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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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Kil J, Rahman RT, Wang W, Choi S, Nam YS, Li S. Dual functionalized brush copolymers as versatile antifouling coatings. J Mater Chem B 2023; 11:2904-2915. [PMID: 36892061 DOI: 10.1039/d2tb02522a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/18/2023]
Abstract
Polymer coatings containing both fouling-resistant and fouling-release components have been reported to show synergistic antifouling properties. However, it remains unclear how the polymer composition influences the antifouling performance, particularly regarding foulants of different sizes and biological natures. Herein, we prepare dual functionalized brush copolymers containing fouling-resistant poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and fouling-release polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and examine their antifouling performances against different biofoulants. We utilize poly(pentafluorophenyl acrylate) (PPFPA) as a reactive precursor polymer and graft amine-functionalized PEG and PDMS side chains to create PPFPA-g-PEG-g-PDMS brush copolymers of systematically varying compositions. The copolymer films spin-coated on silicon wafers exhibit surface heterogeneity that can be correlated well with the bulk composition of the copolymer. When the copolymer-coated surfaces are examined against protein (human serum albumin and bovine serum albumin) adsorption and cell (lung cancer cells and microalgae) adhesion, they are found to perform better than the homopolymers. The enhanced antifouling properties are attributed to the copolymers having a PEG-rich top layer and a PEG/PDMS mixed bottom layer that work synergistically to resist biofoulant attachment. Furthermore, the composition of the best-performing copolymer is different for different foulants, with PPFPA-g-PEG39-g-PDMS46 exhibiting the best antifouling properties against proteins and PPFPA-g-PEG54-g-PDMS30 exhibiting the best antifouling properties against cells. We explain this difference by considering the changes in the length scale of the surface heterogeneity in relation to the foulant sizes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jihyo Kil
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Rafia Tasnim Rahman
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Wenxuan Wang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Saehan Choi
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Yoon Sung Nam
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Sheng Li
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
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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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