A robust electrochemical sensor based on AgNWs@MoS for highly sensitive detection of thiabendazole residues in food samples.

Thiabendazole (TBZ), a highly toxic phosphorothioate insecticide commonly used in postharvest fruit management, has the potential to cause detrimental effects on human health as an endocrine disruptor. In this study, an electrochemical sensor was developed to detect TBZ by modifying MoS on silver nanowires (Ag NWs@MoS) and integrating them onto a glassy carbon surface. Cyclic voltammetry revealed that TBZ underwent an irreversible, diffusion-controlled process on Ag NWs@MoS, leading to a two-fold increase in peak current compared to unmodified MoS.

Influence of the ion content of CaCl-ionised polyamide-66 nucleator on the crystalline nucleation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) through ion-dipole interactions.

Polyamide (PA)-66 is successfully ionised with various weight fractions of CaCl to prepare PA-66 ionenes bearing different ion contents (ICs). The PA-66 ionenes against PA-66 are incorporated as heterogeneous nucleators into poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to effectively promote PET crystallisation. Compared to the PET/PA-66 (95/5 wt/wt), the PET/PA-66 ionenes (95/5) markedly improve the crystallisation rate and degree of crystallinity.

Melt Blending Modification of Commercial Polystyrene with Its Half Critical Molecular Weight, High Ion Content Ionomer, Poly(styrene--cinnamic Acid) Zn Salt, toward Heat Resistance Improvement.

Correspondence: cgwu@mail [...

Poly(styrene--cinnamic acid) (SCA), an approach to modified polystyrene with enhanced impact toughness, heat resistance and melt strength.

A poly(styrene--cinnamic acid) (SCA) containing 6.8 mol% of CA, with a (∼217 000) comparable to commercial polystyrene (PS), was successfully synthesised emulsion free-radical copolymerisation as evidenced by 1744 and 1703 cm infrared peak occurrences, respectively characteristic of free and dimeric carboxyl C[double bond, length as m-dash]O stretches. Upon the interchain hydrogen bond cross-linking by CA, the impact toughness of the SCA was considerably improved by 47.

Inside the Ionic Aggregates Constrained by Covalently Attached Polymer Chain Segments: Order or Disorder?

When a small-molecule ionic crystal is group-substituted with polymer chain-segments to form an ionomer, do its constrained ionic aggregates maintain ordered internal structures? This work presents, for a Na-salt sulfonated-polystyrene ionomer, reconciled TEM electron-diffraction schlieren textures and WAXS Bragg-type reflections from the ionic-aggregate nanodomains, which solidly prove the aggregates' internal (mono)crystalline order. The observed DSC endotherm of the ionomer, identified by WAXS as an order-disorder transition interior to its aggregates, gradually becomes enhanced over a 3-month, room-temperature physical aging process, indicating that the aggregates' ordering is a slow relaxation process in which the degree of order increases with time. This work corroborates an uncommon form of order, i.

Effect of Poly(styrene--methyl acrylate) Inclusion on the Compatibility of Polylactide/Polystyrene--Polybutadiene--Polystyrene Blends Characterized by Morphological, Thermal, Rheological, and Mechanical Measurements.

A poly(styrene--methyl acrylate) (S-MA) (75/25 mol/mol), synthesized by surfactant-free emulsion copolymerization, was used as a compatibilizer for polystyrene--polybutadiene--polystyrene (SBS)-toughened polylactide (PLA) blends. Upon compatibilization, the blends exhibited a refined dispersed-phase morphology, a decreased crystallinity with an increase in their amorphous interphase, improved thermal stability possibly from the thicker, stronger interfaces insusceptible to thermal energy, a convergence of the maximum decomposition-rate temperatures, enhanced magnitude of complex viscosity, dynamic storage and loss moduli, a reduced ramification degree in the high-frequency terminal region of the Han plot, and an increased semicircle radius in the Cole-Cole plot due to the prolonged chain segmental relaxation times from increases in the thickness and chain entanglement degree of the interphase. When increasing the S-MA content from 0 to 3.

Photomechanically Controlled Encapsulation and Release from pH-Responsive and Photoresponsive Microcapsules.

Poly(acrylic acid)/azobenzene microcapsules were obtained through distillation precipitation polymerization and the selective removal of silica templates by hydrofluoric acid etching. The uniform, robust, and monodisperse microcapsules, confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, had reversible photoisomerization under ultraviolet (UV) and visible light. Under UV irradiation, azobenzene cross-linking sites in the main chain transformed from the trans to cis isomer, which induced the shrinkage of microcapsules.

Improved mechanical properties of HIPS/hydroxyapatite composites by surface modification of hydroxyapatite via in-situ polymerization of styrene.

High impact polystyrene (HIPS)/hydroxyapatite (HA) composites are potential biomaterials for bone replacements due to their good biocompatibility and adequate mechanical properties. At the present work, the surface of the micron-sized hydroxyapatite (HA) particles was modified by in situ polymerization of styrene (St), then compounded with HIPS. The effect of the modification of HA surface on morphology and mechanical properties of HIPS/HA composites were investigated.