1
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Obewhere OA, Acurio-Cerda K, Sutradhar S, Dike M, Keloth R, Dishari SK. Unravel-engineer-design: a three-pronged approach to advance ionomer performance at interfaces in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Chem Commun (Camb) 2024. [PMID: 39356467 DOI: 10.1039/d4cc03221g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/03/2024]
Abstract
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), which use hydrogen as fuel, present an eco-friendly alternative to internal combustion engines (ICEs) for powering low-to-heavy-duty vehicles and various devices. Despite their promise, PEMFCs must meet strict cost, performance, and durability standards to reach their full potential. A key challenge lies in optimizing the electrode, where a thin ionomer layer is responsible for proton conduction and binding catalyst particles to the electrode. Enhancing ion transport within these sub-μm thick films is critical to improving the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathodes of PEMFCs. For the past 15 years, our research has targeted this limitation through a comprehensive "Unravel - Engineer - Design" approach. We first unraveled the behavior of ionomers, gaining deeper insights into both the average and distributed proton conduction properties within sub-μm thick films and at interfaces that mimic catalyst binder layers. Next, we engineered ionomer-substrate interfaces to gain control over interfacial makeup and boost proton conductivity, essential for PEMFC efficiency. Finally, we designed novel nature-derived or nature-inspired, fluorine-free ionomers to tackle the ion transport limitations seen in state-of-the-art ionomers under thin-film confinement. Some of these ionomers even pave the way to address cost and sustainability challenges in PEMFC materials. This feature article highlights our contributions and their importance in advancing PEMFCs and other sustainable energy conversion and storage technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Karen Acurio-Cerda
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
| | - Sourav Sutradhar
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
| | - Moses Dike
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
| | - Rajesh Keloth
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
| | - Shudipto Konika Dishari
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
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2
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Shi X, Yao Y, Zhang J, Corrigan N, Boyer C. Polymerization Induced Microphase Separation of ABC Triblock Copolymers for 3D Printing Nanostructured Materials. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024; 20:e2305268. [PMID: 37661582 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202305268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2023] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
Polymerization-induced microphase separation (PIMS) is a versatile technique for producing nanostructured materials. In previous PIMS studies, the predominant approach involved employing homopolymers as macromolecular chain transfer agents (macroCTAs) to mediate the formation of nanostructured materials. In this article, the use of AB diblock copolymers as macroCTAs to design PIMS systems for 3D printing of nanostructured materials is investigated. Specifically, the influence of diblock copolymer composition and block sequence on the resulting nanostructures, and their subsequent impact on bulk properties is systematically investigated. Through careful manipulation of the A/B block ratios, the morphology and size of the nanodomains are successfully controlled. Remarkably, the sequence of A and B blocks significantly affects the microphase separation process, resulting in distinct morphologies. The effect can be attributed to changes in the interaction parameters (χAB, χBC, χAC) between the different block segments. Furthermore, the block sequence and composition exert profound influence on the thermomechanical, tensile, and swelling properties of 3D printed nanostructured materials. By leveraging this knowledge, it becomes possible to design advanced 3D printable materials with tailored properties, opening new avenues for material engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaobing Shi
- Cluster for Advanced Macromolecular Design, School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Yin Yao
- Electron Microscope Unit, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Jin Zhang
- School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Nathaniel Corrigan
- Cluster for Advanced Macromolecular Design, School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
- Australian Centre for Nanomedicine, School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Cyrille Boyer
- Cluster for Advanced Macromolecular Design, School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
- Australian Centre for Nanomedicine, School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
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3
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Grabner D, Pickett PD, McAfee T, Collins BA. Molecular Weight-Independent "Polysoap" Nanostructure Characterized via In Situ Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2024; 40:7444-7455. [PMID: 38552143 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c03897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
Studying polymer micelle structure and loading dynamics under environmental conditions is critical for nanocarrier applications but challenging due to a lack of in situ nanoprobes. Here, the structure and loading of amphiphilic polyelectrolyte copolymer micelles, formed by 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS) and n-dodecyl acrylamide (DDAM), were investigated using a multimodal approach centered around in situ resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS). We observe aqueous micelles formed from polymers of wide-ranging molecular weights and aqueous concentrations. Despite no measurable critical micelle concentration (CMC), structural analyses point toward multimeric structures for most molecular weights, with the lowest molecular weight micelles containing mixed coronas and forming loose micelle clusters that enhance hydrocarbon uptake. The sizes of the micelle substructures are independent of both the concentration and molecular weight. Combining these results with a measured molecular weight-invariant surface charge and zeta potential strengthens the link between the nanoparticle size and ionic charge in solution that governs the polysoap micelle structure. Such control would be critical for nanocarrier applications, such as drug delivery and water remediation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devin Grabner
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
| | - Phillip D Pickett
- School of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406, United States
| | - Terry McAfee
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Brian A Collins
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, United States
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4
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Korpanty J, Wang C, Gianneschi NC. Upper critical solution temperature polymer assemblies via variable temperature liquid phase transmission electron microscopy and liquid resonant soft X-ray scattering. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3441. [PMID: 37301949 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38781-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Here, we study the upper critical solution temperature triggered phase transition of thermally responsive poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate-co-poly(ethylene glycol) phenyl ether acrylate-block-polystyrene nanoassemblies in isopropanol. To gain mechanistic insight into the organic solution-phase dynamics of the upper critical solution temperature polymer, we leverage variable temperature liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy correlated with variable temperature liquid resonant soft X-ray scattering. Heating above the upper critical solution temperature triggers a reduction in particle size and a morphological transition from a spherical core shell particle with a complex, multiphase core to a micelle with a uniform core and Gaussian polymer chains attached to the surface. These correlated solution phase methods, coupled with mass spectral validation and modeling, provide unique insight into these thermoresponsive materials. Moreover, we detail a generalizable workflow for studying complex, solution-phase nanomaterials via correlative methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Korpanty
- Department of Chemistry, International Institute for Nanotechnology, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Simpson Querrey Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Nathan C Gianneschi
- Department of Chemistry, International Institute for Nanotechnology, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Simpson Querrey Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
- Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Pharmacology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
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5
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Saurabh K, Dudenas PJ, Gann E, Reynolds VG, Mukherjee S, Sunday D, Martin TB, Beaucage PA, Chabinyc ML, DeLongchamp DM, Krishnamurthy A, Ganapathysubramanian B. CyRSoXS: a GPU-accelerated virtual instrument for polarized resonant soft X-ray scattering. J Appl Crystallogr 2023; 56:868-883. [PMID: 37284258 PMCID: PMC10241048 DOI: 10.1107/s1600576723002790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Polarized resonant soft X-ray scattering (P-RSoXS) has emerged as a powerful synchrotron-based tool that combines the principles of X-ray scattering and X-ray spectroscopy. P-RSoXS provides unique sensitivity to molecular orientation and chemical heterogeneity in soft materials such as polymers and biomaterials. Quantitative extraction of orientation information from P-RSoXS pattern data is challenging, however, because the scattering processes originate from sample properties that must be represented as energy-dependent three-dimensional tensors with heterogeneities at nanometre to sub-nanometre length scales. This challenge is overcome here by developing an open-source virtual instrument that uses graphical processing units (GPUs) to simulate P-RSoXS patterns from real-space material representations with nanoscale resolution. This computational framework - called CyRSoXS (https://github.com/usnistgov/cyrsoxs) - is designed to maximize GPU performance, including algorithms that minimize both communication and memory footprints. The accuracy and robustness of the approach are demonstrated by validating against an extensive set of test cases, which include both analytical solutions and numerical comparisons, demonstrating an acceleration of over three orders of magnitude relative to the current state-of-the-art P-RSoXS simulation software. Such fast simulations open up a variety of applications that were previously computationally unfeasible, including pattern fitting, co-simulation with the physical instrument for operando analytics, data exploration and decision support, data creation and integration into machine learning workflows, and utilization in multi-modal data assimilation approaches. Finally, the complexity of the computational framework is abstracted away from the end user by exposing CyRSoXS to Python using Pybind. This eliminates input/output requirements for large-scale parameter exploration and inverse design, and democratizes usage by enabling seamless integration with a Python ecosystem (https://github.com/usnistgov/nrss) that can include parametric morphology generation, simulation result reduction, comparison with experiment and data fitting approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kumar Saurabh
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, USA
| | - Peter J. Dudenas
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Eliot Gann
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | | | - Subhrangsu Mukherjee
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Daniel Sunday
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Tyler B. Martin
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Peter A. Beaucage
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Michael L. Chabinyc
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Dean M. DeLongchamp
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Adarsh Krishnamurthy
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, USA
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6
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Freychet G, Zhernenkov M. Flatfielding of hybrid pixel detectors in tender x-ray scattering. THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 2023; 94:2888612. [PMID: 37144942 DOI: 10.1063/5.0139377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
The ability of the soft matter interfaces beamline at National Synchrotron Light Source II to access x-ray energy in the tender x-ray regime, i.e., from 2.1 to 5 keV, enables new resonant x-ray scattering studies at the sulfur K-edge and others. We present a new approach to correct data acquired in the tender x-ray regime with a Pilatus3 detector in order to improve the data quality and to correct the various artifacts inherent to hybrid pixel detectors, such as variations in modules' efficiency or noisy detector module junctions. This new flatfielding significantly enhances the data quality and enables detection of weak scattering signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Freychet
- National Synchrotron Light Source-II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, Leti, F-38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Mikhail Zhernenkov
- National Synchrotron Light Source-II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA
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7
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Chen P, Bates FS, Dorfman KD. Alternating Gyroid Stabilized by Surfactant-like Triblock Terpolymers in IS/SO/ISO Ternary Blends. Macromolecules 2023. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Pengyu Chen
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota−Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Frank S. Bates
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota−Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Kevin D. Dorfman
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota−Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
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8
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Takanishi Y, Araoka F, Iwayama H. The effect of the structure of a helical nanofilament of the B4 phase of bent-core liquid crystals on the nano-phase separation mixed with a rod-like cholesteric liquid crystal mixture. RSC Adv 2022; 12:29346-29349. [PMID: 36320750 PMCID: PMC9557167 DOI: 10.1039/d2ra03316j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
We studied the structure of a helical nano-filament of the B4 phase in mixtures of a cholesteric liquid crystal mixture and a bent-core molecule using a resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS) technique. In this system, nanophase separation occurs and it was already found that an unexpected new functional chiral smectic structure in the rod-like molecule rich region is constructed by the strong interaction between bent-core and rod-like molecules. In this paper, we focused on the structure of the helical filament in the bent-core liquid crystalline molecule rich region in this mixing system, and it was found that the pitch of the helical filament decreases and the coherence of the helical structure increases. We studied the structure of a helical nano-filament of the B4 phase in mixtures of a cholesteric liquid crystal mixture and a bent-core molecule using a resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS) technique.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoichi Takanishi
- Department of Physics, Kyoto UniversityKitashirakawaoiwake-cho, Sakyo-kuKyoto606-8502Japan
| | - Fumito Araoka
- RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)2-1 HirosawaWakoSaitama 351-0198Japan
| | - Hiroshi Iwayama
- UVSOR Synchrotron Facility, Institute for Molecular ScienceOkazakiAichi444-8585Japan,School of Physical Sciences, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)Okazaki444-8585AichiJapan
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9
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Unraveling the Effect of Solvent Additive and Fullerene Component on Morphological Control in Organic Solar Cells. CHINESE JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10118-022-2807-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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10
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Cao Y, Tan T, Walba DM, Clark NA, Ungar G, Zhu C, Zhang L, Liu F. Understanding and Manipulating Helical Nanofilaments in Binary Systems with Achiral Dopants. NANO LETTERS 2022; 22:4569-4575. [PMID: 35584547 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c01525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Here, we report the relationship between helical pitch of the helical nanofilament (HNF) phase formed by bent-core molecule NOBOW and the concentration of achiral dopants 5CB and octane, using linearly polarized resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS). Utilizing theory-based simulation, which fits well with the experiments, the molecular helices in the filament were probed and the superstructure of helical 5CB directed by groove of HNFs was observed. Quantitative pitch determination with RSoXS reveals that helical pitch variation is related to 5CB concentration with no temperature dependence. Doping rodlike immiscible 5CB led to a pitch shortening of up to 30%, which was attributed to a change in interfacial tension. By shedding light not only on phase behavior of binary systems but also enabling control over pitch length, our work may benefit various applications of HNF-containing binary systems, including optical rotation devices, circularly polarized light emitters, and chirality transfer agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Cao
- Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behaviour of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Tianyi Tan
- Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behaviour of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China
| | - David M Walba
- Department of Chemistry and Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - Noel A Clark
- Department of Physics and Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
| | - Goran Ungar
- Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behaviour of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China
| | - Chenhui Zhu
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Lei Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China
| | - Feng Liu
- Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behaviour of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China
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11
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Zhu L, Zhang M, Xu J, Li C, Yan J, Zhou G, Zhong W, Hao T, Song J, Xue X, Zhou Z, Zeng R, Zhu H, Chen CC, MacKenzie RCI, Zou Y, Nelson J, Zhang Y, Sun Y, Liu F. Single-junction organic solar cells with over 19% efficiency enabled by a refined double-fibril network morphology. NATURE MATERIALS 2022; 21:656-663. [PMID: 35513501 DOI: 10.1038/s41563-022-01244-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 477] [Impact Index Per Article: 238.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
In organic photovoltaics, morphological control of donor and acceptor domains on the nanoscale is the key for enabling efficient exciton diffusion and dissociation, carrier transport and suppression of recombination losses. To realize this, here, we demonstrated a double-fibril network based on a ternary donor-acceptor morphology with multi-length scales constructed by combining ancillary conjugated polymer crystallizers and a non-fullerene acceptor filament assembly. Using this approach, we achieved an average power conversion efficiency of 19.3% (certified 19.2%). The success lies in the good match between the photoelectric parameters and the morphological characteristic lengths, which utilizes the excitons and free charges efficiently. This strategy leads to an enhanced exciton diffusion length and a reduced recombination rate, hence minimizing photon-to-electron losses in the ternary devices as compared to their binary counterparts. The double-fibril network morphology strategy minimizes losses and maximizes the power output, offering the possibility of 20% power conversion efficiencies in single-junction organic photovoltaics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Zhu
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ming Zhang
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jinqiu Xu
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Chao Li
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Jun Yan
- Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, UK.
| | - Guanqing Zhou
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wenkai Zhong
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Tianyu Hao
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiali Song
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaonan Xue
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zichun Zhou
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Rui Zeng
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Haiming Zhu
- Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Chun-Chao Chen
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | | | - Yecheng Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Fluorinated Functional Membrane Materials and Dongyue Future Hydrogen Energy Materials Company, Zibo, China
| | - Jenny Nelson
- Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Yongming Zhang
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- State Key Laboratory of Fluorinated Functional Membrane Materials and Dongyue Future Hydrogen Energy Materials Company, Zibo, China
| | - Yanming Sun
- School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing, China.
| | - Feng Liu
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Fluorinated Functional Membrane Materials and Dongyue Future Hydrogen Energy Materials Company, Zibo, China.
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12
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Smilgies D. GISAXS
: A versatile tool to assess structure and self‐assembly kinetics in block copolymer thin films. JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/pol.20210244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Detlef‐M. Smilgies
- Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM) Binghamton University Binghamton New York USA
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Binghamton University Binghamton New York USA
- Materials Science and Engineering Program Binghamton University Binghamton New York USA
- R.F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Cornell University Ithaca New York USA
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13
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Zhong W, Zhang M, Freychet G, Su GM, Ying L, Huang F, Cao Y, Zhang Y, Wang C, Liu F. Decoupling Complex Multi-Length-Scale Morphology in Non-Fullerene Photovoltaics with Nitrogen K-Edge Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2022; 34:e2107316. [PMID: 34750871 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202107316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Revised: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Complex morphology in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and other functional soft materials commonly dictates performance. Such complexity in OPVs originates from the mesoscale kinetically trapped non-equilibrium state, which governs device charge generation and transport. Resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS) has been revolutionary in the exploration of OPV morphology in the past decade due to its chemical and orientation sensitivity. However, for non-fullerene OPVs, RSoXS analysis near the carbon K-edge is challenging, due to the chemical similarity of the materials used in active layers. An innovative approach is provided by nitrogen K-edge RSoXS (NK-RSoXS), utilizing the spatial and orientational contrasts from the cyano groups in the acceptor materials, which allows for determination of phase separation. NK-RSoXS clearly visualizes the combined feature sizes in PM6:Y6 blends from crystallization and liquid-liquid demixing, while PM6:Y6:Y6-BO ternary blends with reduced phase-separation size and enhanced material crystallization can lead to current amplification in devices. Nitrogen is common in organic semiconductors and other soft materials, and the strong and directional N 1s → π* resonances make NK-RSoXS a powerful tool to uncover the mesoscale complexity and open opportunities to understand heterogeneous systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenkai Zhong
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Center of Hydrogen Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Ming Zhang
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Center of Hydrogen Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
| | | | - Gregory M Su
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Lei Ying
- Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Fei Huang
- Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Yong Cao
- Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Yongming Zhang
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Center of Hydrogen Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Feng Liu
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Center of Hydrogen Science, and School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
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14
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Smekhova A, Novotná V, Fekete L, Abrudan R, Fondell M, Hamplová V, Ostrovskii BI. Ultra-short helix pitch and spiral ordering in cholesteric liquid crystal revealed by resonant soft X-ray scattering. SOFT MATTER 2021; 18:89-96. [PMID: 34870645 DOI: 10.1039/d1sm01543e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The spontaneous formation of chiral structures offers a variety of liquid crystals (LC) phases that could be further tailored for practical applications. In our work, the characteristic features of spiral ordering in the cholesteric phase of EZL10/10 LC were evaluated. To disclose resonant reflections related to a nanoscale helix pitch, resonant soft X-ray scattering at the carbon K edge was employed. The angular positions of the observed element-specific scattering peaks reveal a half-pitch of the spiral ordering p/2 ≈ 52 nm indicating the full pitch of about 104 nm at room temperature. The broadening of the peaks points to a presence of coherently scattering finite-size domains formed by cholesteric spirals with lengths of about five pitches. No scattering peaks were detectable in the EZL10/10 isotropic phase at higher temperatures. The characteristic lengths extracted from the resonant soft X-ray scattering experiment agree well with the periodicity of the surface "fingerprint" pattern observed in the EZL10/10 cholesteric phase by means of atomic force microscopy. The stability of LC molecules under the incident beam was proven by X-ray absorption spectroscopy in transmission geometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alevtina Smekhova
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Berlin 12489, Germany.
| | - Vladimíra Novotná
- Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 8, Czech Republic
| | - Ladislav Fekete
- Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 8, Czech Republic
| | - Radu Abrudan
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Berlin 12489, Germany.
| | - Mattis Fondell
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Berlin 12489, Germany.
| | - Věra Hamplová
- Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 8, Czech Republic
| | - Boris I Ostrovskii
- Federal Scientific Research Center "Crystallography and photonics", Russian Academy of Sciences, 119333 Moscow, Russia.
- Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142432 Chernogolovka, Russia
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15
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Ogle J, Powell D, Flannery L, Whittaker-Brooks L. Interplay between Morphology and Electronic Structure in Emergent Organic and π-d Conjugated Organometal Thin Film Materials. Ind Eng Chem Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.1c03077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Ogle
- Department of Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Daniel Powell
- Department of Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Laura Flannery
- Department of Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
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16
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Ma L, Huang H, Vargo E, Huang J, Anderson CL, Chen T, Kuzmenko I, Ilavsky J, Wang C, Liu Y, Ercius P, Alexander-Katz A, Xu T. Diversifying Composition Leads to Hierarchical Composites with Design Flexibility and Structural Fidelity. ACS NANO 2021; 15:14095-14104. [PMID: 34324313 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c04606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Although significant progress has been made in the self-assembly of nanostructures, present successes heavily rely on precision in building block design, composition, and pair interactions. These requirements fundamentally limit our ability to synthesize macroscopic materials where the likelihood of impurity inclusion escalates and, more importantly, to access molecular-to-nanoscopic-to-microscopic-to-macroscopic hierarchies, since the types and compositions of building blocks vary at each stage. Inspired by biological blends and high-entropy alloys, we hypothesize that diversifying the blend's composition can overcome these limitations. Increasing the number of components increases mixing entropy, leading to the dispersion of different components and, as a result, enhances interphase miscibility, weakens the dependence on specific pair interactions, and enables long-range cooperativity. This hypothesis is validated in complex blends containing small molecules, block copolymer-based supramolecules, and nanoparticles/colloidal particles. Hierarchically structured composites can be obtained with formulation flexibility in the filler selection and blend composition. It is worth noting that, by adding small molecules, we can solve the size constraint that plagues traditional block copolymer/nanoparticle blends. Detailed characterization and simulation further confirm that each component is distributed to locally mediate unfavorable interactions, cooperatively mitigate composition fluctuations, and retain structural fidelity. Furthermore, the blends have sufficient mobility to access tunable microstructures without compromising the order of the nanostructure. Besides establishing a kinetically viable pathway to release current constraints in the composite design and to navigate uncertainties during structure formation over multiple length scales, the present study demonstrates that entropy-driven behaviors can be realized in systems beyond high-entropy alloys despite inherent differences between metal alloys and organic/inorganic hybrids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Le Ma
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Hejin Huang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Emma Vargo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Jingyu Huang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Christopher L Anderson
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Tiffany Chen
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Ivan Kuzmenko
- Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Jan Ilavsky
- Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Yi Liu
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Peter Ercius
- National Center for Electron Microscopy, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Alfredo Alexander-Katz
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Ting Xu
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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17
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian A. Collins
- Physics and Astronomy Washington State University Pullman Washington USA
| | - Eliot Gann
- Material Measurement Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg Maryland USA
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18
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Farzin S, Zamani E, Dishari SK. Unraveling Depth-Specific Ionic Conduction and Stiffness Behavior across Ionomer Thin Films and Bulk Membranes. ACS Macro Lett 2021; 10:791-798. [PMID: 35549194 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.1c00110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Interfacial behavior of submicron thick polymer films critically controls the performance of electrochemical devices. We developed a robust, everyday-accessible, fluorescence confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)-based strategy that can probe the distribution of mobility, ion conduction, and other properties across ionomer samples. When fluorescent photoacid probe 8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid trisodium salt (HPTS) was incorporated into <1 μm thick Nafion films on substrates, the depth-profile images showed thickness- and interface-dependent proton conduction behavior. In these films, proton conduction was weak over a region next to substrate interface, then gradually increased until air interface at 88% RH. Conversely, consistently high proton conduction with no interface dependence was observed across 35-50 μm thick bulk, free-standing Nafion membranes. A hump-like mobility/stiffness distribution was observed across Nafion films containing mobility-sensitive probe (9-(2-carboxy-2-cyanovinyl)julolidine) (CCVJ). The proton conduction and mobility distribution were rationalized as a combinatorial effect of interfacial interaction, ionomer chain orientation, chain density, and ionic domain characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seefat Farzin
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska−Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
| | - Ehsan Zamani
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska−Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
| | - Shudipto K. Dishari
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska−Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
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19
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Zhong W, Liu F, Wang C. Probing morphology and chemistry in complex soft materials with in situresonant soft x-ray scattering. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2021; 33:313001. [PMID: 34140434 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ac0194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Small angle scattering methodologies have been evolving at fast pace over the past few decades due to the ever-increasing demands for more details on the complex nanostructures of multiphase and multicomponent soft materials like polymer assemblies and biomaterials. Currently, element-specific and contrast variation techniques such as resonant (elastic) soft/tender x-ray scattering, anomalous small angle x-ray scattering, and contrast-matching small angle neutron scattering, or combinations of above are routinely used to extract the chemical composition and spatial arrangement of constituent elements at multiple length scales and examine electronic ordering phenomena. Here we present some recent advances in selectively characterizing structural architectures of complex soft materials, which often contain multi-components with a wide range of length scales and multiple functionalities, where novel resonant scattering approaches have been demonstrated to decipher a higher level of structural complexity that correlates to functionality. With the advancement of machine learning and artificial intelligence assisted correlative analysis, high-throughput and autonomous experiments would open a new paradigm of material research. Further development of resonant x-ray scattering instrumentation with crossplatform sample environments will enable multimodalin situ/operando characterization of the system dynamics with much improved spatial and temporal resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenkai Zhong
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of America
| | - Feng Liu
- Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, In-situ Center for Physical Science, and Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States of America
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20
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McAfee T, Ferron T, Cordova IA, Pickett PD, McCormick CL, Wang C, Collins BA. Label-free characterization of organic nanocarriers reveals persistent single molecule cores for hydrocarbon sequestration. Nat Commun 2021; 12:3123. [PMID: 34035289 PMCID: PMC8149835 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23382-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Self-assembled molecular nanostructures embody an enormous potential for new technologies, therapeutics, and understanding of molecular biofunctions. Their structure and function are dependent on local environments, necessitating in-situ/operando investigations for the biggest leaps in discovery and design. However, the most advanced of such investigations involve laborious labeling methods that can disrupt behavior or are not fast enough to capture stimuli-responsive phenomena. We utilize X-rays resonant with molecular bonds to demonstrate an in-situ nanoprobe that eliminates the need for labels and enables data collection times within seconds. Our analytical spectral model quantifies the structure, molecular composition, and dynamics of a copolymer micelle drug delivery platform using resonant soft X-rays. We additionally apply this technique to a hydrocarbon sequestrating polysoap micelle and discover that the critical organic-capturing domain does not coalesce upon aggregation but retains distinct single-molecule cores. This characteristic promotes its efficiency of hydrocarbon sequestration for applications like oil spill remediation and drug delivery. Such a technique enables operando, chemically sensitive investigations of any aqueous molecular nanostructure, label-free.
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Affiliation(s)
- Terry McAfee
- grid.30064.310000 0001 2157 6568Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA USA ,grid.184769.50000 0001 2231 4551Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, NC USA
| | - Thomas Ferron
- grid.30064.310000 0001 2157 6568Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA USA
| | - Isvar A. Cordova
- grid.184769.50000 0001 2231 4551Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, NC USA
| | - Phillip D. Pickett
- grid.267193.80000 0001 2295 628XSchool of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS USA
| | - Charles L. McCormick
- grid.267193.80000 0001 2295 628XSchool of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS USA
| | - Cheng Wang
- grid.184769.50000 0001 2231 4551Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, NC USA
| | - Brian A. Collins
- grid.30064.310000 0001 2157 6568Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA USA
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21
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Dong Q, Li W. Effect of Molecular Asymmetry on the Formation of Asymmetric Nanostructures in ABC-Type Block Copolymers. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c02442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Qingshu Dong
- 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
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22
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Sunday DF, Dolejsi M, Chang AB, Richter LJ, Li R, Kline RJ, Nealey PF, Grubbs RH. Confinement and Processing Can Alter the Morphology and Periodicity of Bottlebrush Block Copolymers in Thin Films. ACS NANO 2020; 14:17476-17486. [PMID: 33225683 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c07777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCPs) are intriguing architectural variations on linear BCPs with highly tunable structure. Confinement can have a significant impact on polymer assembly, giving rise to changes in morphology, assembly kinetics, and properties like the glass transition. Given that confinement leads to significant changes in the persistence length of bottlebrush homopolymers, it is reasonable to expect that BBCPs will see significant changes in their structure and periodicity relative to the bulk morphology. Understanding how confinement influences assembly will be important for designing BBCPs for thin film applications including membranes, integrated photonic structures, and potentially BCP lithography. In order to study the effects of confinement on BBCP conformation and morphology, a blade coating was used to prepare films with continuous variation in film thickness. Unlike thin films of linear BCPs, islands/holes were not observed, and instead mixtures of parallel and perpendicular morphologies emerge after annealing. The lamellar periodicity (L0) of the morphologies is found to be thickness dependent, increasing L0 with decreasing film thickness for blade coated films. Films coated out of tetrahydrofuran (THF) resulted in a single well-defined lamellar periodicity, verified through atomic force microscopy (AFM) and grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), which increases dramatically from the bulk value (30.6 nm) and continues to increase as the film thickness decreases. The largest observed L0 was 65.5 nm, and this closely approaches the estimated upper limit of 67 nm corresponding to a fully extended backbone in a bilayer arrangement. Films coated out of propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (PGMEA) resulted in a mixture of perpendicular lamellae and a smaller, likely cylindrical morphology. The lamellar portion of the film shows the same thickness dependence as the lamellae observed in the THF coated films. The scaling of the lamellar L0 with respect to film thickness follows predictions for confined semiflexible polymers with weak excluded volume interactions and can be related to models for confinement of DNA. Spin coated films shows the same reduction in periodicity, although at very different film thicknesses. This result suggests that the material has shallow free-energy barriers to transitioning between different L0 and morphologies, a property that could be taken advantage of for patterning diverse structures with a single material.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel F Sunday
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Moshe Dolejsi
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, 5801 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Alice B Chang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Lee J Richter
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Ruipeng Li
- National Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, United States
| | - R Joseph Kline
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Paul F Nealey
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, 5801 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Robert H Grubbs
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
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23
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Su GM, Cordova IA, Wang C. New Insights into Water Treatment Materials with Chemically Sensitive Soft and Tender X-rays. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/08940886.2020.1784695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gregory M. Su
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Isvar A. Cordova
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
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24
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Freychet G, Maret M, Fernandez‐Regulez M, Tiron R, Gharbi A, Nicolet C, Gergaud P. Morphology of poly(lactide)‐
block
‐poly(dimethylsiloxane)‐
block
‐polylactide high‐
χ
triblock copolymer film studied by grazing incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering. JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/pol.20200196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Raluca Tiron
- CEA, LETI, MINATEC CampusUniversity of Grenoble Alpes Grenoble France
| | - Ahmed Gharbi
- CEA, LETI, MINATEC CampusUniversity of Grenoble Alpes Grenoble France
| | | | - Patrice Gergaud
- CEA, LETI, MINATEC CampusUniversity of Grenoble Alpes Grenoble France
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25
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Cao Y, Alaasar M, Nallapaneni A, Salamończyk M, Marinko P, Gorecka E, Tschierske C, Liu F, Vaupotič N, Zhu C. Molecular Packing in Double Gyroid Cubic Phases Revealed via Resonant Soft X-Ray Scattering. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2020; 125:027801. [PMID: 32701342 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.125.027801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The bicontinuous double gyroid phase is one of the nature's most symmetric and complex structures, the electron density map of which was established long ago. By utilizing small-angle x-ray scattering, resonant soft x-ray scattering at the carbon K edge and model-dependent tensor-based scattering theory, we have not only elucidated morphology but also identified molecular packing in the double gyroid phases formed by molecules with different shapes, i.e., rodlike vs taper shaped, thus validating some of the hypothetical packing models and disproving others. The spatial variation of molecular orientation through the channel junctions in the double gyroid phase can be either continuous in the case of anisotropic channels or discontinuous in the case of isotropic channels depending on the molecular structure and shape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Cao
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, People's Republic of China
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
| | - Mohamed Alaasar
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, 12613 Giza, Egypt
- Institute of Chemistry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, D-06120 Halle, Germany
| | - Asritha Nallapaneni
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325, USA
| | - Mirosław Salamończyk
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Zwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Peter Marinko
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Ewa Gorecka
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Zwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Carsten Tschierske
- Institute of Chemistry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, D-06120 Halle, Germany
| | - Feng Liu
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, People's Republic of China
| | - Nataša Vaupotič
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
- Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Chenhui Zhu
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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26
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Tanaka J, Ishiguro T, Harada T, Watanabe T. Analysis of Chemical Contents Spatial Distribution in EUV Resist Using Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering Method. J PHOTOPOLYM SCI TEC 2020. [DOI: 10.2494/photopolymer.33.491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jun Tanaka
- Center for EUV Lithography, Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry, University of Hyogo
| | - Takuma Ishiguro
- Center for EUV Lithography, Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry, University of Hyogo
| | - Tetsuo Harada
- Center for EUV Lithography, Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry, University of Hyogo
| | - Takeo Watanabe
- Center for EUV Lithography, Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry, University of Hyogo
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27
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Chen Z, Tang Y, Lin B, Zhao H, Li T, Min T, Yan H, Ma W. Probe and Control of the Tiny Amounts of Dopants in BHJ Film Enable Higher Performance of Polymer Solar Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2020; 12:25115-25124. [PMID: 32378400 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c06127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
To achieve efficient doping in polymer solar cells (PSCs), the dopant needs to be selectively located in the binary components of a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) film according to its polarity. The rarely studied n-type dopant is thoroughly examined in a simplified planar heterojunction (PHJ) device to address its favored location in the active layer. Results show that the n-dopant distribution in the acceptor layer or at the donor/acceptor interface produces enhanced device performance, whereas it harms the device when located in the donor layer. Based on the results, the benefit of n-type doping is then transferred to the highly efficient BHJ devices via a sequential coating procedure. The performance improvement is closely linked to the variations in the dopant's location in the BHJ film, which is carefully examined by the synchrotron techniques with delicate chemical sensitivity. More interestingly, the sequential coating procedure can be easily extended to the p-doped device only by changing the dopant's polarity in the middle layer. These findings pave the way for ambipolar doping in PSCs and enable performance improvement by molecular doping within the expectations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenyu Chen
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P. R. China
| | - Yabing Tang
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P. R. China
| | - Baojun Lin
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P. R. China
| | - Hanzhang Zhao
- Center of Spintronics and Quantum Systems, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P. R. China
| | - Tao Li
- Center of Spintronics and Quantum Systems, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P. R. China
| | - Tai Min
- Center of Spintronics and Quantum Systems, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P. R. China
| | - Han Yan
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P. R. China
| | - Wei Ma
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P. R. China
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28
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Jin HM, Li X, Dolan JA, Kline RJ, Martínez-González JA, Ren J, Zhou C, de Pablo JJ, Nealey PF. Soft crystal martensites: An in situ resonant soft x-ray scattering study of a liquid crystal martensitic transformation. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaay5986. [PMID: 32258402 PMCID: PMC7101220 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aay5986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2019] [Accepted: 01/03/2020] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Liquid crystal blue phases (BPs) are three-dimensional soft crystals with unit cell sizes orders of magnitude larger than those of classic, atomic crystals. The directed self-assembly of BPs on chemically patterned surfaces uniquely enables detailed in situ resonant soft x-ray scattering measurements of martensitic phase transformations in these systems. The formation of twin lamellae is explicitly identified during the BPII-to-BPI transformation, further corroborating the martensitic nature of this transformation and broadening the analogy between soft and atomic crystal diffusionless phase transformations to include their strain-release mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyeong Min Jin
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Neutron Science Center, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Daejeon 34057, Republic of Korea
| | - Xiao Li
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, USA
| | - James A. Dolan
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Center for Molecular Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
| | - R. Joseph Kline
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - José A. Martínez-González
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Av. Parque Chapultepec 1570, San Luis Potosí 78295, SLP, México
| | - Jiaxing Ren
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Chun Zhou
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Center for Molecular Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
| | - Paul F. Nealey
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Center for Molecular Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
- Corresponding author.
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29
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Sunday DF, Martin TB, Chang AB, Burns AB, Grubbs RH. Addressing the challenges of modeling the scattering from bottlebrush polymers in solution. JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE 2020; 58:10.1002/pol.20190289. [PMID: 33305292 PMCID: PMC7724922 DOI: 10.1002/pol.20190289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Small-angle scattering measurements of complex macromolecules in solution are used to establish relationships between chemical structure and conformational properties. Interpretation of the scattering data requires an inverse approach where a model is chosen and the simulated scattering intensity from that model is iterated to match the experimental scattering intensity. This raises challenges in the case where the model is an imperfect approximation of the underlying structure, or where there are significant correlations between model parameters. We examine three bottlebrush polymers (consisting of polynorbornene backbone and polystyrene side chains) in a good solvent using a model commonly applied to this class of polymers: the flexible cylinder model. Applying a series of constrained Monte-Carlo Markov Chain analyses demonstrates the severity of the correlations between key parameters and the presence of multiple close minima in the goodness of fit space. We demonstrate that a shape-agnostic model can fit the scattering with significantly reduced parameter correlations and less potential for complex, multimodal parameter spaces. We provide recommendations to improve the analysis of complex macromolecules in solution, highlighting the value of Bayesian methods. This approach provides richer information for understanding parameter sensitivity compared to methods which produce a single, best fit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel F. Sunday
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
| | - Tyler B. Martin
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
| | - Alice B. Chang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
| | - Adam B. Burns
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
| | - Robert H. Grubbs
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
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30
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Su GM, White W, Renna LA, Feng J, Ardo S, Wang C. Photoacid-Modified Nafion Membrane Morphology Determined by Resonant X-ray Scattering and Spectroscopy. ACS Macro Lett 2019; 8:1353-1359. [PMID: 35651146 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.9b00622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Covalent attachment of photoacid dye molecules to perfluorinated sulfonic acid membranes is a promising route to enable active light-driven ion pumps, but the complex relationship between chemical modification and morphology is not well understood in this class of functional materials. In this study we demonstrate the effect of bound photoacid dyes on phase-segregated membrane morphology. Resonant X-ray scattering near the sulfur K-edge reveals that introduction of photoacid dyes to the end of the ionomer side chains enhances phase segregation among ionomer domains, and the ionomer domain spacing increases with increasing amount of bound dye. Furthermore, relative crystallinity is marginally enhanced within semicrystalline domains composed of the perfluorinated backbone. X-ray absorption spectroscopy coupled with first-principles density functional theory calculations suggest that above a critical concentration, the multiple hydrophilic groups on the attached photoacid dye may help increase residual water content and promote hydration of adjacent sulfonic acid side chains under dry or ambient conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory M. Su
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - William White
- Department of Chemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Lawrence A. Renna
- Department of Chemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Jun Feng
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Shane Ardo
- Department of Chemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
- Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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31
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Yu DM, Smith DM, Kim H, Rzayev J, Russell TP. Two-Step Chemical Transformation of Polystyrene-block-poly(solketal acrylate) Copolymers for Increasing χ. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Duk Man Yu
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Darren M. Smith
- Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260-3000, United States
| | - Hyeyoung Kim
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Javid Rzayev
- Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260-3000, United States
| | - Thomas P. Russell
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
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32
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Su GM, Cordova IA, Yandrasits MA, Lindell M, Feng J, Wang C, Kusoglu A. Chemical and Morphological Origins of Improved Ion Conductivity in Perfluoro Ionene Chain Extended Ionomers. J Am Chem Soc 2019; 141:13547-13561. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b05322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gregory M. Su
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Isvar A. Cordova
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | | | | | - Jun Feng
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Ahmet Kusoglu
- Energy Conversion Group, Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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33
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Tanaka J, Ishiguro T, Harada T, Watanabe T. Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering for the Stochastic Origin Analysis in EUV Resist. J PHOTOPOLYM SCI TEC 2019. [DOI: 10.2494/photopolymer.32.327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jun Tanaka
- Center for EUV Lithography, Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry, University of Hyogo
| | - Takuma Ishiguro
- Center for EUV Lithography, Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry, University of Hyogo
| | - Tetsuo Harada
- Center for EUV Lithography, Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry, University of Hyogo
| | - Takeo Watanabe
- Center for EUV Lithography, Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry, University of Hyogo
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34
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Litofsky JH, Lee Y, Aplan MP, Kuei B, Hexemer A, Wang C, Wang Q, Gomez ED. Polarized Soft X-ray Scattering Reveals Chain Orientation within Nanoscale Polymer Domains. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b02198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Alexander Hexemer
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94530, United States
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94530, United States
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35
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Green AAS, Tuchband MR, Shao R, Shen Y, Visvanathan R, Duncan AE, Lehmann A, Tschierske C, Carlson ED, Guzman E, Kolber M, Walba DM, Park CS, Glaser MA, Maclennan JE, Clark NA. Chiral Incommensurate Helical Phase in a Smectic of Achiral Bent-Core Mesogens. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2019; 122:107801. [PMID: 30932628 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.122.107801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
An achiral, bent-core mesogen forms several tilted smectic liquid crystal phases, including a nonpolar, achiral de Vries smectic A which transitions to a chiral, ferroelectric state in applied electric fields above a threshold. At lower temperature, a chiral, ferrielectric phase with a periodic, supermolecular modulation of the tilt azimuth, indicated by a Bragg peak in carbon-edge resonant soft x-ray scattering, is observed. The absence of a corresponding resonant umklapp peak identifies the superlayer structure as a twist-bend-like helix that is only weakly modulated by the smectic layering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam A S Green
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0390, USA
| | - Michael R Tuchband
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0390, USA
| | - Renfan Shao
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0390, USA
| | - Yongqiang Shen
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0390, USA
| | - Rayshan Visvanathan
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0390, USA
| | - Alexandra E Duncan
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0390, USA
| | - Anne Lehmann
- Department of Chemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, D-06120 Halle, Germany
| | - Carsten Tschierske
- Department of Chemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, D-06120 Halle, Germany
| | - Eric D Carlson
- Department of Chemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0215, USA
| | - Edward Guzman
- Department of Chemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0215, USA
| | - Maria Kolber
- Department of Chemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0215, USA
| | - David M Walba
- Department of Chemistry and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0215, USA
| | - Cheol S Park
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0390, USA
| | - Matthew A Glaser
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0390, USA
| | - Joseph E Maclennan
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0390, USA
| | - Noel A Clark
- Department of Physics and Soft Materials Research Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0390, USA
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36
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Capelli R, Da Como E, Kociok-Köhn G, Fontanesi C, Verna A, Pasquali L. Quantitative resonant soft x-ray reflectivity from an organic semiconductor single crystal. J Chem Phys 2019; 150:094707. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5080800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- R. Capelli
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria “Enzo Ferrari,” Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, via P. Vivarelli 10, 41125 Modena, Italy
- IOM-CNR Institute, Area Science Park, SS 14 Km, 163.5, Basovizza, 34149 Trieste, Italy
| | - E. Da Como
- Department of Physics, Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials (CPPM), University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom
| | - G. Kociok-Köhn
- Material and Chemical Characterisation Facility (MC2), University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom
| | - C. Fontanesi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria “Enzo Ferrari,” Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, via P. Vivarelli 10, 41125 Modena, Italy
| | - A. Verna
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Via della Vasca Navale 84, 00146 Roma, Italy
| | - L. Pasquali
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria “Enzo Ferrari,” Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, via P. Vivarelli 10, 41125 Modena, Italy
- IOM-CNR Institute, Area Science Park, SS 14 Km, 163.5, Basovizza, 34149 Trieste, Italy
- Department of Physics, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa
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37
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Nübling F, Hopper TR, Kuei B, Komber H, Untilova V, Schmidt SB, Brinkmann M, Gomez ED, Bakulin AA, Sommer M. Block Junction-Functionalized All-Conjugated Donor-Acceptor Block Copolymers. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2019; 11:1143-1155. [PMID: 30523687 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b18608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Junction-functionalized donor-acceptor (D-A) block copolymers (BCPs) enable spatial and electronic control over interfacial charge dynamics in excitonic devices such as solar cells. Here, we present the design, synthesis, morphology, and electronic characterization of block junction-functionalized, all-conjugated, all-crystalline D-A BCPs. Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), a single thienylated diketopyrrolopyrrole (Th xDPPTh x, x = 1 or 2) unit, and poly{[ N, N'-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]- alt-5,5'-(2,2'-bithiophene)} (PNDIT2) are used as donor, interfacial unit, and acceptor, respectively. Almost all C-C coupling steps are accomplished by virtue of C-H activation. Synthesis of the macroreagent H-P3HT-Th xDPPTh x, with x determining its C-H reactivity, is key to the synthesis of various BCPs of type H-P3HT-Th xDPPTh x- block-PNDIT2. Morphology is determined from a combination of calorimetry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thin-film scattering. Block copolymer crystallinity of P3HT and PNDIT2 is reduced, indicating frustrated crystallization. A long period lp is invisible from TEM, but shows up in resonant soft X-ray scattering experiments at a length scale of lp ∼ 60 nm. Photoluminescence of H-P3HT-Th xDPPTh x indicates efficient transfer of the excitation energy to the DPP chain end, but is quenched in BCP films. Transient absorption and pump-push photocurrent spectroscopies reveal geminate recombination (GR) as the main loss channel in as-prepared BCP films independent of junction functionalization. Melt annealing increases GR as a result of the low degree of crystallinity and poorly defined interfaces and additionally changes backbone orientation of PNDIT2 from face-on to edge-on. These morphological effects dominate solar cell performance and cause an insensitivity to the presence of the block junction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fritz Nübling
- Institut für Makromolekulare Chemie , Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg , Stefan-Meier-Straße 31 , 79104 Freiburg , Germany
- Freiburger Materialforschungszentrum , Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg , Stefan-Meier-Straße 21 , 79104 Freiburg , Germany
| | - Thomas R Hopper
- Department of Chemistry , Imperial College London , London SW7 2AZ , United Kingdom
| | | | - Hartmut Komber
- Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V. , Hohe Straße 6 , 01069 Dresden , Germany
| | - Viktoriia Untilova
- Institut Charles Sadron , CNRS-Université de Strasbourg , 23 Rue de Loess , 67034 Strasbourg , France
| | - Simon B Schmidt
- Institut für Chemie , Technische Universität Chemnitz , Straße der Nationen 62 , 09111 Chemnitz , Germany
| | - Martin Brinkmann
- Institut Charles Sadron , CNRS-Université de Strasbourg , 23 Rue de Loess , 67034 Strasbourg , France
| | | | - Artem A Bakulin
- Department of Chemistry , Imperial College London , London SW7 2AZ , United Kingdom
| | - Michael Sommer
- Institut für Chemie , Technische Universität Chemnitz , Straße der Nationen 62 , 09111 Chemnitz , Germany
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38
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Ye D, Le TP, Kuei B, Zhu C, Zwart PH, Wang C, Gomez ED, Gomez EW. Resonant Soft X-Ray Scattering Provides Protein Structure with Chemical Specificity. Structure 2018; 26:1513-1521.e3. [PMID: 30220541 PMCID: PMC8224816 DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2018.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2018] [Revised: 05/26/2018] [Accepted: 07/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
We introduce resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS) as an approach to study the structure of proteins and other biological molecules in solution. Scattering contrast calculations suggest that RSoXS has comparable or even higher sensitivity than hard X-ray scattering because of contrast generated at the absorption edges of constituent elements, such as carbon and oxygen. Here, we demonstrate that working near the carbon edge reveals the envelope function of bovine serum albumin, using scattering volumes of 10-5 μL that are multiple orders of magnitude lower than traditional scattering experiments. Furthermore, tuning the X-ray energy within the carbon absorption edge provides different signatures of the size and shape of the protein by revealing the density of different types of bonding motifs within the protein. The combination of chemical specificity, smaller sample size, and enhanced X-ray contrast will propel RSoXS as a complementary tool to existing techniques for the study of biomolecular structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Ye
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Thinh P Le
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Brooke Kuei
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Chenhui Zhu
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Peter H Zwart
- Berkeley Center for Structural Biology, Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; The Center for Advanced Mathematics for Energy Research Applications, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Enrique D Gomez
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
| | - Esther W Gomez
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
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39
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Sunday DF, Chang AB, Liman CD, Gann E, Delongchamp DM, Thomsen L, Matsen MW, Grubbs RH, Soles CL. Self-Assembly of ABC Bottlebrush Triblock Terpolymers with Evidence for Looped Backbone Conformations. Macromolecules 2018. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel F. Sunday
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Alice B. Chang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Christopher D. Liman
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Eliot Gann
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Dean M. Delongchamp
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Lars Thomsen
- Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
| | - Mark W. Matsen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Robert H. Grubbs
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Christopher L. Soles
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
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40
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Culp TE, Ye D, Paul M, Roy A, Behr MJ, Jons S, Rosenberg S, Wang C, Gomez EW, Kumar M, Gomez ED. Probing the Internal Microstructure of Polyamide Thin-Film Composite Membranes Using Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering. ACS Macro Lett 2018; 7:927-932. [PMID: 35650967 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.8b00301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Characterization of the internal morphology of thin film composite membranes used in reverse osmosis (RO) is a prerequisite for understanding the connection between microstructure and water transport properties and is necessary for the design of membranes with improved performance. Here, we examine a series of fully aromatic polyamide active layers of RO membranes that vary in crosslinking using a combination of resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Analysis of RSoXS profiles reveals a correlation between membrane structure and crosslinking density. Through a combination of scattering contrast calculations, TEM, and AFM micrographs, we assign the dominant contribution to RSoXS data as either surface roughness or chemical heterogeneity, depending on the X-ray energy used. Altogether, our results demonstrate the utility of soft X-ray scattering to examine the microstructure of water filtration membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Mou Paul
- Dow Water and Process Solutions, Edina, Minnesota 55439, United States
| | - Abhishek Roy
- Dow Water and Process Solutions, Edina, Minnesota 55439, United States
| | - Michael J. Behr
- Analytical Sciences, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan 48667, United States
| | - Steve Jons
- Dow Water and Process Solutions, Edina, Minnesota 55439, United States
| | - Steve Rosenberg
- Analytical Sciences, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan 48667, United States
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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41
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Ye D, Kiemle SN, Rongpipi S, Wang X, Wang C, Cosgrove DJ, Gomez EW, Gomez ED. Resonant soft X-ray scattering reveals cellulose microfibril spacing in plant primary cell walls. Sci Rep 2018; 8:12449. [PMID: 30127533 PMCID: PMC6102304 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31024-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2018] [Accepted: 08/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Cellulose microfibrils are crucial for many of the remarkable mechanical properties of primary cell walls. Nevertheless, many structural features of cellulose microfibril organization in cell walls are not yet fully described. Microscopy techniques provide direct visualization of cell wall organization, and quantification of some aspects of wall microstructure is possible through image processing. Complementary to microscopy techniques, scattering yields structural information in reciprocal space over large sample areas. Using the onion epidermal wall as a model system, we introduce resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS) to directly quantify the average interfibril spacing. Tuning the X-ray energy to the calcium L-edge enhances the contrast between cellulose and pectin due to the localization of calcium ions to homogalacturonan in the pectin matrix. As a consequence, RSoXS profiles reveal an average center-to-center distance between cellulose microfibrils or microfibril bundles of about 20 nm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Ye
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States
| | - Sarah N Kiemle
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States
| | - Sintu Rongpipi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States
| | - Xuan Wang
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
| | - Daniel J Cosgrove
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States
| | - Esther W Gomez
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States.
| | - Enrique D Gomez
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States.
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States.
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42
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Coric M, Saxena N, Pflüger M, Müller-Buschbaum P, Krumrey M, Herzig EM. Resonant Grazing-Incidence Small-Angle X-ray Scattering at the Sulfur K-Edge for Material-Specific Investigation of Thin-Film Nanostructures. J Phys Chem Lett 2018; 9:3081-3086. [PMID: 29767524 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Scattering techniques are a powerful tool for probing thin-film nanomorphologies but often require additional characterization by other methods. We applied the well-established grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) technique for a selection of energies around the absorption edge of sulfur to exploit the resonance effect (grazing incidence resonant tender X-ray scattering, GIR-TeXS) of the sulfur atoms within a poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl):phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PC61BM) sample to gain information about the composition of the film morphology. With this approach, it is possible not only to identify structures within the investigated thin film but also to link them to a particular material combination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihael Coric
- Munich School of Engineering, Herzig Group , Technische Universität München , Lichtenbergstr. 4a , 85748 Garching , Germany
| | - Nitin Saxena
- Physik-Department, Lehrstuhl für Funktionelle Materialien , Technische Universität München , James-Franck-Str. 1 , 85748 Garching , Germany
| | - Mika Pflüger
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) , Abbestraße 2-12 , 10587 Berlin , Germany
| | - Peter Müller-Buschbaum
- Physik-Department, Lehrstuhl für Funktionelle Materialien , Technische Universität München , James-Franck-Str. 1 , 85748 Garching , Germany
| | - Michael Krumrey
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) , Abbestraße 2-12 , 10587 Berlin , Germany
| | - Eva M Herzig
- Munich School of Engineering, Herzig Group , Technische Universität München , Lichtenbergstr. 4a , 85748 Garching , Germany
- Physikalisches Institut, Dynamik und Strukturbildung - Herzig Group , Universität Bayreuth , Universitätsstr. 30 , 95447 Bayreuth , Germany
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43
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Hannon AF, Sunday DF, Bowen A, Khaira G, Ren J, Nealey PF, de Pablo JJ, Kline RJ. Optimizing self-consistent field theory block copolymer models with X-ray metrology. MOLECULAR SYSTEMS DESIGN & ENGINEERING 2018; 3:376-389. [PMID: 29892480 PMCID: PMC5992623 DOI: 10.1039/c7me00098g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
A block copolymer self-consistent field theory (SCFT) model is used for direct analysis of experimental X-ray scattering data obtained from thin films of polystyrene-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) made from directed self-assembly. In a departure from traditional approaches, which reconstruct the real space structure using simple geometric shapes, we build on recent work that has relied on physics-based models to determine shape profiles and extract thermodynamic processing information from the scattering data. More specifically, an SCFT model, coupled to a covariance matrix adaptation evolutionary strategy (CMAES), is used to find the set of simulation parameters for the model that best reproduces the scattering data. The SCFT model is detailed enough to capture the essential physics of the copolymer self-assembly, but sufficiently simple to rapidly produce structure profiles needed for interpreting the scattering data. The ability of the model to produce a matching scattering profile is assessed, and several improvements are proposed in order to more accurately recreate the experimental observations. The predicted parameters are compared to those extracted from model fits via additional experimental methods and with predicted parameters from direct particle-based simulations of the same model, which incorporate the effects of fluctuations. The Flory-Huggins interaction parameter for PS-b-PMMA is found to be in agreement with reported ranges for this material. These results serve to strengthen the case for relying on physics-based models for direct analysis of scattering and light signal based experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam F Hannon
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Daniel F Sunday
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Alec Bowen
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, 5801 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Gurdaman Khaira
- Mentor Graphics Corporation, 8005 Boeckman Rd, Wilsonville, OR 97070, USA
| | - Jiaxing Ren
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, 5801 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Paul F Nealey
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, 5801 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
| | - Juan J de Pablo
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, 5801 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
| | - R Joseph Kline
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
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44
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Ferron T, Pope M, Collins BA. Spectral Analysis for Resonant Soft X-Ray Scattering Enables Measurement of Interfacial Width in 3D Organic Nanostructures. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2017; 119:167801. [PMID: 29099210 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.119.167801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Interfaces are of critical importance to many materials and phenomena yet are difficult to probe. This difficulty is compounded in three-dimensional nanostructures and with delicate organic materials. Here we demonstrate a quantitative spectral analysis of resonant soft x-ray scattering that can accurately measure properties of buried nonplanar interfaces within polymeric systems. We measure the scattering invariant on an absolute scale to quantify the interfacial volume and width involved in mixing at the interface of block copolymer nanostructures. Using continuous contrast tuning, this spectral analysis enables the separation and identification of any number of unique scatterers in complex nanostructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Ferron
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA
| | - Michael Pope
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA
| | - Brian A Collins
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA
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45
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Salamończyk M, Vaupotič N, Pociecha D, Wang C, Zhu C, Gorecka E. Structure of nanoscale-pitch helical phases: blue phase and twist-bend nematic phase resolved by resonant soft X-ray scattering. SOFT MATTER 2017; 13:6694-6699. [PMID: 28871294 DOI: 10.1039/c7sm00967d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Periodic structures of phases with orientational order of molecules but homogenous electron density distribution: a short pitch cholesteric phase, blue phase and twist-bend nematic phase, were probed by resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS) at the carbon K-edge. The theoretical model shows that in the case of a simple heliconical nematic structure, two resonant signals corresponding to the full and half pitch band should be present, while only the full pitch band is observed experimentally. This suggests that the twist-bend nematic phase has a complex structure with a double-helix built of two interlocked, shifted helices. We confirm that the helical pitch in the twist-bend nematic phase is in a 10 nm range for both the chiral and achiral materials. We also show that the symmetry of the blue phase can be unambiguously determined through a resonant enhancement of the X-ray diffraction signals, by including polarization effects, which are found to be an important indicator in phase structure determination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirosław Salamończyk
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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46
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Sunday DF, Ren J, Liman CD, Williamson LD, Gronheid R, Nealey PF, Kline RJ. Characterizing Patterned Block Copolymer Thin Films with Soft X-rays. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2017; 9:31325-31334. [PMID: 28541658 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b02791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
The directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers (BCPs) is a potential solution for patterning critical features for integrated circuits at future technology nodes. For this process to be implemented, there needs to be a better understanding of how the template guides the assembly and induces subsurface changes in the lamellar structure. Using a rotational transmission X-ray scattering measurement coupled with soft X-rays to improve contrast between polymer components, the impact of the ratio of the guiding stripe width (W) to the BCP pitch (L0) was investigated. For W/L0 < 1, continuous vertical lamella were observed, with some fluctuations in the interface profile near the template that smoothed out further up the structure. Near W/L0 ≈ 1.5, the arrangement of the lamella shifted, moving from polystyrene centered on the guiding stripe to poly(methyl methacrylate) centered on the guiding stripe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel F Sunday
- National Institute of Standards and Technology , Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Jiaxing Ren
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Christopher D Liman
- National Institute of Standards and Technology , Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Lance D Williamson
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | | | - Paul F Nealey
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - R Joseph Kline
- National Institute of Standards and Technology , Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
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47
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Patel SN, Glaudell AM, Peterson KA, Thomas EM, O’Hara KA, Lim E, Chabinyc ML. Morphology controls the thermoelectric power factor of a doped semiconducting polymer. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2017; 3:e1700434. [PMID: 28630931 PMCID: PMC5473677 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2017] [Accepted: 04/28/2017] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
The electrical performance of doped semiconducting polymers is strongly governed by processing methods and underlying thin-film microstructure. We report on the influence of different doping methods (solution versus vapor) on the thermoelectric power factor (PF) of PBTTT molecularly p-doped with F n TCNQ (n = 2 or 4). The vapor-doped films have more than two orders of magnitude higher electronic conductivity (σ) relative to solution-doped films. On the basis of resonant soft x-ray scattering, vapor-doped samples are shown to have a large orientational correlation length (OCL) (that is, length scale of aligned backbones) that correlates to a high apparent charge carrier mobility (μ). The Seebeck coefficient (α) is largely independent of OCL. This reveals that, unlike σ, leveraging strategies to improve μ have a smaller impact on α. Our best-performing sample with the largest OCL, vapor-doped PBTTT:F4TCNQ thin film, has a σ of 670 S/cm and an α of 42 μV/K, which translates to a large PF of 120 μW m-1 K-2. In addition, despite the unfavorable offset for charge transfer, doping by F2TCNQ also leads to a large PF of 70 μW m-1 K-2, which reveals the potential utility of weak molecular dopants. Overall, our work introduces important general processing guidelines for the continued development of doped semiconducting polymers for thermoelectrics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shrayesh N. Patel
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Anne M. Glaudell
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Kelly A. Peterson
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Elayne M. Thomas
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Kathryn A. O’Hara
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Eunhee Lim
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
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48
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Russell TP, Chai Y. 50th Anniversary Perspective: Putting the Squeeze on Polymers: A Perspective on Polymer Thin Films and Interfaces. Macromolecules 2017. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.7b00418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas P. Russell
- Polymer
Science and Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
- Materials
Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Beijing
Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Yu Chai
- Materials
Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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49
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Posselt D, Zhang J, Smilgies DM, Berezkin AV, Potemkin II, Papadakis CM. Restructuring in block copolymer thin films: In situ GISAXS investigations during solvent vapor annealing. Prog Polym Sci 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2016.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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50
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Liman CD, Germer TA, Sunday DF, DeLongchamp DM, Kline RJ. Modeling the polarized X-ray scattering from periodic nanostructures with molecular anisotropy. J Appl Crystallogr 2017; 50:10.1107/s160057671701408x. [PMID: 38680764 PMCID: PMC11047280 DOI: 10.1107/s160057671701408x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2017] [Accepted: 09/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a need to characterize nanoscale molecular orientation in soft materials, and polarized scattering is a powerful means to measure this property. However, few approaches have been demonstrated that quantitatively relate orientation to scattering. Here, a modeling framework to relate the molecular orientation of nanostructures to polarized resonant soft X-ray scattering measurements is developed. A variable-angle transmission measurement called critical-dimension X-ray scattering enables the characterization of the three-dimensional shape of periodic nanostructures. When this measurement is conducted at resonant soft X-ray energies with different polarizations to measure soft material nanostructures, the scattering contains convolved information about the nanostructure shape and the preferred molecular orientation as a function of position, which is extracted by fitting using inverse iterative algorithms. A computationally efficient Born approximation simulation of the scattering has been developed, with a full tensor treatment of the electric field that takes into account biaxial molecular orientation, and this approach is validated by comparing it with a rigorous coupled wave simulation. The ability of various sample models to generate unique best fit solutions is then analyzed by generating simulated scattering pattern sets and fitting them with an inverse iterative algorithm. The interaction of the measurement geometry and the change in orientation across a periodic repeat unit leads to distinct asymmetry in the scattering pattern which must be considered for an accurate fit of the scattering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher D. Liman
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Thomas A. Germer
- Sensor Science Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Daniel F. Sunday
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Dean M. DeLongchamp
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - R. Joseph Kline
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
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