Polymer Journal最新文献

{"title":"PJ ZEON Award for outstanding papers in Polymer Journal 2024","authors":"Keiji Tanaka","doi":"10.1038/s41428-025-01027-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41428-025-01027-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20302,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Journal","volume":"57 6","pages":"601-603"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41428-025-01027-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144214280","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantitative characterization of the interfacial failure of metallic coatings on epoxy substrates in salty atmospheres","authors":"Zhichao Jiang, Yi Ding, Zhibin Chen, Biao Zuo","doi":"10.1038/s41428-025-01062-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41428-025-01062-4","url":null,"abstract":"Although a multilayered metallic coatings on epoxy surfaces can enhance material performance, under acidic and salty conditions, such as sweat, the coatings usually delaminate from polymer surfaces. Therefore, we investigated the interfacial failure of a Ni/Ag/Ni coating on an epoxy surface after long-term exposure to salt spray air or artificial sweat containing abundant Cl− ions. Cross-sectional atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to probe the changes in the interfacial morphologies and depth profiles of the chemical composition, respectively, to elucidate the mechanism by which Ni/Ag/Ni trilayered coatings delaminate from epoxy substrates in Cl−-containing atmospheres. The results revealed that Cl− ions penetrated through the epoxy, diffused into the metal–polymer interface, and dissolved the Ni layer at the epoxy surface, detaching the metallic layer from the polymer surface. In response to the failure mechanism mentioned above, we propose that by partially replacing the Ni primer layer with Ni2O3, which is inert in acidic Cl− atmospheres, the Ni2O3/Ni/Ag/Ni coating strongly resists corrosion in salt spray air and possesses good long-term interfacial bonding under acidic Cl− atmospheres. The mechanism of interfacial failure of Ni/Ag/Ni coating on epoxy surface after long-term treatment in air of artificial sweat were evaluated by cross-section AFM and XPS depth profiling. It was revealed that Cl ions penetrate the epoxy substrate, diffuse into metal-polymer interface and dissolve the primer Ni layer, resulting a delamination of metal coating from epoxy substrate. A Ni₂O₃ layer was introduced to construct the Ni₂O₃/Ni/Ag/Ni structure, which exhibits superior interfacial bonding performance in acidic Cl− atmosphere.","PeriodicalId":20302,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Journal","volume":"57 9","pages":"1015-1023"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41428-025-01062-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144990845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tertiary ammonium counterions outperform quaternary ammonium counterions in ionic comb polymers: overcoming the trade-off between toughness and the elastic modulus","authors":"Daisuke Aoki, Kento Yasuda, Kotaro Uchiyama, Koji Arimitsu","doi":"10.1038/s41428-025-01061-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41428-025-01061-5","url":null,"abstract":"Ionic motifs incorporated into polymers, such as ionomers, polyelectrolytes, polyampholytes, and poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs), serve as physical crosslinks through ionic interactions, presenting an effective molecular design for improving both the toughness and elastic modulus of the resulting polymer. However, in glassy polymers, ionic motifs, particularly organic base counterions, seldom effectively contribute to toughening mechanisms, as observed in soft materials. Here, we investigate the influence of tertiary and quaternary ammonium counterions on the mechanical properties of ionic comb polymers with a focus on the counterion incorporation ratio. We discovered a specific ion content range where only tertiary ammonium counterions, such as triheptylamine, improved both the toughness and Young’s modulus of a precursor polymer containing carboxylic acid groups and oligo(ethylene glycol) side chains. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis revealed the presence of neutral amines in the tertiary ammonium systems, as evidenced by slightly less intense carboxylate peaks compared with the quaternary ammonium system peak intensities. Furthermore, rheological analysis revealed that tertiary counterions induced plasticization and reduced relaxation times up to the rubbery region. This study demonstrated the distinct mechanical effects of organic bases on glassy polymers. Schematic of the mechanical properties (toughness and Young’s modulus) of ionic comb polymers (ICP-baseX) with tertiary and quaternary ammonium counterions and varying base/COOH ratios.","PeriodicalId":20302,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Journal","volume":"57 11","pages":"1195-1205"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41428-025-01061-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145436542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Frequency-selective sound absorption in transparent polymer composites with monodisperse hollow silica spheres","authors":"Uiseok Hwang, Jaeuk Sung, Jakyeong Koo, Xin Yang, Jae-Do Nam, Soochan Kim","doi":"10.1038/s41428-025-01063-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41428-025-01063-3","url":null,"abstract":"Hollow silica spheres possess unique properties such as high surface area, low refractive index, and light weight because of their hollow cores. These traits make them ideal for various applications, particularly as sound absorption materials. In this study, hollow silica spheres and their polymer composites, which exhibit frequency-selective sound absorption properties, were developed. Hollow silica spheres were prepared using polymer core templates, followed by calcination, resulting in highly monodisperse spheres with a uniform size distribution. By incorporating these spheres into a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix, we demonstrated that sound absorption peaks can be tuned by adjusting the filler content, allowing frequency-selective absorption—in sharp contrast to typical broadband-absorbing porous materials. Notably, the inclusion of hollow silica spheres significantly enhanced the optical transparency of the composite by reducing the refractive index mismatch at the interfaces. Our findings highlight the potential of transparent, monodisperse hollow silica sphere-based isotropic composites with precisely controlled acoustic responses as versatile materials for next-generation acoustic and optical applications. Monodisperse hollow silica spheres embedded in a PDMS matrix yield highly isotropic composites with tunable optical and acoustic properties. Their hollow structure enhances transparency by minimizing refractive index mismatch, while controlled filler content enables frequency-selective sound absorption. This study presents a strategy for designing multifunctional materials with structural isotropy and precisely tailored responses for optical and acoustic applications.","PeriodicalId":20302,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Journal","volume":"57 11","pages":"1287-1293"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41428-025-01063-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145436558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Photocrosslinked films composed of polydimethylsiloxane bearing alicyclic epoxy units and their CO₂-selective permeation properties","authors":"Shiori Hashiguchi, Masahiko Kawata, Takeo Nakano, Kimihiro Matsukawa, Masashi Kunitake","doi":"10.1038/s41428-025-01052-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41428-025-01052-6","url":null,"abstract":"Various crosslinked PDMS films incorporating cyclic epoxy groups were prepared by UV-induced acid generation and thermal curation and evaluated as CO₂-selective permeable membranes. These free-standing, ultrathin PDMS films (~100 nm thick) were formed by crosslinking side-epoxy-PDMS, which contains multiple epoxy groups, and end-epoxy-PDMS, which has epoxy groups at the polymer ends only. Gas permeation tests revealed that the films crosslinked with end-epoxy-PDMS exhibited high CO₂ permeance. Specifically, the membrane composed of UV-crosslinked end-epoxy-PDMS (Mn = 20,000, thickness ~ 200 nm) achieved a CO₂ permeance of 5200 GPU and a CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 11.0. Reducing the membrane thickness increased the permeance without affecting selectivity. However, shortening the siloxane chain, using side-epoxy-PDMS, or reducing the linker length led to decreases in both permeance and selectivity. For example, side-epoxy-PDMS (Mn = 30,000, Si-H/O-Si-O ratio = 37%, thickness ~ 200 nm) had a CO₂ permeance of 400 GPU and a CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 1.16. These results indicate that a lower crosslinking density and longer end-epoxy-PDMS siloxane chains are advantageous for CO₂ dissolution and diffusion, resulting in superior CO₂ permeance and selectivity compared with composed of side-epoxy-PDMS. UV-crosslinked PDMS membranes with site-selective alicyclic epoxy units exhibited outstanding CO₂ permeance and selectivity. By comparing end- and side-functionalized PDMS structures, we reveal that low crosslinking density and long siloxane chains favor CO₂ diffusion. Ultrathin (~100 nm), freestanding films fabricated via photoacid-induced curing achieved a CO₂ permeance of up to 5200 GPU with a CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 11.0. This study demonstrates the potential of molecularly engineered siloxane networks for high-performance gas separation, especially in membrane-based direct air capture (m-DAC) applications.","PeriodicalId":20302,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Journal","volume":"57 9","pages":"985-994"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41428-025-01052-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144990815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Thermally stable soluble polymers prepared via the tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane-catalyzed polymerization of hydrosilyl-functionalized cage octasiloxane","authors":"Yuto Hongo, Yoshiro Kaneko","doi":"10.1038/s41428-025-01059-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41428-025-01059-z","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, we successfully prepared soluble polymers via the tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (BCF)-catalyzed hydrosilylation of dimethylhydrosilyl-functionalized cage octasiloxane (DMHS-OS) and acetone, followed by dehydrocarbon condensation polymerization (Piers–Rubinstzajn reaction) between the unreacted hydrosilyl (Si–H) groups and converted isopropoxysilyl (Si–OiPr) groups of DMHS-OS. Notably, polymer Poly(DMHS-OS)-5, formed at a feed molar ratio of Si–H groups to acetone of 8:5, exhibited a relatively high weight-average molecular weight (Mw = 2.11 × 104). On the basis of the 1H NMR, 29Si NMR, and gel permeation chromatography results, Poly(DMHS-OS)-5 consists of approximately 17–18 linked cage octasiloxane repeating units. Despite the presence of alkoxysilyl groups, such as Si–OiPr, in the side chains, immersion in purified water for 1 h did not affect the solubility of the polymer, indicating its good water stability. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the 10% weight loss temperature of Poly(DMHS-OS)-5 was 535 °C and only 21% weight loss occurred at 1000 °C, indicating exceptionally low thermal degradation. These findings highlight the remarkably high thermal stability of the soluble polymer Poly(DMHS-OS)-5. Soluble polymers were prepared by polymerizing dimethylhydrosilyl-functionalized cage octasiloxane (DMHS-OS) using a tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (BCF) catalyst through hydrosilylation with acetone, followed by dehydrocarbon condensation. Poly(DMHS-OS)-5, formed at a feed molar ratio of Si–H groups in DMHS-OS to acetone of 8:5, exhibited a weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of 2.11 × 104 and consisted of ca. 17–18 linked DMHS-OS units. It demonstrated high thermal stability, with a 10% weight loss temperature (Td10) of 535 °C and a weight loss of only 21% at 1000 °C.","PeriodicalId":20302,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Journal","volume":"57 9","pages":"975-984"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144990847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Segregation behavior of a tackifier in styrene-butadiene rubber under a temperature gradient","authors":"Quoc-Viet Do, Masayuki Yamaguchi, Toshio Tada, Vu Anh Doan","doi":"10.1038/s41428-025-01058-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41428-025-01058-0","url":null,"abstract":"Structure development under a temperature gradient was studied using a miscible blend of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and a tackifier, an oligomeric copolymer comprising mainly styrene and α-methyl styrene (AMS). AMS was found to be miscible with SBR at an AMS content of up to 30 parts per hundred rubber (phr) (23 wt.%) at temperatures below 120 °C. A blend sheet with a thickness of 1 mm was placed in a compression-molding machine, where the top and bottom plates were maintained at different temperatures, such as 120 °C/80 °C and 100 °C/60 °C. After 30 min, the AMS contents on both surfaces were characterized. The AMS content on the low temperature side was high, and vice versa, with no phase separation. Furthermore, the phase diagram of the SBR/AMS blends as a function of the blend composition and temperature was examined. The system was found to show lower critical solution temperature behavior, suggesting that the Flory–Huggins interaction parameter increases with temperature. Therefore, at low temperature, blends containing large amounts of AMB must have a low free energy, which may result in the different compositions of the surfaces after exposure to a temperature gradient. The segregation behavior of Styrene-Butadiene Rubber (SBR) and poly(α-methylstyrene) (AMS) under a temperature gradient is investigated in detail. SBR and AMS are found to be miscible at an AMS content of 30 phr (23 wt.%), as confirmed by dynamic mechanical analysis. After treatment under a temperature gradient, AMS is observed to segregate toward the surface exposed to the lower temperature, as detected by Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The underlying mechanism is further elucidated based on the phase diagram of the SBR/AMS system.","PeriodicalId":20302,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Journal","volume":"57 9","pages":"1025-1032"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144990843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Natural language processing-based topic models for analyzing trends in polymer science","authors":"Yoshifumi Amamoto, Yoh-ichi Mototake, Takaaki Ohnishi","doi":"10.1038/s41428-025-01060-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41428-025-01060-6","url":null,"abstract":"Polymer science has enhanced human life for more than 100 years, and numerous scientific papers have been published in this field. Although reviewing overall trends is valuable, manually processing such a large volume of information is difficult. In this study, we captured trends in polymer science by performing an automated analysis of papers using topic-modeling techniques grounded in natural language processing (NLP). We analyzed the titles and abstracts of papers that contained the keyword “polymer” in their titles and were published from 1991–2023, applying latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), singular value decomposition (SVD), and nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) as topic models. This research showed that LDA, SVD, and NMF can capture trends across multiple fields over the past three decades. Accordingly, NLP-based topic models are promising tools for automatically extracting useful information from papers and other textual data in polymer science. Polymer science has enhanced human life for more than 100 years, and numerous scientific papers have been published in this field. In this study, we captured trends in polymer science by performing an automated analysis of the titles and abstracts of papers that contained the keyword “polymer” using topic-modeling techniques grounded in natural language processing (NLP). NLP-based topic models are promising tools for automatically extracting useful information from papers and other textual data in polymer science.","PeriodicalId":20302,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Journal","volume":"57 9","pages":"1033-1041"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41428-025-01060-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144990814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A water-soluble polymer having blue color and metal–ligand property derived from dipicolylamide structures","authors":"Shigehito Osawa","doi":"10.1038/s41428-025-01054-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41428-025-01054-4","url":null,"abstract":"A water-soluble polymer with dipicolylamide (DPAm) groups as the metal ligand was designed through the condensation reaction of a poly(maleic anhydride) derivative with dipicolylamine. The obtained polymer forms complexes with copper ions and accelerates the copper-catalyzed redox reaction at a mixing molar ratio of 1 or little less than 1, owing to the locally concentrated state of copper. In contrast, the Cu-catalyzed reaction was prohibited at mixing molar ratios above 2, verifying the properties of the polymer as a metal ligand to control the redox reaction.","PeriodicalId":20302,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Journal","volume":"57 11","pages":"1275-1278"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41428-025-01054-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145436556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Discovering the micellization of linear A-b-(B-alt-C)2-b-A multiblock terpolymers in selective solvents","authors":"Hsuan-Hung Liu","doi":"10.1038/s41428-025-01053-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41428-025-01053-5","url":null,"abstract":"The self-assembly of ABC amphiphilic multiblock terpolymers into multicompartment micelles in dilute solutions has gained significant attention. In this study, we employed the three-dimensional (3D) self-consistent field theory (SCFT) method to explore the micellization behavior of amphiphilic linear A-b-(B-alt-C)₂-b-A multiblock terpolymers in a solvent selective for the terminal A block. A variety of intriguing micellar structures were identified, including B- and C-disk segmented vesicles, B- and C-toroidal packing within a tubular structure, BC-segmented toroidal micelles, infinite BC-segmented cylindrical micelles, and BC-mixed toroidal micelles. Owing to the connection of blocks B and C with block A, the segmented arrangement of layers B and C follows the axial direction of the structures. As the volume fraction of the A block (fA) decreases, a structural transition from vesicles to micelles occurs in the linear A-b-(B-alt-C)₂-b-A system, in contrast with the behavior of A(BC)n multiblock terpolymers, which transition from micelles to vesicles. The SCFT method has proven to be an effective tool for identifying molecular architectures with the potential to self-assemble into complex, technologically valuable hierarchical structures. This study systematically explored the micellization of A-b-(B-alt-C)₂-b-A multiblock terpolymers using SCFT, revealing how block composition, interaction strength, and solvent selectivity govern diverse morphologies—including segmented vesicles, toroids, and cylinders. Symmetric and asymmetric solvent conditions yielded distinct BC-segmented structures, while poor solvent conditions led to hierarchical transitions. These insights offer design principles for functional materials like drug carriers by enabling precise control over self-assembled nanostructures.","PeriodicalId":20302,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Journal","volume":"57 9","pages":"959-973"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144990858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}