A lattice model for the surface segregation of polymer chains due to molecular weight effects

1990 ◽  
Vol 23 (15) ◽  
pp. 3584-3592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arvind Hariharan ◽  
Sanat K. Kumar ◽  
Thomas P. Russell
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Łojkowski ◽  
Adrian Chlanda ◽  
Emilia Choińska ◽  
Wojciech Swieszkowski

<p>The formation of complex structures in thin films is of interest in many fields. Segregation of polymer chains of different molecular weights is a well-known process. However, here, polystyrene with bimodal molecular weight distribution, but no additional chemical modification was used. It was proven that at certain conditions, the phase separation occurred between two fractions of bimodal polystyrene/methyl ethyl ketone solution. The films were prepared by spin-coating, and the segregation between polystyrene phases was investigated by force spectroscopy. Next, water vapour induced secondary phase separation was investigated. The introduction of moist airflow induced the self-assembly of the lower molecular weight into islands and the heavier fraction into a honeycomb. As a result, an easy, fast, and effective method of obtaining island/honeycomb morphologies was demonstrated. The possible mechanisms of the formation of such structures were discussed.</p>


Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Zygo ◽  
Miroslav Mrlik ◽  
Marketa Ilcikova ◽  
Martina Hrabalikova ◽  
Josef Osicka ◽  
...  

This study reports the utilization of controlled radical polymerization as a tool for controlling the stimuli-responsive capabilities of graphene oxide (GO) based hybrid systems. Various polymer brushes with controlled molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution were grafted from the GO surface by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The modification of GO with poly(n-butyl methacrylate) (PBMA), poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA), poly(trimethylsilyloxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMATMS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with online Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Various grafting densities of GO-based materials were investigated, and conductivity was elucidated using a four-point probe method. Raman shift and XPS were used to confirm the reduction of surface properties of the GO particles during SI-ATRP. The contact angle measurements indicated the changes in the compatibility of GOs with silicone oil, depending on the structure of the grafted polymer chains. The compatibility of the GOs with poly(dimethylsiloxane) was also investigated using steady shear rheology. The tunability of the electrorheological, as well as the photo-actuation capability, was investigated. It was shown that in addition to the modification of conductivity, the dipole moment of the pendant groups of the grafted polymer chains also plays an important role in the electrorheological (ER) performance. The compatibility of the particles with the polymer matrix, and thus proper particles dispersibility, is the most important factor for the photo-actuation efficiency. The plasticizing effect of the GO-polymer hybrid filler also has a crucial impact on the matrix stiffness and thus the ability to reversibly respond to the external light stimulation.


Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1059
Author(s):  
Sanghun Lee ◽  
Curtis W. Frank ◽  
Do Y. Yoon

Molecular dynamics simulations of free-standing thin films of neat melts of polyethylene (PE) chains up to C150H302 and their binary mixtures with n-C13H28 are performed employing a united atom model. We estimate the surface tension values of PE melts from the atomic virial tensor over a range of temperatures, which are in good agreement with experimental results. Compared with short n-alkane systems, there is an enhanced surface segregation of methyl chain ends in longer PE chains. Moreover, the methyl groups become more segregated in the surface region with decreasing temperature, leading to the conclusion that the surface-segregation of methyl chain ends mainly arises from the enthalpic origin attributed to the lower cohesive energy density of terminal methyl groups. In the mixtures of two different chain lengths, the shorter chains are more likely to be found in the surface region, and this molecular segregation in moderately asymmetric mixtures in the chain length (C13H28 + C44H90) is dominated by the enthalpic effect of methyl chain ends. Such molecular segregation is further enhanced and dominated by the entropic effect of conformational constraints in the surface for the highly asymmetric mixtures containing long polymer chains (C13H28 + C150H3020). The estimated surface tension values of the mixtures are consistent with the observed molecular segregation characteristics. Despite this molecular segregation, the normalized density of methyl chain ends of the longer chain is more strongly enhanced, as compared with the all-segment density of the longer chain itself, in the surface region of melt mixtures. In addition, the molecular segregation results in higher order parameter of the shorter-chain segments at the surface and deeper persistence of surface-induced segmental order into the film for the longer chains, as compared with those in neat melt films.


e-Polymers ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy Vuillaume ◽  
Bassel Haidar ◽  
Alain Vidal

AbstractDisplacement of pre-adsorbed macromolecules by the same polymer, polybutadiene, of the same or of different molecular weight was studied in solution and in the bulk. The effect of polymer concentration on pre-adsorption and displacement processes was determined. Displacement was investigated by gel permeation chromatography and by determination of the amount of bound polymer before and after displacement. A conformational factor was established as a major driving force - besides molecular weight - in the displacement process. Polymer chains adsorbed in flat conformation had the highest adsorption stability and could not be displaced by any other molecular weight of the same polymer.


1969 ◽  
Vol 50 (9) ◽  
pp. 4008-4013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuyoshi Iwata ◽  
Michio Kurata

1958 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-85
Author(s):  
D. Barnard

Abstract The preparation of graft and block interpolymers of natural rubber and synthetic polymers has made it desirable that the number and size of polymer chains attached to rubber be readily determinate. The degradation of unsaturated polymers with tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the presence of osmium tet oxide has been used for the determination of free polystyrene in SBR and carbon black in several elastomers, and has recently been applied to the present problem. The accurate determination of the rubber content of interpolymers by quantitative ozonolysis essentially according to the method of Boer and Kooyman suggested that this might be made the basis of isolation of the attached polymer, the rubber being degraded into fragments of low molecular weight, from which the polymer could be separated by conventional techniques. The method should be applicable to any interpolymer, or mixture, of a polyunsaturated and a saturated polymer and is illustrated with reference to interpolymers of natural rubber (NR)-polymethyl methacrylate (PMM) and NR-polystyrene (PS).


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