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Coutouly C, Mortensen K, van Ruymbeke E, Fustin CA. Low Tg, strongly segregated, ABA triblock copolymers: a rheological and structural study. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:4102-4110. [PMID: 38712674 DOI: 10.1039/d4sm00025k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
ABA triblock copolymers can form microphase separated structures where the B blocks form bridges between A domains, leading to reversible networks interesting for a variety of applications such as pressure sensitive adhesives or thermoplastic elastomers. However, a major drawback of these systems is their rapid loss of mechanical properties upon temperature increase. A potential way to circumvent this limitation would be to design ABA triblock copolymers that keep their microphase separation at high temperatures. In this paper, we report on all-soft ABA triblock copolymers having a poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PnBA) central block and poly(heptafluorobutyl acrylate) (PHFBA) outer blocks. By introducing fluorinated units, the incompatibility between the blocks is largely increased, allowing strong segregation between the block domains, which preserve the microphase separation up to high temperatures despite the low glass transition temperature of the blocks, as shown by temperature dependent SAXS measurements. We study the properties of different copolymers, with similar PHFBA volume fractions but different block lengths. Linear shear rheology measurements revealed the presence of a second, low frequency, plateau whose onset and length depend on the PnBA and PHFBA length, respectively. This plateau also persists up to higher temperatures for longer PHFBA blocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clément Coutouly
- Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences (IMCN), Bio and Soft Matter Division (BSMA), Université catholique de Louvain, Place L. Pasteur 1 & Place Croix du Sud 1, Louvain-la-Neuve B-1348, Belgium.
| | - Kell Mortensen
- Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark
| | - Evelyne van Ruymbeke
- Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences (IMCN), Bio and Soft Matter Division (BSMA), Université catholique de Louvain, Place L. Pasteur 1 & Place Croix du Sud 1, Louvain-la-Neuve B-1348, Belgium.
| | - Charles-André Fustin
- Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences (IMCN), Bio and Soft Matter Division (BSMA), Université catholique de Louvain, Place L. Pasteur 1 & Place Croix du Sud 1, Louvain-la-Neuve B-1348, Belgium.
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2
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Huo Z, Arora S, Kong VA, Myrga BJ, Statt A, Laaser JE. Effect of Polymer Composition and Morphology on Mechanochemical Activation in Nanostructured Triblock Copolymers. Macromolecules 2023; 56:1845-1854. [PMID: 36938512 PMCID: PMC10018773 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
The effect of composition and morphology on mechanochemical activation in nanostructured block copolymers was investigated in a series of poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(n-butyl acrylate)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-b-PnBA-b-PMMA) triblock copolymers containing a force-responsive spiropyran unit in the center of the rubbery PnBA midblock. Triblock copolymers with identical PnBA midblocks and varying lengths of PMMA end-blocks were synthesized from a spiropyran-containing macroinitiatior via atom transfer radical polymerization, yielding polymers with volume fractions of PMMA ranging from 0.21 to 0.50. Characterization by transmission electron microscopy revealed that the polymers self-assembled into spherical and cylindrical nanostructures. Simultaneous tensile tests and optical measurements revealed that mechanochemical activation is strongly correlated to the chemical composition and morphologies of the triblock copolymers. As the glassy (PMMA) block content is increased, the overall activation increases, and the onset of activation occurs at lower strain but higher stress, which agrees with predictions from our previous computational work. These results suggest that the self-assembly of nanostructured morphologies can play an important role in controlling mechanochemical activation in polymeric materials and provide insights into how polymer composition and morphology impact molecular-scale force distributions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zijian Huo
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Swati Arora
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Victoria A. Kong
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Brandon J. Myrga
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Antonia Statt
- Materials
Science and Engineering, Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana−Champaign, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Jennifer E. Laaser
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
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3
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Huo Z, Skala SJ, Falck LR, Laaser JE, Statt A. Computational Study of Mechanochemical Activation in Nanostructured Triblock Copolymers. ACS POLYMERS AU 2022; 2:467-477. [PMID: 36536889 PMCID: PMC9756960 DOI: 10.1021/acspolymersau.2c00031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Revised: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Force-driven chemical reactions have emerged as an attractive platform for diverse applications in polymeric materials. However, the microscopic chain conformations and topologies necessary for efficiently transducing macroscopic forces to the molecular scale are not well-understood. In this work, we use a coarse-grained model to investigate the impact of network-like topologies on mechanochemical activation in self-assembled triblock copolymers. We find that mechanochemical activation during tensile deformation depends strongly on both the polymer composition and chain conformation in these materials. Activation primarily occurs in the tie chains connecting different glassy domains and in loop chains that are hooked onto each other by physical entanglements. Activation also requires a higher stress in materials having a higher glassy block content. Overall, the lamellar samples show the highest percent activation at high stress. In contrast, at low stress, the spherical morphology, which has the lowest glassy fraction, shows the highest activation. Additionally, we observe a spatial pattern of activation, which appears to be tied to distortion of the self-assembled morphology. Higher activation is observed in the tips of the chevrons formed during deformation of lamellar samples as well as in the centers between the cylinders in the cylindrical morphology. Our work shows that changes in the network-like topology in different morphologies significantly impact mechanochemical activation efficiencies in these materials, suggesting that this area will be a fruitful avenue for further experimental research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zijian Huo
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Stephen J Skala
- Materials
Science and Engineering, Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana−Champaign, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Lavinia R Falck
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Jennifer E Laaser
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Antonia Statt
- Materials
Science and Engineering, Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana−Champaign, Illinois 61801, United States
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4
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Zhu Z, Pan X, Zhang W, Li H, Wang W, He Y. Amphiphilic block copolymer with diazonium salt pendant groups: Synthesis, self-assembly and post-modification. REACT FUNCT POLYM 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.reactfunctpolym.2022.105377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Badani Prado RM, Mishra S, Ahmed H, Burghardt WR, Kundu S. Temperature- and strain-dependent transient microstructure and rheological responses of endblock-associated triblock gels of different block lengths in a midblock selective solvent. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:7020-7034. [PMID: 36070440 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm00567k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Endblock associative ABA gels in midblock selective solvents are attractive due to their easily tunable mechanical properties. Here, we present the effects of A- and B-block lengths on the rheological properties and microstructure of ABA gels by considering three low and one high polymer concentrations. The triblock polymer considered is poly(methyl methacrylate)-poly(n-butyl acrylate)-poly(methyl methacrylate) [PMMA-PnBA-PMMA] and the midblock solvent is 2-ethyl-1-hexanol. The gelation temperature has been found to be strongly dependent on the B-block (PnBA) length, as longer B-blocks facilitate network formation resulting in higher gelation temperature even with lower polymer chain density. Longer A-blocks (PMMA chains) make the endblock association stronger and significantly increase the relaxation time of gels. Temperature-dependent microstructure evolution for the gels with high polymer concentration reveals that the gel microstructure does not change significantly after the gel formation takes place. The dynamic change of microstructure in an applied strain cycle was captured using RheoSAXS experiments. The microstructure orients with the applied strain and the process is reversible in nature, indicating no significant A-block pullout. Our results provide new understandings regarding the temperature and strain-dependent microstructural change of ABA gels in midblock selective solvents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Maria Badani Prado
- Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, 323 Presidents Circle, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
| | - Satish Mishra
- Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, 323 Presidents Circle, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
| | - Humayun Ahmed
- Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, 323 Presidents Circle, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
| | - Wesley R Burghardt
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Santanu Kundu
- Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, 323 Presidents Circle, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
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Sengottuvelu D, Shaik AK, Mishra S, Ahmad H, Abbaszadeh M, Hammer NI, Kundu S. Multicolor Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Quantum Dots for Environment-Dependent Emission Tuning. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:27742-27754. [PMID: 35967036 PMCID: PMC9366982 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c03912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have potential applications in many fields such as light-emitting devices, photocatalysis, and bioimaging due to their unique photoluminescence (PL) properties and environmental benignness. Here, we report the synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (NCQDs) from citric acid and m-phenylenediamine using a one-pot hydrothermal approach. The environment-dependent emission changes of NCQDs were extensively investigated in various solvents, in the solid state, and in physically assembled PMMA-PnBA-PMMA copolymer gels in 2-ethyl-hexanol. NCQDs display bright emissions in various solvents as well as in the solid state. These NCQDs exhibit multicolor PL emission across the visible region upon changing the environment (solutions and polymer matrices). NCQDs also exhibit excitation-dependent PL and solvatochromism, which have not been frequently investigated in CQDs. Most CQDs are nonemissive in the aggregated or solid state due to the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect, limiting their solid-state applications. However, NCQDs synthesized here display a strong solid-state emission centered at 568 nm attributed to the presence of surface functional groups that restrict the π-π interaction between the NCQDs and assist in overcoming the ACQ effect in the solid state. NCQD-containing gels display significant fluorescence enhancement in comparison to the NCQDs in 2-ethyl hexanol, likely because of the interaction between the polar PMMA blocks and NCQDs. The application of NCQDs-Gel as a solid/gel state fluorescent display has been presented. This research facilitates the development of large-scale, low-cost multicolor phosphor for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices, sensing, and bioimaging applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dineshkumar Sengottuvelu
- Dave
C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, 323 Presidents Circle, Mississippi State University, MS State, Mississippi 39762, United States
| | - Abdul Kalam Shaik
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi 38677, United States
| | - Satish Mishra
- Dave
C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, 323 Presidents Circle, Mississippi State University, MS State, Mississippi 39762, United States
| | - Humayun Ahmad
- Dave
C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, 323 Presidents Circle, Mississippi State University, MS State, Mississippi 39762, United States
| | - Mahsa Abbaszadeh
- Dave
C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, 323 Presidents Circle, Mississippi State University, MS State, Mississippi 39762, United States
| | - Nathan I. Hammer
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi 38677, United States
| | - Santanu Kundu
- Dave
C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, 323 Presidents Circle, Mississippi State University, MS State, Mississippi 39762, United States
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Prado RMB, Mishra S, Ahmad H, Burghardt WR, Kundu S. Capturing the Transient Microstructure of a Physically Assembled Gel Subjected to Temperature and Large Deformation. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Maria Badani Prado
- Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, United States
| | - Satish Mishra
- Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, United States
| | - Humayun Ahmad
- Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, United States
| | - Wesley R. Burghardt
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Santanu Kundu
- Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, United States
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He Q, Zhang Y, Chen Q. Crosslinking ABA-type elastomers with polyoxometalate: A convenient molecular design of double network. POLYMER 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2021.123932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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9
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Bowen JJ, Rueschhoff LM, Martin KL, Street DP, Patel TA, Parvulescu MJS, Bedford NM, Koerner H, Seifert S, Dickerson MB. Tailorable Micelle Morphology in Self-Assembling Block Copolymer Gels for Templating Nanoporous Ceramics. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- John J. Bowen
- Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, United States
- UES, Inc., Dayton, Ohio 45432, United States
| | - Lisa M. Rueschhoff
- Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, United States
| | - Kara L. Martin
- Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, United States
- UES, Inc., Dayton, Ohio 45432, United States
| | - Dayton P. Street
- Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, United States
- NRC Research Associateship Programs, The National Academies, Washington, DC 20001, United States
| | - Tulsi A. Patel
- Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, United States
- NRC Research Associateship Programs, The National Academies, Washington, DC 20001, United States
| | - Maria J. S. Parvulescu
- Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, United States
- UES, Inc., Dayton, Ohio 45432, United States
| | - Nicholas M. Bedford
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Hilmar Koerner
- Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, United States
| | - Soenke Seifert
- X-ray Sciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Matthew B. Dickerson
- Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, United States
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Ye YN, Cui K, Indei T, Nakajima T, Hourdet D, Kurokawa T, Gong JP. Relaxation Dynamics and Underlying Mechanism of a Thermally Reversible Gel from Symmetric Triblock Copolymer. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Dominique Hourdet
- Laboratoire Sciences et Ingénierie de la Matière Molle, ESPCI Paris, PSL University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Paris F-75005, France
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Mishra S, Badani Prado RM, Lacy TE, Kundu S. Investigation of failure behavior of a thermoplastic elastomer gel. SOFT MATTER 2018; 14:7958-7969. [PMID: 30113614 DOI: 10.1039/c8sm01397g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Gels are increasingly being used in many applications, and it is important to understand how these gels fail subjected to mechanical deformation. Here, we investigate the failure behavior of a thermoplastic elastomer gel (TPEG) consisting of poly(styrene)-poly(isoprene)-poly(styrene) in mineral oil, in tensile mode, under constant stress, and in fracture tests, where the fracture initiates from a predefined crack. In these gels, the poly(styrene) endblocks associate to form spherical aggregates, as captured using SAXS. Shear-rheology experiments indicate that the poly(isoprene) midblocks connecting these aggregates are loosely entangled. The relaxation behavior of these gels has been captured by time-temperature superposition of frequency sweep data and stress-relaxation experiments. The relaxation process in these gels involves endblock pullout from the aggregates and subsequent relaxation of the chains. An unfavorable enthalpic interaction between the endblock and mineral oil results in a significantly large relaxation time. These gels display rate dependent mechanical properties, likely due to the midblock entanglements. Fracture and creep failure tests provide insights into the gel failure mechanism. Creep experiments indicate that these gels fail by a thermally activated process. Fracture experiments capture the energy release rate as a function of crack-tip velocity. The critical energy release rate is estimated by incorporating the friction force the polystyrene chains are subjected to, as those are pulled out of aggregates, and the enthalpic cost to overcome unfavorable interaction between poly(styrene) and mineral oil. Our results provide further insights to the failure behavior of the self-assembled TPEGs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satish Mishra
- Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, MS State, MS 39762, USA.
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