Structure within thin epoxy films is investigated by neutron reflectivity (NR) as a function of resin/cross-linker composition and cure temperature. Variation in the cross-link density normal to the substrate surface is examined by swelling the films with the good solvent d-nitrobenzene (d-NB). The principal observation is a large excess of d-NB near the air surface. This is not a wetting layer...

The influence of several factors (temperature, elongation, swellihg or dilution ratio, cross-link density, nature of the polymers and cross-linking agents) on the dynamic properties, creep and relaxation of polymer networks is surveyed in the terminal region of the spectrum. Whereas the deformation does not change the relaxation kinetics in large ranges of extension, the cross-link density acts...

Cross-linked polymer networks with orientational order constitute a wide class of soft materials and are relevant to biological systems (e.g., F-actin bundles). We analytically study the nonlinear force–extension relation of an array of parallel-aligned, strongly stretched semiflexible polymers with random cross-links. In the strong stretching limit, the effect of the cross-links is purely entr...

2'-O-(3-(Furan-2-yl)propyl)adenosine was synthesized and evaluated for interstrand crosslink (ICL) formation in DNA duplexes. In situ oxidation of the furan moiety with NIS showed rapid crosslink formation to dA and dC, while dT and dG were inactive.

The functionalization and cross-linking of polyethylene is synthetically challenging, commonly relying on highly optimized radical based postpolymerization strategies. To address these difficulties, a norbornene monomer containing Meldrum's acid is shown to be effectively copolymerized with polyethylene using a nickel α-iminocarbaxamidato complex, providing high-melting, semicrystalline polymer...

UNLABELLED It has been suggested that age-related deterioration in trabecular microarchitecture and changes in collagen cross-link concentrations may contribute to skeletal fragility. To further explore this hypothesis, we determined the relationships among trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV), microarchitecture, collagen cross-link content, and bone turnover in human vertebral trabecular bo...