Block copolymer thin films

The ionization degree, charge density, and conformation of weak polyelectrolytes can be adjusted through adjusting the pH and ionic strength stimuli. Such polymers thus offer a range of reversible interactions, including electrostatic complexation, H-bonding, and hydrophobic interactions, which position weak polyelectrolytes as key nano-units for the design of dynamic systems with precise structures, compositions, and responses to stimuli. The purpose of this review article is to discuss recent examples of nanoarchitectonic systems and applications that use weak polyelectrolytes as smart components. Surface platforms (electrodeposited films, brushes), multilayers (coatings and capsules), processed polyelectrolyte complexes (gels and membranes), and pharmaceutical vectors from both synthetic or natural-type weak polyelectrolytes are discussed. Finally, the increasing significance of block copolymers with weak polyion blocks is discussed with respect to the design of nanovectors by micellization and film/membrane nanopatterning via phase separation.

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“… Self-assembled films and membranes from BCP. Schematic representation of nanopatterned systems enabled by BCP phase separation [ 219 ]. …”

Section: Figures Schemes and Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weak Polyelectrolytes as Nanoarchitectonic Design Tools for Functional Materials: A Review of Recent Achievements

et al. 2022

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“…Within the SCFT, the free energy functional of such a system is obtained as , where u 0 is the (Edwards) short-range excluded volume interaction, ϕ( r , θ) and ϕ* ( r , θ) are the dimensionless volume fractions of all and sticker monomers, respectively, ω( r , θ) is the auxiliary field that couples with the volume fraction ϕ( r , θ), ln(ζ/π R 2 ) is the translational entropy term, with ζ being the momentum part of the polymer partition function, and is the single-chain configurational partition function, which is defined by Using the saddle-point approximation, we can obtain a set of self-consistent equations for the density field and the auxiliary field. The crucial step corresponds to the numerical solution of these self-consistent equations in terms of the polymer chain propagator, q ( r , s ), i.e., the probability of finding the s th monomer of a polymer at r , which can be obtained by solving the modified diffusion equation with the initial condition q ( r , θ, s = 0) = 1, where s ∈ [0, N ] is the contour variable along the chain.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selective Adsorption of Confined Polymers: Self-Consistent Field Theory Studies

2021

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Selective adsorption of flexible polymers, where only a fraction of the "sticker" monomers can be adsorbed, confined to a cylindrical pore, is studied within the self-consistent field theory (SCFT). The selective adsorption, modeled with diblock, alternating, and random distributions of the sticker monomers along the chain, shows different adsorption−desorption transition behaviors: when the polymer chain possesses a high fraction of stickers, the di-block sequence adsorbs better than the alternating and the random sequence. On the other hand, when the polymer chain possesses a low fraction of stickers, the alternating sequence is the most adsorbed chain. Our theory indicates that the correlation between stickers and nonadsorbing monomers (neutrals) enhances the adsorption of polymers at a low fraction of sticker monomers, while it hinders the adsorption of polymers at a high fraction of sticker monomers, revealing the mechanism of adsorption efficiency determined by the sequence of sticker monomers in a polymer chain.

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“…[ 1‐4 ] Providing potential applications in many fields, the self‐assembly of block copolymers has attracted extensive attention. [ 5‐8 ] Advances in polymer synthetic chemistry make more block copolymers with various molecular architectures accessible, such as linear, star, brush and bottlebrush block copolymers, which offers opportunities for the fabrication of new nanomaterials with improved functionalities and properties. [ 9‐11 ] With such a large library of block copolymer architectures, it is important to understand the relationship between the architectures of block copolymers and their self‐assembled nanostructures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Control the Self‐assembly of Block Copolymers by Tailoring the Packing Frustration

2022

Chin. J. Chem.

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went abroad as a postdoctoral researcher in St. Francis Xavier University. Then, he got another postdoctoral fellowship from Prof. An-Chang Shi at McMaster University. He has been at Fudan University since 2007 and became a full professor in 2014. His current research interests are focused on the thermodynamics and kinetics of the self-assembly of block copolymers. Zhanwen Xu received his Ph.D. from East China University of Science and Technology in 2019. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Li's group. His research interests are focused on the self-assembly behaviors and the functional properties of ordered phases of block copolymers.

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Block copolymer thin films

Cited by 64 publications

References 242 publications

Weak Polyelectrolytes as Nanoarchitectonic Design Tools for Functional Materials: A Review of Recent Achievements

Weak Polyelectrolytes as Nanoarchitectonic Design Tools for Functional Materials: A Review of Recent Achievements

Selective Adsorption of Confined Polymers: Self-Consistent Field Theory Studies

Control the Self‐assembly of Block Copolymers by Tailoring the Packing Frustration

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