Houluo Cong

Formation of Nanophases in Epoxy Thermosets Containing Amphiphilic Block Copolymers with Linear and Star-like Topologies

In this work, we investigated the effect of topological structures of block copolymers on the formation of the nanophase in epoxy thermosets containing amphiphilic block copolymers. Two block copolymers composed of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl acrylate) (PTFEA) blocks were synthesized to possess linear and star-shaped topologies. The star-shaped block copolymer composed a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) core and eight poly(ε-caprolactone)-block-poly(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl acrylate) (PCL-b-PTFEA) diblock copolymer arms. Both block copolymers were synthesized via the combination of ring-opening polymerization and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer/macromolecular design via the interchange of xanthate (RAFT/MADIX) process; they were controlled to have identical compositions of copolymerization and lengths of blocks. Upon incorporating both block copolymers into epoxy thermosets, the spherical PTFEA nanophases were formed in all the cases. However, the sizes of PTFEA nanophases from the star-like block copolymer were significantly lower than those from the linear diblock copolymer. The difference in the nanostructures gave rise to the different glass transition behavior of the nanostructured thermosets. The dependence of PTFEA nanophases on the topologies of block copolymers is interpreted in terms of the conformation of the miscible subchain (viz. PCL) at the surface of PTFEA microdomains and the restriction of POSS cages on the demixing of the thermoset-philic block (viz. PCL).

Dielectric constant enhancement of epoxy thermosets via formation of polyelectrolyte nanophases.

Poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(sodium p-styrenesulfonate) (PEO-b-PSSNa) diblock copolymer was synthesized and then incorporated into epoxy to obtain the nanostructured epoxy thermosets containing polyelectrolyte nanophases. This PEO-b-PSSNa diblock copolymer was synthesized via the radical polymerization of p-styrenesulfonate mediated with 4-cyano-4-(thiobenzoylthio)valeric ester-terminated poly(ethylene oxide). The formation of polyelectrolyte (i.e., PSSNa) nanophases in epoxy followed a self-assembly mechanism. The precursors of epoxy acted as the selective solvent of the diblock copolymer, and thus, the self-assembled nanostructures were formed. The self-organized nanophases were fixed through the subsequent curing reaction. By means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), the morphologies of the nanostructured epoxy thermosets containing PSSNa nanophases were investigated. In the glassy state, the epoxy matrixes were significantly reinforced by the spherical PSSNa nanodomains, as evidenced by dynamic mechanical analysis. The measurement of dielectric properties showed that, with the incorporation of PSSNa nanophases, the dielectric constants of the epoxy thermoset were significantly increased. Compared to the control epoxy, the dielectric loss of the nanostructured thermosets still remained at quite a low level, although the values of dielectric loss were slightly increased with inclusion of PSSNa nanophases.

Thermoresponse improvement of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels via formation of poly(sodium p-styrenesulfonate) nanophases.

The block copolymer networks composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly(sodium p-styrenesulfonate) were synthesized via sequential reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization with α,ω-didithiobenzoate-terminated poly(sodium p-styrenesulfonate) (PSSNa) as the macromolecular chain transfer agent. It was found that the block copolymer networks were microphase-separated as evidenced by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). In the block copolymer networks, spherical or cylindrical PSSNa microdomains were finely dispersed into continuous PNIPAM matrixes. In comparison with unmodified PNIPAM hydrogel, the nanostructured hydrogels displayed improved thermoresponsive properties. In addition, the swelling ratios of the PSSNa-modified PNIPAM hydrogels were significantly higher than that of plain PNIPAM hydrogel. The improvement of thermoresponse was attributable to the formation of the PSSNa nanophases, which promoted the transportation of water molecules in the cross-linked networks.