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Yan J, Tuhin MO, Sadler JD, Smith SD, Pasquinelli MA, Spontak RJ. Network topology and stability of homologous multiblock copolymer physical gels. J Chem Phys 2020; 153:124904. [PMID: 33003715 DOI: 10.1063/5.0028136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The mechanical properties of physical gels generated by selectively swelling a homologous series of linear multiblock copolymers are investigated by quasistatic uniaxial tensile tests. We use the slip-tube network model to extract the contributions arising from network crosslinks and chain entanglements. The composition dependence of these contributions is established and considered in terms of simulations that identify the probabilities associated with chain conformations. Dynamic rheology provides additional insight into the characteristics and thermal stability of the molecular networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaqi Yan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
| | - Mohammad O Tuhin
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
| | - J David Sadler
- Corporate Research and Development, The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224, USA
| | - Steven D Smith
- Corporate Research and Development, The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224, USA
| | - Melissa A Pasquinelli
- Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
| | - Richard J Spontak
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
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2
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von Tiedemann P, Yan J, Barent RD, Spontak RJ, Floudas G, Frey H, Register RA. Tapered Multiblock Star Copolymers: Synthesis, Selective Hydrogenation, and Properties. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c00645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Philipp von Tiedemann
- Department of Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 10-14, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz, Staudinger Weg 9, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Olden Street, Princeton, 08544 New Jersey, United States
| | - Jiaqi Yan
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, 27695 North Carolina, United States
| | - Ramona D. Barent
- Department of Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 10-14, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Max Planck Graduate Center, Forum Universitatis 2, 55122 Mainz, Germany
| | - Richard J. Spontak
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, 27695 North Carolina, United States
- Department of Materials Science & Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, 27695 North Carolina, United States
| | - George Floudas
- Department of Physics, University of Ioannina, P.O. Box 1186, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Holger Frey
- Department of Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 10-14, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Richard A. Register
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Olden Street, Princeton, 08544 New Jersey, United States
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Yan J, Yan S, Tilly JC, Ko Y, Lee B, Spontak RJ. Ionic complexation of endblock-sulfonated thermoplastic elastomers and their physical gels for improved thermomechanical performance. J Colloid Interface Sci 2020; 567:419-428. [PMID: 32088505 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2020] [Revised: 02/02/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) composed of nonpolar triblock copolymers constitute a broadly important class of (re)processable network-forming macromolecules employed in ubiquitous commercial applications. Physical gelation of these materials in the presence of a low-volatility oil that is midblock-selective yields tunably soft TPE gels (TPEGs) that are suitable for emergent technologies ranging from electroactive, phase-change and shape-memory responsive media to patternable soft substrates for flexible electronics and microfluidics. Many of the high-volume TPEs used for these purposes possess styrenic endblocks that are inherently limited by a relatively low glass transition temperature. To mitigate this shortcoming, we sulfonate and subsequently complex (and physically crosslink) the endblocks with trivalent Al3+ ions. Doing so reduces the effective hydrophilicity of the sulfonated endblocks, as evidenced by water uptake measurements, while concurrently enhancing the thermomechanical stability of the corresponding TPEGs. Chemical modification results, as well as morphological and property development, are investigated as functions of the degree of sulfonation, complexation and TPEG composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaqi Yan
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Shaoyi Yan
- Department of Materials Science & Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Joseph C Tilly
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Yeongun Ko
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Byeongdu Lee
- Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
| | - Richard J Spontak
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
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4
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Pervaje AK, Tilly JC, Detwiler AT, Spontak RJ, Khan SA, Santiso EE. Molecular Simulations of Thermoset Polymers Implementing Theoretical Kinetics with Top-Down Coarse-Grained Models. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b02255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Amulya K. Pervaje
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, United States
| | - Joseph C. Tilly
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, United States
| | | | - Richard J. Spontak
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, United States
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, United States
| | - Saad A. Khan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, United States
| | - Erik E. Santiso
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, United States
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Armstrong DP, Spontak RJ. Dielectric and Resistive Heating of Polymeric Media: Toward Remote Thermal Activation of Stimuli-Responsive Soft Materials. Macromol Rapid Commun 2018; 40:e1800669. [PMID: 30536997 DOI: 10.1002/marc.201800669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2018] [Revised: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Stimuli-responsive soft materials are becoming increasingly important in a wide range of contemporary technologies, and methods by which to promote thermal stimulation remotely are of considerable interest for controllable device deployment, particularly in inaccessible environments such as outer space. Until now, remote thermal stimulation of responsive polymers has relied extensively on the use of nanocomposites wherein embedded nanoparticles/structures are selectively targeted for heating purposes. In this study, an alternative remote-heating mechanism demonstrates that the dielectric and resistive thermal losses introduced upon application of an alternating current generate sufficient heat to raise the temperature of a neat polyimide by over 70 °C within ≈10 s. Thermal imaging is used here to measure current-induced temperature changes of polymeric media, and a proposed analytical model yields predictions that compare reasonably well with experimental data, confirming that such remote heating is viable. Conditions permitting a shape-memory polymer possessing a melting transition and susceptible to dielectric actuation to achieve continuous electrostrain-temperature cycling are identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel P Armstrong
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Richard J Spontak
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.,Department of Materials Science & Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
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6
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Turgut A, Tuhin MO, Toprakci O, Pasquinelli MA, Spontak RJ, Toprakci HAK. Thermoplastic Elastomer Systems Containing Carbon Nanofibers as Soft Piezoresistive Sensors. ACS OMEGA 2018; 3:12648-12657. [PMID: 31457994 PMCID: PMC6645100 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b01740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2018] [Accepted: 09/19/2018] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Soft, wearable or printable strain sensors derived from conductive polymer nanocomposites (CPNs) are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in personal-care applications. Common elastomers employed in the fabrication of such piezoresistive CPNs frequently rely on chemically cross-linked polydiene or polysiloxane chemistry, thereby generating relatively inexpensive and reliable sensors that become solid waste upon application termination. Moreover, the shape anisotropy of the incorporated conductive nanoparticles can produce interesting electrical effects due to strain-induced spatial rearrangement. In this study, we investigate the morphological, mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical properties of CPNs generated from thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) triblock copolymer systems containing vapor-grown carbon nanofiber (CNF). Modulus-tunable TPE gels imbibed with a midblock-selective aliphatic oil exhibit well-behaved properties with increasing CNF content, but generally display nonlinear negative piezoresistance at different strain amplitudes and stretch rates due to nanofiber mobility upon CPN strain-cycling. In contrast, a neat TPE possessing low hard-block content yields a distinctive strain-reversible piezoresistive response, as well as low electrical hysteresis, upon cyclic deformation. Unlike their chemically cross-linked analogs, these physically cross-linked and thus environmentally benign CPNs are fully reprocessable by thermal and/or solvent means.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayse Turgut
- Department of Polymer
Engineering, Yalova University, 77200 Yalova, Turkey
| | - Mohammad O. Tuhin
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular
Engineering, Fiber and Polymer Science Program, and Department of Materials Science
& Engineering, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States
| | - Ozan Toprakci
- Department of Polymer
Engineering, Yalova University, 77200 Yalova, Turkey
| | - Melissa A. Pasquinelli
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular
Engineering, Fiber and Polymer Science Program, and Department of Materials Science
& Engineering, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States
| | - Richard J. Spontak
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular
Engineering, Fiber and Polymer Science Program, and Department of Materials Science
& Engineering, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States
- NanoBioMedical Centre, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
- E-mail:
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Deng J, Yan J, Tilly JC, Deng L, Mineart KP, Spontak RJ. Incorporation of Metallic Species into Midblock-Sulfonated Block Ionomers. Macromol Rapid Commun 2018; 39:e1800427. [PMID: 30085395 DOI: 10.1002/marc.201800427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2018] [Revised: 07/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Block ionomers can, in the same fashion as their neutral block copolymer analogs, microphase-order into various nanoscale morphologies. The added benefit of a copolymer possessing a charged species is that the resultant block ionomer becomes amphiphilic and capable of imbibing polar liquids, including water. This characteristic facilitates incorporation of metallic species into the soft nanostructure for a wide range of target applications. In this study, the nonpolar and polar constituents of solvent-templated midblock-sulfonated block ionomers (SBIs) are first selectively metallated for complementary morphological analysis. Next, four different salts, with cationic charges ranging from +1 to +3, are introduced into three hydrated SBIs varying in their degree of sulfonation (DOS), and cation uptake is measured as a function of immersion time. These results indicate that uptake generally increases with increasing salt concentration, cationic charge, and specimen DOS. Swelling and nanoindentation measurements conducted at ambient temperature demonstrate that water uptake decreases, while the surface modulus increases, with increasing cationic charge. Chemical spectra acquired from energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirm the presence of each of the ion-exchanged species, and corresponding EDS chemical maps reveal that the spatial distribution of these species is relatively uniform throughout the block ionomer films.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Deng
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Jiaqi Yan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Joseph C Tilly
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Liyuan Deng
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Kenneth P Mineart
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, 17837, USA
| | - Richard J Spontak
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.,North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
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Tuhin MO, Ryan JJ, Sadler JD, Han Z, Lee B, Smith SD, Pasquinelli MA, Spontak RJ. Microphase-Separated Morphologies and Molecular Network Topologies in Multiblock Copolymer Gels. Macromolecules 2018. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - J. David Sadler
- Corporate Research & Development, The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224, United States
| | - Zexiang Han
- Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K
| | - Byeongdu Lee
- Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Steven D. Smith
- Corporate Research & Development, The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224, United States
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