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Sánchez-Leija R, Mysona JA, de Pablo JJ, Nealey PF. Phase Behavior and Conformational Asymmetry near the Comb-to-Bottlebrush Transition in Linear-Brush Block Copolymers. Macromolecules 2024; 57:2019-2029. [PMID: 38495384 PMCID: PMC10938885 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c02180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 01/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
This study explores how conformational asymmetry influences the bulk phase behavior of linear-brush block copolymers. We synthesized 60 diblock copolymers composed of poly(trifluoroethyl methacrylate) as the linear block and poly[oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate] as the brush block, varying the molecular weight, composition, and side-chain length to introduce different degrees of conformational asymmetry. Using small-angle X-ray scattering, we determined the morphology and phase diagrams for three different side-chain length systems, mainly observing lamellar and cylindrical phases. Increasing the side-chain length of the brush block from three to nine ethylene oxide units introduces sufficient asymmetry between the blocks to alter the phase behavior, shifting the lamellar-to-cylindrical transitions toward lower brush block compositions and transitioning the brush block from the dense comb-like regime to the bottlebrush regime. Coarse-grained simulations support our experimental observations and provide a mapping between the composition and conformational asymmetry. A comparison of our findings to strong stretching theory across multiple phase boundary predictions confirms the transition between the dense comb-like regime and the bottlebrush regime.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regina
J. Sánchez-Leija
- Materials
Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, the University
of Chicago, 5640 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Joshua A. Mysona
- Materials
Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, the University
of Chicago, 5640 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Materials
Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, the University
of Chicago, 5640 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Paul F. Nealey
- Materials
Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, the University
of Chicago, 5640 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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Liberman L, Coughlin ML, Weigand S, Edmund J, Bates FS, Lodge TP. Impact of Side-Chain Length on the Self-Assembly of Linear-Bottlebrush Diblock Copolymers. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c00758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lucy Liberman
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - McKenzie L. Coughlin
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Steven Weigand
- Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439 United States
| | - Jerrick Edmund
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Frank S. Bates
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Timothy P. Lodge
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
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Gadelrab KR, Alexander-Katz A. Effect of Molecular Architecture on the Self-Assembly of Bottlebrush Copolymers. J Phys Chem B 2020; 124:11519-11529. [PMID: 33267586 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c07941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The characteristics of a new architecture of bottlebrush copolymers (BBCPs) self-assembly were studied using self-consistent field theory. In this molecule, a series of AB linear diblock side chains were connected at the diblock junction using a C backbone. The control over the linker length and its chemical nature created an additional constraint on the intrinsic AB diblock microphase separation. Increasing side-chain crowding by increasing the grafting density and total degree of polymerization induced improved phase separation. This was reflected in the overall reduction in the effective interaction parameter between the diblocks as well as the abrupt increase in phase density when crossing the order-disorder transition. Side-chain crowding resulted in an increase in the equilibrium domain spacing compared to a linear diblock. On the other hand, the localization of block C at the AB interface generated a diffuse domain boundary and reduction in side-chain stretching. The unique behavior of BBCPs was observed in 1D confined systems where the molecule showed the natural tendency to orient domains parallel to neutral confinement in contrast to the behavior of confined diblocks. Such behavior largely depended on the degree of incompatibility between the AB blocks and BBCP structure. A ternary phase diagram was constructed for different proportions of each block. Rich morphologies of core-shell domains and tiling patterns were observed including octagonal and pentagonal polygons. The unique architecture of this bottlebrush molecule and its improved nanoscale properties make it an attractive candidate for various applications of nanotechnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karim R Gadelrab
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Alfredo Alexander-Katz
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
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Zofchak ES, LaNasa JA, Torres VM, Hickey RJ. Deciphering the Complex Phase Behavior during Polymerization-Induced Nanostructural Transitions of a Block Polymer/Monomer Blend. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
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Dong M, Wessels MG, Lee JY, Su L, Wang H, Letteri RA, Song Y, Lin YN, Chen Y, Li R, Pochan DJ, Jayaraman A, Wooley KL. Experiments and Simulations of Complex Sugar-Based Coil-Brush Block Polymer Nanoassemblies in Aqueous Solution. ACS NANO 2019; 13:5147-5162. [PMID: 30990651 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b08811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
In this work, we investigated the fundamental molecular parameters that guide the supramolecular assembly of glucose-based amphiphilic coil-brush block polymers in aqueous solution and elucidated architecture-morphology relationships through experimental and simulation tools. Well-defined coil-brush polymers were synthesized through ring-opening polymerizations (ROP) of glucose carbonates to afford norbornenyl-functionalized poly(glucose carbonate) (NB-PGC) macromonomers, followed by sequential ring-opening metathesis polymerizations (ROMP) of norbornene N-hydroxysuccinimidyl (NHS) esters and the NB-PGC macromonomers. Variation of the macromonomer length and grafting through ROMP conditions allowed for a series of coil-brush polymers to be synthesized with differences in the brush and coil dimensions, independently, where the side chain graft length and brush backbone were used to tune the brush, and the coil block length was used to vary the coil. Hydrolysis of the NHS moieties gave the amphiphilic coil-brush polymers, where the hydrophilic-hydrophobic ratios were dependent on the brush and coil relative dimensions. Experimental assembly in solution was studied and found to yield a variety of structurally dependent nanostructures. Simulations were conducted on the solution assembly of coil-brush polymers, where the polymers were represented by a coarse-grained model and the solvent was represented implicitly. There is qualitative agreement in the phase diagrams obtained from simulations and experiments, in terms of the morphologies of the assembled nanoscopic structures achieved as a function of coil-brush design parameters ( e.g., brush and coil lengths, composition). The simulations further showed the chain conformations adopted by the coil-brush polymers and the packing within these assembled nanoscopic structures. This work enables the predictive design of nanostructures from this glucose-based coil-brush polymer platform while providing a fundamental understanding of interactions within solution assembly of complex polymer building blocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mei Dong
- Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and the Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions , Texas A&M University , College Station , Texas 77843 , United States
| | - Michiel G Wessels
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Colburn Laboratory , University of Delaware , Newark , Delaware 19716 , United States
| | - Jee Young Lee
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering , University of Delaware , Newark , Delaware 19716 , United States
| | - Lu Su
- Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and the Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions , Texas A&M University , College Station , Texas 77843 , United States
| | - Hai Wang
- Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and the Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions , Texas A&M University , College Station , Texas 77843 , United States
| | - Rachel A Letteri
- Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and the Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions , Texas A&M University , College Station , Texas 77843 , United States
| | - Yue Song
- Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and the Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions , Texas A&M University , College Station , Texas 77843 , United States
| | - Yen-Nan Lin
- Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and the Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions , Texas A&M University , College Station , Texas 77843 , United States
- College of Medicine , Texas A&M University , Bryan , Texas 77807 , United States
| | - Yingchao Chen
- Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and the Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions , Texas A&M University , College Station , Texas 77843 , United States
| | - Richen Li
- Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and the Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions , Texas A&M University , College Station , Texas 77843 , United States
| | - Darrin J Pochan
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering , University of Delaware , Newark , Delaware 19716 , United States
| | - Arthi Jayaraman
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Colburn Laboratory , University of Delaware , Newark , Delaware 19716 , United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering , University of Delaware , Newark , Delaware 19716 , United States
| | - Karen L Wooley
- Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and the Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions , Texas A&M University , College Station , Texas 77843 , United States
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Tan H, Yu C, Lu Z, Zhou Y, Yan D. A dissipative particle dynamics simulation study on phase diagrams for the self-assembly of amphiphilic hyperbranched multiarm copolymers in various solvents. SOFT MATTER 2017; 13:6178-6188. [PMID: 28798969 DOI: 10.1039/c7sm01170a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Self-assembly of amphiphilic hyperbranched multiarm copolymers (HMCs) has shown great potential for preparing all kinds of delicate supramolecular structures in all scales and dimensions in solution. However, theoretical studies on the influencing factors for the self-assembly of HMCs have been greatly lagging behind. The phase diagram of HMCs in selective solvents is very necessary but has not been disclosed up to now. Here, the self-assembly of HMCs with different hydrophilic fractions in various solvents was studied systematically by using dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. Three morphological phase diagrams are constructed and a rich variety of morphologies, ranging from spherical micelles, worm-like micelles, membranes, vesicles, vesosomes, small micellar aggregates (SMAs), and aggregates of spherical and worm-like micelles to helical micelles, are obtained. In addition, both the self-assembly mechanisms and the dynamic processes for the formation of these self-assemblies have been systematically investigated. The simulation results are consistent with available experimental observations. Besides, several novel structures, like aggregates of spherical and worm-like micelles, vesosomes and helical micelles, are firstly discovered for HMC self-assembly. We believe the current work will extend the knowledge on the self-assembly of HMCs, especially on the control of supramolecular structures and on fabricating novel self-assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haina Tan
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China.
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Jiang Z, Qian Z, Yang H, Wang R. Disorder to Order Transition and Ordered Morphology of Coil-Comb Block Copolymer by Self-Consistent Field Theory. NANOSCALE RESEARCH LETTERS 2015; 10:1035. [PMID: 26280750 PMCID: PMC4538716 DOI: 10.1186/s11671-015-1035-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2015] [Accepted: 08/01/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The disorder to order transition and the ordered patterns near the disordered state of coil-comb copolymer A-b-(B m + 1-g-C m ) are investigated by the self-consistent field theory. The phase diagrams of coil-comb copolymer are obtained by varying the composition of the copolymer with the side chain number m = 1, 2, and 3. The disorder to order transition is far more complex compared with the comb copolymer or linear block copolymer. As the side chain number m increases, the Flory-Huggins interaction parameter of disorder to order transition (DOT) increases and the lowest DOT occurs when the volume fractions of blocks A, B, and C are approximately equal. When one component is the minority, the disorder to order transition curve is similar with binary copolymer, but the curve shows the asymmetric property. The comb copolymer is more stable with larger side chain number m and shorter side chain. The ordered patterns from the disordered state are discussed. The results are helpful for designing coil-comb copolymers and obtaining the ordered morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhibin Jiang
- Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093 China
| | - Zhiyuan Qian
- Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093 China
| | - Hong Yang
- Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093 China
| | - Rong Wang
- Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093 China
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Yu Q, Liu J, Chen D, Wang R. Self-assembly of linear-dendritic triblock copolymer dependent on variant generations. POLYMER 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2015.10.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Zhang X, Lin J, Wang L, Zhang L, Lin J, Gao L. Supramolecular assembly of diblock copolymer blends with hydrogen-bonding interactions modeled by Yukawa potentials. POLYMER 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2015.09.065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Zhang T, Deng H, Yang T, Li W. Defective morphologies kinetically formed in diblock copolymers under the cylindrical confinement. POLYMER 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2015.03.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Zhang X, Schulze R, Zhang P, Lüdecke C, Zhang X, Su Z, Jandt KD. How different mesophases affect the interactive crystallisation of a block co-oligomer. POLYMER 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2014.02.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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