Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry

Problems arising from the presence of co-initiator in Norrish Type II reactions often hinder their industrial application. Therefore, the development of one-component initiators is becoming increasingly relevant. In this work, a new and easily synthesized double chromophoric Norrish Type II initiator is presented. It efficiently initiates the polymerization of industrially important monomers. The synthesis is based on a facile Schiff base chemistry and allows for the design of efficient new initiators.

The ability of lanthanide trisborohydrides Ln(BH₄)₃(THF)₃ (Ln = La, Nd, and Sm) to produce either macrocyclic or linear poly(l-lactide) was established. The polymerization of l-lactide conducted under bulk conditions lead to the formation of cyclic polymer, whereas the same reaction when performed in the presence of benzyl alcohol as the transfer agent afforded alcohol-terminated linear polylactide in agreement with the occurrence of fully efficient transfer reactions to the alcohol.

The poly(dimethylsilylene ethynylenephenyleneethynylene) could be processed as one-dimensional material via melt electrospinning. To maintain the fiber structure above melting temperature and enhance its heat-resistance, the authors designed a two-step method that includes the thiol-yne photo polymerization as a preliminary step and the further thermal curing reaction.

New adamantane-containing intrinsically microporous homo- and copolymers were synthesized by the polycondensation of (1r, 3r)-2,2-bis(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)adamantane (THADM) and by varying compositions of THADM and 5,5,6′,6′-tetrahydroxy 3,3,3′,3′-tetramethyl-spirobisindane with 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoroterephthalonitrile. The gas permeability studies of polymers of intrinsic microporosity demonstrated improvement in selectivity for all gas pairs by the introduction of adamantane units.

The nanoscale structures of PANI—including stacked sheets, nanotubes, branched nanofibers, and uniform nanofibers—were obtained by regulating the acidity of HCl solution. The relationship between PANI molecular structure and morphology has been established. The effect of both acidity and microwave irradiation on PANI synthesis and nanostructures formation revealed that the acidity, rather than microwave assistance, is the critical factor determining the polymerization mechanism and the final nanostructure.