For many years, copolymerization has been studied using mathematical and statistical models. Here, we present new Markov chain models for copolymerization kinetics: the Bernoulli and Geometric models. They model copolymer synthesis as a random process and are based on a basic reaction scheme. In contrast to previous Markov chain approaches to copolymerization, both models take variable chain le...

External electric fields readily align birefringent block-copolymer mesophases. In this study the effect of gold nanoparticles on the electric-field-induced alignment of a lamellae-forming polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) copolymer is assessed. Nanoparticles are homogeneously dispersed in the styrenic phase and promote the quantitative alignment of lamellar domains by substantially lower...

In this study, factors controlling autonomous vesicle oscillations exhibited by self-oscillating diblock copolymers were investigated. The self-oscillating diblock copolymer contains poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as the hydrophilic block and a random copolymer composed of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) with side chains of ruthenium tris(2,2'-bipyridine) (Ru(bpy)3), which catalyzes the Belousov-Zha...

The purposes of this research were to synthesize and characterize star-shaped poly lactide-co-glycolide-β-cyclodextrin (PLGA-β-CD) copolymer by reacting L-lactide, glycolide and β-cyclodextrin in the presence of stannous octoate as a catalyst. The structure of PLGA-β-CD copolymer was confirmed with 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and FT-IR spectra. Albumin as a model peptide drug was encapsulated within nanopa...

Several important properties of poly(3-hydroxybutyric-co-3-hydroxyvaleric acids) (P(3HB-co-3HV) depend mainly on the HV unit fraction of the copolymer. Sequential and simultaneous feeding of glucose and valerate were employed to produce P(3HB-co-3HV) in a fed-batch culture of Ralstonia eutropha, and the effects of feeding models on the cell growth, 3HV unit fraction, and copolymer productivity ...

Block copolymer thin films provide a robust method for generating regular, uniform patterns with sub-100 nanometer length scales over arbitrarily large areas. A significant advantage of such block copolymer-based patterning is its ease of integration with all other aspects of traditional thin-film processing, including plasma-based etching and metallization. Such process compatibility ensures a...

High free-volume copolymers were prepared via polycondensation with 2,3,5,6,-tetrafluoroterephthalonitrile (TFTPN) in which a portion of the 3,3,3',3'-tetramethyl-1,1'-spirobisindane (TTSBI) of PIM-1 was replaced with dibutyl anthracene maleimide (4bIII). An investigation of free volume using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS), and gas permeation measurements was carried out for...

The accurate characterization of synthetic polymer sequences represents a major challenge in polymer science. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is frequently used for the characterization of copolymer samples. We present the COCONUT software for estimating the composition distribution of the copolymer. Our method is based on Linear Progr...

We have formulated the mixing Gibbs energy density for the micelle phase of an amphiphilic block copolymer solution using mean-field lattice theory. We have found a transition between the micellization and the liquid–liquid phase separation in this solution by comparing the mixing Gibbs energy density for the micelle phase with that for the homogeneous phase. Micellization is preferred over the...