Yu, Duk Man; Smith, Darren M.; Kim, Hyeyoung; Rzayev, Javid; Russell, Thomas P.
Two-Step Chemical Transformation of Polystyrene-block-poly(solketal acrylate) Copolymers for Increasing ?
We investigated the two-step chemical transformation of a series of symmetric poly(styrene-b-solketal acrylate) (PS-b-PSA) copolymers with varying molecular weights from 1900 to 27?300 g/mol (13 ? N ? 194) synthesized by sequential atom transfer radical polymerization. Through acid-catalyzed hydrolysis, the PSA block is converted into poly(glycerol acrylate) (PGA), which subsequently…
Dental Resin Monomer Enables Unique NbO2/Carbon Lithium-Ion Battery Negative Electrode with Exceptional Performance
Ji, Qing; Gao, Xiangwen; Zhang, Qiuju; Jin, Liyu; Wang, Da; Xia, Yonggao; Yin, Shanshan; Xia, Senlin; Hohn, Nuri; Zuo, Xiuxia; Wang, Xiaoyan; Xie, Shuang; Xu, Zhuijun; Ma, Liujia; Chen, Liang; Chen, George Z.; Zhu, Jin; Hu, Binjie; Müller?Buschbaum, Peter; Bruce, Peter G.; Cheng, Ya-Jun
Niobium dioxide (NbO2) features a high theoretical capacity and an outstanding electron conductivity, which makes it a promising alternative to the commercial graphite negative electrode. However, studies on NbO2 based lithium-ion battery negative electrodes have been rarely reported. In the present work, NbO2 nanoparticles homogeneously embedded in a carbon matrix…
Tuning Mechanical Properties of Biobased Polymers by Supramolecular Chain Entanglement
Lamm, Meghan E.; Song, Lingzhi; Wang, Zhongkai; Rahman, Md Anisur; Lamm, Benjamin; Fu, Lin; Tang, Chuanbing
A variety of biobased polymers have been derived from diverse natural resources. However, the mechanical properties of some of these polymers are inferior due to low chain entanglement. We report a facile strategy termed supramolecular chain entanglement, which utilizes supramolecular interactions to create physical cross-linking and entanglements for polymers with…
Investigation of the internal structure of thermoresponsive diblock poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)-b-poly[N-(2,2-difluoroethyl)acrylamide] copolymer nanoparticles
Babuka, David; Kolouchova, Kristyna; Hruby, Martin; Groborz, Ondrej; Tosner, Zdenek; Zhigunov, Alexander; Stepanek, Petr
The poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)-b-poly self-assembled nanoparticles show great potential in biological applications as, e.g., 19F MRI tumour diagnostic agents. As such their internal structure needs to be thoroughly investigated while the results also help to understand temperature-dependent self-assembly behaviour of copolymers comprised of the hydrophilic and
Single-step preparation of mono-dispersed sulfur nanoparticles for detention of copper
Shevchenko, Natalia; Steinhart, Milos; Tomík, Elena
Application of sulfur nanoparticles results from biocompatibility, biodegradability, and non-toxicity of the shell that covers sulfur nanoparticles. However, to prepare uniform sulfur nanoparticles still remains a challenge; particularly in aqueous medium when the size of sulfur nanoparticles is not more than 20 nm. In the current work, the detailed investigation…
Tunable Fluorophobic Effect Determines Nanoparticle Dispersion in Homopolymers and Block Polymers
Marsh, Zachary M.; Blom, Douglas A.; Stefik, Morgan
The controlled placement of nanoparticles (NPs) within homopolymers and block polymers is of broad interest for functional nanomaterials. This manuscript focuses on small molecule-stabilized NPs that bring a large fraction of functionality. For such NP mixtures with block polymers, the overwhelming focus to date has been the use of attractive…
Enhanced Conductivity via Homopolymer-Rich Pathways in Block Polymer-Blended Electrolytes
Morris, Melody A.; Sung, Seung Hyun; Ketkar, Priyanka M.; Dura, Joseph A.; Nieuwendaal, Ryan C.; Epps, Thomas H.
The optimization of ionic conductivity and lithium-ion battery stability can be achieved by independently tuning the ion transport and mechanical robustness of block polymer (BP) electrolytes. However, the ionic conductivity of BP electrolytes is inherently limited by the covalent attachment of the ionically conductive block to the mechanically robust block,…
Comparative Study of Direct Compounding, Coupling Agent-Aided and Initiator-Aided Reactive Extrusion to Prepare Cellulose Nanocrystal/PHBV (CNC/PHBV) Nanocomposite
Zheng, Ting; Clemons, Craig M.; Pilla, Srikanth
Three compounding methods were compared to determine their effects on the organization of the interphase in nanocomposites of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) processed via (1) direct compounding, (2) reactive extrusion using a coupling agent (PHBV-g-GMA), or (3) reactive extrusion using a peroxide free-radical initiator (dicumyl peroxide,
Fast Photochromic Dye Response in Rigid Block Polymer Thermosets
Peterson, Colin; Hillmyer, Marc A.
The behavior of photochromic spiropyran (SP) dyes is greatly affected by the local environment in which they reside. Fluid microenvironments such as liquidlike polymers grant favorably fast dye decoloration whereas rigid microenvironments such as glassy polymers inhibit fast dye response. We study the use of disorganized but microphase-separated block polymer…
Antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of (thio)alkyl hexopyranosides, nonionic glycolipid mimetics
Dubák, Petr; Gurská, So?a; Bogdanová, Kate?ina; Uhríková, Daniela; Kanjaková, Nina; Combet, Sophie; Klunda, Tomá; Kolá?, Milan; Hajdúch, Marian; Poláková, Monika
A series of 19 synthetic alkyl and thioalkyl glycosides derived from d-mannose, d-glucose and d-galactose and having C10C16 aglycone were investigated for cytotoxic activity against 7 human cancer and 2 non-tumor cell lines as well as for antimicrobial potential on 12 bacterial and yeast strains. The most potent compounds were…