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Werny MJ, Meirer F, Weckhuysen BM. Visualizing the Structure, Composition and Activity of Single Catalyst Particles for Olefin Polymerization and Polyolefin Decomposition. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202306033. [PMID: 37782261 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202306033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Revised: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
The structural and morphological characterization of individual catalyst particles for olefin polymerization, as well as for the reverse process of polyolefin decomposition, can provide an improved understanding for how these catalyst materials operate under relevant reaction conditions. In this review, we discuss an emerging analytical toolbox of 2D and 3D chemical imaging techniques that is suitable for investigating the chemistry and reactivity of related catalyst systems. While synchrotron-based X-ray microscopy still provides unparalleled spatial resolutions in 2D and 3D, a number of laboratory-based techniques, most notably focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy, confocal fluorescence microscopy, infrared photoinduced force microscopy and laboratory-based X-ray nano-computed tomography, have helped to significantly expand the arsenal of analytical tools available to scientists in heterogeneous catalysis and polymer science. In terms of future research, the review outlines the role and impact of in situ and operando (spectro-)microscopy experiments, involving sophisticated reactors as well as online reactant and product analysis, to obtain real-time information on the formation, decomposition, and mobility of polymer phases within single catalyst particles. Furthermore, the potential of fluorescence microscopy, X-ray microscopy and optical microscopy is highlighted for the high-throughput characterization of olefin polymerization and polyolefin decomposition catalysts. By combining these chemical imaging techniques with, for example, chemical staining methodologies, selective probe molecules as well as particle sorting approaches, representative structure-activity relationships can be derived at the level of single catalyst particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian J Werny
- Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis, Institute for Sustainable and Circular Chemistry and Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584, CG Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), P.O. Box 902, 5600, AX Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Florian Meirer
- Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis, Institute for Sustainable and Circular Chemistry and Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584, CG Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Bert M Weckhuysen
- Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis, Institute for Sustainable and Circular Chemistry and Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584, CG Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Ye R, Sun X, Mao X, Alfonso FS, Baral S, Liu C, Coates GW, Chen P. Optical sequencing of single synthetic polymers. Nat Chem 2024; 16:210-217. [PMID: 37945834 DOI: 10.1038/s41557-023-01363-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
Microscopic sequences of synthetic polymers play crucial roles in the polymer properties, but are generally unknown and inaccessible to traditional measurements. Here we report real-time optical sequencing of single synthetic copolymer chains under living polymerization conditions. We achieve this by carrying out multi-colour imaging of polymer growth by single catalysts at single-monomer resolution using CREATS (coupled reaction approach toward super-resolution imaging). CREATS makes a reaction effectively fluorogenic, enabling single-molecule localization microscopy of chemical reactions at higher reactant concentrations. Our data demonstrate that the chain propagation kinetics of surface-grafted polymerization contains temporal fluctuations with a defined memory time (which can be attributed to neighbouring monomer interactions) and chain-length dependence (due to surface electrostatic effects). Furthermore, the microscopic sequences of individual copolymers reveal their tendency to form block copolymers, and, more importantly, quantify the size distribution of individual blocks for comparison with theoretically random copolymers. Such sequencing capability paves the way for single-chain-level structure-function correlation studies of synthetic polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong Ye
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Catalysis Science and Technology Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Xiangcheng Sun
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Xianwen Mao
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Functional Intelligent Materials, and Centre for Advanced 2D Materials, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Felix S Alfonso
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Susil Baral
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA
| | - Chunming Liu
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering and Department of Chemistry, University of Akron, Akron, OH, USA
| | - Geoffrey W Coates
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Peng Chen
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
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Baral S, Liu C, Mao X, Coates GW, Chen P. Tuning Single-Polymer Growth via Hydrogen Bonding in Conformational Entanglements. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2022; 8:1116-1124. [PMID: 36032769 PMCID: PMC9413429 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.2c00415] [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] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Synthetic polymers have widespread applications in daily life and advanced materials applications. Making polymers efficiently and controllably is highly desired, for which modulating intramolecular and intermolecular interactions have been an effective approach. Recent real-time single-polymer growth studies uncovered nonequilibrium conformational entanglements that form stochastically under living polymerization conditions and which appear to plausibly play key roles in controlling the polymerization kinetics and dispersion. Here, using magnetic tweezers measurements, we study the real-time polymerization dynamics of single polynorbornene-based polymers in which we systematically tune the hydrogen-bonding interactions by titrating the OH content in the monomers and the formed polymers during ring opening metathesis polymerization. Using norbornenes with and without a hydroxyl group and a nonreactive monomer analogue, we show that intrachain and intermolecular hydrogen bonding compete, and both alter the microscopic properties of the nonequilibrium entanglements, leading to surprising multiphasic dependences of polymerization dynamics on the polymer's OH content. We further formulate a simple model to rationalize quantitatively the observed multiphasic behaviors by considering the different scaling relations of intrachain and intermolecular hydrogen bonding on the OH content. These results provide insights into the interconnected roles of intra-/intermolecular interactions, polymer chain conformations, and free monomers in solution in affecting polymerization kinetics and dispersion, and point to new opportunities in manipulating polymerization reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susil Baral
- Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United
States
| | - Chunming Liu
- Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United
States
- Departments
of Polymer Science and Chemistry, The University
of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325-3909, United States
| | - Xianwen Mao
- Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United
States
| | - Geoffrey W. Coates
- Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United
States
| | - Peng Chen
- Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United
States
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