Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Environment

Putting terahertz radiation in context

September 19, 2016 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 94, Issue 37

I read with excitement Mitch Jacoby’s article “Terahertz Radiation Probes Polymers” (C&EN, Aug. 15/22, page 30). The development of the terahertz radiation probe must be taken in context with other analytical and morphological techniques such as transmission electron microscopy when studying the crystallization of polymers such as poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), or PHB.

As can be seen in the photomicrographs on this page, the crystallization of PHB from solution undergoes significant ultrastructural changes as a function of time. The ultrastructural study of PHB pictured below was undertaken by P. H. Geil and me as a function of time over 36 hours.

As can be seen in figure 1, PHB initially forms as fibrous micelles that are 4 nm thick as measured by the shadow distance. The micelles then undergo a form of epitaxial crystallization. As can be seen in figure 2, the epitaxial fibers form into epitaxial lathlike and needle crystals on the order of 6 nm thick. Lastly, as can be seen in figure 3, the crystallites of PHB form a number of ultrastructures greater than 6 nm thick that are similar to those presented in Jacoby’s article.

The bottom line of this letter is for one to note that ultrastructural studies of PHB must be undertaken as a function of the polymer’s molecular weight, the concentration of polymer and solvent, the evaporation environment, time, and the available analytical techniques.

Sumner Barenberg
Boston

Correction

Sept. 5, page 28: A production error garbled the first paragraph of a profile of instrumentation executive Frank Witney. The paragraph should read, “In 2009, Frank Witney became chief executive officer of the fast-growing ion chromatography expert Dionex. Two years later, he sold Dionex to Thermo Fisher Scientific for $2.1 billion. Witney then joined the struggling genetics microarray maker Affymetrix, where he helped engineer a turnaround. In March, he sold Affymetrix for $1.3 billion to a company he knew well: Thermo Fisher.”

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.