Waveguides made of poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) play a major role in the homogeneous distribution of display backlights as a matrix for solid-state dye lasers and polymer optical fibers (POFs). PMMA is favored because of its transparency in the visible spectrum, low price, and well-controlled processability. Nevertheless, technical drawbacks, such as its limited temperature stability, call f...

Without intervention, it has been found that surface-initiated photoiniferter-mediated photopolymerization (SI-PMP) of methyl methacrylate suffers from irreversible termination, which leads to cessation of polymerization. These irreversible termination reactions were successfully reduced by preaddition of tetraethylthiuram disulfide (TED). The poly(methyl methacrylate) layers were also reinitia...

We present methodologies for fabricating block copolymer assemblies grafted onto flat solid substrates, where each block of the copolymer possesses a systematic and gradual variation of molecular weight as a function of the position on the substrate. We demonstrate the utility of this technique on two case studies. In the first project, we generate surface-tethered poly[(2-hydroxyethyl methacry...

We report on the protein-resistant properties of glass substrates coated with novel copolymers of 2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (AEM-PEG). In comparison to currently available protein-blocking polymer systems, such as poly-l-lysine-poly(ethylene glycol), silane-based poly(ethylene glycol), and poly(ethylene glycol) brushes prepared b...

Our previous studies demonstrated great potential of methyl methacrylate and vinylbenzyl chloride based copolymer electrolytes for alkaline fuel cell applications. In this study, a number of factors including polymer composition drift, molecular weight, and polymer crosslinking is investigated to understand their effects and to precisely control the electrolyte properties including conductivity...

Polymer optical fiber (POF) with a highly photosensitive poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methyl vinyl ketone-co-benzyl methacrylate) core is fabricated. Gratings can be fabricated in the core of a POF with a low-cost mercury lamp. The part of the emission spectrum of the mercury lamp in which the cladding material exhibits photosensitivity is effectively filtered by a 1.5-mm-thick Pyrex glass to en...

The reaction of living anionic polymers with 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-1-(3-bromopropyl)-1-aza-2,5disilacyclopentane (1) was investigated using coupled thin layer chromatography and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Structures of byproducts as well as the major product were determined. The anionic initiator having a protected primary amine functional group,...

Fabrication process of multimode 1 x 2 optical rectangular planar power splitter suitable for low-cost short distance optical network is presented. The splitters were designed by beam propagation method for standard input/output plastic optical fibre. Materials used for the splitter were: UV acrylate photopolymer polymer or epoxy resin for optical core waveguide layers and Y-groove substrate fo...