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In a previous paper [A. Mori, T. Kaito, H. Furukawa, Mater. Lett. 62 (2008) 3459-3461], we carried out birefringence measurements of Pb(II)-doped silica hydrogels prepared in a magnetic field (B). For a 5T sample, we observed a negative birefringence with the optic axis along B. At that time, providing a positive intrinsic birefringence of silica, we speculated that in the birefringent gels the gel network extended perpendicular to B. The purpose of this paper is to reconsider this speculation on the basis of previous and recent results [T. Kaito, S.-i. Yanagiya, A. Mori, M. Kurumada, C. Kaito, T. Inoue, J. Cryst. Growth 289 (2006) 275-277; T. Kaito, A. Mori, C. Kaito, J. Chem. Chem. Eng., 9 (2015) 61-66]. In the former, the silica gels were used as a medium of a crystal growth of PbBr2 and aligned arrays of crystallites with long axis parallel to B were obtained. In the latter, Pb(II) nanocrystallites were formed in silica xerogels by electron irradiation. Both of the short axis of PbBr2 crystallites and the diameter of Pb(II) crystallites were a few tens of nanometers. This size must be a size of short axis of pores in the gel networks elongated affected by the magnetic field. Since the PbBr2 crystallites were elongated along the magnetic field, we conclude that the Pb(II)-doped silica gel networks aligned along the magnetic field., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; Colloid and Surface A, accepted

Birefringence is an indicator of structural anisotropy of materials. We measured the birefringence of Pb(II)-doped silica hydrogels prepared under a high magnetic field of various strengths. Because the silica is diamagnetic, one does not expect the structural anisotropy induced by a magnetic field. In previous work [Mori A, Kaito T, Furukawa H 2008 Mater. Lett. 62 3459-3461], we prepared samples in cylindrical cells made of borosilicate glass and obtained a preliminary result indicating a negative birefringence for samples prepared at 5T with the direction of the magnetic field being the optic axis. We have measured the birefringence of Pn(II)-doped silica hydrogels prepared in square cross-sectional cells made of quartz and reverted the previous conclusion. Interestingly, the magnetic-influenced silica hydrogels measured have been classified into four classes: two positive birefringent ones, no birefringent one, and negative birefringent one. Proportionality between birefringence and the strength of magnetic field is seen for the former two., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures; Materials Research Express, accepted

We propose a coarse-grained model for polymer chains and polymer networks based on the meso-scale dynamics. The model takes the internal degrees of freedom of the constituent polymer chains into account using memory functions and colored noises. We apply our model to dilute polymer solutions and polymer networks. A numerical simulation on a dilute polymer solution demonstrates the validity of the assumptions on the dynamics of our model. By applying this model to polymer networks, we find a transition in the dynamical behavior from an isolated chain state to a network state., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

Birefringence measurements have been carried out on the Pb-doped silica hydrogels prepared under various magnetic fields up to 5T. The silica gels prepared at 5T were used as a medium of crystal growth of PbBr2, whose result implied the structural anisotropy; an aligned array of crystallites was obtained by transmission electron microscopy. While the samples prepared at 0, 1, and 3T have no birefringence, we found that the samples have negative birefringence on the order of magnitude 10^-6 as if the direction of the magnetic field is the optic axis of a uniaxal crystal. To the authors' knowledge, the birefringent silica hydrogels were obtained by gelation under magnetic field for the first time. Also, scanning microscopic light scattering experiments have been performed. The results indicate that the characteristic length distribution for birefringent samples is narrower than that for non-birefringent ones., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; Materials Letters, in press