Chinese Journal of Polymer Science

Rheological measurement has been a preferred approach to the characterization of the structure and phase behaviors for multi-component/multi-phase polymer systems, due to its sensitive response to the changes of structure for these heterogeneous polymers. In the present article, recent progresses in the studies on rheology for heterogeneous polymer systems including phase-separated polymeric blends and block copolymers are reviewed, mainly depending on the results by the authors' research group. By means of rheological measurements, not only some new fingerprints responsible for the evolution of morphology and structure concerning these polymer systems are obtained, also the corresponding results are significant for design and preparation of novel polymeric structural materials and functional materials.

Functional organic molecular materials and conjugated oligomers or polymers now allow the low-cost fabrication of thin films for insertion into new generations of electronic and optoelectronic devices. The performance of these devices relies on the understanding and optimization of several complementary processes. Our goal is to discuss the relationship between the molecular stacking structures and their optoelectronic properties that are of importance in all these areas. The concept of intermolecular interaction should be taken here in the special sense that is inter-dipole coupling. Specifically, we will address the impact of inter-dipole interaction between adjacent molecules in aggregate state on the solid-state emission properties.

The hierarchical structure and interfacial morphology of injection-molded bars of polypropylene (PP) based blends and composites have been investigated in detail from the skin to the core. For preparation of injection-molded bars with high-level orientation and good interfacial adhesion a dynamic packing injection molding technology was applied to exert oscillatory shear on the melts during solidification stage. Depending on incorporated component, interfacial adhesion and processing conditions, various oriented structure and morphology could be obtained. First, we will elucidate the epitaxial behavior between PP and high-density polyethylene occurring in practical molded processing. Then, the shear-induced transcrystalline structure will be the main focus for PP/fiber composites. At last, various oriented clay structures have been ascertained unambiguously in PP/organoclay nanocomposites along the thickness of molded bars.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has the advantage of obtaining mechanical properties as well as topographic information at the same time. By analyzing force-distance curves measured over two-dimensional area using Hertzian contact mechanics, Young's modulus mapping was obtained with nanometer-scale resolution. Furthermore, the sample deformation by the force exerted was also estimated from the force-distance curve analyses. We could thus reconstruct a real topographic image by incorporating apparent topographic image with deformation image. We applied this method to carbon black reinforced natural rubber to obtain Young's modulus distribution image together with reconstructed real topographic image. Then we were able to recognize three regions; rubber matrix, carbon black (or bound rubber) and intermediate regions. Though the existence of these regions had been investigated by pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance, this paper would be the first to report on the quantitative evaluation of the interfacial region in real space.

Single crystals of head-to-tail poly(3-hexylthiophene)s have been grown through the method of isothermal solution crystallization. Electron diffraction in combination with powder X-ray diffraction revealed the crystal structure, a = 1.52 nm, b = 3.36 nm, c = 1.56 nm and α = β = γ = 90°.

F-actins are semi-flexible polyelectrolytes and can be assembled into large polymer-actin complex with polymorphism through electrostatic interaction with polycations. This study investigates the structural phase behavior and the growth of polymer-actin complexes in terms of its longitudinal and lateral sizes. Our results show that formation of polymer-actin complexes is cooperative, and morphology and growth of polymer-actin complexes depend on polycation species and concentrations of polycation and salt in a constant actin concentration. We found that the longitudinal growth and lateral growth of polymer-actin complexes are dominated by different factors. This induces the structural polymorphism of polymer-actin complexes. Major factors to influence the polymorphism of polymer-actin complexes in polyelectrolyte system have been discussed. Our results indicate that the semi-flexible polyelectrolyte nature of F-actins is important for controlling the morphology and growth of actin architectures in cell.

The phase behaviors and structures of a triphenylene-derived discotic liquid crystal (LC) hexa-n-octoxyl-triphenylene (C8HET) were studied using the combined techniques of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and polarized light microscopy (PLM). One-dimensional (1D) powder WAXD results at different temperatures coupled with DSC and PLM observations revealed that the C8HET compound possessed an LC phase and three different crystalline (K₃, K₂ and K₁) phases below the isotropic (I) melt. The I ↔ LC phase transition was thermodynamically reversible and independent of the heating and cooling rates. The development and experimental observation of the three crystalline phases relied on different thermal histories. Among the three crystalline phases in C8HET, the K₃ phase is the most stable phase, while the K₂ and K₁ phases are metastable. Note that the K₁ phase only formed via a quenching process. On the basis of structure sensitive diffraction experiments such as 2D WAXD of oriented samples and SAED of single crystals, detailed structures and molecular packings of these four ordered phases were identified. The LC phase exhibited a hexagonal columnar phase with 2D lattice dimensions of a = b = 2.38 nm and γ = 120°. All the three crystalline phases possess monoclinic unit cells, yet the γ angle is not 90° in the cases of the K₂ and the K₃ phases, while in the case of the K₁ phase the α angle is not 90°.

The crystalline phase transition of aliphatic nylon 10/10 has been investigated on the basis of the simultaneous measurement of wide-angle and small-angle X-ray scatterings, the infrared spectral measurement and the molecular dynamics calculation. An interpretation of infrared spectra taken for a series of nylon samples and the corresponding model compounds was successfully made, allowing us to assign the infrared bands of the planar-zigzag methylene segments reasonably. As a result the methylene segmental parts of molecular chains were found to experience an order-to-disorder transition in the Brill transition region, where the intermolecular hydrogen bonds are kept alive although the bond strength becomes weaker at higher temperature. The small-angle X-ray scattering data revealed a slight change in lamellar stacking mode in the transition region. The crystal structure has been found to change more remarkably in the temperature region immediately below the melting point, where the conformationally disordered chains experienced drastic rotational and translational motions without any constraints by hydrogen bonds, and the lamellar thickness increased largely along the chain axis. These experimental results were reasonably reproduced by the molecular dynamics calculation performed at the various temperatures.

The large size of the crystallites in poly(L-lactide) and the low growth rate enable detailed time- and temperature-dependent X-ray scattering studies of the ordering processes to be carried out. A layer located intermediate between crystals and melt-like regions is observed which finally takes on crystalline order. Recrystallization processes during heating change the complete stack structure rather than the crystallites individually and produce voids in the stacks. Establishment of a new stable structure after a temperature jump in the melting range can be followed in time. DSC experiments indicate times of melting of the order of minutes.

Polymer layers adsorbed to a surface or in a confined environment often change their mechanical properties. There is even the possibility of solidification of the confined layer. To judge the stiffness of such a layer, we used the Hertz model to calculate the Young's modulus of the polymer layer in the confinement of AFM experiments with silicon nitride tip with a radius of curvature of R ≈ 50 nm and a glass sphere attached to the cantilever R = 5 μm. Since there is no visible indentation of the layer in the AFM experiments, the layer is either penetrated very easily, or the indentation is too small to be seen in a force curve. The latter would be the case for a polymer layer with a Young's modulus above 4 × 10⁸Pa in case of an experiment with a silicon nitride tip and 4 × 10⁵Pa in case of a glass sphere.

The concept of entanglement provides the basis of our current understanding of the flow behavior of polymer melts. Current techniques developed to investigate the degree of interpenetration of polymer chains only provide indirectly the information of the degree of entanglement in a relatively large scale (several to tens of nanometer). In this article, we report ¹H-NMR spectroscopy with dipolar filters under fast magic angle spinning for probing chain interpenetration of polymer glasses at the molecular level.