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Pashley-Johnson F, Munaweera R, Hossain SI, Gauci SC, Delafresnaye L, Frisch H, O'Mara ML, Du Prez FE, Barner-Kowollik C. How molecular architecture defines quantum yields. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6033. [PMID: 39019945 PMCID: PMC11255304 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50366-1] [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: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 07/09/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Understanding the intricate relationship between molecular architecture and function underpins most challenges at the forefront of chemical innovation. Bond-forming reactions are particularly influenced by the topology of a chemical structure, both on small molecule scale and in larger macromolecular frameworks. Herein, we elucidate the impact that molecular architecture has on the photo-induced cyclisations of a series of monodisperse macromolecules with defined spacers between photodimerisable moieties, and examine the relationship between propensity for intramolecular cyclisation and intermolecular network formation. We demonstrate a goldilocks zone of maximum reactivity between the sterically hindered and entropically limited regimes with a quantum yield of intramolecular cyclisation that is nearly an order of magnitude higher than the lowest value. As a result of the molecular design of trifunctional macromolecules, their quantum yields can be deconvoluted into the formation of two different cyclic isomers, as rationalised with molecular dynamics simulations. Critically, we visualise our solution-based studies with light-based additive manufacturing. We formulate four photoresists for microprinting, revealing that the precise positioning of functional groups is critical for resist performance, with lower intramolecular quantum yields leading to higher-quality printing in most cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fred Pashley-Johnson
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Polymer Chemistry Research Group, Centre of Macromolecular Chemistry (CMaC), Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S4, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
| | - Rangika Munaweera
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Building 75, Cnr College Rd & Cooper Road, 4072, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Sheikh I Hossain
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Building 75, Cnr College Rd & Cooper Road, 4072, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Steven C Gauci
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Institute of Nanotechnology (INT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Laura Delafresnaye
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Hendrik Frisch
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Megan L O'Mara
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Building 75, Cnr College Rd & Cooper Road, 4072, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
| | - Filip E Du Prez
- Polymer Chemistry Research Group, Centre of Macromolecular Chemistry (CMaC), Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281-S4, Ghent, 9000, Belgium.
| | - Christopher Barner-Kowollik
- School of Chemistry and Physics, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
- Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 2 George Street, 4000, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
- Institute of Nanotechnology (INT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
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Little H, Patel S, Suh D, Duhamel J. Accurate Determination of the Average Rate Constant of Pyrene Excimer Formation for Pyrene-Labeled Macromolecules from the Analysis of Individual Fluorescence Decays with Sums of Exponentials. J Phys Chem B 2024. [PMID: 38442408 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c00995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
The average rate constant (⟨k⟩) for pyrene excimer formation (PEF) between an excited and a ground-state pyrenyl label covalently attached to a pyrene-labeled macromolecule (PyLM) has been found to be an ideal parameter to probe macromolecular conformations due to its proportionality to the local concentration ([Py]loc) of pyrenyl labels in PyLM. To date, ⟨k⟩ has only been determined with the model-free analysis (MFA) involving the global analysis of the pyrene monomer and excimer fluorescence decays of PyLM. Unfortunately, the MFA is computationally demanding which prevents its widespread use. To circumvent this complication, a methodology is introduced that involves the analysis of individual fluorescence decays with sums of exponentials (SoE), which are commonly used in the analysis packages of commercial time-resolved fluorometers. The individual fluorescence decays of the pyrene monomer acquired with 286 PyLM were analyzed with a SoE to yield ⟨kSoE-M⟩. The strong correlation between ⟨kSoE-M⟩ and ⟨kMF⟩ obtained from the global MFA indicated that ⟨kSoE-M⟩ was a good representation of ⟨k⟩. Furthermore, the AE-/AE+ ratio, equal to the ratio of the sum of the negative pre-exponential factors over the sum of the positive pre-exponential factors, was determined by fitting the individual pyrene excimer fluorescence decays of the 286 PyLM with a SoE. AE-/AE+ was found to take a value between -1.0 and -0.8, indicating that the pyrenyl labels were not aggregated. This result indicated that [Py]loc was well described by ⟨kSoE-M⟩, so that ⟨kSoE-M⟩ could be used to describe the conformation of macromolecules in the same manner as ⟨kMF⟩. Consequently, the methodology based on the analysis of individual fluorescence decays with sums of exponentials to determine ⟨kSoE-M⟩ and AE-/AE+ provides a robust alternative to the use of the MFA for the study of PyLM to many scientists interested in the characterization of macromolecular conformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hunter Little
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, On N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Sanjay Patel
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, On N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - David Suh
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, On N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Jean Duhamel
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, On N2L 3G1, Canada
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3
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Little H, Patel S, Duhamel J. Probing the inner local density of complex macromolecules by pyrene excimer formation. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:26515-26525. [PMID: 37621250 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp02958a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
The direct relationship existing between the average rate constant 〈k〉 for pyrene excimer formation and the local concentration [Py]loc of ground-state pyrenyl labels covalently attached to a macromolecule was established for 55 pyrene-labeled macromolecules (PyLM). These PyLM belonged to three different families of macromolecules with the first representing short monodisperse linear chains end-labeled with pyrene (polystyrene, poly(ethylene oxide), and poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide)), the second representing long polydisperse linear chains randomly labeled with pyrene (poly(methyl acrylate), poly(methyl methacrylate), polystyrene, poly(butyl methacrylate), poly(methoxyethyl methacrylate), and poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide)), and the third being comprised of two series of pyrene end-labeled low generation dendrimers with a bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid or a polyamidoamine backbone. The assumption, that the polymeric segments probed by an excited pyrenyl label covalently attached to one of these macromolecules obeyed Gaussian statistics, enabled the calculation of their square root average squared end-to-end distance (LPy), which was applied to calculate [Py]loc. The log-log plots of 〈k〉 as a function of [Py]loc yielded straight lines with a slope of unity for all families of macromolecules studied in four different organic solvents demonstrating the validity and generality of the 〈k〉-vs.-[Py]loc relationship. Since an experimentalist knows how the the pyrenyl labels are covalently attached onto a macromolecule, [Py]loc offers a means to probe the local density of a macromolecule, which can be employed to characterize its conformation in solution. Consequently, the 〈k〉-vs.-[Py]loc relationship provides a novel experimental means to probe the conformation of macromolecules which should establish pyrene excimer formation as an appealing method for conformational studies of macromolecules in solution, which should nicely complement scattering techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hunter Little
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
| | - Sanjay Patel
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
| | - Jean Duhamel
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
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Patel S, McNelles SA, Adronov A, Duhamel J. Intramacromolecular Conformational Changes in Low Generation PAMAM Dendrimers Probed by Pyrene Excimer Formation. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:8040-8048. [PMID: 37673692 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c04053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
Pyrene excimer formation (PEF) was used to probe the intramacromolecular conformational change experienced by low generation pyrene-labeled PAMAM dendrimers referred to as PyCX-PAMAM-GY, where X (=4, 8, or 12) and Y (=0, 1, or 2) represent the number of atoms in the pyrenyl linker and the dendrimer generation, respectively. Each sample was studied in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) with and without 5 mM HCl. Global analysis of the monomer and excimer time-resolved fluorescence decays using the model free analysis (MFA) yielded the average rate constant of excimer formation, ⟨k⟩, which was compared with the local pyrene concentration ([Py]loc) of the PyCX-PAMAM-GY samples calculated by assuming that the oligomeric segments constituting the dendrimer's interior obeyed Gaussian statistics. A notable decrease in ⟨k⟩ was observed upon the addition of 5 mM HCl to the PyCX-PAMAM-GY solutions and was attributed to swelling of the dendrimers resulting from the protonation of the internal tertiary amines. The reversibility of this conformational change could also be monitored via PEF. Solvent differences between DMF and DMSO were accounted for by dividing ⟨k⟩ by kdiff, the bimolecular rate constant for diffusive PEF of a n-hexyl-1-pyrenebutyramide model compound, to yield the ⟨k⟩/kdiff ratio. Comparison between the ⟨k⟩/kdiff ratios obtained for all the PyCX-PAMAM-GY samples with and without 5 mM HCl revealed a 13% increase in the radius of the PAMAM-GY dendrimers upon protonation of their internal tertiary amines in agreement with earlier reports. These experiments illustrate that PEF represents a powerful experimental means to quantitatively probe the intramacromolecular conformational changes of complex macromolecules in solution, in a manner that complements scattering techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanjay Patel
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Stuart A McNelles
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street W., Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, Canada
| | - Alex Adronov
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street W., Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, Canada
| | - Jean Duhamel
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
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Garci A, Weber JA, Young RM, Kazem-Rostami M, Ovalle M, Beldjoudi Y, Atilgan A, Bae YJ, Liu W, Jones LO, Stern CL, Schatz GC, Farha OK, Wasielewski MR, Fraser Stoddart J. Mechanically interlocked pyrene-based photocatalysts. Nat Catal 2022. [DOI: 10.1038/s41929-022-00799-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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Li C, Han L, Bai H, Zhang S, Wang X, Li Y, Ma H. Synthesis and branching structure detection of long-subchain hyperbranched polymers via pyrene-labelled methodology. POLYMER 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2021.124479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Synthesis and Excimer Formation Properties of Electroactive Polyamides Incorporated with 4,5-Diphenoxypyrene Units. Polymers (Basel) 2022; 14:polym14020261. [PMID: 35054668 PMCID: PMC8778140 DOI: 10.3390/polym14020261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 12/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
A new dietherpyrene-cored diamine monomer, namely, 4,5-bis(4-aminophenoxy)pyrene, was successful synthesized and formed a series of electroactive polyamides with an aryloxy linkage in a polymer main chain and bearing pyrene chromophore as a pendent group using conventional one-pot polycondensation reactions with commercial aromatic/aliphatic dicarboxylic acids. The resulting polyamides exhibited good solubility in polar organic solvents and, further, can be made into transparent films. They had appropriate levels of thermal stability with moderately high glass-transition values. The dilute NMP solutions of these polyamides exhibited pyrene characteristic fluorescence and also showed a remarkable additional excimer emission peak centered at 475 nm. Electrochemical studies of these polymer films showed that these polyamides have both p- and n-dopable states as a result of the formation of radical cations and anions of the electroactive pyrene moieties.
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Thoma JL, Duhamel J. Characterization of the Local Volume Probed by the Side-Chain Ends of Poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) 1-Pyrenemethyl ether methacrylate) Bottle Brushes in Solution Using Pyrene Excimer Fluorescence. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c01666] [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)
- Janine L. Thoma
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Jean Duhamel
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
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Direct Measure of the Local Concentration of Pyrenyl Groups in Pyrene-Labeled Dendrons Derived from the Rate of Fluorescence Collisional Quenching. Polymers (Basel) 2020; 12:polym12122919. [PMID: 33291456 PMCID: PMC7762123 DOI: 10.3390/polym12122919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2020] [Revised: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The model-free analysis (MFA) was applied to measure the average rate constant (<k>) for pyrene excimer formation (PEF) in a series of pyrene-labeled dendrons referred to as Pyx-G(N), where x (= 2N) is the number of pyrenyl labels born by a dendron of generation N ranging from 1 to 6. <k> was measured in four different solvents, namely tetrahydrofuran (THF), toluene, N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). <k> was found to increase linearly with increasing local pyrene concentration ([Py]loc), where [Py]loc had been determined mathematically for the Pyx-G(N) dendrons. The slope of each straight line changed with the nature of the solvent and represented kdiff, the bimolecular rate constant for PEF. kdiff depended on the solvent viscosity (η) and the probability (p) for PEF upon encounter between an excited and a ground-state pyrene. In a same solvent, kdiff for the Pyx-G(N) dendrons was about 360 ± 30 times smaller than kdiff obtained for ethyl 4-(1-pyrene)butyrate (PyBE), a pyrene model compound similar to the pyrene derivative used to label the dendrons. The massive decrease in kdiff observed for the Pyx-G(N) samples reflected the massive loss in mobility experienced by the pyrenyl labels after being covalently attached onto a macromolecule compared to freely diffusing PyBE. Interestingly, the kdiff values obtained for the Pyx-G(N) dendrons and the PyBE model compound followed similar trends as a function of solvent, indicating that the difference in behavior between the kdiff values obtained in different solvents were merely due to the changes in the η and p values between the solvents. Normalizing the <k> values obtained with the Pyx-G(N) dendrons by the kdiff values obtained for PyBE in the same solvents accounted for changes in η and p, resulting in a master curve upon plotting <k>/(fdiff × kdiff) as a function of [Py]loc, where fdiff was introduced to account for some pyrene aggregation in the higher generation dendron (Py64-G(6)). This result demonstrates that <k> represents a direct measure of [Py]loc in pyrene-labeled macromolecules.
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Wang Y, Huang Y, Wang L, Ni H, Cao Z, Wu M. A Pyrene‐based Probe for Antimony with Special Excimer Fluorescence. Z Anorg Allg Chem 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/zaac.202000195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yijia Wang
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology Zhejiang Sci‐Tech University 310018 Hangzhou P. R. China
| | - Yuansong Huang
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology Zhejiang Sci‐Tech University 310018 Hangzhou P. R. China
| | - Lili Wang
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology Zhejiang Sci‐Tech University 310018 Hangzhou P. R. China
| | - Huagang Ni
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology Zhejiang Sci‐Tech University 310018 Hangzhou P. R. China
| | - Zhihai Cao
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology Zhejiang Sci‐Tech University 310018 Hangzhou P. R. China
| | - Minghua Wu
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology Zhejiang Sci‐Tech University 310018 Hangzhou P. R. China
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McNelles SA, Pantaleo JL, Meichsner E, Adronov A. Strain-Promoted Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition-Mediated Step-Growth Polymerization. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Stuart A. McNelles
- Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M1
| | - Julia L. Pantaleo
- Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M1
| | - Eric Meichsner
- Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M1
| | - Alex Adronov
- Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M1
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Gholami K, Jiang S, Duhamel J. Probing the Interactions between Mimics of Pour Point Depressants (PPDs) and Viscosity Index Improvers (VIIs) in Engine Oil Using Fluorescently Labeled PPDs. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b00087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kiarash Gholami
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Sheng Jiang
- Afton Chemical
Corporation, 500 Spring Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, United States
| | - Jean Duhamel
- Institute for Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
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