1
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Jafari VF, Mossayebi Z, Allison-Logan S, Shabani S, Qiao GG. The Power of Automation in Polymer Chemistry: Precision Synthesis of Multiblock Copolymers with Block Sequence Control. Chemistry 2023; 29:e202301767. [PMID: 37401148 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202301767] [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: 06/02/2023] [Revised: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
Machines can revolutionize the field of chemistry and material science, driving the development of new chemistries, increasing productivity, and facilitating reaction scale up. The incorporation of automated systems in the field of polymer chemistry has however proven challenging owing to the demanding reaction conditions, rendering the automation setup complex and costly. There is an imminent need for an automation platform which uses fast and simple polymerization protocols, while providing a high level of control on the structure of macromolecules via precision synthesis. This work combines an oxygen tolerant, room temperature polymerization method with a simple liquid handling robot to automatically prepare precise and high order multiblock copolymers with unprecedented livingness even after many chain extensions. The highest number of blocks synthesized in such a system is reported, demonstrating the capabilities of this automated platform for the rapid synthesis and complex polymer structure formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vianna F Jafari
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Zahra Mossayebi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Stephanie Allison-Logan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Sadegh Shabani
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Greg G Qiao
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
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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) 2023: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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Liang R, Song Q, Li R, Le AN, Fu X, Xue Y, Ji X, Li W, Zhong M. Rapid Access to Diverse Multicomponent Hierarchical Nanostructures from Mixed‐Graft Block Copolymers. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2022; 61:e202210067. [DOI: 10.1002/anie.202210067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ruiqi Liang
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Yale University New Haven CT 06520 USA
| | - Qingliang Song
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers Department of Macromolecular Science Fudan University Shanghai 200438 China
| | - Ruipeng Li
- National Synchrotron Light Source II Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton NY 11973 USA
| | - An N. Le
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Yale University New Haven CT 06520 USA
| | - Xiaowei Fu
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Yale University New Haven CT 06520 USA
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University Chengdu 610065 China
| | - Yazhen Xue
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Yale University New Haven CT 06520 USA
| | - Xiaoyu Ji
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Yale University New Haven CT 06520 USA
| | - Weihua Li
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers Department of Macromolecular Science Fudan University Shanghai 200438 China
| | - Mingjiang Zhong
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Yale University New Haven CT 06520 USA
- Department of Chemistry Yale University New Haven CT 06520 USA
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4
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Liang R, Song Q, Li R, Le AN, Fu X, Xue Y, Ji X, Li W, Zhong M. Rapid Access to Diverse Multicomponent Hierarchical Nanostructures from Mixed‐Graft Block Copolymers. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.202210067] [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)
- Ruiqi Liang
- Yale University Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering UNITED STATES
| | - Qingliang Song
- Fudan University Department of Macromolecular Science CHINA
| | - Ruipeng Li
- Brookhaven National Laboratory National Synchrotron Light Source II UNITED STATES
| | - An N. Le
- Yale University Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering UNITED STATES
| | - Xiaowei Fu
- Yale University Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering UNITED STATES
| | - Yazhen Xue
- Yale University Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering UNITED STATES
| | - Xiaoyu Ji
- Yale University Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering UNITED STATES
| | - Weihua Li
- Fudan University Department of Macromolecular Science CHINA
| | - Mingjiang Zhong
- Yale University Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering 17 Hillhouse Ave Room 422 06511 New Haven UNITED STATES
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5
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Cater HL, Balynska I, Allen MJ, Freeman BD, Page ZA. User Guide to Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization of endo-Norbornene Monomers with Chelated Initiators. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Henry L. Cater
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Iana Balynska
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Marshall J. Allen
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Benny D. Freeman
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Zachariah A. Page
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
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6
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Kim KH, Nam J, Choi J, Seo M, Bang J. From macromonomers to bottlebrush copolymers with sequence control: synthesis, properties, and applications. Polym Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1039/d2py00126h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Bottlebrush polymers (BBPs) are a type of comb-like macromolecules with densely grafted polymeric sidechains attached to the polymer backbones, and many intriguing properties and applications have been demonstrated due to...
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7
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Liberman-Martin AL, Chang AB, Chu CK, Siddique RH, Lee B, Grubbs RH. Processing Effects on the Self-Assembly of Brush Block Polymer Photonic Crystals. ACS Macro Lett 2021; 10:1480-1486. [PMID: 35549148 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.1c00579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The self-assembly of poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PDMS-b-PTMC) bottlebrush block polymers was investigated under different processing conditions. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and UV/Visible spectroscopy provided insight into the self-assembly and structure in response to heating and applied pressure. In the absence of applied pressure (i.e., before annealing), the PDMS-b-PTMC bottlebrush block polymers are white solids and adopt small, randomly oriented lamellar grains. Heating the materials to 140 °C in the absence of applied pressure appears to "lock in" the isotropic, short-range-ordered state, preventing the formation of the long-range-ordered lamellar structure responsible for photonic properties. Applying modest anisotropic pressure (3 psi) between parallel plates at ambient temperature orients the short-range lamellar grains; however, applied pressure alone does not produce long-range order. Only when the bottlebrush block polymers were heated (>100 °C) under modest pressure (3 psi) were long-range-ordered photonic crystals formed. Analysis of the SAXS data motivated analogies to liquid crystals and revealed the potential self-assembly pathway. These results provide insight into the structure and self-assembly of bottlebrush block polymers with low glass transition temperature side chains in response to different processing conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alice B. Chang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Crystal K. Chu
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Radwanul H. Siddique
- Department of Medical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Byeongdu Lee
- X-Ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Robert H. Grubbs
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States
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8
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Hu M, Li X, Rzayev J, Russell TP. Hydrolysis-Induced Self-Assembly of High-χ–Low-N Bottlebrush Copolymers. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c02061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mingqiu Hu
- Polymer Science and Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Xindi Li
- Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260-3000, 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
- Polymer Science and Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
- Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
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9
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Park SJ, Cheong GK, Bates FS, Dorfman KD. Stability of the Double Gyroid Phase in Bottlebrush Diblock Copolymer Melts. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c01654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- So Jung Park
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Guo Kang Cheong
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Frank S. Bates
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Kevin D. Dorfman
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
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10
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Case LJ, Delaney KT, Fredrickson GH, Bates FS, Dorfman KD. Open-source platform for block polymer formulation design using particle swarm optimization. THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. E, SOFT MATTER 2021; 44:115. [PMID: 34532757 DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-021-00123-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Facile exploration of large design spaces is critical to the development of new functional soft materials, including self-assembling block polymers, and computational inverse design methodologies are a promising route to initialize this task. We present here an open-source software package coupling particle swarm optimization (PSO) with an existing open-source self-consistent field theory (SCFT) software for the inverse design of self-assembling block polymers to target bulk morphologies. To lower the barrier to use of the software and facilitate exploration of novel design spaces, the underlying SCFT calculations are seeded with algorithmically generated initial fields for four typical morphologies: lamellae, network phases, cylindrical phases, and spherical phases. In addition to its utility within PSO, the initial guess tool also finds generic applicability for stand-alone SCFT calculations. The robustness of the software is demonstrated with two searches for classical phases in the conformationally symmetric diblock system, as well as one search for the Frank-Kasper [Formula: see text] phase in conformationally asymmetric diblocks. The source code for both the initial guess generation and the PSO wrapper is publicly available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Logan J Case
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Kris T Delaney
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Glenn H Fredrickson
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Frank S Bates
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Kevin D Dorfman
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
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11
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Min J, Jung HY, Jeong S, Lee B, Son CY, Park MJ. Enhancing ion transport in charged block copolymers by stabilizing low symmetry morphology: Electrostatic control of interfaces. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2107987118. [PMID: 34344828 PMCID: PMC8364204 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2107987118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Recently, the interest in charged polymers has been rapidly growing due to their uses in energy storage and transfer devices. Yet, polymer electrolyte-based devices are not on the immediate horizon because of the low ionic conductivity. In the present study, we developed a methodology to enhance the ionic conductivity of charged block copolymers comprising ionic liquids through the electrostatic control of the interfacial layers. Unprecedented reentrant phase transitions between lamellar and A15 structures were seen, which cannot be explained by well-established thermodynamic factors. X-ray scattering experiments and molecular dynamics simulations revealed the formation of fascinating, thin ionic shell layers composed of ionic complexes. The ionic liquid cations of these complexes predominantly presented near the micellar interfaces if they had strong binding affinity with the charged polymer chains. Therefore, the interfacial properties and concentration fluctuations of the A15 structures were crucially dependent on the type of tethered acid groups in the polymers. Overall, the stabilization energies of the A15 structures were greater when enriched, attractive electrostatic interactions were present at the micellar interfaces. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that block copolymer interfaces act as "dead zone" to significantly deteriorate ion transport, this study establishes a prospective avenue for advanced polymer electrolyte having tailor-made interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaemin Min
- Department of Chemistry, Division of Advanced Materials Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea
| | - Ha Young Jung
- Department of Chemistry, Division of Advanced Materials Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea
| | - Seungwon Jeong
- Department of Chemistry, Division of Advanced Materials Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea
| | - Byeongdu Lee
- Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439
| | - Chang Yun Son
- Department of Chemistry, Division of Advanced Materials Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea;
| | - Moon Jeong Park
- Department of Chemistry, Division of Advanced Materials Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea;
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12
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Deacy A, Gregory GL, Sulley GS, Chen TTD, Williams CK. Sequence Control from Mixtures: Switchable Polymerization Catalysis and Future Materials Applications. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:10021-10040. [PMID: 34190553 PMCID: PMC8297863 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c03250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
There is an ever-increasing demand for higher-performing polymeric materials counterbalanced by the need for sustainability throughout the life cycle. Copolymers comprising ester, carbonate, or ether linkages could fulfill some of this demand as their monomer-polymer chemistry is closer to equilibrium, facilitating (bio)degradation and recycling; many monomers are or could be sourced from renewables or waste. Here, an efficient and broadly applicable route to make such copolymers is discussed, a form of switchable polymerization catalysis which exploits a single catalyst, switched between different catalytic cycles, to prepare block sequence selective copolymers from monomer mixtures. This perspective presents the principles of this catalysis, catalyst design criteria, the selectivity and structural copolymer characterization tools, and the properties of the resulting copolymers. Uses as thermoplastic elastomers, toughened plastics, adhesives, and self-assembled nanostructures, and for programmed degradation, among others, are discussed. The state-of-the-art research into both catalysis and products, as well as future challenges and directions, are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Gregory S. Sulley
- Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Research Laboratory, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, U.K.
| | - Thomas T. D. Chen
- Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Research Laboratory, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, U.K.
| | - Charlotte K. Williams
- Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Research Laboratory, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, U.K.
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13
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Constantinou AP, Zhang K, Somuncuoğlu B, Feng B, Georgiou TK. PEG-Based Methacrylate Tetrablock Terpolymers: How Does the Architecture Control the Gelation? Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anna P. Constantinou
- Department of Materials, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ London, United Kingdom
| | - Kaiwen Zhang
- Department of Materials, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ London, United Kingdom
| | - Birsen Somuncuoğlu
- Department of Materials, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ London, United Kingdom
| | - Bailin Feng
- Department of Materials, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ London, United Kingdom
| | - Theoni K. Georgiou
- Department of Materials, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ London, United Kingdom
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14
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Gupta R, Misra M, Zhang W, Mukhtyar A, Gido SP, Ribbe A, Escobedo FA, Coughlin EB. Topological Frustration as a New Parameter to Tune Morphology Revealed through Exploring the Continuum between A-B-C 3-Arm Star and Linear Triblock Polymers. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rohit Gupta
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, University of Massachusetts, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-4530, United States
| | - Mayank Misra
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, 120 Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Wenxu Zhang
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, University of Massachusetts, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-4530, United States
| | - Ankita Mukhtyar
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, 120 Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Samuel P. Gido
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, University of Massachusetts, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-4530, United States
| | - Alexander Ribbe
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, University of Massachusetts, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-4530, United States
| | - Fernando A. Escobedo
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, 120 Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - E. Bryan Coughlin
- Department of Polymer Science & Engineering, University of Massachusetts, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-4530, United States
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15
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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: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [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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16
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Boyle BM, Collins JL, Mensch TE, Ryan MD, Newell BS, Miyake GM. Impact of Backbone Composition on Homopolymer Dynamics and Brush Block Copolymer Self-Assembly. Polym Chem 2020; 11:7147-7158. [PMID: 33456502 PMCID: PMC7805478 DOI: 10.1039/d0py01007c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Four series of brush block copolymers (BBCP), with near identical side chain compositions but varying backbone structures, were synthesized to investigate the effect of backbone structure on the process of thermal BBCP self-assembly to photonic crystals (PCs). Each of the self-assembled PC films were examined by reflection measurements, small angle X-ray scattering measurements, and scanning electron microscopy to compare the resulting properties of the polymeric photonic crystal and the nanostructured morphology impacted by the backbone structure. It was found that the composition of the brush backbone within a BBCP has a dramatic effect on the ability of the BBCP to self-assemble into ordered nanostructures and on the local ordering of the nanostructure morphology accessed with higher molecular weight (MW) BBCPs (> 1,500 kg/mol). BBCPs with a norbornene imide-based backbone were able to thermally self-assemble to longer wavelength reflecting PCs and had higher fidelity ordering of lamellar nanostructures with higher MW polymers. By analyzing the melt rheological responses of the backbone compositions, both as linear polymers and homobrush polymers, it was concluded that the inherent fragility of the backbone promotes enhanced local ordering in the lamellar nanostructure morphology as well as access to larger domain sizes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bret M. Boyle
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Joseph L. Collins
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Tara E. Mensch
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Matthew D. Ryan
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Brian S. Newell
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Garret M. Miyake
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
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17
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Radlauer MR, Arora A, Matta ME, Bates FS, Dorfman KD, Hillmyer MA. Order and Disorder in ABCA' Tetrablock Terpolymers. J Phys Chem B 2020; 124:10266-10275. [PMID: 33136393 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c07543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Self-assembly of poly(styrene)-block-poly(isoprene)-block-poly(lactide)-block-poly(styrene) (PS-PI-PLA-PS' or SILS') tetrablock terpolymers, where the volume fractions of the first three blocks are nearly equivalent, was studied both experimentally and using the self-consistent field theory (SCFT). SCFT indicates that addition of the terminal PS' chain to a low-molecular-mass, hexagonally packed cylinders forming, SIL precursor can produce a disordered state due to preferential mixing of the polystyrene end-blocks with the PI and PLA midblocks in the SILS' tetrablock, alleviating the unfavorable contact between the highly incompatible PI and PLA segments. In contrast, SCFT predicts that higher-molar-mass triblock precursors will maintain an ordered morphology upon addition of the terminal PS' block due to stronger overall segregation strengths. These predictions were tested using three sets of SILS' polymers that were synthesized based on three precursor SIL triblock polymers differing in total molar mass (14, 30, and 47 kg mol-1) and varying the length of the terminal PS' chain. In the lowest-molar-mass set of tetrablock polymers, the shift from order to disorder was observed in the materials at ambient temperature as the molar mass of the terminal PS' block was increased, consistent with SCFT calculations. Disorder with longer S' chain lengths was not found in the two higher-molar-mass polymer sets; the medium-molar-mass set showed both microphase separation and long-range order based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), while the largest of these block polymers microphase separated but showed limited long-range order. The combination of the experimental and theoretical results presented in this work provides insights into the self-assembly of ABCA'-type polymers and highlights potential complications that arise from frustration in accessing well-ordered materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madalyn R Radlauer
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.,Department of Chemistry, San José State University, San José, California 95192, United States
| | - Akash Arora
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Megan E Matta
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Frank S Bates
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Kevin D Dorfman
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Marc A Hillmyer
- Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
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18
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Liu Y, Wang J, Zhang M, Li H, Lin Z. Polymer-Ligated Nanocrystals Enabled by Nonlinear Block Copolymer Nanoreactors: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications. ACS NANO 2020; 14:12491-12521. [PMID: 32975934 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c06936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The past several decades have witnessed substantial advances in synthesis and self-assembly of inorganic nanocrystals (NCs) due largely to their size- and shape-dependent properties for use in optics, optoelectronics, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, nanotechnology, and biomedical applications. Among various routes to NCs, the nonlinear block copolymer (BCP) nanoreactor technique has recently emerged as a general yet robust strategy for crafting a rich diversity of NCs of interest with precisely controlled dimensions, compositions, architectures, and surface chemistry. It is notable that nonlinear BCPs are unimolecular micelles, where each block copolymer arm of nonlinear BCP is covalently connected to a central core or polymer backbone. As such, their structures are static and stable, representing a class of functional polymers with complex architecture for directing the synthesis of NCs. In this review, recent progress in synthesizing NCs by capitalizing on two sets of nonlinear BCPs as nanoreactors are discussed. They are star-shaped BCPs for producing 0D spherical nanoparticles, including plain, hollow, and core-shell nanoparticles, and bottlebrush-like BCPs for creating 1D plain and core/shell nanorods (and nanowires) as well as nanotubes. As the surface of these NCs is intimately tethered with the outer blocks of nonlinear BCPs used, they can thus be regarded as polymer-ligated NCs (i.e., hairy NCs). First, the rational design and synthesis of nonlinear BCPs via controlled/living radical polymerizations is introduced. Subsequently, their use as the NC-directing nanoreactors to yield monodisperse nanoparticles and nanorods with judiciously engineered dimensions, compositions, and surface chemistry is examined. Afterward, the intriguing properties of such polymer-ligated NCs, which are found to depend sensitively on their sizes, architectures, and functionalities of surface polymer hairs, are highlighted. Some practical applications of these polymer-ligated NCs for energy conversion and storage and drug delivery are then discussed. Finally, challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yijiang Liu
- College of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Chemistry and Application of Ministry of Education, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, Hunan Province, China
| | - Jialin Wang
- College of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Chemistry and Application of Ministry of Education, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, Hunan Province, China
| | - Mingyue Zhang
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Huaming Li
- College of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Chemistry and Application of Ministry of Education, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, Hunan Province, China
| | - Zhiqun Lin
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
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19
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Ahmed E, Womble CT, Weck M. Synthesis and Aqueous Self-Assembly of ABCD Bottlebrush Block Copolymers. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Eman Ahmed
- Molecular Design Institute and Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, New York 10003, United States
| | - C. Tyler Womble
- Molecular Design Institute and Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, New York 10003, United States
| | - Marcus Weck
- Molecular Design Institute and Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, New York 10003, United States
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20
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Walsh DJ, Wade MA, Rogers SA, Guironnet D. Challenges of Size-Exclusion Chromatography for the Analysis of Bottlebrush Polymers. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dylan J. Walsh
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Matthew A. Wade
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Simon A. Rogers
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Damien Guironnet
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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21
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Obhi NK, Jarrett-Wilkins CN, Hicks GEJ, Seferos DS. Self-Assembly of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Bottlebrush Polymers into End-On-End Linear Fiber Morphologies. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nimrat K. Obhi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada
| | - Charles N. Jarrett-Wilkins
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada
| | - Garion E. J. Hicks
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada
| | - Dwight S. Seferos
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
- Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada
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22
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Chen Y, Zhang X, Jiang Y. The influence of side-chain conformations on the phase behavior of bottlebrush block polymers. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:8047-8056. [PMID: 32785406 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm00918k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
A self-consistent field theory based on the wormlike chain model is implemented in the investigation of the self-assembly behavior of bottlebrush block polymers in the formation of a lamellar phase. We utilize the model in which the semi-flexible side chains of two types A and B are grafted at the semi-flexible backbone of type C to mimic the bottlebrush molecule, particularly allowing for the extended chain conformation due to the high grafting density. We examine the positional and orientational probability distribution for the segments along the backbone and side chains as a function of the grafting density and chain flexibility for all blocks, covering a broad regime spanning from the flexible chain to rigid rod chain. This reveals that the persistence length of side chains λSC which intrinsically tunes the chain conformation of bottlebrush polymers plays a pivotal role in determining the manner of the local monomer packing in microphase segregation. As an important adjustable factor, λSC has a remarkable impact on the backbone extension and then realizes the effective manipulation of the characteristic structural size of self-assembled microstructures, such as the domain spacing and the interfacial width.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuguo Chen
- School of Chemistry & Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education & Center of Soft Matter Physics and Its Applications, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
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23
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Chen K, Hu X, Zhu N, Guo K. Design, Synthesis, and Self-Assembly of Janus Bottlebrush Polymers. Macromol Rapid Commun 2020; 41:e2000357. [PMID: 32844547 DOI: 10.1002/marc.202000357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Revised: 08/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Janus bottlebrush polymers are a class of special molecular brushes, which have two immiscible side chains on the repeating unit of the backbone. The characteristic architectures of Janus bottlebrush polymers enable unique self-assembly properties and broad applications. Recently, remarkable advances of Janus bottlebrush polymers have been achieved for polymer chemistry and material science. This review summarizes the synthetic strategies of Janus bottlebrush polymers, and highlights the self-assembly applications. Finally, the challenges and opportunities are proposed for the further development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerui Chen
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 S. Puzhu Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211800, China.,State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 S. Puzhu Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211800, China
| | - Xin Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 S. Puzhu Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211800, China.,College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 S. Puzhu Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211800, China
| | - Ning Zhu
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 S. Puzhu Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211800, China.,State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 S. Puzhu Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211800, China
| | - Kai Guo
- College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 S. Puzhu Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211800, China.,State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 S. Puzhu Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211800, China
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24
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Lequieu J, Quah T, Delaney KT, Fredrickson GH. Complete Photonic Band Gaps with Nonfrustrated ABC Bottlebrush Block Polymers. ACS Macro Lett 2020; 9:1074-1080. [PMID: 35648618 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Bottlebrush block polymers are a promising platform for self-assembled photonic materials, yet most work has been limited to one-dimensional photonic crystals based on the lamellar phase. Here we demonstrate with simulation that nonfrustrated ABC bottlebrush block polymers can be used to self-assemble three-dimensional photonic crystals with complete photonic band gaps. To show this, we have developed a computational approach that couples self-consistent field theory (SCFT) simulations to Maxwell's equations, thereby permitting a direct link between molecular design, self-assembly, and photonic band structures. Using this approach, we calculate the phase diagram of nonfrustrated ABC bottlebrush block polymers and identify regions where the alternating gyroid and alternating diamond phases are stable. By computing the photonic band structures of these phases, we demonstrate that complete band gaps can be found in regions of thermodynamic stability, thereby suggesting a route to realize these photonic materials experimentally. Furthermore, we demonstrate that gap size depends on volume fraction, segregation strength, and polymer architecture, and we identify a design strategy based on symmetry breaking that can achieve band gaps for lower values of refractive index contrast. Taken together, the approach presented here provides a powerful and flexible tool for predicting both the self-assembly and photonic band structures of polymeric materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua Lequieu
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
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25
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Gumus B, Herrera-Alonso M, Ramírez-Hernández A. Kinetically-arrested single-polymer nanostructures from amphiphilic mikto-grafted bottlebrushes in solution: a simulation study. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:4969-4979. [PMID: 32432304 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm00771d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Solution self-assembly of molecular bottlebrushes offers a rich platform to create complex functional organic nanostructures. Recently, it has become evident that kinetics, not just thermodynamics, plays an important role in defining the self-assembled structures that can be formed. In this work, we present results from extensive molecular dynamics simulations that explore the self-assembly behavior of mikto-grafted bottlebrushes when the solvent quality for one of the side blocks is changed by a rapid quench. We have performed a systematic study of the effect of different structural parameters and the degree of incompatibility between side chains on the final self-assembled nanostructures in the low concentration limit. We found that kinetically-trapped complex nanostructures are prevalent as the number of macromonomers increases. We performed a quantitative analysis of the self-assembled morphologies by computing the radius of gyration tensor and relative shape anisotropy as the different relevant parameters were varied. Our results are summarized in terms of non-equilibrium morphology diagrams.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bahar Gumus
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas San Antonio, TX 78249, USA.
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26
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Vohidov F, Milling LE, Chen Q, Zhang W, Bhagchandani S, Nguyen HVT, Irvine DJ, Johnson JA. ABC triblock bottlebrush copolymer-based injectable hydrogels: design, synthesis, and application to expanding the therapeutic index of cancer immunochemotherapy. Chem Sci 2020; 11:5974-5986. [PMID: 34094088 PMCID: PMC8159417 DOI: 10.1039/d0sc02611e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Bottlebrush copolymers are a versatile class of macromolecular architectures with broad applications in the fields of drug delivery, self-assembly, and polymer networks. Here, the modular nature of graft-through ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) is exploited to synthesize "ABC" triblock bottlebrush copolymers (TBCs) from polylactic acid (PLA), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) macromonomers. Due to the hydrophobicity of their PLA domains, these TBCs self-assemble in aqueous media at room temperature to yield uniform ∼100 nm micelles that can encapsulate a wide range of therapeutic agents. Heating these micellar solutions above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of PNIPAM (∼32 °C) induces the rapid formation of multi-compartment hydrogels with PLA and PNIPAM domains acting as physical crosslinks. Following the synthesis and characterization of these materials in vitro, TBC micelles loaded with various biologically active small molecules were investigated as injectable hydrogels for sustained drug release in vivo. Specifically, intratumoral administration of TBCs containing paclitaxel and resiquimod-the latter a potent Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7/8 agonist-into mice bearing subcutaneous CT26 tumors resulted in a significantly enhanced therapeutic index compared to the administration of these two drugs alone. This effect is attributed to the TBC hydrogel maintaining a high local drug concentration, thus reducing systemic immune activation and local inflammation. Collectively, this work represents, to our knowledge, the first example of thermally-responsive TBCs designed for multi-compartment hydrogel formation, establishing these materials as versatile scaffolds for self-assembly and drug delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farrukh Vohidov
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts 02139 USA
| | - Lauren E Milling
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Massachusetts 02139 USA
| | - Qixian Chen
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts 02139 USA
| | - Wenxu Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts 02139 USA
| | - Sachin Bhagchandani
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts 02139 USA
| | - Hung V-T Nguyen
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts 02139 USA
| | - Darrell J Irvine
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Massachusetts 02139 USA
| | - Jeremiah A Johnson
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts 02139 USA
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Massachusetts 02139 USA
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27
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Ma H, Kim KT. Self-Assembly of Bottlebrush Block Copolymers into Triply Periodic Nanostructures in a Dilute Solution. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Hyunji Ma
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
| | - Kyoung Taek Kim
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
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28
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Fei HF, Yavitt BM, Hu X, Kopanati G, Ribbe A, Watkins JJ. Influence of Molecular Architecture and Chain Flexibility on the Phase Map of Polystyrene-block-poly(dimethylsiloxane) Brush Block Copolymers. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b00843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hua-Feng Fei
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Benjamin M. Yavitt
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Xiyu Hu
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Gayathri Kopanati
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Alexander Ribbe
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - James J. Watkins
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
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29
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Fei H, Yavitt BM, Kopanati G, Watkins JJ. Effect of side chain and backbone length on lamellar spacing in polystyrene‐block‐poly(dimethyl siloxane) brush block copolymers. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/polb.24824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Huafeng Fei
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering University of Massachusetts Amherst 120 Governors Drive, Amherst Massachusetts, 01003
| | - Benjamin M. Yavitt
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering University of Massachusetts Amherst 120 Governors Drive, Amherst Massachusetts, 01003
| | - Gayathri Kopanati
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering University of Massachusetts Amherst 120 Governors Drive, Amherst Massachusetts, 01003
| | - James J. Watkins
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering University of Massachusetts Amherst 120 Governors Drive, Amherst Massachusetts, 01003
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30
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Liu JV, García-Cervera CJ, Delaney KT, Fredrickson GH. Optimized Phase Field Model for Diblock Copolymer Melts. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.9b00194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Carlos J. García-Cervera
- Visiting Professor at BCAM—Basque Center for Applied Materials, Mazarredo 14, E48009 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
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31
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Lee S, Cheng LC, Yager KG, Mumtaz M, Aissou K, Ross CA. In Situ Study of ABC Triblock Terpolymer Self-Assembly under Solvent Vapor Annealing. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b02273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sangho Lee
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Li-Chen Cheng
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Kevin G. Yager
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, United States
| | - Muhammad Mumtaz
- Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO), CNRS − ENSCPB, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Karim Aissou
- Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO), CNRS − ENSCPB, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Caroline A. Ross
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
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32
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Yavitt BM, Fei HF, Kopanati GN, Winter HH, Watkins JJ. Power Law Relaxations in Lamellae Forming Brush Block Copolymers with Asymmetric Molecular Shape. Macromolecules 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin M. Yavitt
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Hua-Feng Fei
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Gayathri N. Kopanati
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - H. Henning Winter
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 686 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - James J. Watkins
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
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33
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Gil Haenelt T, Abetz C, Abetz V. Morphological Control Over Three- and Four-Phase Superstructures in Blends of Asymmetric ABC and BAC Triblock Terpolymers. MACROMOL CHEM PHYS 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/macp.201800383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Taida Gil Haenelt
- Institute of Physical Chemistry; University of Hamburg; Martin-Luther-King-Platz 6 20146 Hamburg Germany
| | - Clarissa Abetz
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht; Institute of Polymer Research; Max-Planck-Strasse 1 21502 Geesthacht Germany
| | - Volker Abetz
- Institute of Physical Chemistry; University of Hamburg; Martin-Luther-King-Platz 6 20146 Hamburg Germany
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht; Institute of Polymer Research; Max-Planck-Strasse 1 21502 Geesthacht Germany
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34
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Chidanguro T, Ghimire E, Liu CH, Simon YC. Polymersomes: Breaking the Glass Ceiling? SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2018; 14:e1802734. [PMID: 30369045 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201802734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2018] [Revised: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Polymer vesicles, also known as polymersomes, have garnered a lot of interest even before the first report of their fabrication in the mid-1990s. These capsules have found applications in areas such as drug delivery, diagnostics and cellular models, and are made via the self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers, predominantly with soft, rubbery hydrophobic segments. Comparatively, and despite their remarkable impermeability, glassy polymersomes (GPs) have been less pervasive due to their rigidity, lack of biodegradability and more restricted fabrication strategies. GPs are now becoming more prominent, thanks to their ability to undergo stable shape-change (e.g., into non-spherical morphologies) as a response to a predetermined trigger (e.g., light, solvent). The basics of block copolymer self-assembly with an emphasis on polymersomes and GPs in particular are reviewed here. The principles and advantages of shape transformation of GPs as well as their general usefulness are also discussed, together with some of the challenges and opportunities currently facing this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamuka Chidanguro
- School of Polymer Science and Engineering, The University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Dr. #5050, Hattiesburg, 39406, MS, USA
| | - Elina Ghimire
- School of Polymer Science and Engineering, The University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Dr. #5050, Hattiesburg, 39406, MS, USA
| | - Cheyenne H Liu
- School of Polymer Science and Engineering, The University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Dr. #5050, Hattiesburg, 39406, MS, USA
| | - Yoan C Simon
- School of Polymer Science and Engineering, The University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Dr. #5050, Hattiesburg, 39406, MS, USA
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35
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Neary WJ, Fultz BA, Kennemur JG. Well-Defined and Precision-Grafted Bottlebrush Polypentenamers from Variable Temperature ROMP and ATRP. ACS Macro Lett 2018; 7:1080-1086. [PMID: 35632939 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.8b00576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Polypentenamer macroinitiators are synthesized through variable temperature ring opening metathesis polymerization of 3-cyclopentenyl α-bromoisobutyrate, which has sufficient ring strain (ΔHp = -22.6 kJ mol-1) to produce targeted molar mass (<5% from theoretical), low dispersity (1.17 ≤ Đ ≤ 1.23), and high conversion (∼72%). An initiation site for atom-transfer radical polymerization at every fifth backbone carbon allows "grafting-from" of styrene with quantitative initiation and linear molar mass increase with time. These bottlebrushes retain a low dispersity (Đ ≤ 1.34) at varying graft degrees of polymerization (5 ≤ Nsc ≤ 49) and have a glass transition temperature highly sensitized to graft length. Extension of the grafts with methyl methacrylate produces a core-shell brush polymer with high molar mass (>1000 kg mol-1) and Đ = 1.33. This system exhibits high synthetic versatility and control with a unique flexible backbone to expand the suite of densely grafted polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- William J. Neary
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, United States
| | - Brandon A. Fultz
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, United States
| | - Justin G. Kennemur
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, United States
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36
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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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37
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Pelras T, Mahon CS, Müllner M. Synthese und Anwendung von kompartimentierten molekularen Polymerbürsten. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201711878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Théophile Pelras
- Key Centre for Polymers and Colloids School of Chemistry The University of Sydney Sydney 2006 NSW Australien
- The University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano) Sydney 2006 NSW Australien
| | - Clare S. Mahon
- Key Centre for Polymers and Colloids School of Chemistry The University of Sydney Sydney 2006 NSW Australien
- Department of Chemistry University of York Heslington York YO10 5DD Großbritannien
| | - Markus Müllner
- Key Centre for Polymers and Colloids School of Chemistry The University of Sydney Sydney 2006 NSW Australien
- The University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano) Sydney 2006 NSW Australien
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38
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Pelras T, Mahon CS, Müllner M. Synthesis and Applications of Compartmentalised Molecular Polymer Brushes. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2018; 57:6982-6994. [DOI: 10.1002/anie.201711878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2017] [Revised: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Théophile Pelras
- Key Centre for Polymers and Colloids, School of Chemistry The University of Sydney Sydney 2006 NSW Australia
- The University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano) Sydney 2006 NSW Australia
| | - Clare S. Mahon
- Key Centre for Polymers and Colloids, School of Chemistry The University of Sydney Sydney 2006 NSW Australia
- Department of Chemistry University of York Heslington York YO10 5DD UK
| | - Markus Müllner
- Key Centre for Polymers and Colloids, School of Chemistry The University of Sydney Sydney 2006 NSW Australia
- The University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano) Sydney 2006 NSW Australia
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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; 51:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01370. [PMID: 33033416 PMCID: PMC7539631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Bottlebrush block copolymers offer rich opportunities for the design of complex hierarchical materials. As consequences of the densely grafted molecular architecture, bottlebrush polymers can adopt highly extended backbone conformations and exhibit unique physical properties. A recent report has described the unusual phase behavior of ABC bottlebrush triblock terpolymers bearing grafted poly(D,L-lactide) (PLA), polystyrene (PS), and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) blocks (LSO). In this work, a combination of resonant soft X-ray reflectivity (RSoXR), near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS), and self-consistent field theory (SCFT) was used to provide insight into the phase behavior of LSO and underlying backbone chain conformations. Consistent with SCFT calculations, RSoXR measurements confirm a unique mesoscopic ACBC domain connectivity and decreasing lamellar periods (d 0) with increasing backbone length of the PEO block. RSoXR and NEXAFS demonstrate an additional unusual feature of brush LSO thin films: when the overall film thickness is ~3.25d 0, the film-air interface is majority PS (>80%). Since PS is the midblock, the triblocks must adopt looping configurations at the surface, despite the preference for the backbone to be extended. This result is supported by backbone concentrations calculated through SCFT, which suggest that looping midblocks are present throughout the film. Collectively, this work provides evidence for the flexibility of the bottlebrush backbone and the consequences of low-χ block copolymer design. We propose that PEO blocks localize at the PS/PLA domain interfaces in order to screen the highest-χ contacts in the system, driving the formation of loops. These insights introduce a potential route to overcome the intrinsic penalties to interfacial curvature imposed by the bottlebrush architecture, enabling the design of unique self-assembled materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel F Sunday
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, United States
| | - Alice B Chang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, United States
| | - Christopher D Liman
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, United States
| | - Eliot Gann
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, United States
| | - Dean M Delongchamp
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 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, CA 91125, United States
| | - Christopher L Soles
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, United States
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40
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Sarapas JM, Chan EP, Rettner EM, Beers KL. Compressing and Swelling To Study the Structure of Extremely Soft Bottlebrush Networks Prepared by ROMP. Macromolecules 2018; 51:10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00018. [PMID: 38606324 PMCID: PMC11008524 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
To fully explore bottlebrush polymer networks as potential model materials, a robust and versatile synthetic platform is required. Ring-opening metathesis polymerization is a highly controlled, rapid, and functional group tolerant polymerization technique that has been used extensively for bottlebrush polymer generation but to this point has not been used to synthesize bottlebrush polymer networks. We polymerized a mononorbornene macromonomer and dinorbornene cross-linker (both poly(n-butyl acrylate)) with Grubbs' third-generation catalyst to achieve bottlebrush networks and in turn demonstrated control over network properties as the ratio of macromonomer and cross-linker was varied. Macromonomer to cross-linker ratios ([ MM ] / [ XL ] ) of 10 to 100 were investigated, of which all derivative networks yielded gel fractions over 90%. Because of its amenability toward small samples, contact adhesion testing was used to quantify dry-state shear modulus G , which ranged from 1 to 10 kPa, reinforcing that bottlebrush polymer networks can achieve low moduli in the dry state compared to other polymer network materials through the mitigation of entanglements. A scaling relationship was found such that G ∼ ( [ MM ] / [ XL ] ) - 0.81 , indicating that macromonomer to cross-linker ratio is a good estimator of cross-linking density. The swelling ratio in toluene, Q , was compared to dry-state modulus to test the universal scaling relationship for linear networks G ∼ Q - 1.75 , and a measured exponent of -1.71 indicated good agreement. The synthetic platform outlined here represents a highly flexible route to a myriad of different bottlebrush networks and will increase the accessibility of materials critical to applications ranging from fundamental to biomedical.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel M. Sarapas
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Edwin P. Chan
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Emma M. Rettner
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Kathryn L. Beers
- Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
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41
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Lin TP, Chang AB, Luo SX, Chen HY, Lee B, Grubbs RH. Effects of Grafting Density on Block Polymer Self-Assembly: From Linear to Bottlebrush. ACS NANO 2017; 11:11632-11641. [PMID: 29072906 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b06664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Grafting density is an important structural parameter that exerts significant influences over the physical properties of architecturally complex polymers. In this report, the physical consequences of varying the grafting density (z) were studied in the context of block polymer self-assembly. Well-defined block polymers spanning the linear, comb, and bottlebrush regimes (0 ≤ z ≤ 1) were prepared via grafting-through ring-opening-metathesis polymerization. ω-Norbornenyl poly(d,l-lactide) and polystyrene macromonomers were copolymerized with discrete comonomers in different feed ratios, enabling precise control over both the grafting density and molecular weight. Small-angle X-ray scattering experiments demonstrate that these graft block polymers self-assemble into long-range-ordered lamellar structures. For 17 series of block polymers with variable z, the scaling of the lamellar period with the total backbone degree of polymerization (d* ∼ Nbbα) was studied. The scaling exponent α monotonically decreases with decreasing z and exhibits an apparent transition at z ≈ 0.2, suggesting significant changes in the chain conformations. Comparison of two block polymer systems, one that is strongly segregated for all z (System I) and one that experiences weak segregation at low z (System II), indicates that the observed trends are primarily caused by the polymer architectures, not segregation effects. A model is proposed in which the characteristic ratio (C∞), a proxy for the backbone stiffness, scales with Nbb as a function of the grafting density: C∞ ∼ Nbbf(z). The scaling behavior disclosed herein provides valuable insights into conformational changes with grafting density, thus introducing opportunities for block polymer and material design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tzu-Pin Lin
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Alice B Chang
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Shao-Xiong Luo
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Hsiang-Yun Chen
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California 91125, United States
| | - Byeongdu Lee
- X-Ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory , Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Robert H Grubbs
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California 91125, United States
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42
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Anastasaki A, Oschmann B, Willenbacher J, Melker A, Van Son MHC, Truong NP, Schulze MW, Discekici EH, McGrath AJ, Davis TP, Bates CM, Hawker CJ. One-Pot Synthesis of ABCDE Multiblock Copolymers with Hydrophobic, Hydrophilic, and Semi-Fluorinated Segments. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2017; 56:14483-14487. [PMID: 28980360 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201707646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Revised: 09/04/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
The scope and accessibility of sequence-controlled multiblock copolymers is demonstrated by direct "in situ" polymerization of hydrophobic, hydrophilic and fluorinated monomers. Key to the success of this strategy is the ability to synthesize ABCDE, EDCBA and EDCBABCDE sequences with high monomer conversions (>98 %) through iterative monomer additions, yielding excellent block purity and low overall molar mass dispersities (Ð<1.16). Small-angle X-ray scattering showed that certain sequences can form well-ordered mesostructures. This synthetic approach constitutes a simple and versatile platform for expanding the availability of tailored polymeric materials from readily available monomers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Athina Anastasaki
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Bernd Oschmann
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Johannes Willenbacher
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Anna Melker
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Martin H C Van Son
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Nghia P Truong
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science & Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, 3052, Australia
| | - Morgan W Schulze
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Emre H Discekici
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Alaina J McGrath
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Thomas P Davis
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science & Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, 3052, Australia
| | - Christopher M Bates
- 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
| | - Craig J Hawker
- 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
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43
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Anastasaki A, Oschmann B, Willenbacher J, Melker A, Van Son MHC, Truong NP, Schulze MW, Discekici EH, McGrath AJ, Davis TP, Bates CM, Hawker CJ. One‐Pot Synthesis of ABCDE Multiblock Copolymers with Hydrophobic, Hydrophilic, and Semi‐Fluorinated Segments. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201707646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Athina Anastasaki
- Materials Research Laboratory University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA
| | - Bernd Oschmann
- Materials Research Laboratory University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA
| | - Johannes Willenbacher
- Materials Research Laboratory University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA
| | - Anna Melker
- Materials Research Laboratory University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA
| | - Martin H. C. Van Son
- Materials Research Laboratory University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA
| | - Nghia P. Truong
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science & Technology Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Monash University Parkville Melbourne Victoria 3052 Australia
| | - Morgan W. Schulze
- Materials Research Laboratory University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA
| | - Emre H. Discekici
- Materials Research Laboratory University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA
| | - Alaina J. McGrath
- Materials Research Laboratory University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA
| | - Thomas P. Davis
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science & Technology Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Monash University Parkville Melbourne Victoria 3052 Australia
| | - Christopher M. Bates
- 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
| | - Craig J. Hawker
- 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
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