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Effects of concentration and chain length of the sequence copolymer on interfacial properties of homopolymers/sequence copolymers ternary blends: A DPD simulation study. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0270094. [PMID: 35881587 PMCID: PMC9321409 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The effect of the concentration and chain length of the copolymer AB with sequence length τ = 8 on the interfacial properties of the ternary mixtures A10/AB/B10 are investigated by the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. It is found that: i) As the copolymer concentration varies from 0.05 to 0.15, increasing the copolymer enrichment at the center of the interface enlarges the interface width ω and reduces the interfacial tension. However, as the concentration of the sequence copolymers further increases to 0.2, because the interface has formed micelles and the micellization could lower the efficiency of copolymers as a compatibilizer, the interfacial tension exhibits a slightly increase; ii) elevating the copolymer chain length, the copolymer volumes vary from a cylinder shape to a pancake shape. The blends of the copolymer with chain length Ncp = 24 exhibit a wider interfacial width w and a lower interfacial tension γ, which indicates that the sequenced copolymer Ncp = 24 exhibits a better performance as the compatibilizers. This study illustrates the correlations between the reduction in interfacial tension produced by the sequence copolymers and their molecular parameters, which guide a rational design of an efficient compatibilizer.
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Liu D, Lin Y, Bo H, Li D, Gong K, Zhang Z, Li S. Effect of sequence distribution of block copolymers on the interfacial properties of ternary mixtures: a dissipative particle dynamics simulation. RSC Adv 2022; 12:3090-3096. [PMID: 35425298 PMCID: PMC8979242 DOI: 10.1039/d1ra08936f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
In this paper, the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations method is used to study the effect of sequence distribution of block copolymers on the interfacial properties between immiscible homopolymers. Five block copolymers with the same composition but different sequence lengths are utilized for simulation. The sequence distribution is varied from the alternating copolymer to the symmetric diblock copolymer. Our simulations show that the efficiency of the block copolymer in reducing the interfacial tension is highly dependent on both the degree of penetration of the copolymer chain into the homopolymer phase and the number of copolymers at the interface per area. The linear block copolymers AB with the sequence length of τ = 8 could both sufficiently extend into the homopolymer phases and exhibit a larger number of copolymers at the interface per area. Thereby the copolymer with the sequence length τ = 8 is more effective in reducing the interfacial tension compared to that of diblock copolymers and the alternating copolymers at the same concentration. This work offers useful tips for copolymer compatibilizer selection at the immiscible homopolymer mixture interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongmei Liu
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Ye Lin
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Huifeng Bo
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Deyang Li
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Kai Gong
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Zhanxin Zhang
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Sijia Li
- School of Intelligence Policing, People's Police University of China Langfang 065000 P. R. China
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Goodson AD, Rick MS, Troxler JE, Ashbaugh HS, Albert JNL. Blending Linear and Cyclic Block Copolymers to Manipulate Nanolithographic Feature Dimensions. ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS 2022; 4:327-337. [PMID: 35059643 PMCID: PMC8762643 DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.1c01313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Block copolymers (BCPs) consist of two or more covalently bound chemically distinct homopolymer blocks. These macromolecules have emerging applications in photonics, membrane separations, and nanolithography stemming from their self-assembly into regular nanoscale structures. Theory suggests that cyclic BCPs should form features up to 40% smaller than their linear analogs while also exhibiting superior thin-film stability and assembly dynamics. However, the complex syntheses required to produce cyclic polymers mean that a need for pure cyclic BCPs would present a challenge to large-scale manufacturing. Here, we employ dissipative particle dynamics simulations to probe the self-assembly behavior of cyclic/linear BCP blends, focusing on nanofeature size and interfacial width as these qualities are critical to nanopatterning applications. We find that for mixtures of symmetric cyclic and linear polymers with equivalent lengths, up to 10% synthetic impurity has a minimal impact on cyclic BCP feature dimensions and interfacial roughness. On the other hand, blending with cyclic BCPs provides a route to "fine-tune" linear BCP feature sizes. We analyze simulated blend domain spacings within the context of strong segregation theory and find significant deviations between simulation and theory that arise from molecular-level packing motifs not included in theory. These insights into blend self-assembly will assist experimentalists in rationally designing BCP materials for advanced nanolithography applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy D. Goodson
- Department of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Maxwell S. Rick
- Department of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Jessie E. Troxler
- Department of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Henry S. Ashbaugh
- Department of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Julie N. L. Albert
- Department of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
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Liu D, Lin Y, Gong K, Bo H, Li D, Zhang Z, Chen W. Phase behavior and interfacial tension of ternary polymer mixtures with block copolymers. RSC Adv 2021; 11:38316-38324. [PMID: 35493217 PMCID: PMC9044050 DOI: 10.1039/d1ra07671j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The phase behavior and interfacial tension of ternary polymeric mixtures (polystyrene/polystyrene-b-poly(methyl methacrylate)/poly(methyl methacrylate), PS/PS-b-PMMA/PMMA) are investigated by dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. Our simulation results show that, as the PS-b-PMMA diblock copolymer concentration increases, the interfacial tension decreases due to the decayed correlations between homopolymers PS and PMMA. When the chain lengths of copolymers are fixed, with the increase of the chain lengths of PS and PMMA homopolymers the interfacial width becomes wider and the interfacial tension becomes smaller, due to the copolymers presenting more stretched and swollen structures in the mixtures with the short length of homopolymers. However, with simultaneously increasing chain lengths of both diblock copolymer and homopolymers with a fixed ratio, the interfacial tension increases because the copolymer chains with longer chain length penetrate more deeply into the homopolymer phase and the interactions between diblock copolymers become weaker. These results will provide a way to mix incompatible homopolymers to improve material performances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongmei Liu
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Ye Lin
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Kai Gong
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Huifeng Bo
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Deyang Li
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Zhanxin Zhang
- School of Science, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan 063210 P. R. China
| | - Wenduo Chen
- School of Materials, Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou 510275 P. R. China
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Toth K, Bae S, Osuji CO, Yager KG, Doerk GS. Film Thickness and Composition Effects in Symmetric Ternary Block Copolymer/Homopolymer Blend Films: Domain Spacing and Orientation. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c01032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kristof Toth
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States
| | - Suwon Bae
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, United States
| | - Chinedum O. Osuji
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Kevin G. Yager
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, United States
| | - Gregory S. Doerk
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, United States
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DPD Study on the Interfacial Properties of PEO/PEO-PPO-PEO/PPO Ternary Blends: Effects of Pluronic Structure and Concentration. Polymers (Basel) 2021; 13:polym13172866. [PMID: 34502907 PMCID: PMC8433662 DOI: 10.3390/polym13172866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2021] [Revised: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Using the method of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations, we investigated the interfacial properties of PEO/PEO-PPO-PEO/PPO ternary blends composed of the Pluronics L64(EO13PO30EO13), F68(EO76PO29EO76), F88(EO104PO39EO104), or F127(EO106PO70EO106) triblock copolymers. Our simulations show that: (i) The interfacial tensions (γ) of the ternary blends obey the relationship γF68 < γL64 < γF88 < γF127, which indicates that triblock copolymer F68 is most effective in reducing the interfacial tension, compared to L64, F88, and F127; (ii) For the blends of PEO/L64/PPO and the F64 copolymer concentration ranging from ccp = 0.2 to 0.4, the interface exhibits a saturation state, which results in the aggregation and micelle formation of F64 copolymers added to the blends, and a lowered efficiency of the L64 copolymers as a compatibilizer, thus, the interfacial tension decreases slightly; (iii) For the blends of PEO/F68/PPO, elevating the Pluronic copolymer concentration can promote Pluronic copolymer enrichment at the interfaces without forming the micelles, which reduces the interfacial tension significantly. The interfacial properties of the blends contained the PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer compatibilizers are, thus, controlled by the triblock copolymer structure and the concentration. This work provides important insights into the use of the PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer as compatibilizers in the PEO and PPO homopolymer blend systems.
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Effects of Repulsion Parameter and Chain Length of Homopolymers on Interfacial Properties of A n/A x/2B xA x/2/B m Blends: A DPD Simulation Study. Polymers (Basel) 2021; 13:polym13142333. [PMID: 34301090 PMCID: PMC8309644 DOI: 10.3390/polym13142333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Revised: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
We explored the effects of the repulsion parameter (aAB) and chain length (NHA or NHB) of homopolymers on the interfacial properties of An/Ax/2BxAx/2/Bm ternary polymeric blends using dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. Our simulations show that: (i) The ternary blends exhibit the significant segregation at the repulsion parameter (aAB = 40). (ii) Both the interfacial tension and the density of triblock copolymer at the center of the interface increase to a plateau with increasing the homopolymer chain length, which indicates that the triblock copolymers with shorter chain length exhibit better performance as the compatibilizers for stabilizing the blends. (iii) For the case of NHA = 4 (chain length of homopolymers An) and NHB (chain length of homopolymers Bm) ranging from 16 to 64, the blends exhibit larger interfacial widths with a weakened correlation between bead An and Bm of homopolymers, which indicates that the triblock copolymer compatibilizers (Ax/2BxAx/2) show better performance in reducing the interfacial tension. The effectiveness of triblock copolymer compatibilizers is, thus, controlled by the regulation of repulsion parameters and the homopolymer chain length. This work raises important considerations concerning the use of the triblock copolymer as compatibilizers in the immiscible homopolymer blend systems.
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Toth K, Osuji CO, Yager KG, Doerk GS. High-throughput morphology mapping of self-assembling ternary polymer blends. RSC Adv 2020; 10:42529-42541. [PMID: 35516747 PMCID: PMC9057993 DOI: 10.1039/d0ra08491c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Multicomponent blending is a convenient yet powerful approach to rationally control the material structure, morphology, and functional properties in solution-deposited films of block copolymers and other self-assembling nanomaterials. However, progress in understanding the structural and morphological dependencies on blend composition is hampered by the time and labor required to synthesize and characterize a large number of discrete samples. Here, we report a new method to systematically explore a wide composition space in ternary blends. Specifically, the blend composition space is divided into gradient segments deposited sequentially on a single wafer by a new gradient electrospray deposition tool, and characterized using high-throughput grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering. This method is applied to the creation of a ternary morphology diagram for a cylinder-forming polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) block copolymer blended with PS and PMMA homopolymers. Using “wet brush” homopolymers of very low molecular weight (∼1 kg mol−1), we identify well-demarcated composition regions comprising highly ordered cylinder, lamellae, and sphere morphologies, as well as a disordered phase at high homopolymer mass fractions. The exquisite granularity afforded by this approach also helps to uncover systematic dependencies among self-assembled morphology, topological grain size, and domain period as functions of homopolymer mass fraction and PS : PMMA ratio. These results highlight the significant advantages afforded by blending low molecular weight homopolymers for block copolymer self-assembly. Meanwhile, the high-throughput, combinatorial approach to investigating nanomaterial blends introduced here dramatically reduces the time required to explore complex process parameter spaces and is a natural complement to recent advances in autonomous X-ray characterization. Compositionally graded electrospray deposition combined with grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering forms a high-throughput approach for mapping phase behavior in ternary mixtures as demonstrated here using block copolymer blends.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristof Toth
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University New Haven Connecticut 06520 USA
| | - Chinedum O Osuji
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19104 USA
| | - Kevin G Yager
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton New York 11973 USA
| | - Gregory S Doerk
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton New York 11973 USA
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Feng YH, Zhang XP, Zhao ZQ, Guo XD. Dissipative Particle Dynamics Aided Design of Drug Delivery Systems: A Review. Mol Pharm 2020; 17:1778-1799. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.0c00175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Yun Hao Feng
- Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P.R. China
- Key Lab of Biomedical Materials of Natural Macromolecules (Beijing University of Chemical Technology), Ministry of Education, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Xiao Peng Zhang
- Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P.R. China
- Key Lab of Biomedical Materials of Natural Macromolecules (Beijing University of Chemical Technology), Ministry of Education, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Ze Qiang Zhao
- Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P.R. China
- Key Lab of Biomedical Materials of Natural Macromolecules (Beijing University of Chemical Technology), Ministry of Education, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Xin Dong Guo
- Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P.R. China
- Key Lab of Biomedical Materials of Natural Macromolecules (Beijing University of Chemical Technology), Ministry of Education, Beijing 100029, China
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Goodson AD, Troxler JE, Rick MS, Ashbaugh HS, Albert JNL. Impact of Cyclic Block Copolymer Chain Architecture and Degree of Polymerization on Nanoscale Domain Spacing: A Simulation and Scaling Theory Analysis. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b02015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Amy D. Goodson
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Jessie E. Troxler
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Maxwell S. Rick
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Henry S. Ashbaugh
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Julie N. L. Albert
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
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