We report the preparation and structural and mechanical characterization of a tough supramolecular hydrogel, based exclusively on hydrophobic association. The system consists of a multiblock, ...segmented copolymer of hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and hydrophobic dimer fatty acid (DFA) building blocks. A series of copolymers containing 2K, 4K, and 8K PEG were prepared. Upon swelling in water, a network is formed by self-assembly of hydrophobic DFA units in micellar domains, which act as stable physical cross-link points. The resulting hydrogels are noneroding and contain 75–92 wt % of water at swelling equilibrium. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements showed that the aggregation number of micelles ranges from 2 × 102 to 6 × 102 DFA units, increasing with PEG molecular weight. Mechanical characterization indicated that the hydrogel containing PEG 2000 is mechanically very stable and tough, possessing a tensile toughness of 4.12 MJ/m3. The high toughness, processability, and ease of preparation make these hydrogels very attractive for applications where mechanical stability and load bearing features of soft materials are required.
Using neutron spin echo spectroscopy, we show that the segmental dynamics of polymer rings immersed in linear chains is completely controlled by the host. This transforms rings into ideal probes for ...studying the entanglement dynamics of the embedding matrix. As a consequence of the unique ring topology, in long chain matrices the entanglement spacing is directly revealed, unaffected by local reptation of the host molecules beyond this distance. In shorter entangled matrices, where in the time frame of the experiment secondary effects such as contour length fluctuations or constraint release could play a role, the ring motion reveals that the contour length fluctuation is weaker than assumed in state-of-the-art rheology and that the constraint release is negligible. We expect that rings, as topological probes, will also grant direct access to molecular aspects of polymer motion which have been inaccessible until now within chains adhering to more complex architectures.
A new dual network elastomer is developed that consists of polybutadiene crosslinked with both permanent and transient bonds. The transient network is formed by the association of urazole groups that ...are randomly attached to the polymer backbone. Subsequent orthogonal covalent crosslinking through hydrosilylation in the melt state leads to a dual network with variable permanent and transient crosslinking density. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) investigations show a homogeneous distribution of the transient bonds in both the functionalized polymers and the dual network products. The enhanced mechanical properties of the dual networks compared to conventional polybutadiene elastomers are characterized by stress–strain measurements. The increased toughness can be explained by a protective mechanism where the weaker supramolecular bonds act as sacrificial bonds that dissipate energy.
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•Synthesis of permanent/transient dual polybutadiene networks.•No change in Gaussian chain conformation compared to linear chains proven by small angle neutron scattering.•Stress–strain measurements and Mooney–Rivlin analysis for mechanical characterization.•Enhanced mechanical properties result from transient sacrificial bonds.
Living animal cells are strongly influenced by the mechanical properties of their environment. To model physiological conditions ultrasoft cell culture substrates, in some instances with elasticity ...(Young's modulus) of only 1 kPa, are mandatory. Due to their long shelf life PDMS-based elastomers are a popular choice. However, uncertainty about additives in commercial formulations and difficulties to reach very soft materials limit their use. Here, we produced silicone elastomers from few, chemically defined and commercially available substances. Elastomers exhibited elasticities in the range from 1 kPa to 55 kPa. In detail, a high molecular weight (155 kg/mol), vinyl-terminated linear silicone was crosslinked with a multifunctional (f = 51) crosslinker (a copolymer of dimethyl siloxane and hydrosilane) by a platinum catalyst. The following different strategies towards ultrasoft materials were explored: sparse crosslinking, swelling with inert silicone polymers, and, finally, deliberate introduction of dangling ends into the network (inhibition). Rheological experiments with very low frequencies led to precise viscoelastic characterizations. All strategies enabled tuning of stiffness with the lowest stiffness of ~1 kPa reached by inhibition. This system was also most practical to use. Biocompatibility of materials was tested using primary cortical neurons from rats. Even after several days of cultivation no adverse effects were found.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We present a systematic investigation of well-characterized, experimentally pure polystyrene (PS) rings with molar mass of 161 000 g/mol in dilute solutions. We measure the ring form factor at θ- and ...good-solvent conditions as well as in a polymeric solvent (linear PS of roughly comparable molar mass) by means of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). Additional dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements support the SANS data and help elucidate the role of solvent quality and solution preparation. The results indicate the increase of ring dimensions as the solvent quality improves. Furthermore, the experimental form factors in both θ-solvent and linear matrix behave as ideal rings and are fully superimposable. The nearly Gaussian conformations of rings in a melt of linear chains provide evidence of threading of linear chains through rings. The latter result has implications for the dynamics of ring–linear polymer mixtures.
The understanding of the molecular state of vanadium-oxo clusters (polyoxovanadates, POVs) in solution and on surface is a key to their target application in catalysis as well as molecular ...electronics and spintronics. We here report the results of a combined experimental and computational study of the behavior of nucleophilic polyoxoanions VIV 10VV 8O42(I)5– charged balanced by Et4N+ in water, in a one-phase organic solution of N,N-dimethylformamid (DMF) or acetonitrile (MeCN), in a mixed solution of MeCN–water, and at the hybrid liquid–surface interface. The molecular characteristics of the compound (NEt4)5V18O42(I) (1) in the given environments were studied by microspectroscopic, electrochemical, scattering, and molecular mechanics methods. Contrary to the situation in pure water, where we observe great agglomeration with a number of intercalated H2O molecules between POVs that are surrounded by the Et4N+ ions, no or only minor agglomeration of redox-active POVs in an unprecedented cation-mediated fashion was detected in pure DMF and MeCN, respectively. An inclusion of 1% water in the MeCN solution does not have an effect significant enough to reinforce agglomeration; however, this leads to the POV···POV interface characterized by the presence of the Et4N+ ions and a small number of H2O molecules. Water amounts of ≥5% trigger the formation of higher oligomers. The deposition of compound 1 from MeCN onto an Au(111) surface affords nearly round-shaped particles (∼10 nm). The use of DMF instead of MeCN results in bigger, irregularly shaped particles (∼30 nm). This change of solvent gives rise to more extensive intermolecular interactions between polyoxoanions and their countercations as well as weaker binding of ion-pairing induced agglomerates to the metallic substrate. Lower concentration of adsorbed molecules leads to a submonolayer coverage and an accompanied change of the POV’s redox state, whereas their higher concentration results in a multilayer coverage that offers the pristine mixed-valence structure of the polyoxoanion. Our study provides first important insights into the reactivity peculiarities of this redox-responsive material class on a solid support.
We present a neutron scattering analysis of the structure and dynamics of PEO polymer rings with a molecular weight 2.5 times higher than the entanglement mass. The melt structure was found to be ...more compact than a Gaussian model would suggest. With increasing time the center of mass (c.o.m.) diffusion undergoes a transition from sub-diffusive to diffusive behavior. The transition time agrees well with the decorrelation time predicted by a mode coupling approach. As a novel feature well pronounced non-Gaussian behavior of the c.o.m. diffusion was found that shows surprising analogies to the cage effect known from glassy systems. Finally, the longest wavelength Rouse modes are suppressed possibly as a consequence of an onset of lattice animal features as hypothesized in theoretical approaches.
Neutron scattering analysis of polymer rings revealed a compact structure and non-Gaussian behavior of the diffusion similar to the cage effect known from glassy systems.
Polymer networks containing transient physical and permanent chemical cross-links exhibit unique mechanical properties due to the intrinsic reassociating ability of supramolecular functional groups. ...Similar to supramolecular gels, these networks allow the controlled release of stored energy and can extend the life of polymer networks in practical applications. In this study, we investigated the rheology, dielectric spectroscopy, stress–strain behavior, and dynamic mechanical analysis of networks based on long polybutylene oxide (PBO) chains functionalized with randomly placed thymine (Thy) side groups. A transient network was formed by proportionally mixing this matrix with short non-entangled linear 1,3,5-diaminotriazine (DAT) head–tail modified PBO chains, exploiting the hetero-complementarity of the DAT–Thy triple hydrogen bond. This transient polymer network was further cross-linked to a dual network via a thiol-ene click reaction to form static covalent bonds. In PBO, the similar polarity of the PBO matrix and the DAT–Thy functional groups ensures that the molecular chain motion is not affected by segregation, resulting in a homogeneous polymer phase without microphase-separated functional group domains. Dielectric relaxation spectroscopy was combined with rheology to quantify the relaxation processes of the interconnected polymers and the strength of the DAT–Thy bonding interactions in the melt. The results showed two distinct plateaux in the relaxation modulus due to contributions from hydrogen and permanent bonds. In the case of the dual network, the lifetime of the hydrogen bond was prolonged and higher activation energy was observed due to the physical cross-link preventing the movement of the long chain.
We present a structural and dynamic study on the simplest supramolecular hetero-association, recently investigated by the authors to prepare architectural homogeneous structures in the melt state, ...based on the bio-inspired hydrogen-bonding of thymine/diaminotriazine (thy-DAT) base-pairs. In the combination with an amorphous low T
poly(butylene oxide) (PBO), no micellar structures are formed, which is expected for nonpolar polymers because of noncompatibility with the highly polar supramolecular groups. Instead, a clear polymer-like transient architecture is retrieved. This makes the heterocomplementary thy-DAT association an ideal candidate for further exploitation of the hydrogen-bonding ability in the bulk for self-healing purposes, damage management in rubbers or even the development of easily processable branched polymers with built-in plasticizer. In the present work, we investigate the temperature range from T
+ 20 °C to T
+ 150 °C of an oligomeric PBO using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and linear rheology on the pure thy and pure DAT monofunctionals and on an equimolar mixture of thy/DAT oligomers. The linear rheology performed at low temperature is found to correspond to fully closed-state dimeric configurations. At intermediate temperatures, SAXS probes the equilibrium between open and closed states of the thy-DAT mixtures. The temperature-dependent association constant in the full range between open and closed H-bonds and an enhancement of the monomeric friction coefficient due to the groups is obtained. The thy-DAT association in the melt is more stable than the DAT-DAT, whereas the thy-thy association seems to involve additional long-lived interactions.
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