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Sun D. Hierarchical double periodic structures formed by the linear multiblock copolymers A(BA)2C and (BA)3C with compositions of the A, B and C blocks in ratio 1:1:2. JOURNAL OF POLYMER RESEARCH 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s10965-023-03450-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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Qian M, Xu Y. Formation of Perpendicular Three-Dimensional Network Nanostructures in ABC-Star Copolymers. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:7889-7897. [PMID: 35730246 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c00140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Perpendicular arrangements in hierarchical nanostructures show superior mechanical properties and provide great opportunities for the development of advanced membranes because different channels are connected by the perpendicular blocks. To obtain these perpendicular hierarchical nanostructures, we use a simple ABC-star terpolymer because of the existence of a conjunction point by using the A block as a polymer network template, which guides the BC phase separation accordingly. When χBC is 10, the formed phase and the corresponding phase diagram of ABC-star are similar to those of the AB2 triblock because of the mixture between the B and C blocks. Interestingly, at increased χBC, the B and C blocks phase separate, leading to the formation of a series of perpendicular nanostructures, including perpendicular lamellae-in-lamellae (L⊥), perpendicular lamellae-in-cylinder (C⊥), and even perpendicular three-dimensional polymer networks (G⊥). The corresponding stability regime of each phase is identified through the dedicated comparison of free energy, which can well explain the missing phases in Monte Carlo simulations. Our proposed design route according to the target structures and the calculated phase diagram can provide useful guidance for the experimental observation of these perpendicular nanostructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingshuang Qian
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
| | - Yuci Xu
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
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Yin M, Xu Y. Spatial Dimension Determined Stability of Hierarchical Structures in A(BC)
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B Multiblock Copolymers. MACROMOL THEOR SIMUL 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/mats.202200028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mengchen Yin
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering Ningbo University Ningbo
| | - Yuci Xu
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering Ningbo University Ningbo
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Zhang Y, Qian M, Hu W, Xu Y. Enlarged Phase Regions of Multi-Continuous 3D Network Nanostructures in ABC Triblock Copolymers. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2021; 37:6322-6329. [PMID: 33979159 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c00856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Aiming to increase the stability region of three-dimensional (3D) multi-continuous morphologies due to great potential application in smart sensors, gas separation membranes, and photonic materials, in this paper, we control the block ratio of different channels of an ABC triblock copolymer according to the curvature of these multi-continuous nanostructures. In the small A volume fraction region, the multi-continuous gyroid nanostructure is stable when fB/fC equals 1/3, while two-domain lamellae (LB/C) and three-layer lamellae (L3) are obtained when B and C blocks have comparable volume fractions, suggesting that changing the fB/fC ratio is an effective way of forming multi-continuous polymer network nanostructures. Interestingly, a large phase region of the core-shell gyroid and O70 are found under the condition of fB/fC = 4. The mechanism of changing the ratio to enlarge the phase regimes of multi-continuous nanostructures can be ascribed to the existence of curvature in gyroid and O70 nanostructures. Therefore, the formed thin layer must be consistent with these curvatures, which can be tuned by the adjustment of the block ratio. The proposed mechanism and the calculated phase diagram can effectively guide the experimental observation of these multi-continuous nanostructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yangjin Zhang
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
| | - Mingshuang Qian
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
| | - Weiguo Hu
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
| | - Yuci Xu
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
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Xu Y, Hu W. Formation of Multicontinuous 3D Network Nanostructures with Increased Complexity in ABC-Type Block Copolymers. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2020; 36:11324-11331. [PMID: 32842745 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c02017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The multicontinuous network nature of polymer nanostructures provides them with many opportunities to fabricate multifunctional materials with specific mechanical, transport, optical, and other novel properties. In this paper, we generate an effective design principle to craft a series of multicontinuous network structures with controllable channels, including multicontinuous gyroid and O70 network morphologies via the self-assembly of ABC-type block copolymers. Importantly, we achieve a much wider (∼25%) compositional range than that of AB diblock copolymers (∼3%), which would increase the widespread application of these multicontinuous polymer networks. Even for the simplest ABC linear system, this method is valid for generating multicontinuous network structures, where gyroids and O70 are found to possess large phase regions. This finding can theoretically explain the experimental observation of gyroid and O70 phases. We believe that our proposed design principle along with the calculated phase diagram provides a compelling panacea for the fabrication of multicontinuous 3D network nanostructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuci Xu
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
| | - Weiguo Hu
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
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Hu W, Shao Z, Zhang D, Xu Y. Phase Diagram of Hierarchical Structures Formed from A(BC)
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B Multiblock Copolymers. MACROMOL THEOR SIMUL 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/mats.201900004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Weiguo Hu
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical EngineeringNingbo University Ningbo Zhejiang 315211 China
| | - Zhanwei Shao
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical EngineeringNingbo University Ningbo Zhejiang 315211 China
| | - Di Zhang
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical EngineeringNingbo University Ningbo Zhejiang 315211 China
| | - Yuci Xu
- Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical EngineeringNingbo University Ningbo Zhejiang 315211 China
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of PolymerDepartment of Macromolecular ScienceFudan University Shanghai 200433 China
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Jiao GS, Li Y, Qian HJ, Liu J, Lu ZY. Disperse cyclic diblock copolymer: another promising candidate for fabricating irregular bicontinuous structure. MOLECULAR SIMULATION 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/08927022.2017.1350784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gui-Sheng Jiao
- State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Yue Li
- Key Laboratory of Rubber-plastics, Ministry of Education/Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Rubber-plastics, School of Polymer Science & Engineering, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Hu-Jun Qian
- State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Jian Liu
- Institute of Chemical Materials, China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), Mianyang, China
| | - Zhong-Yuan Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, China
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Li Y, Jiang T, Wang L, Lin S, Lin J. Self-assembly of rod-coil-rod triblock copolymers: A route toward hierarchical liquid crystalline structures. POLYMER 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2016.09.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsuan-Hung Liu
- Institute
of Polymer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan R. O. C
| | - Ching-I Huang
- Institute
of Polymer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan R. O. C
| | - An-Chang Shi
- Department
of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada, L8S 4M1
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Xu Y, Li W, Qiu F, Lin Z. Self-assembly of 21-arm star-like diblock copolymer in bulk and under cylindrical confinement. NANOSCALE 2014; 6:6844-6852. [PMID: 24830862 DOI: 10.1039/c4nr01275e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Phase behaviors of a 21-arm star-like diblock copolymer in bulk and under confinement were explored by using the pseudo-spectral method of a self-consistent mean field theory. An asymmetrical phase diagram in bulk was constructed by comparing the free energy of different structures. The gyroid phase was found to possess a large phase region when the inner block in the star-like diblock copolymer has a small volume fraction, suggesting the propensity to form the gyroid phase under this condition. Combined with the early experimental work, a scaling law correlating the period of lamellae D(multiarms) formed from multi-arm star-like block copolymers with the number of arms f was identified, that is, D(multiarms) = D/f(1/2), where D is the period of a linear diblock copolymer with the same degree of polymerization N as a star-like diblock copolymer. The scaling law was also substantiated by the scaling theory. The bridging fraction of the lamellae formed in a star-like diblock copolymer was nearly 100%, which is advantageous for improving its mechanical properties. Some interesting two-dimensional and three-dimensional morphologies were yielded under the cylindrical confinement, where a 3D double helix was found to be the most stable structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuci Xu
- Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, China
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Markov V, Kriksin Y, Erukhimovich I, ten Brinke G. Perpendicular lamellar-in-lamellar and other planar morphologies in A-b-(B-b-A)2-b-C and (B-b-A)2-b-C ternary multiblock copolymer melts. J Chem Phys 2013; 139:084906. [PMID: 24007036 DOI: 10.1063/1.4818872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Ordered planar morphologies in A-b-(B-b-A)2-b-C and (B-b-A)2-b-C terpolymer melts are studied within the framework of the self-consistent field theory for volume fractions of components A, B, and C in the ratio 1:1:2 and the Flory-Huggins interaction parameters satisfying χ(AB) = 2χ(AC). The stable phases turn out to be the disordered, hexagonal, parallel lamellar-in-lamellar L∥ (including the simple lamellar) as well as non-shifted and shifted (L⊥ and SL⊥) perpendicular lamellar-in-lamellar morphologies. Depending on the value of the ratio r = Θ(AB)/Θ(BC), where Θ is a characteristic temperature of the units involved, different sequences of phase transitions are shown to occur. The hexagonal phase is characteristic for r ≅ 1. The L⊥ and SL⊥ morphologies occur at weak and intermediate segregations whereas the L∥ morphology appears for stronger degrees of segregation. For (B-b-A)2-b-C a reduction in r favors the shifted SL⊥ phase over the non-shifted L⊥ one, whereas for A-b-(B-b-A)2-b-C we find re-entrant phase transitions SL⊥ - L⊥. The physics determining the particular phase behavior is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Markov
- Department of Polymer Chemistry and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
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