Poly(methyl methyacrylate)-block-polydimethylsiloxane (PMMA-b-PDMS) copolymers with various compositions were synthesized with PDMS-containing macroazoinitiator (MAI), which was first prepared by a facile onestep method in our lab. Results from the characterizations of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle measurements, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that the copolymer films took on a gradient of composition and more PDMS segments enriched at the film surfaces, which then resulted in the low surface free energy and little microphase separation at the film surfaces. By contrast, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis demonstrated that distinct microphase separation occurred in bulk. Slight crosslinking of the block copolymers led to much steady morphology and more distinct microphase separation, in particularly for copolymers with low content of PDMS. 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104:3356-3366, 2007

This paper presents a novel and facile method for the fabrication of nanocomposite films with ordered porous surface structures. In this approach, a water-borne poly(styrene-co-butyl acrylate-co-acrylic acid)/silica nanocomposite dispersion was synthesized in situ by surfactant-free emulsion polymerization by using 3-allyloxy-2-hydroxy-1-propanesulfonate as a polymerizable surfactant. When this dispersion was dried to form a film at a certain temperature, an ordered porous structure could be directly obtained on the surface of the nanocomposite film. SEM, TEM, and AFM were employed to observe the morphology, and XPS and particle analyzer were used to analyze the surface composition of the ordered porous nanocomposite film and the particle size, respectively.

UV-curable polymer/nanosized indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) nanocomposite coatings were fabricated by blending ITO slurry and oligomer and reactive monomers. The preparation of ITO slurry and the effect of the ITO content on the electrical conductivity, hardness and optical properties of the nanocomposite coats were investigated. It was found that the electric conductivity and UV absorbance of the nanocomposite coats increased while the hardness and refractive index first increased then decreased with increasing ITO concentration since too high ITO resulted in the incomplete curing of the coatings.

The de-agglomeration and dispersion of nano-TiO2 powder is little reported, although nano-TiO2 powder has been widely used due to its unique optical properties. In this study, an agitator bead mill (MiniZETA 03E, Netzsch) accompanied with an ultrasonicator was employed to de-agglomerate the nano-TiO2 powder in butyl acetate, and the effects of ultrasonic pretreatment, dispersant dosage, agitation speed, solid content of TiO2 suspension, and bead diameter were systemically investigated. It is found that ultrasonic pretreatment leads to short grinding time to reach the limiting fineness, low specific energy input, and small limiting mean size. All other technical parameters have also some influence on the limiting fineness and grinding time. However, the former strongly depends on agitation speed while the latter on both agitation speed and dispersant dosage. A solvent-borne nano-TiO2 suspension with limiting mean size of 110 nm can be successfully result under the optimal technical conditions and showed excellent UV-shielding property and transparence when it was incorporated into polyester/melamine coatings.

Europium(III) (Eu3þ)-doped polyurethane films were prepared by mixing Eu-methacrylic acid complex (Eu(MA)3) with aliphatic polyurethane oligomer and subsequently curing under UV irradiation. Transmission electron microscopy photos and the appearance of the resulting hybrid films showed that phase separation occurred only at an Eu(MA)3 content above 20 wt.-%. Fluorescence spectra indicated that the fluorescence of Eu3þ was barely influenced by the polyurethane matrix and its intensity increased with an Eu(MA)3 content in the range of approximately 0 to 10 wt.-%. An obvious applied external-field-dependent magnetization (M) of polyurethane/Eu(MA)3 films, namely, an increasingMat low field and a decreasingMat high field, was observed at room temperature from the hysteresis loops, which was influenced by both the Eu(MA)3 content and the ultrasonication imposed on the coatings before curing. It seems that ultrasonication leads to a thermodynamically-unstable structure of Eu3þ in hybrid films, which can be fixed by UV curing but gradually rearranges to its original form during the thermal-curing process, and enhances the diamagnetic part of the hybrid film. Thus, the magnetic property of Eu3þ-doped polyurethane film at room temperature can be adjusted by simply changing the preparation method and the Eu(MA)3 content instead of the type of Eu3þ-organic complex.