The novel multi-functional terphenyl epoxy resins were synthesized by the reaction of p-benzoquinone and phenols without solvents, followed by epoxidation with epichlorohydrin. The cured resin with multi-functional terphenyl epoxy resins showed excellent flame retardancy, high glass transition temperature and high thermal conductivity, which were required for the advanced electronics applications. In this paper, we report the synthesis, properties, and effect of terphenyl units.

We examined thermal curing reaction of various epoxy resins with ε-caprolactam (ε-CL). The reactions of epoxy resins and ε-CL were carried out in the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) in the range between 80 and 170 ℃ for 2 h, the anionic ring-opening copolymerization proceeded to give corresponding cured products quantitatively. The glass transition temperatures and thermal stabilities of the obtained cured materials were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and each of them showed a high glass transition temperatures and high thermal stabilities.

In this report, the formation of supramolecular gels from an amphiphilic calix[4]resorcinarene(CR) and proline was investigated. CR with four alkyl chains of ten carbon atoms (CR(10)) was prepared by the condensation of resorcinol and undecanal under acidic condition in high yield. CR(10) forms microphase separation structures. Therefore, CR(10) exhibits a strong aggregation capability. CR(10) formed l:l host-guest complex with proline and assembled into nanofibers in methanol. As a result, the nanofibers were entangled with each other and formed the supramolecular gels (CR-Pro gels). It was found that the supramolecular gels obtained from CR(10) and racemic proline showed higher sol－gel transition temperature than those of the supramolecular gels obtained from CR(10) and D- or L-proline, respectively. From the result, the formation of supramolecular gel is supposed to be driven by two kinds of interactions. One is the hydrogen bonds between CR(10) and proline and the other is the intermolecular interaction between proline molecules. It seemed that the sol－gel transition temperature of CR-Pro gels strongly depended on the interaction between proline molecules.

Because metal components used for automobiles, aircrafts, and mechanical parts are recently replaced by lightweight plastics and polymer composites, tough and reliable bonding between dissimilar materials is one of the most important and challenging topics in the fields of adhesion and adhesives. We have developed a new type of dissimilar materials bonding technique using epoxy monolith as the adhesive mediator, which is bicontinuous and porous materials with high porosity and free surface energy. In this article, the recent development of dissimilar materials bonding technologies is reviewed, and then the fabrication of epoxy monolith and its application to dissimilar materials bonding are described in detail.

In this study, we report a cytocompatible and dynamic hydrogel comprised of well-defined ABA triblock copolymers, which enable significant changes of viscoelastic properties only by UV light irradiation. The thermo-responsive A block contains N-isopropylacrylamide and an acrylate monomer with a coumarin side chain, whereas the hydrophilic B block is biocompatible poly(ethylene oxide). With increasing temperature, the triblock copolymer undergoes a sol-to-gel transition and forms a physically cross-linked hydrogel under physiologically relevant conditions. Furthermore, under UV light irradiation, the viscoelasticity of the hydrogel is dynamically modulated because of the photo-dimerization of coumarin moieties. After UV light illumination, viscoelastic properties of the hydrogel are significantly different, indicating the formation of chemical cross-linking points in the micelle core. Finally, we demonstrate that the dynamic changes in the viscoelasticity of the hydrogel have a large influence on the proliferation behavior of encapsulated cells.