1
|
He W, Wang F, Qiang Y, Pan Y, Li W, Liu M. Asymmetric Binary Spherical Phases Self-Assembled by Mixing AB Diblock/ABC Triblock Copolymers. Macromolecules 2023. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Wangping He
- Department of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Surface & Interface Science of Polymer Materials of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Feng Wang
- Department of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Surface & Interface Science of Polymer Materials of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Yicheng Qiang
- Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Yuchao Pan
- Department of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Surface & Interface Science of Polymer Materials of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Weihua Li
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Meijiao Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Surface & Interface Science of Polymer Materials of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Li L, Xu Z, Li W. Emergence of Connected Binary Spherical Structures from the Self-assembly of an AB 2C Four-Arm Star Terpolymer. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Luyang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Zhanwen Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Weihua Li
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Qian M, Xu Y. Formation of Perpendicular Three-Dimensional Network Nanostructures in ABC-Star Copolymers. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:7889-7897. [PMID: 35730246 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c00140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Perpendicular arrangements in hierarchical nanostructures show superior mechanical properties and provide great opportunities for the development of advanced membranes because different channels are connected by the perpendicular blocks. To obtain these perpendicular hierarchical nanostructures, we use a simple ABC-star terpolymer because of the existence of a conjunction point by using the A block as a polymer network template, which guides the BC phase separation accordingly. When χBC is 10, the formed phase and the corresponding phase diagram of ABC-star are similar to those of the AB2 triblock because of the mixture between the B and C blocks. Interestingly, at increased χBC, the B and C blocks phase separate, leading to the formation of a series of perpendicular nanostructures, including perpendicular lamellae-in-lamellae (L⊥), perpendicular lamellae-in-cylinder (C⊥), and even perpendicular three-dimensional polymer networks (G⊥). The corresponding stability regime of each phase is identified through the dedicated comparison of free energy, which can well explain the missing phases in Monte Carlo simulations. Our proposed design route according to the target structures and the calculated phase diagram can provide useful guidance for the experimental observation of these perpendicular nanostructures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mingshuang Qian
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
| | - Yuci Xu
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Zhang X, Li W. Periodic Patchy Spheres Self-Assembled by A mBCA n' Multiblock Terpolymers. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:4407-4414. [PMID: 35352945 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c00139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
We have designed AmBCAn' multiblock terpolymers and studied their self-assembly using self-consistent field theory, aiming to generate the periodically arranged patchy spheres and thus to clarify the regulation mechanism of the number of patches. A number of two-dimensional phase diagrams are constructed for three typical architectures A2BCA2', A2BCA3', and A3BCA2'. Four kinds of stable patchy spheres with the number of patches as 2 (S2), 4 (S4), 5 (S5), and 6 (S6) are obtained. These phases follow a common transition sequence of S2 → S4 → S5 → S6 along with the increasing of the volume fraction of C-block (fC), which forms the core sphere patched with B-domains. Moreover, the S6 phase exhibits the widest stability window, while S5 has the narrowest one. The increased arms of A'-blocks in A2BCA3' architecture deflect the phase boundaries toward large fC and accordingly expand the regions of these patchy spheres due to the amplified effect of spontaneous curvature. In contrast, the increased arms of A-blocks in A3BCA2' remarkably expands the window of S6 but narrows those of the other patchy spheres, which is mainly caused by increased packing frustration resulting from the reduced extension of the more divided A-blocks. The widest window of the S6 phase reaches ΔfC ∼ 0.13, which is readily accessed by experiment. Our work not only demonstrates a self-assembly strategy to engineer the patchy spheres, but also sheds light on the regulation mechanism of the patchy number.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohui Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Weihua Li
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Fei HF, Yavitt BM, Nuguri S, Yu YG, Watkins JJ. Ultrafast Self-Assembly of Bottlebrush Statistical Copolymers: Well-Ordered Nanostructures from One-Pot Polymerizations. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c01311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hua-Feng Fei
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Benjamin M. Yavitt
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Sravya Nuguri
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Yong-Guen Yu
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - James J. Watkins
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Case LJ, Delaney KT, Fredrickson GH, Bates FS, Dorfman KD. Open-source platform for block polymer formulation design using particle swarm optimization. THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. E, SOFT MATTER 2021; 44:115. [PMID: 34532757 DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-021-00123-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Facile exploration of large design spaces is critical to the development of new functional soft materials, including self-assembling block polymers, and computational inverse design methodologies are a promising route to initialize this task. We present here an open-source software package coupling particle swarm optimization (PSO) with an existing open-source self-consistent field theory (SCFT) software for the inverse design of self-assembling block polymers to target bulk morphologies. To lower the barrier to use of the software and facilitate exploration of novel design spaces, the underlying SCFT calculations are seeded with algorithmically generated initial fields for four typical morphologies: lamellae, network phases, cylindrical phases, and spherical phases. In addition to its utility within PSO, the initial guess tool also finds generic applicability for stand-alone SCFT calculations. The robustness of the software is demonstrated with two searches for classical phases in the conformationally symmetric diblock system, as well as one search for the Frank-Kasper [Formula: see text] phase in conformationally asymmetric diblocks. The source code for both the initial guess generation and the PSO wrapper is publicly available.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Logan J Case
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Kris T Delaney
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Glenn H Fredrickson
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Frank S Bates
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Kevin D Dorfman
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Zhao B, Wang C, Chen Y, Liu M. Frank-Kasper Phases Self-Assembled from a Linear A 1B 1A 2B 2 Tetrablock Copolymer. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2021; 37:5642-5650. [PMID: 33929198 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c00503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The Frank-Kasper (FK) phases self-assembled from block copolymer systems have attracted abiding interest. In this work, the formation mechanism of the complex FK phases from the self-assembly of simple A1B1A2B2 tetrablock copolymers is investigated using self-consistent field theory (SCFT). For a typical set of parameter spaces, we utilize SCFT to construct a number of phase diagrams. In these phase diagrams, the FK phases exhibit a notable stability region. The stable region of the FK phases reveals that the distribution of A1 and A2 blocks can be precisely regulated by tuning the ratio of the A1/A2 block, wherein the long A1 blocks can aggregate within the "core" while the short A2 blocks can form the "shell" of a spherical domain in the FK phases, respectively, to accommodate the sizes and shapes of the spherical domains in the complex spherical packing phases. Besides, we also demonstrate that the existence of the B2 block plays a crucial factor to stabilize the FK phases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bin Zhao
- School of Big Data Science, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China
- Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Chao Wang
- School of Big Data Science, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China
| | - Yingcai Chen
- School of Big Data Science, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China
| | - Meijiao Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Lo Y, Chang C, Liu H, Huang C, Shi A. Self‐Assembly of Nonfrustrated ABCBA Linear Pentablock Terpolymers. MACROMOL THEOR SIMUL 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/mats.202100014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yun‐Tse Lo
- Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering National Taiwan University Taipei 10617 Taiwan, R. O. C
| | - Chin‐Hung Chang
- Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering National Taiwan University Taipei 10617 Taiwan, R. O. C
| | - Hsuan‐Hung Liu
- Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering National Taiwan University Taipei 10617 Taiwan, R. O. C
| | - Ching‐I. Huang
- Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering National Taiwan University Taipei 10617 Taiwan, R. O. C
| | - An‐Chang Shi
- Department of Physics and Astronomy McMaster University Hamilton ON L8S 4M1 Canada
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Xie H, Lu H, Zhang Z, Li X, Yang X, Tu Y. Effect of Block Number and Weight Fraction on the Structure and Properties of Poly(butylene terephthalate)- block-Poly(tetramethylene oxide) Multiblock Copolymers. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c02793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hui Xie
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Huanjun Lu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Zhilan Zhang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Xiaohong Li
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Xiaoming Yang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Yingfeng Tu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Radlauer MR, Arora A, Matta ME, Bates FS, Dorfman KD, Hillmyer MA. Order and Disorder in ABCA' Tetrablock Terpolymers. J Phys Chem B 2020; 124:10266-10275. [PMID: 33136393 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c07543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Self-assembly of poly(styrene)-block-poly(isoprene)-block-poly(lactide)-block-poly(styrene) (PS-PI-PLA-PS' or SILS') tetrablock terpolymers, where the volume fractions of the first three blocks are nearly equivalent, was studied both experimentally and using the self-consistent field theory (SCFT). SCFT indicates that addition of the terminal PS' chain to a low-molecular-mass, hexagonally packed cylinders forming, SIL precursor can produce a disordered state due to preferential mixing of the polystyrene end-blocks with the PI and PLA midblocks in the SILS' tetrablock, alleviating the unfavorable contact between the highly incompatible PI and PLA segments. In contrast, SCFT predicts that higher-molar-mass triblock precursors will maintain an ordered morphology upon addition of the terminal PS' block due to stronger overall segregation strengths. These predictions were tested using three sets of SILS' polymers that were synthesized based on three precursor SIL triblock polymers differing in total molar mass (14, 30, and 47 kg mol-1) and varying the length of the terminal PS' chain. In the lowest-molar-mass set of tetrablock polymers, the shift from order to disorder was observed in the materials at ambient temperature as the molar mass of the terminal PS' block was increased, consistent with SCFT calculations. Disorder with longer S' chain lengths was not found in the two higher-molar-mass polymer sets; the medium-molar-mass set showed both microphase separation and long-range order based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), while the largest of these block polymers microphase separated but showed limited long-range order. The combination of the experimental and theoretical results presented in this work provides insights into the self-assembly of ABCA'-type polymers and highlights potential complications that arise from frustration in accessing well-ordered materials.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Madalyn R Radlauer
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.,Department of Chemistry, San José State University, San José, California 95192, United States
| | - Akash Arora
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Megan E Matta
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Frank S Bates
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Kevin D Dorfman
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Marc A Hillmyer
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| |
Collapse
|