Functionalization of Carbon Materials using the Diels-Alder Reaction.

A simple and efficient Diels-Alder (DA) reaction on carbon material has been demonstrated. The present work involves single and multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs), as well as Herringbone carbon nanofiber. The CNTs show a dual nature of reactivity in DA reaction, i.

Self-nucleation and crystallization kinetics of double crystalline poly(p-dioxanone)-b-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) diblock copolymers.

The crystallization kinetics of each constituent of poly(p-dioxanone)-b-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) diblock copolymers (PPDX-b-PCL) has been determined in a wide composition range by differential scanning calorimetry and compared to that of the equivalent homopolymers. Spherulitic growth rates were also measured by polarized optical microscopy while atomic force microscopy was employed to reveal the morphology of one selected diblock copolymer. It was found that crystallization drives structure formation and both components form lamellae within mixed spherulitic superstructures.

Influence of in vitro hydrolytic degradation on the morphology and crystallization behavior of poly(p-dioxanone).

We have studied the hydrolytic degradation of high molecular weight poly(p-dioxanone), PPDX, sutures. The samples were degraded either in distilled water or in a phosphate buffer at 37 degrees C, and the starting viscosity-average molecular weight was 130 kg/mol. The hydrolytic degradation of PPDX occurs in an approximate two stage process where the amorphous regions of the sample are attacked faster than the crystalline regions of the sample.