Intra- and Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonding in Miscible Blends of CO2/Epoxy Cyclohexene Copolymer with Poly(Vinyl Phenol)

Diverse Applications of Two-Dimensional Correlation Spectroscopy (2D-COS)

This second of the two-part series of a comprehensive survey review provides the diverse applications of two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS) covering different probes, perturbations, and systems in the last two years. Infrared spectroscopy has maintained its top popularity in 2D-COS over the past two years. Fluorescence spectroscopy is the second most frequently used analytical method, which has been heavily applied to the analysis of heavy metal binding, environmental, and solution systems. Various other analytical methods including laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, capillary electrophoresis, seismologic, and so on, have also been reported. In the last two years, concentration, composition, and pH are the main effects of perturbation used in the 2D-COS fields, as well as temperature. Environmental science is especially heavily studied using 2D-COS. This comprehensive survey review shows that 2D-COS undergoes continuous evolution and growth, marked by novel developments and successful applications across diverse scientific fields.

Preparation of High-Toughness Lignin Phenolic Resin Biomaterials Based via Polybutylene Succinate Molecular Intercalation

Lignin has many potential applications and is a biopolymer with a three-dimensional network structure. It is composed of three phenylpropane units, p-hydroxyphenyl, guaiacyl, and syringyl, connected by ether bonds and carbon-carbon bonds, and it contains a large number of phenol or aldehyde structural units, resulting in complex lignin structures. This limits the application of lignin. To expand the application range of lignin, we prepared lignin thermoplastic phenolic resins (LPRs) by using lignin instead of phenol; these LPRs had molecular weights of up to 1917 g/mol, a molecular weight distribution of 1.451, and an O/P value of up to 2.73. Due to the complex structure of the lignin, the synthetic lignin thermoplastic phenolic resins were not very tough, which greatly affected the performance of the material. If the lignin phenolic resins were toughened, their application range would be substantially expanded. Polybutylene succinate (PBS) has excellent processability and excellent mechanical properties. The toughening effects of different PBS contents in the LPRs were investigated. PBS was found to be compatible with the LPRs, and the flexible chain segments of the small PBS molecules were embedded in the molecular chain segments of the LPRs, thus reducing the crystallinities of the LPRs. The good compatibility between the two materials promoted hydrogen bond formation between the PBS and LPRs. Rheological data showed good interfacial bonding between the materials, and the modulus of the high-melting PBS made the LPRs more damage resistant. When PBS was added at 30%, the tensile strength of the LPRs was increased by 2.8 times to 1.65 MPa, and the elongation at break increased by 31 times to 93%. This work demonstrates the potential of lignin thermoplastic phenolic resins for industrial applications and provides novel concepts for toughening biobased aromatic resins with PBS.