Cellulose was hydrolyzed using a novel biphasic system consisting of water and an acidic and hydrophobic ionic liquid. The biphasic system enabled a simple separation of the resulting glucose aqueous solution and ionic liquid. Additionally, a fermentation inhibitor, 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural, could be removed from the aqueous phase into the ionic liquid phase. The yield of glucose in cellulose hydrolysis was 12.9% at 190 °C. The distribution ratio of glucose in the aqueous phase was 0.98 with an ionic liquid/water ratio of 0.13 (w/w), indicating that most of the glucose was recovered into the aqueous phase. 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural was absorbed into the ionic liquid phase from the aqueous phase. The concentration of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural in the aqueous phase decreased from 37 to 1.9 mM, which was lower than the concentration at which fermentation is inhibited (24 mM). The acidic and hydrophobic ionic liquids did not decompose during the cellulose hydrolysis and could be recycled four times.

The t-Bu-P₄-catalyzed group transfer polymerization (GTP) of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) using multi-functional GTP initiators that bear multiple silyl ketene acetal moieties (MTS₃, MTS₄, MTS₆, and MTS₁₂) homogeneously proceeded and rapidly completed to afford well-defined star-shaped poly[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate]s (s-PDMAEMAs) with relatively narrow polydispersities. The molecular weights (MWs) of s-PDMAEMAs were well-controlled by optimizing the molar ratios of the monomer to initiators. For the structural analyses, the arm number and length uniformity of each s-PDMAEMA were then investigated by arm cleavage experiments using a transesterification method. The thermoresponsive properties in an aqueous solution of the resulting s-PDMAEMAs together with their analogous linear PDMAEMAs (l-PDMAEMAs), in terms of polymer concentration, molecular weight, and arm number, were eventually elucidated based on turbidimetry curves.

The effects of water absorption on the electric resistivity and dielectric constant of polyimide (PI) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were investigated, and the mechanism of deterioration in electrical insulation properties was discussed. The polyimides are poly(oxydianiline pyromellitimide) (PMDA–ODA) and poly(para-phenylene diamine biphenyltetracarboxydiimide) (BPDA–PDA). These polymer films were immersed in pure water for various immersion times at room temperature, and the water absorption ratio was evaluated. The electric resistance for these films was measured at room temperature using a high-resistance meter, and the dielectric constant at room temperature was measured using an LCR meter in a frequency range of 200 kHz to 2 MHz. The absorption ratios at equilibrium absorption for PMDA–ODA, BPDA–PDA, and PET were 2.7, 2.5, and 0.5%, respectively. The critical volume fraction of the percolation threshold of electric conductivity due to water absorption was 0.034 for both PMDA–ODA and BPDA–PDA. On the other hand, PET did not show a significant decrease in the resistivity. For both PIs and PET, the dielectric constant observed could be explained by a series model of the respective capacitances of pure water and polymer. Actually, the resistivity of samples cut from the edges of the film after water absorption was almost the same value as that in the dry state. These results suggest that the absorbed water molecules are not uniformly dispersed in the film but are localized at the edges of the film even after the absorption equilibrium has been reached.