Pyrolysis pathways of sulfonated polyethylene, an alternative carbon fiber precursor.

Polyethylene is an emerging precursor material for the production of carbon fibers. Its sulfonated derivative yields ordered carbon when pyrolyzed under inert atmosphere. Here, we investigate its pyrolysis pathways by selecting n-heptane-4-sulfonic acid (H4S) as a model compound. Density functional theory and transition state theory were used to determine the rate constants of pyrolysis for H4S from 300 to 1000 K. Multiple reaction channels from two different mechanisms were explored: (1) internal five-centered elimination (Ei5) and (2) radical chain reaction. The pyrolysis of H4S was simulated with kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) to obtain thermogravimetric (TGA) plots that compared favorably to experiment. We observed that at temperatures <550 K, the radical mechanism was dominant and yielded the trans-alkene, whereas cis-alkene was formed at higher temperatures from the internal elimination. The maximum rates of % mass loss became independent of initial È®H radical concentration at 440-480 K. Experimentally, the maximum % mass loss occurred from 440 to 460 K (heating rate dependent). Activation energies derived from the kMC-simulated TGAs of H4S (26-29 kcal/mol) agreed with experiment for sulfonated polyethylene (~31 kcal/mol). The simulations revealed that in this region, decomposition of radical HOSÈ®2 became competitive to α-H abstraction by HOSÈ®2, making È®H the carrying radical for the reaction chain. The maximum rate of % mass loss for internal elimination was observed at temperatures >600 K. Low-scale carbonization utilizes temperatures <620 K; thus, internal elimination will not be competitive. E(i)5 elimination has been studied for sulfoxides and sulfones, but this represents the first study of internal elimination in sulfonic acids.

Patterned functional carbon fibers from polyethylene.

Carbon fibers having unique morphologies, from hollow circular to gear-shaped, are produced from a novel melt-processable precursor and method. The resulting carbon fiber exhibits microstructural and topological properties that are dependent on processing conditions, rendering them highly amenable to myriad applications.

Effect of guest hydrophobicity on water sorption behavior of oligomer/alpha-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes.

Cyclomaltohexaose (alpha-cyclodextrin, alpha-CD) can form inclusion complexes (ICs) with polymer molecules in the columnar crystal structure in which alpha-CD molecules stack to form a molecular tube. Complementary water vapor sorption and wide-angle X-ray diffractomery (WAXD) were performed on oligomer/alpha-CD ICs to determine their structures and stabilities. To discern the effect of guest molecule hydrophobicity on water adsorption isotherms, polyethylene glycol (PEG, MW = 600 g/mol) and hexatriacontane (HTC) guests were used. Sorption isotherms for PEG/alpha-CD IC are similar to those obtained for pure alpha-CD and PEG, suggesting the presence of dethreaded PEG in the sample. WAXD collected before and after water vapor sorption of PEG/alpha-CD IC indicated a partial conversion from columnar to cage crystal structure, the thermodynamically preferred structure for pure alpha-CD, due to dethreading of PEG. This behavior does not occur for HTC/alpha-CD IC. Sorption isotherms collected at 20, 30, 40, and 50 degrees C allowed the calculation of the isosteric heats of adsorption and the integral entropies of adsorbed water which are characterized by minima that indicate the monolayer concentration of water in the ICs.

Structure and stability of columnar cyclomaltooctaose (gamma-cyclodextrin) hydrate.

Rapid recrystallization of cyclomaltooctaose (gamma-cyclodextrin, gamma-CD) from aqueous solution resulted in formation of a columnar structure with only water as the guest molecule. Upon vacuum drying at 90 degrees C for 15 h, gamma-CD, which was initially in the columnar structure, became amorphous. Complementary water vapor sorption and wide-angle X-ray diffractometry experiments were performed on columnar gamma-CD in its vacuum dried and as-precipitated states to elucidate its stability in humid environments and the crystal structure present at varying sorption levels. These experiments show that both types of gamma-CD transform to the cage crystal structure upon exposure to water vapor at 40 degrees C and with an activity of 1.0. Sorption equilibrium is reached long before the crystal structure transformation is complete, indicating that a significant amount of molecular mobility exists in the various hydrated gamma-CD crystal structures.

Structure and stability of columnar cyclomaltohexaose (alpha-cyclodextrin) hydrate.

Rapid recrystallization of cyclomaltohexaose (alpha-cyclodextrin, alpha-CD) from aqueous solution resulted in formation of the columnar crystal structure of alpha-CD containing only water as the guest molecule. Complementary water vapor sorption and wide-angle X-ray diffractometry (WAXD) experiments were performed on the alpha-CD columnar structure to elucidate the crystal structure present at varying sorption levels. Equilibrium isothermal water vapor sorption experiments at 40 degrees C revealed that the alpha-CD columnar structure is unstable above a water activity of approximately 0.67. This was confirmed by WAXD diffractograms collected over time, which further revealed that alpha-CD columnar structure undergoes a phase transformation to the cage structure after approximately 0.25 h at 40 degrees C and a water activity of 1.0.

Two-phase channel structures based on alpha-cyclodextrin-polyethylene glycol inclusion complexes.

Wide-angle X-ray scattering observations of alpha-cyclodextrin (CD)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) inclusion complexes (ICs) have shown for the first time that two crystalline columnar modifications (forms I and II) are produced in the process of their formation. This was made possible by precise azimuthal X-ray diffraction scanning of oriented IC samples. Form I is characterized by CDs threaded onto PEG chains and arranged along channels in the order head-to-head/tail-to-tail, while form II is formed by unbound CDs also arranged into columns in a head-to-tail and also possibly a head-to-head/tail-to-tail manner, probably as a result of template crystallization on the form I IC crystals. It was shown that similar structural peculiarities are inherent for channel structures based on ICs obtained with PEG with a wide range of molecular weights (MWs). The characteristic feature of ICs based on PEG, especially with MW > 8000, is the presence of unbound polymer in the composition of the complex. The amount of unbound PEG was shown to rise with increasing MW of PEG, resulting in greater imperfections in the IC crystalline structure. The polyblock structure of ICs based on alpha-CD and PEG was therefore proposed.