Nanomaterial with Variable d‐Spacing Prepared from Self‐Assembly of Cleavable Triblock Polystyrene‐(S₂)Poly(tert‐butyl acrylate)–Polystyrene

Abstract

Nanomaterial with variable d -spacing is prepared by hydrolysis of a bulk self-assembly with lamellar morphology. The bulk self-assembly is prepared from a disulfi de-containing polystyrene-(S 2 )poly( tert -butyl acrylate)-polystyrene (PS-(S 2 )P t BA-PS) triblock copolymer, which is polymerized via two-step atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with a disulfi de-containing difunctional initiator. The results show that the PS-(S 2 )P t BA-PS with 47.6% weight fraction of PS bulk self-assembles into ordered nanomaterial with lamellar morphology. As the morphology of the bulk material is fi xed by glassy PS microdomains, the P t BA domains can be hydrolyzed to poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) domains in the bulk state of PS and then the d -spacing can be regulated like an accordion by changing the environment of the material. Also, the hydrolyzed self-assembly can be applied as a template to load nanoparticles in PAA microdomains to prepare layered inorganic/organic composites. The bulk material can be dispersed in methanol to form dispersed (multilayered) nanoplates by cleaving the disulfi de bonds by tributylphosphine (Bu 3 P) reduction. Moreover, the ester bonds in the hydrolyzed bulk material can be cleaved by NaOH, and then water-dispersed (multilayered) nanoplates with pH responsiveness are obtained.

Intriguing Morphology Evolution from Noncrosslinked Poly(tert-butyl acrylate) Seeds with Polar Functional Groups in Soap-Free Emulsion Polymerization of Styrene

“…The stretching vibrations caused by −CH 3 bending in tert-butyl groups were observed at 1392 and 1367 cm −1 , whereas the sharp absorption peaks at 1255 and 1151 cm −1 represented C− C−O and C−O stretching vibrations in PtBA. 52 Compared with spectrum (a), spectrum (b) presented typical absorption peaks of PS. The absorption bands at 1600, 1492, and 1452 cm −1 belonged to stretching vibrations of the benzene ring skeleton.…”

“…The strong absorption peak at 1730 cm –1 was attributed to the stretching vibration of the carbonyl group (CO) in P t BA. The stretching vibrations caused by −CH 3 bending in tert -butyl groups were observed at 1392 and 1367 cm –1 , whereas the sharp absorption peaks at 1255 and 1151 cm –1 represented C–C–O and C–O stretching vibrations in P t BA . Compared with spectrum (a), spectrum (b) presented typical absorption peaks of PS.…”

Self-healable hydrogels with NaHCO3 degradability and a reversible gel–sol–gel transition from phenolic ester containing polymers

“…The degradation of the materials can avoid by-effects aer their tasks are completed. Although the dynamic covalent bonds and the active ester bonds can be degraded under certain stimulus by their nature, 24,[30][31][32] the conditions are not mild or bio-compatible enough. As a result, degradable self-healable material are rarely reported.…”