Photodegradation and photostabilization of polymers, especially polystyrene: review

Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation may cause the significant degradation of many materials. UV radiation causes photooxidative degradation which results in breaking of the polymer chains, produces free radical and reduces the molecular weight, causing deterioration of mechanical properties and leading to useless materials, after an unpredictable time. Polystyrene (PS), one of the most important material in the modern plastic industry, has been used all over the world, due to its excellent physical properties and low-cost. When polystyrene is subjected to UV irradiation in the presence of air, it undergoes a rapid yellowing and a gradual embrittlement. The mechanism of PS photolysis in the solid state (film) depends on the mobility of free radicals in the polymer matrix and their bimolecular recombination. Free hydrogen radicals diffuse very easily through the polymer matrix and combine in pairs or abstract hydrogen atoms from polymer molecule. Phenyl radical has limited mobility. They may abstract hydrogen from the near surrounding or combine with a polymer radical or with hydrogen radicals. Almost all synthetic polymers require stabilization against adverse environmental effects. It is necessary to find a means to reduce or prevent damage induced by environmental components such as heat, light or oxygen. The photostabilization of polymers may be achieved in many ways. The following stabilizing systems have been developed, which depend on the action of stabilizer: (1) light screeners, (2) UV absorbers, (3) excited-state quenchers, (4) peroxide decomposers, and (5) free radical scavengers; of these, it is generally believed that excited-state quenchers, peroxide decomposers, and free radical scavengers are the most effective. Research into degradation and ageing of polymers is extremely intensive and new materials are being synthesized with a pre-programmed lifetime. New stabilizers are becoming commercially available although their modes of action are sometimes not thoroughly elucidated. They target the many possible ways of polymer degradation: thermolysis, thermooxidation, photolysis, photooxidation, radiolysis etc. With the goal to increase lifetime of a particular polymeric material, two aspects of degradation are of particular importance: Storage conditions, and Addition of appropriate stabilizers. A profound knowledge of degradation mechanisms is needed to achieve the goal.

Layer-by-layer assembly of partially sulfonated isotactic polystyrene with poly(vinylamine)

The stereoregular synthetic polymer isotactic polystyrene bearing partially sulfonated groups (SiPS) was used as a layer-by-layer assembled thin film for the first time. When a low molecular weight compound was employed as the pair for the alternative layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly, the frequency shift was very small using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) analysis, whereas poly(vinylamine) (PVAm) formed an effective pair for the construction of LbL films with SiPS. When it was neutralized, SiPS was not assembled, probably due to the loss of effective polymer-polymer interactions. The ionic strength conditions revealed a slight difference of the assembly behavior on the isotactic polymer as compared to the atactic one. The assembled LbL film showed the same peaks over the range from 1141 to 1227 cm(-1) and 700 cm(-1) in the FT-IR/ATR spectra as the bulk complex of SiPS/PVAm, and the thickness on one side was calculated at 76 nm by QCM analysis. The surface roughness of the film was also observed by AFM.

Molecular sensing by nanoporous crystalline polymers

Chemical sensors are generally based on the integration of suitable sensitive layers and transducing mechanisms. Although inorganic porous materials can be effective, there is significant interest in the use of polymeric materials because of their easy fabrication process, lower costs and mechanical flexibility. However, porous polymeric absorbents are generally amorphous and hence present poor molecular selectivity and undesired changes of mechanical properties as a consequence of large analyte uptake. In this contribution the structure, properties and some possible applications of sensing polymeric films based on nanoporous crystalline phases, which exhibit all identical nanopores, will be reviewed. The main advantages of crystalline nanoporous polymeric materials with respect to their amorphous counterparts are, besides a higher selectivity, the ability to maintain their physical state as well as geometry, even after large guest uptake (up to 10-15 wt%), and the possibility to control guest diffusivity by controlling the orientation of the host polymeric crystalline phase. The final section of the review also describes the ability of suitable polymeric films to act as chirality sensors, i.e., to sense and memorize the presence of non-racemic volatile organic compounds.