Potential technological applications polymerization

Fullerene-containing polymeric materials have received much attention for their potential technological applications [143-158]. The polymeric fullerene materials under active investigations can roughly be classified into three categories. One category includes copolymers of fullerenes and comonomers [148-154], such as fullerene-styrene and fullerene-methyl methacrylate copolymers. With... 

This review is essentially devoted to the coordination polymers which have been synthesized for their potential technologic applications or which could obviously be of interest as far as technological applications are concerned. As a consequence, polymeric complexes based onbenzene-poly-carboxylates ligands and their derivatives will be described in more details. The paragraph dealing with coordination polymers containing transition metal ions is mainly... 

Among all Fe(II) spin crossover compounds known to date, the extensively studied polymeric [Fe(4-R-l,2,4-triazole)3](anion)2 systems (R=amino, alkyl, hydroxyalkyl) appear to have the greatest potential for technological applications, for example in molecular electronics [1, 24, 25] or as temperature sensors [24, 26]. This arises because of their near-ideal spin crossover characteristics pronounced thermochromism, transition temperatures near room temperature, and large thermal hysteresis [1, 24, 27]. 

Quite recently, the activated anionic polymerization of CL has been found suitable for the reaction injection molding (RIM) technology (9-12) and has prompted some new studies (13-15) devoted to update the classical picture of the reaction kinetics (lj>), mostly in terms of potential industrial applications of the RIM process (13-15,17-20). Successful attempts by Hedrick et al. (11,12) to anionically synthesize a series of PCL block copolymers has led to impact-modified RIM nylon... 

The technology of polymeric carbohydrates is strongly oriented to the most abundant examples, namely starch and cellulose. Tomasik (Cracow) and Schilling (University Center, Michigan), in their wide-ranging article on chemical derivatization of starch, present an extensive compilation of the literature on potentially useful products formed by esterification, etherification, oxidation, and other reactions with starch. Much of the literature cited comes from patent sources, not subject to the conventional refereeing procedures in effect for journal articles, and so the reader needs to judge appropriately the validity of some of the claims made for product structure and practical application. 

Schmack et al. [126] spun PLA fibers through the reactive extrusion polymerization of L-lactide (92 wt%) and meso-lactide (8 wt%). In many potential textile technological applications (e.g., for nonwoven materials) the fiber forming process is of general importance. An effective polymer synthesis requires also an effective spinning process to reduce the still high cost of the PLA fibers compared with those of established synthetic fibers. 

Self-assembly of block copolymers that are made of poly(ethylene oxide), PEO, as the hydrophilic non-ionic block, has been extensively explored. The research interest in PEO-containing block copolymers was motivated, to a great extent, by potential biomedical applications, which rely on the finding that PEO moieties are biocompatible. Because amphiphilic block copolymers of PEO and poly(propylene oxide) PPO (pluronics) are produced on an industrial scale, research on these nonionic polymeric surfactants resulted in many technological applications. Both PPO and PEO are thermoresponsive, having a low solution critical temperature (LSCT),... 

Surfactants constitute some of the most important (in terms of function, not quantity) ingredients in cosmetic and toiletry products, foods, coatings, pharmaceuticals, and many other systems of wide economic and technological importance. In many, if not most, of those applications, polymeric materials, either natural or synthetic, are present in the final product formulations or are present in the targets for their use. Other surfactant applications, especially in the medical and biological fields, also potentially involve the interaction of polymers (including proteins, nucleosides, etc.) with surfactant system. 

The potential of microemulsions in technological applications, however, has not been fully exploited. There are many established industrial activities effectively being carried out with emulsions, for instance polymerization reactions in micellar, emulsion, and miniemulsion environments. Technological aspects involved in this type of activity have been discussed in a series of review articles published by Capek [3-6], but the role of microemulsions has yet been restricted to academical investigations, of which works reported by Kaler et al. are a good example [7-10]. 

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