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The chain architecture dependence of the retention behavior of block copolymers in the temperature gradient interaction chromatography (TGIC) and liquid chromatography at the critical condition (LCCC) was investigated. For the purpose, polystyrene (PS)/polybutadiene (PB) diblock (SB), SBS triblock, and BSB triblock copolymers were prepared by sequential anionic polymerization and further fractionated by reversed-phase TGIC to obtain a set of the block copolymers with high purity, narrow distribution, and matched block length. In the TGIC separation with C18 bonded silica stationary phase and a mixture of CH 2Cl2/CH3CN mobile phase, retention of the three block copolymers with matched molecular weight and composition shows a significant architecture effect: SBS elutes significantly earlier while BSB or SB elute later at similar retention volume. It indicates that the polymer-stationary phase interaction is less effective for the PB block located at the middle of the chain than the blocks located at the chain end. In LCCC separation at the critical condition for PB block, SBS is eluted early while SB and BSB were eluted later at the same retention time. Therefore, triblock copolymer with an invisible middle block behaves differently from those having invisible end block(s). This behavior is consistent with the theoretical prediction by Guttman et al.

To obtain high catalytic properties, finely modulating the electronic structure and active sites of catalysts is important. Herein, we report the design and economical synthesis of Pd@Pt core–shell nanoparticles for high productivity in the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide. Pd@Pt core–shell nanoparticles with a partially covered Pt shell on a Pd cube were synthesized using a simple direct seed-mediated growth method. The synthesized Pd@Pt core–shell nanoparticles were composed of high index faceted Pt on the corners and edges, while the Pd–Pt alloy was located on the terrace area of the Pd cubes. Because of the high-indexed Pt and Pd–Pt alloy sites, the synthesized concave Pd@Pt7 nanoparticles exhibited both high H2 conversion and H2O2 selectivity compared with Pd cubes.

Temperature gradient interaction chromatography (TGIC) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) were applied for the characterization of highly branched polystyrenes (PS) prepared by linking living polystyryl anions using 4-chlorodimethylsilylstyrene. Reversed-phase (RP)-TGIC showed an unexpectedly high resolution according to the number of branches despite significant overlap of the molecular weight as confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS. The enhancement of the resolution is ascribed to the contribution of the nonpolar groups in the branched PS: the dimethylsilyl groups in the branching unit as well as the sec-butyl initiator groups. As the number of branches increases, the number of nonpolar groups increases, which in turn increases the RP-TGIC retention synergistically with increasing molecular weight. In contrast, a poorer resolution was found in normal-phase-TGIC, in which the nonpolar groups reduce the retention. The resolution in RP-TGIC appears superior to that of liquid chromatography at the chromatographic critical condition (LCCC) of PS. It is seemingly due to the synergistic contribution of the incremental PS molecular weight to the functionality in the branched PS in RP-TGIC while only the functionality contributes to the separation in LCCC. This type of resolution enhancement could be utilized efficiently for the analysis of highly branched polymers such as dendrimers or hyperbranched polymers.