Rheo-Optical and Dielectric Study on Dynamics of Bottlebrush-like Polymacromonomer Consisting of a Polyisoprene Main Chain and Polystyrene Side Chains

Nanostructures, Linear Rheological Responses, and Tunable Mechanical Properties of Microphase-Separated Cellulose-graft-Diblock Bottlebrush Copolymer Elastomers

A series of cellulose-graft-diblock bottlebrush copolymer elastomers (cellulose-graft-poly(n-butyl acrylate)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (Cell-g-PBA-b-PMMA)) with short side chains were synthesized via successive atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) to study the influence of varying compositions and lengths of the graft diblock side chains on microphase morphologies and properties. The microphase-separated morphologies from misaligned spheres to cylinders were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements. These bottlebrush copolymer elastomers possessed thermal stability and enhanced mechanical properties because the PMMA outer block could self-assemble into hard microdomains, which served as physical cross-links. The viscoelastic responses of these bottlebrush copolymers within the linear viscoelastic (LVE) regime were carried out by the oscillatory shear rheology. The time-temperature superposition (tTs) principle was applied to construct the master curves of the dynamic moduli, and the sequential relaxation of dense bottlebrush copolymers with different PMMA hard outer block lengths was analyzed. The rheological behaviors in this work could be utilized to build up the connection of microstructures and properties for the application of these bottlebrush copolymers as high-performance thermoplastic elastomers.

Rheology of Poly(glycidyl methacrylate) Macromolecular Nano Assemblies

A recently reported combined polymerization process of glycidyl methacrylate, mediated by homometallic and heterobimetallic aluminium complexes, naturally produces nano-sized macromolecular assemblies. In this work, the morphological features and the rheological properties of these novel nanoassemblies are studied. The hydrodynamic sizes of the nanoparticles in the solution range from 10 to 40 nm (in numbers), but on a flat surface they adopt a characteristic thin disk shape. The dynamic moduli have been determined in a broad range of temperatures, and the time—temperature superposition applied to obtain master curves of the whole viscoelastic response from the glassy to the terminal regions. The fragility values obtained from the temperature dependence are of m ~40, typical of van de Waals liquids, suggesting a very effective packing of the macromolecular assemblies. The rheological master curves feature a characteristic viscoelastic relaxation with the absence of elastic intermediate plateau, indicating that the systems behaved as un-entangled polymers. The analysis of the linear viscoelastic fingerprint reveals a Zimm-like dynamics at intermediate frequencies typical of unentangled systems. This behaviour resembles that observed in highly functionalized stars, dendrimers, soft colloids and microgels.

Dynamics of bottlebrush polymers

Bottlebrushes are an interesting class of polymers which shows intriguing material properties often associated with dynamics. While dynamical phenomena in linear polymers are well understood and existing theories can describe them in a good way, bottlebrush dynamics have only rarely been investigated. Therefore, we performed dielectric spectroscopy and quasi-elastic neutron scattering to study the dynamics of polydimethylsiloxane-based bottlebrush polymers, PDMS-g-PDMS focusing mostly on the segmental dynamics of the side chains. Comparing the relaxation times of the α – relaxation, tracked with dielectric spectroscopy, of bottlebrush polymers with those of their respective linear side chains show a slowing down once the side chains are attached to the backbone. This effect diminishes and finally vanishes with increasing side chain length. The time and length scale, offered by quasi-elastic neutron scattering, fits for the segmental dynamics together with faster processes. The Q-dependence of the segmental relaxation times allows to classify bottlebrush polymers as heterogenous including a non-Gaussian character. For such a dynamical system, the mean square displacement needs to be separated into single processes before an overall mean square displacement can be generated by applying the time temperature superposition principle.

Relationship between Photoelasticity of Polyurethane and Dielectric Anisotropy of Diisocyanate, and Application of High-Photoelasticity Polyurethane to Tactile Sensor for Robot Hands

Eight types of polyurethane were synthesized using seven types of diisocyanate. It was found that the elasto-optical constant depends on the concentration of diisocyanate groups in a unit volume of a polymer and the magnitude of anisotropy of the dielectric constant of diisocyanate groups. It was also found that incident light scattered when bending stress was generated inside photoelastic polyurethanes. A high sensitive tactile sensor for robot hands was devised using one of the developed polyurethanes with high photoelasticity.