Surface Modification of Nanoclays with Styrene-Maleic Anhydride Copolymers

This study presents the modification of surfaces of nanoclays, halloysite nanotubes (HNT) and sepiolite (SEP), with styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers (SMA) via esterification reaction between hydroxyl groups of the nanoclays and anhydride groups of SMA. The structural, thermal, and morphological analyses of the modified nanoclays were performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). All of these results suggested that the expected modification of HNT and SEP surfaces were performed. Although XRD patterns of HNT containing samples showed that the basal spacing shifted to higher distances, it was found that those of the crystalline structure of SEP remained unchanged. Thermal gravimetric analysis exhibited that SMA copolymers were grafted onto the surfaces of nanoclays varying amounts between 15 and 43 wt. % depending on the types of nanoclays and SMA copolymers. This modification indicates that these nanoclays can be added to the polystyrene matrix without any compatibilizers.

Exploiting styrene-maleic acid copolymer grafting chromatographic stationary phase materials for separation of membrane lipids

High performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry is one of the most commonly used strategies for lipid analysis.The development of versatile chromatographic stationary phases to meet the increasing demands for separation of complex lipids is very important.Styrene-maleic acid(SMA)copolymer is an amphiphilic polymer,which has been proven to have the ability to solubilize lipid molecules of various structures.In this study,styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer coated silica was first prepared by the thiol-ene click reaction.With L-cysteine hydrochloride or dodecanol as the post-modification reagents,Sil-SMA-amino acid and Sil-SMA-dodecanol stationary phase materials were further successfully fabricated via nucleophilic ring-opening reaction.The Fourier-transform infrared,thermogravimetric analysis,and elemental analysis results confirmed the two stationary phase materials were successfully prepared.Furthermore,both the Sil-SMA-dodecanol column and the Sil-SMA-amino acid column possessed reversed-phase/hydrophilic interaction/ion exchange mixed-mode retention mechanisms.The column efficiency of the Sil-SMA-derivatives columns reached 77,300 N/m.Based on the mixed-mode retention characteristics,the Sil-SMA-derivatives columns achieved both the lipid classes and species separation via a single column.The Sil-SMA-amino acid column was further successfully used to separate lipid extract from gastric cancer cell membrane.All these results demonstrated that the SMA-based stationary phase materials have a good potential for use in lipid separation.

FABRICATION AND AFM/FFM STUDIES OF C_(60)-CONTAINING POLYELECTROLYTE SELF-ASSEMBLED FILMS

An initial investigation on the roughness and frictional properties of the self-assembled thin films from polyelectrolytes is presented. Star-shaped C60-poly(styrene-maleic anhydride) was successful prepared. The multilayer thin films have been fabricated on mica with diazoresin as the cationic polyelectrolyte and hydrolyzed star-shaped C60-poly(styrene-maleic anhydride) as the anionic polyelectrolyte via self-assembly technique. The crosslinking structure of the films is formed from the conversion of ionic bond to covalent bond after UV irradiation. AFM/FFM investigations provide insights into the roughness and frictional properties on a microscale. The roughness depends strongly on the number of film layers in the case of C60-containing films. The frictional forces of the films exhibited a well behaved non-linear relationship in response to the change of applied load. It supports the prediction of enhanced load-bearing property of C60-containing thin films.

Grafting of PEG400 onto the surface of LLDPE/SMA film

Linear low-density polyethylene(LLDPE)was melt and blended with styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer(SMA).The blending films were then immersed in poly(ethylene glycol)400(PEG400)at room temperature.The surface composition of the blend films was determined by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy coupled with a variable incidence angle attenuated total reflection accessory(ATR-FTIR).Results show that PEG400 can be grafted onto the surface of the films via esterification with SMA.The immersion of PEG promotes the enrichment of SMA onto the surface of the films.The water contact angle data show that grafting of PEG400 onto PE can greatly improve the hydro-philicity of the PE surface.These experiments show that sur-face functionalization of polyethylene films by blending SMA and then surface grafting of PEG is feasible,which suggest an effective and simple route for PE surface modification via blending and grafting.