Article
Polymer Science
Mohammad Masoud Mirhosseini, Vahid Haddadi-Asl, Reza Khordad
Summary: The role of mixed soft segments on the microphase separation of TPUs was investigated using thermodynamic calculations, molecular dynamics simulation, and experimental approaches. It was found that using mixed soft segments accelerates the microphase separation process and leads to TPUs with improved elongation at break and toughness.
Article
Polymer Science
Yongyin Cui, Hairui Wang, Hongwei Pan, Tongtong Yan, Chengzhong Zong
Summary: In this study, the hard segment content was fixed and thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers with one-soft segment and bi-soft segment were synthesized and characterized. The results indicated that introducing PCL was more effective than PTMG in promoting microphase mixing and crystallization, and reducing microphase separation, due to the stronger carbonyl group in PCL forming hydrogen bonds with -NH bond. Additionally, PCL-HPU showed significantly improved tensile strength and elongation at break, with good retention of IPA resistance compared to other formulations.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Xiuping Li, Jun Lai, Jiedong Wei, Xiangfang Peng, Jianming Wu, Lihong Geng
Summary: This study synthesized Thermoplastic polyamide elastomers (TPAEs) with superior mechanical and thermal properties, and investigated the impact of crystallization property and microphase separation on their foaming behavior. The variation in molecular weight of the soft segment affected the cell size and density of the foamed TPAEs at different temperatures.
POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xuezhi Dai, Xiaolian Qiang, Christian Hils, Holger Schmalz, Andre H. Groschel
Summary: Self-assembly of block copolymers in 3D confinement of emulsion droplets can lead to a range of microparticles with frustrated inner structure. By confining a linear ABC triblock terpolymer with a crystallizable middle block in oil-in-water emulsions, different microparticle morphologies were observed, depending on the evaporation protocol and polymer concentration. These findings provide insights into the morphological behavior of semicrystalline block copolymers in 3D soft confinement and suggest alternative routes to structure multicompartment microparticles.
Article
Polymer Science
Gaoyuan Wang, Annette Zippelius, Marcus Mueller
Summary: Cross-linking is a versatile strategy to stabilize the structure and control the dynamics of polymers. This study systematically investigates the phase behavior of randomly cross-linked diblock copolymer melts and reveals the significant influence of the preparation state on the phase diagram.
Article
Polymer Science
Priyanka M. Ketkar, Kuan-Hsuan Shen, Mengdi Fan, Lisa M. Hall, Thomas H. Epps
Summary: In this study, the impact of structural characteristics of tapered block polymers on ionic conductivity was investigated, revealing that the normal-tapered structure has a favorable effect on improving ion transport conditions.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Yuhwan Jeong, Kambiz Sadeghi, Jongchul Seo
Summary: Desiccant composites with channeling morphologies in the polypropylene (PP) matrix, prepared using polyethylene glycol (PEG) with different molecular weights (Mw) and molecular sieves (MS), exhibit microphase separation morphology caused by the channeling structure. PEG with an Mw of 8000 shows higher chemical compatibility with MS, leading to more stable channeling structure and significant moisture absorption. These composites can be utilized for novel desiccant packaging in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
FOOD PACKAGING AND SHELF LIFE
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Alexander N. Bugrov, Yulia E. Gorshkova, Elena M. Ivan'kova, Gennady P. Kopitsa, Alina A. Pavlova, Elena N. Popova, Valentina E. Smirnova, Ruslan Y. Smyslov, Valentin M. Svetlichnyi, Gleb V. Vaganov, Boris V. Vasil'ev
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between the chemical structure and supramolecular organization, as well as the thermal and mechanical properties of a series of multiblock polyurethane-ureas with different lengths and structures.
Article
Polymer Science
Tom Herschberg, Jan-Michael Y. Carrillo, Bobby G. Sumpter, Eleni Panagiotou, Rajeev Kumar
Summary: The study found that the topology of polymer chains significantly influences the order-disorder transition of AB diblock copolymer melts, with linear and ring chains remaining stretched while knot chains experience stretching and tightening in disordered melts.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Leon A. Smook, Guido C. Ritsema van Eck, Sissi de Beer
Summary: Polymer brushes can attract solvent vapors for polymers, and enhancing vapor sorption by incorporating two incompatible polymers A and B in the brushes. A model is proposed to describe this enhanced sorption and design parameters are suggested for optimal vapor absorption in coatings composed of binary brushes.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Weijie Wang, Caihong Zhang, Hao Huang, Bing Xue, Shuguang Yang
Summary: An ambient environment adaptive elastomer has been fabricated by assembling SAS and SES triblock copolymers. This elastomer shows quick adaption to temperature and humidity changes, and exhibits microphase separation and hydrogen-bonding complexation. After a loading-unloading cycle training, it has domain orientation, low energy dissipation, high recovery ratio, and distinct strain stiffening, making it suitable for sensing and adaption components in intelligent systems.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Qiujie Zhao, Peter Bennington, Paul F. Nealey, Shrayesh N. Patel, Christopher M. Evans
Summary: Acrylate-based polymerized ionic liquids (PILs) with different cations and anions were spin coated onto gold interdigitated electrodes on silica to study the nanoconfinement effects on ion transport. The results showed a significant reduction in in-plane conductivity in some thin PIL films with thickness below 100 nm, with Am BF4 PIL exhibiting the largest conductivity drop. The study also discussed the potential factors contributing to the difference in conductivity drop, such as differences in interfacial layer thickness and potential changes in glass transition temperature under confinement.
Article
Polymer Science
Duyu Chen, Timothy Quah, Kris T. Delaney, Glenn H. Fredrickson
Summary: In this study, the phase behavior of bottlebrush copolymers with different side chain sequences was systematically investigated using self-consistent field theory simulations. It was found that these copolymers can stabilize a wider variety of ordered mesophases compared to bottlebrush block copolymers, and can stabilize sphere phases over a larger range of species volume fractions. Additionally, a new strategy of stabilizing the Frank-Kasper phase A15 was uncovered by introducing conformational asymmetry.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Xiaoyu Li, Mingkai Yan, Xinyu Wu, Mingzhu Pan, Josue D. Mota-Morales, Hailan Lian
Summary: In this study, a choline chloride (ChCl)-itaconic acid (IA) deep eutectic system was used to prepare poly deep eutectic solvents (PDESs) and acrylamide (AM) was used as the precursor of the polymer hard segment to form P(IA-co-AM) ionic gel. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed that the combination of PAM and ChCl can overcome spatial hindrance caused by IA, resulting in a strong and stable ionic gel. This ionic gel showed high strength, good light transmittance, and excellent stability.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Yongkai Zhao, Tao Shou, Siwei Fu, Xuan Qin, Shikai Hu, Xiuying Zhao, Liqun Zhang
Summary: Vibration and noise are common problems in social life, which can have severe impacts on machinery and human health. Therefore, it is crucial to develop materials with high-damping performance. This study combines the advantages of the high loss factor of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) with the strong designability of polyurethane to create temperature-tunable high-damping performance polyurethanes (HTSSBR-polyurethanes (PUs)). These materials exhibit excellent loss performance and damping performance over a wide temperature range, providing an effective method for designing damping materials with adjustable properties.
MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)