Polystyrene-graft-poly(ethylene glycol) copolymers (PS-g-PEG) were successfully synthesized using the "grafting-through" method. The graft copolymers and the surface properties of their coats were characterized by 1H-NMR, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), static contact angle measurement, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Both DSC and TEM indicated that the graft copolymers had a microphase separated structure. AFM showed the microphase separated structure also occurred at the coat surface, especially at high PEG content, which could also be indirectly confirmed by the XPS and contact angle results. The formation mechanism of the microphase separated structure was discussed. 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 1458-1465, 2007

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

Tungsten (W)-doped vanadium dioxide (VO2) particles were successfully synthesized by hydrolysis of vanadyl sulfate mingled with a small amount of sodium tungstate dihydrate and subsequent calcination. XPS analyses demonstrated that the vanadium oxide was composed of stoichiometric VO2, and the doped W content in VO2 particles could be easily controlled by the concentration of W precursor. XRD patterns indicated that all the W-doped VO2 particles were monoclinic crystals, and the W dopant almost had no influence on the crystal structure of VO2 particles. DSC analyses displayed that the critical phase transition temperature of VO2 particles could be reduced to room temperature or even lower by increasing the dopedWfraction. UV-vis-NIR spectra showed that the W-doped VO2 particles embedded acrylic coating had very good thermochromic performance. r 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

UV-curable zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticle coatings, prepared by dispersing highly-crystalline zirconia nanoparticles (4 nm) in tetrahydrofuran with the aid of 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) and following addition of a cationic photoinitiator, were cast on silicon wafers (or glass substrates) by dip-coating or spin-coating and photopolymerized to get transparent ZrO2 nanoparticle films. Ellipsometrical characterization indicates that the refractive index of the film changes from 1.63 to 1.77 at wavelength of 632nm when the molar ratio of GPTMS-to-ZrO2 decreases from 0.30 to 0.15. Nano-indentation tests show that the films exhibit robust mechanical performance though they are not heat-treated.

The photopolymerization kinetics of poly(urethane-acrylate)/zirconia (PUA/ZrO2) nanocomposite coatings were monitored on-line and in-real-time with microdielectrometry (DEA) in terms of logarithmic ion viscosity (log). For comparison, real-time infrared spectroscopy (RTIR) was also employed to determine the evolution of C=C bond conversion (C) with irradiation time (t). Coupling log-t curves with C-t curves indicates that the relationship between log and C for all the coatings with different formulations (i.e. the type of photoinitiator, ZrO2 content) and curing condition (i.e. irradiation intensity) can be correlated to one linear equation at conversion less than ∼85%. Moreover, DEA monitoring was longer time to reach polymerization equilibrium than RTIR for those cases with high limited conversion, suggesting that the former is more sensitive to C=C bond conversion than RTIR at high conversion stage (C>∼85%). DEA monitoring on the photopolymerization kinetics of PUA/ZrO2 coatings as a function of various parameters further demonstrates that DEA results are reliable and reasonable to conventional radical photopolymerization. It is believed that DEA technique will be useful not only on the optimization of curing condition but also for the formulation of UV-curable coatings.