Zhu, Xiangwei; Xia, Benzheng; Lu, Kun; Li, Huan; Zhou, Ruimin; Zhang, Jianqi; Zhang, Yajie; Shuai, Zhigang; Wei, Zhixiang
Naphtho[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene-Based Small Molecules for Thick-Film Organic Solar Cells with High Fill Factors
Two novel acceptor–donor–acceptor type small molecules based on a two-dimensional conjugated naphthodithiophene (NDT) unit containing alkylthienyl or alkylphenyl side chains, named as NDTT-CNCOO and NDTP-CNCOO, respectively, were designed and synthesized. Compared with NDTT-CNCOO, NDTP-CNCOO-based bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells exhibited higher fill factors, higher short…
Naphtho[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene Based Two-Dimensional Conjugated Polymers for Highly Efficient Thick-Film Inverted Polymer Solar Cells
Zhu, Xiangwei; Fang, Jin; Lu, Kun; Zhang, Jianqi; Zhu, Lingyun; Zhao, Yifan; Shuai, Zhigang; Wei, Zhixiang
Two-dimensional conjugated zigzag naphthodithiophene was used for construction of novel polymer photovoltaic materials. Two novel copolymers based on zigzag naphthodithiophene and alkylthienopyrrole-4,6-dione inserted with different alkyl substituted thiophene as bridges have been designed and synthesized (PzNDTT-TPD1 and PzNDTT-TPD2, respectively). The best power conversion efficiency of…
Nanoscale Structure of Urethane/Urea Elastomeric Films
Reis, Dennys; Trindade, Ana C.; Godinho, Maria Helena; Silva, Laura C.; do Carmo Gonçalves, Maria; Neto, Antônio M. Figueiredo
The nanostructure of urethane/urea elastomeric membranes was investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) in order to establish relationships between their structure and mechanical properties. The networks were made up of polypropylene oxide (PPO) and polybutadiene (PB) segments. The structural differences were investigated in two types of membranes with the same…
Multiwalled carbon nanotube promotes crystallisation while preserving co-continuous phase morphology of polycarbonate/polypropylene blend
Mohammed Arif, P.; Sarathchandran, C.; Narayanan, Aravinda; Saiter, Allisson; Terzano, Roberto; Allegretta, Ignazio; Porfido, Carlo; Kalarikkal, Nandakkumar; Thomas, Sabu
The influence of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on phase morphology, lamellar structure, thermal stability, melting behaviour and isothermal crystallisation kinetics of polycarbonate/polypropylene (PC/PP) blend nanocomposites has been investigated. Both neat blends and PC/PP (60/40)/MWCNT nanocomposites were prepared by melt mixing method. Morphological analyses were performed by…
Multilamellar Thermoresponsive Emulsions Stabilized with Biocompatible Semicrystalline Block Copolymers
Manova, Anna; Viktorova, Jekaterina; Köhler, Jens; Theiler, Stefan; Keul, Helmut; Piryazev, Alexey A.; Ivanov, Dimitri A.; Tsarkova, Larisa; Möller, Martin
We demonstrate specific interface-templated crystallization behavior of biocompatible amphiphilic poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEO-b-PCL) block copolymers enabling triggered shaping of the curvature of the oil/water interface and controlled phase inversion, including the formation of stable multiple emulsions. Water-born anisotropic micelles of PEO-b-PCL block copolymers…
Molecular relaxation and dynamic rheology of “cluster phase”-free ionomers based on lanthanum(III)-neutralized low-carboxylated poly(methyl methacrylate)
Zhang, Lina; Qiu, Biwei; Song, Yihu; Zheng, Qiang
Molecular dynamics and linear dynamic rheology of La(III)-neutralized low-carboxylated poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) ionomers with varying neutralization levels are investigated. While the ionomers do not form a clear cluster phase, increasing neutralization level causes notable retardation of the α relaxation and elevation of glass transition temperature. In addition, dynamic rheology of…
Molecular, Crystalline, and Lamellar Length-Scale Changes in the Poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) during Cyclopentanone (CPO) Desorption in PLLA/CPO Cocrystals
Shaiju, P.; Murthy, N. Sanjeeva; Gowd, E. Bhoje
Polymer–solvent complexes, poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) with cyclopentanone (CPO), were studied at multiple length scales using differential scanning calorimetry, small-angle neutron scattering, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and temperature-dependent wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering. PLLA crystallizes in the ε form when organic solvents such as CPO are incorporated into the crystal…
Molecular Weight Dependency of Surface Free Energy of Native and Stabilized Crystallites in Isotactic Polypropylene
Lu, Ying; Wang, Yaotao; Jiang, Zhiyong; Men, Yongfeng
Two isotactic polypropylene samples were investigated to study the influence of molecular weight on the crystallization and meting behaviors via temperature- dependent small-angle X-ray scattering techniques. In a phase diagram of inverse lamellar thickness and temperature, the crystallization and melting behaviors can be described by two linear dependencies of different…
Mind the Microgap in Iridescent Cellulose Nanocrystal Films
Fernandes, Susete N.; Almeida, Pedro L.; Monge, Nuno; Aguirre, Luis E.; Reis, Dennys; Oliveira, Cristiano L. P. de; Neto, António M. F.; Pieranski, Pawel; Godinho, Maria H.
A new photonic structure is produced from cellulose nanocrystal iridescent films reflecting both right and left circularly polarized light. Micrometer-scale planar gaps perpendicular to the films' cross-section between two different left-handed films' cholesteric domains are impregnated with a nematic liquid crystal. This photonic feature is reversibly tuned by the application…
Microstructure of Pharmaceutical Semicrystalline Dispersions: The Significance of Polymer Conformation
Van Duong, Tu; Goderis, Bart; Van Humbeeck, Jan; Van den Mooter, Guy
The microstructure of pharmaceutical semicrystalline solid dispersions has attracted extensive attention due to its complexity that might result in the diversity in physical stability, dissolution behavior, and pharmaceutical performance of the systems. Numerous factors have been reported that dictate the microstructure of semicrystalline dispersions. Nevertheless, the importance of the…