Novel Chiral Effects on the Molecular Organization in the Liquid-Crystalline Phases

We describe a new type of composite material: polymers entrapped within a metal. Polystyrene-sulfonic acid and poly(vinyl alcohol) were entrapped within silver. Detailed procedures for the entrapment are provided, and it is shown that this entrapment is a distinctly different process from polymer adsorption on the metal surface. Characterization of these new composites includes XRD measurements, SEM with EDAX, surface area, porosity, and density measurements, and full oxidative degradation analysis by thermogravimetry (TGA/DTA/DTG) coupled to mass spectrometry. A pronounced effect of the metal caging on the thermal degradation of the two entrapped polymers was observed. On the basis of all experimental observations a proposition is made as to the molecular level picture of the entrapment