Cédric Lorthioir

Segmental motions of poly(ethylene glycol) chains adsorbed on Laponite platelets in clay-based hydrogels: a NMR investigation.

The segmental dynamics of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains adsorbed on the clay platelets within nanocomposite PEG/Laponite hydrogels was investigated over the tens of microseconds time scale, using combined solution and solid-state NMR approaches. In a first step, the time evolution of the molecular mobility displayed by the PEG chains following the addition to a Laponite aqueous dispersion was monitored during the aggregation of the clay disks and the hydrogel formation, by means of (1)H solution-state NMR. Part of the PEG repeat units were found to get strongly constrained during the gelation process. Comparisons between this time evolution of the PEG local dynamics in the PEG/Laponite/water systems and the increase of the macroscopic storage shear modulus, mainly governed by the assembling of the Laponite disks, indicate that the slowing down of the segmental motions arises from adsorbed PEG repeat units or chain portions strongly constrained between aggregated clay layers. In a second step, after completion of the gelation process, the molecular motions of the adsorbed PEG chains were probed by (1)H solid-state NMR spectroscopy. (1)H double-quantum experiments indicate that the adsorbed PEG repeat units, though reported to be frozen over a few tens of nanoseconds, still display significant reorientational motions over the tens of microseconds time scale. Using a comparison with a model system of amorphized PEG chains, the characteristic frequency of these segmental motions was found to range between 78.0 kHz and 100.7 MHz at 300 K. Interestingly, at this temperature, the level of reorientational motions detected for these adsorbed PEG chain portions was found to be as restricted as the one of bulk amorphous PEG chains, cooled at a slightly lower temperature (about 290 K).

Thermal aging of interfacial polymer chains in ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer/aluminum hydroxide composites: solid-state NMR study.

The possible influence of micrometric-size filler particles on the thermo-oxidative degradation behavior of the polymer chains at polymer/filler interfaces is still an open question. In this study, a cross-linked ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM) terpolymer filled by aluminum trihydrate (ATH) particles is investigated using (1)H solid-state NMR. The time evolution of the EPDM network microstructure under thermal aging at 80 °C is monitored as a function of the exposure time and compared to that of an unfilled EPDM network displaying a similar initial structure. While nearly no variations of the topology are observed on the neat EPDM network over 5 days at 80 °C, a significant amount of chain scission phenomena are evidenced in EPDM/ATH. A specific surface effect induced by ATH on the thermodegradative properties of the polymer chains located in their vicinity is thus pointed out. Close to the filler particles, a higher amount of chain scissions are detected, and the characteristic length scale related to these interfacial regions displaying a significant thermo-oxidation process is determined as a function of the aging time.

Cyclodextrin/dextran based hydrogels prepared by cross-linking with sodium trimetaphosphate.

Novel βCD-based hydrogels have been synthesized using sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) as non-toxic reagent. Straightforward mixing of βCD with dextran and STMP in basic aqueous media led to hydrogels incorporating dextran chains, phosphate groups and βCD units. The hydrogels have been characterized by swelling measurements, XPS and (31)P NMR. The swelling ratio was correlated to the content in phosphated groups, which give a polyelectrolyte character to these hydrogels. The significant rise of the swelling ratio with the βCD content increase has been attributed to a decrease of the number of phosphate-based crosslinks, the βCD units playing the role of dangling ends in the tridimensional network. Their loading capacity and their release properties have been investigated for methylene blue and benzophenone in order to demonstrate their potentiality for drug delivery. Through different interaction mechanisms, electrostatic and inclusion complex interactions, these compounds are loaded with different efficiencies. The release involves deswelling, diffusion mechanisms and partition equilibrium.

Some aspects of the orientational order distribution of flexible chains in a diblock mesophase

The segmental motions of flexible chains in the lamellar structure of a strongly segregated poly(styrene)-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PS-PDMS) diblock were investigated over a time scale of a few tens of microseconds. (2)H NMR experiments were performed on the PDMS block, selectively perdeuterated. Transverse relaxation measurements show that the main part of the PDMS repeat units display anisotropic reorientational motions within the diblock lamellae and such a segmental ordering essentially results from interchain steric repulsions. (2)H double quantum-based experiments evidenced a non-uniform local stretching of PDMS chains and enabled the underlying distribution of the orientational order parameter to be determined quantitatively. Besides, a fraction of the PDMS chain segments, about 14%, were found to display isotropic - or nearly isotropic - reorientations, which could be assigned to repeat units located within a thin sublayer (about 1-2 nm) at the lamellae midplane, but also deeper in the lamellae, close to folded parts of the chains. These experimental results were confronted to theoretical descriptions of opposing polymer brushes and, in particular, to the strong-stretching theory (SST) including the entropic contribution of free chain ends.

Patchy Supramolecular Bottle-Brushes Formed by Solution Self-Assembly of Bis(urea)s and Tris(urea)s Decorated by Two Incompatible Polymer Arms

In an attempt to design urea-based Janus nanocylinders through a supramolecular approach, nonsymmetrical bis(urea)s and tris(urea)s decorated by two incompatible polymer arms, namely, poly(styrene) (PS) and poly(isobutylene) (PIB), were synthesized using rather straightforward organic and polymer chemistry techniques. Light scattering experiments revealed that these molecules self-assembled in cyclohexane by cooperative hydrogen bonds. The extent of self-assembly was limited for the bis(urea)s. On the contrary, reasonably anisotropic 1D structures (small nanocylinders) could be obtained with the tris(urea)s (Nagg ∼ 50) which developed six cooperative hydrogen bonds per molecule. (1)H transverse relaxation measurements and NOESY NMR experiments in cyclohexane revealed that perfect Janus nanocylinders with one face consisting of only PS and the other of PIB were not obtained. Nevertheless, phase segregation between the PS and PIB chains occurred to a large extent, resulting in patchy cylinders containing well separated domains of PIB and PS chains. Reasons for this behavior were proposed, paving the way to improve the proposed strategy toward true urea-based supramolecular Janus nanocylinders.

Heterogeneous behavior of free chain-ends in a lamellar diblock copolymer: segmental dynamics and ordering, as probed by 2 H solid-state NMR

The segmental dynamics and orientational ordering for the free chain ends of a strongly segregated diblock copolymer, poly(styrene)-b-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PS-b-PDMS), self-assembled into a lamellar structure, was investigated with 2H solid-state NMR. The dynamical behavior of the free PDMS chain extremities, selectively deuterated, was probed in a temperature regime intemathrmediate between the PS and PDMS glass transition temperatures. The temperature dependence of the 2H spin-lattice relaxation time indicates a decrease of the characteristic segmental time for such chain ends, compared to the one detemathrmined for all the PDMS repeat units. This faster segmental dynamics was rationalized by a temperature shift estimated to about 8 K. 2H transverse relaxation measurements and double-quantum build-up curves led to a description of the local constraints experienced by the chain ends, within the lamellar domains. More than two thirds of them display anisotropic reorientations over the tens of microseconds time scale. The corresponding distribution of the orientational order parameter was found to be similar to the one displayed for all the PDMS units of the copolymer, suggesting a repartition of the chain ends throughout the entire lamella. This behavior results from the contribution of the entropy related to the chain extremities. The description of this ordering of the free chain ends suggests the occurrence of a significant fraction of folded PDMS chains, within the lamellae.