Polymer recrystallization

The term ageing of polymers is usually reserved for long-term changes in properties of polymers exposed to weathering conditions. It may involve any of the above processes and include physical processes of polymer recrystallization and denaturation of, for example, protein structure in biopolymer chemistry. The term corrosion, used essentially for the deterioration (ageing) of metal... 

Self-assembly is the most useful synthetic method. This is because (i) it permits the realization of a wide variety of structures from simple building blocks of metal ions and organic ligands, (ii) it allows an easy and rational modification of organic ligands, (hi) several types of interactions such as coordination bonds, hydrogen bonds, tt-tt interactions, CH-tt interactions, M—bonds, and van der Waals interactions can be incorporated and exploited, and (iv) there is the possibility of reaction control by temperature, pH, solvent, etc. For coordination polymers, recrystallization is unavailable due to their insolubility in most of solvents. Therefore, a new synthetic approach has been developed vide infra). 

Minor amounts of thermally stable neoalkoxy titanate and zirconate additives may provide a means for postreactor, in situ metallocene-like repolymerization catalysis of a filled or unfilled polymer during the plasticization phase. This may result in the creation of metallocene-like (titanocene or zirconocene) behavior associated with effects such as increased composite strain to failure resulting in increased impact toughness or enhanced polymer foamabUity. Other effects to be discussed below with specific examples are related to enhanced processability, reduced polymer chain scission, shortened polymer recrystallization time, and compatibilization of dissimilar polymers. 

The relative effectiveness of nucleating agents in a polymer can be determined by measuring recrystallization exotherms of samples molded at different temperatures (105). The effect of catalyst concentration and filler content has been determined on unsaturated polyesters by using dynamic thermal techniques (124). Effects of formulation change on the heat of mbber vulcanization can be determined by dsc pressurized cells may be needed to reduce volatilization during the cure process (125). 

Gas AntisolventRecrystallizations. A limitation to the RESS process can be the low solubihty in the supercritical fluid. This is especially evident in polymer—supercritical fluid systems. In a novel process, sometimes termed gas antisolvent (GAS), a compressed fluid such as CO2 can be rapidly added to a solution of a crystalline soHd dissolved in an organic solvent (114). Carbon dioxide and most organic solvents exhibit full miscibility, whereas in this case the soHd solutes had limited solubihty in CO2. Thus, CO2 acts as an antisolvent to precipitate soHd crystals. Using C02 s adjustable solvent strength, the particle size and size distribution of final crystals may be finely controlled. Examples of GAS studies include the formation of monodisperse particles (<1 fiva) of a difficult-to-comminute explosive (114) recrystallization of -carotene and acetaminophen (86) salt nucleation and growth in supercritical water (115) and a study of the molecular thermodynamics of the GAS crystallization process (21). 

Homopolymerization of macroazoinimers and co-polymerization of macroinimers with a vinyl monomer yield crosslinked polyethyleneglycol or polyethyleneglycol-vinyl polymer-crosslinked block copolymer, respectively. The homopolymers and block copolymers having PEG units with molecular weights of 1000 and 1500 still showed crystallinity of the PEG units in the network structure [48] and the second heating thermograms of polymers having PEG-1000 and PEG-1500 units showed that the recrystallization rates were very fast (Fig. 3). 

Adipic acid and HMDA are obtained from nylon-6,6 by die hydrolysis of die polymer in concentrated sulfuric acid (Fig. 10.7). The AA is purified by recrystallization and the HMDA is recovered by distillation after neutralizing die acid. This process is inefficient for treating large amounts of waste because of die required recrystallization of AA after repeated batch hydrolyses of nylon-6,6 waste. In a continuous process,5 nylon-6,6 waste is hydrolyzed with an aqueous mineral acid of 30-70% concentration and the resulting hydrolysate is fed to a crystallization zone. The AA crystallizes and the crystals are continuously removed from the hydrolysate. Calcium hydroxide is added to neutralize the modier liquor and liberate the HMDA for subsequent distillation. 

In this chapter we describe the basic principles involved in the controlled production and modification of two-dimensional protein crystals. These are synthesized in nature as the outermost cell surface layer (S-layer) of prokaryotic organisms and have been successfully applied as basic building blocks in a biomolecular construction kit. Most importantly, the constituent subunits of the S-layer lattices have the capability to recrystallize into iso-porous closed monolayers in suspension, at liquid-surface interfaces, on lipid films, on liposomes, and on solid supports (e.g., silicon wafers, metals, and polymers). The self-assembled monomolecular lattices have been utilized for the immobilization of functional biomolecules in an ordered fashion and for their controlled confinement in defined areas of nanometer dimension. Thus, S-layers fulfill key requirements for the development of new supramolecular materials and enable the design of a broad spectrum of nanoscale devices, as required in molecular nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology, and biomimetics [1-3]. 

The solution to this problem has been to isolate the lactide and to polymerize this directly using a tin(ii) 2-(ethyl)hexanoate catalyst at temperatures between 140 and 160 °C. By controlling the amounts of water and lactic acid in the polymerization reactor the molecular weight of the polymer can be controlled. Since lactic acid exists as d and L-optical isomers, three lactides are produced, d, l and meso (Scheme 6.11). The properties of the final polymer do not depend simply on the molecular weight but vary significantly with the optical ratios of the lactides used. In order to get specific polymers for medical use the crude lactide mix is extensively recrystallized, to remove the meso isomer leaving the required D, L mix. This recrystallization process results in considerable waste, with only a small fraction of the lactide produced being used in the final polymerization step. Hence PLA has been too costly to use as a commodity polymer. 

Other hand, when an equimolar mixture of 2,5-DSP and l OEt is recrystallized from benzene, yellow crystals, comprising 2,5-DSP and l OEt in a molar ratio of 1 2, deposit. In the DSC curve of this crystal, a single endothermic peak is observed at 166°C, which is different from the melting point of either 2,5-DSP (223°C) or l OEt (156°C). Furthermore, the X-ray powder diffraction pattern of the crystal is quite different from those of the homocrystals 2,5-DSP and l OEt. Upon irradiation the cocrystal 2,5-DSP-l OEt affords a crystalline polymer (77i h = 1.0 dl g in trifluoroacetic acid). The nmr spectrum of the polymer coincides perfectly with that of a 1 2 mixture of poly-2,5-DSP and poly-1 OEt. In the dimer, only 2,5-DSP-dimer and l OEt-dimer are detected by hplc analysis, but the corresponding cross-dimer consisting of 2,5-DSP and l OEt is not detected at all (Hasegawa et al., 1993). These observations by nmr and hplc indicate that the photoproduct obtained from the cocrystal 2,5-DSP-l OEt is not a copolymer but a mixture of poly-2,5-DSP and poly-l OEt in the ratio 1 2. 

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