To develop a cationic UV curable, tough fouling-release coating for marine vessels, a difunctional oxetane monomer was used to copolymerize with the epoxy-siloxane oligomer at loading levels from 10% to 40% wt.. The resulting coatings showed enhanced solvent resistance, impact resistance and modulus, while remained hydrophobic before and after immersion in artificial sea water. In marine microorganism bioassay, these oxetane toughened coatings showed no leachate toxicity and the coating surfaces were non-toxic to biofilm growth. The fouling removal performance for these coatings was found to be microorganism dependent. Live barnacle reattachment assay showed that the toughened coatings had a removal force comparable to the reference silicone coatings Dow Corning T2 and 3140.

We found new reactionsof oxetanes with many reagents such as acyl chlorides, silyl chlorides, phosphonyl chlorides, alkyl chlorides, aryl esters, thio esters, phosphonic acids, carboxylic acids, thiols, and phenols using suitable quaternary onium salts or crown ether complexes as catalysts. More recently, we also found an anionic ring-opening polymerization of certain oxetane monomers such as (3-methyl-3-hydroxymethyl)oxetane and (3-ethyl-3-hydroxymethyl)oxetane, which have hydroxyl groups, catalyzed by potassium tert-butoxide and 18-crown-6-ether complex, and an anionic ring-opening alternating co-polymerization of oxetane monomers with cyclic carboxylic anhydrides. These reaction systems have also been applied to the synthesis of new functional polymers. In this article, we would like to introduce the application of these reaction systems for the synthesis of high performance new photo-curable polymers and oligomers containing pendant or terminal (meth)acryloyl groups.

There is enormous potential for the analytical applications of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs); for example, the imprinted polymer sites can function as the molecular recognition element of sensors, immunoassays, and separation media. However, difficulties with formulation variables and the need for empirical optimization have inhibited the widespread use of MIPs by the general scientific community. While investigating new crosslinkers for molecular imprinting, we have recently discovered a much simpler approach to MIP formation which utilizes a single crosslinking monomer, NOBE (N, Obismethacryloyl ethanolamine) in addition to template, solvent and initiator (shown in Scheme 1). We have given this molecular imprinting method the acronym “OMNiMIPs” which stands for one monomer molecularly imprinted polymers. This new formulation eliminates variables such as choice of functional monomer (FM) and crosslinker (XL), the ratio of functional monomer to crosslinker (FM/XL), and the ratio of functional monomer to template which normally complicates MIP design. The affects of OMNiMIP performance variables toward molecular recognition indicate significant differences between these new materials and traditional MIPs formulated with ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) and methacrylic acid (MAA). These differences and the utility of OMNiMIPs will be discussed.

Bicolor fluorescent micro-pattern in the polymer film was prepared through the use of a new group of photobase generator containing phthalimido carbamate groups. The photobase generation from phthalimide carbamates was studied from the product analysis of a model compound. The result indicates that amine was produced from the photolytic cleavage of the CN bond of the phthalimide carbamate group. Bicolor fluorescent micropatterns were obtained by treating a copolymer film containing phthalimido groups, which was irradiated with 254 nm UV light through photomask, with fluorescamine and rhodamine, consecutively. Various colored fluorescent micropatterns – green, red, or red-yellow, were obtained on a single polymer film by varying the excitation wavelength.

Polymeric nanocoatings have drawn considerable attention, in recent years, due to improvements in various properties including scratch resistance, abrasion resistance, heat stability as well as other mechanical properties [1-3].Different meal oxide nanoparticles have been employed s filler, in particular SiO2, TiO2 and ZnO were deeply investigated in literature [4].The use of inorganic particles in the nanoscale range is particularly attractive with the aim of improving the polymer properties by controlling the degree of interaction between the polymer and the nanofiller [5]. As inorganic fillers a range of different metal-oxide particles can be dispersed in the polymeric matrix [6-8]. Particularly attractive is the use of inorganic particles in the nanoscale range with the aim of improving the properties of the polymers by controlling the degree of interaction between the polymer and the nanofillers [9] via a top-down approach.One major problem with nanosized particles is their homogeneous dispersion within the organic matrix avoiding macroscopic phase separation. An in-situ approach of preparing nanoparticles using sol-gel precursors is appealing for this reason; it involves a series of hydrolysis and condensation reactions starting from a hydrolyzable multifunctional metal-alcoxide as precursor for the inorganic domain formation [10] (bottom-up approach).The use of suitable coupling agent permits to obtain a strictly interconnected network preventing macroscopic phase separation. The coupling agent provides bonding between the organic and the inorganic phases, therefore well-dispersed nanostructured phases may result [11] and hybrid organic-inorganic materials are achieved.

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCE) exhibit a combination of elasticity and mesogenic ordering, yielding large thermally stimulated changes in shape. These LCE systems although well characterised, still yield open questions in the nature of how the crosslinking affects the LCE phase transition. Therefore calorimetry and deuteron-nuclear magnetic resonance were used to study the isotropic-nematic phase transition of uniformly ordered LCE. We observed that the density of crosslinkers strongly affects the nematic-isotropic phase transition. The observed spread critical transitions are explained with a dispersion of local mechanical fields that yields a weakly disordered orientational state composed of regions that exhibit temperature profiles of the nematic order parameter ranging from first order to supercritical. On increasing crosslinking density, the predominantly first order thermodynamic response transforms into a predominantly supercritical one.

Additionally, to illustrate the response of these actuating systems, it was demonstrated that a LCE can be electrically heated. The insulating LCE network was reprocessed using conducting nanoparticles dispersed in a solvent with high LCE swelling capability. This results in a low electrical resistivity surface layer of LCE network with a high concentration of conducting nanoparticles. The reprocessing allows the effective resistivity of a LCE film to be reduced from highly insulating values to values useable for electrical actuation. This layer in addition withstands large changes in geometrical shape both in contraction and expansion. Utilizing a resistive “Joule” heating effect, the reprocessed system exhibits an indirect electromechanical effect characterised by a 150% length change that can be cycled for more than 10, 000 times.