降，只有当含氟液晶聚芳醚酮含量为50％时，共混物的复数粘度、储存模量和损失模量出现了局部极大值。

Crystallization behavior of a thermoplastic polyimide derived from 3,3 ',4,4 '-oxydiphthalic dianhydride and 4,4 '-oxydianiline

Nonisothermal and isothermal crystallization kinetics of an aromatic thermoplastic polyimide derived from 3,3',4,4'-oxydiphthalic dianhydride and 4,4'-oxydianiline have been investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction. The results for nonisothermal crystallization study showed that a weak melting peak appeared during the first heating process, whereas no crystallization peak appeared in the DSC curve during the subsequent cooling process. On the other hand, the study for the isothermal crystallization in the temperature range of 260-330 degrees C showed that a new exothermic peak appeared at lower temperature for the samples crystallized for 100 min at 300 degrees C.

Simulation of Banded Spherulite Patterns by Coupled Logistic Map Lattice Model in Three Dimensions

Banded spherulite patterns are simulated in three dimensions by means of a Coupled Logistic map lattice model. The patterns obtained by numerical calculation are consistent with those in experiments. The simulation results also indicate that the hand spacing is decreased with the increase of parameter mu in the Logistic map and increased with the increase of the coupling parameter e for cube lattices, and increased with the increase of the thickness of the lattice for polymer film, which is quite similar to the results in some experiments. Spiral pattern in three dimensions is also shown in this paper, which helps us understand the form of banded spherulite in polymers.