One-dimensional Confinement Effect on the Self-assembly of Symmetric H-shaped Copolymers in a Thin Film

Mu, Dan; Li, Jianquan; Feng, Shengyu

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-13375-3

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Similarly, the H-shaped copolymer also self-assembles into the same kind of core-shell cylindrical micelle structure. Compared with the H-shaped copolymer [ 49 ], the Y-shaped copolymer lacks two hydrophilic branches, facilitating the monomers being relatively flexible in adjusting their conformations to generate a relatively shrunken conformation in the XY plane during the self-assembly process, resulting in a 22.84% decrease in the average cylinder size. Additionally, the condensed aggregating domains inhibit the formation of vacancies, so the fluctuating span of the average size of cylinders over time evolution is much narrower, resulting in a quite similar component distribution in the assembled cylinders, and the final self-assembled structure is shown in Figure 1 b, which is proven by quantitative analysis of the density distribution of B beads shown in Figure 2 a.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The surface properties of the confinement are vital parameters that should be considered, which can be realized via the adjustment of the interaction between the confinement and the components of the copolymer and the properties of the polymers under confinement. According to the morphology, the dimensionality is also a crucial parameter for characterizing the confinement, which is classified into one-dimensional (1D) [ 49 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ], two-dimensional (2D) [ 67 , 68 ], and three-dimensional (3D) [ 69 , 70 , 71 ] confinement. In general, these types of confinement present in the forms of two confining walls, concentric rings and spheres, respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In our previous work [ 49 ], the self-assembly of a reformed symmetric H-shaped amphiphilic copolymer consisting of four hydrophilic branches and one hydrophobic stem was systematically investigated. From observations after mesoscopic simulation, it was proven that the existence of vacancies is vital to regulate the sizes of self-assembled cylindrical micelle structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Solvent Effect on the Self-Assembly of a Thin Film Consisting of Y-Shaped Copolymer

Cong

et al. 2019

Polymers

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The self-assembly of an amphiphilic Y-shaped copolymer consisting of two hydrophilic branches and one hydrophobic branch in a thin film is investigated under different conditions by virtue of mesoscopic computer modelling, accompanied by doping with a single solvent, doping with a binary solvent, and those solvent environments together with the introduction of confinement defined by various acting distances and influencing regions. A cylindrical micellar structure is maintained, as it is in the thin film with the doping of either 10% hydrophobic solvent or 10% hydrophilic solvent, whose structure consists of the hydrophobic core and hydrophilic shell. Attributed to the hydrophobicity/hydrophilia nature of the solvents, different solvents play an obvious role on the self-assembled structure, i.e., the hydrophobic solvent presents as a swelling effect, conversely, the hydrophilic solvent presents as a shrinking effect. Further, the synergistic effect of the binary solvents on the self-assembly produces the lowest values in both the average volumetric size and free energy density when the quantity of hydrophobic solvent and hydrophilic solvent is equivalent. Interestingly, the solvent effect becomes more pronounced under the existent of a confinement. When a lateral-oriented confinement is introduced, a periodically fluctuating change in the cylindrical size occurs in two near-wall regions, but the further addition of either hydrophobic or hydrophilic solvent can effectively eliminate such resulting hierarchical-sized cylinders and generate uniform small-sized cylinders. However, with the introduction of a horizontal-orientated confinement, the copolymers self-assemble into the spherical micellar structure. Moreover, the further addition of hydrophobic solvent leads to a decrease in the average size of micelles via coalescence mechanism, in contrast, the further addition of hydrophilic solvent causes an increase in the average size of micelles via splitting mechanism. These findings enrich our knowledge of the potential for the solvent effect on the self-assembly of amphiphilic copolymer system, and then provide theoretical supports on improving and regulating the mesoscopic structure of nanomaterials.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Solvent Effect on the Self-Assembly of a Thin Film Consisting of Y-Shaped Copolymer

Cong

et al. 2019

Polymers

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“…Among the various modeling methods, MesoDyn has been validated as an effective approach to explore the phase behavior of polymer systems at the mesoscale [43,44,45,46,47,48]. Furthermore, MesoDyn facilitates treating various chain architectures of polymers, from linear [49] to branched [41,42,50]; MesoDyn is a mature method to investigate the phase behavior of flexible block copolymers.…”

Section: Models and Parameter Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In our previous work, two types of A n B miktoarm star copolymers were studied—one was an H-shaped structure [41], and the other was a Y-shaped structure [42]. Both copolymer thin film systems were self-assembled into a hexagonal cylindrical arrangement; especially, the extra A arm in the chain architecture makes the phase behavior of the H-shaped copolymer different from that of the Y-shaped copolymer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesoscopic Detection of the Influence of a Third Component on the Self-Assembly Structure of A2B Star Copolymer in Thin Films

Cong

et al. 2019

Polymers

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The most common self-assembly structure for A2B copolymer is the micellar structure with B/A segments being the core/corona, which greatly limits its application range. Following the principle of structure deciding the properties, a reformation in the molecular structure of A2B copolymer is made by appending three segments of a third component C with the same length to the three arms, resulting (AC)2CB 3-miktoarm star terpolymer. A reverse micellar structure in self-assembly is expected by regulating the C length and the pairwise repulsive strength of C to A/B, aiming to enrich its application range. Keeping both A and B lengths unchanged, when the repulsion strength of C to A is much stronger than C to B, from the results of mesoscopic simulations we found, with a progressive increase in C length, (AC)2CB terpolymer undergoes a transition in self-assembled structures, from a cylindrical structure with B component as the core, then to a deformed lamellar structure, and finally to a cylindrical structure with A component as the core. This reverse micellar structure is formed with the assistance of appended C segments, whose length is longer than half of B length, enhancing the flexibility of three arms, and further facilitating the aggregation of A component into the core. These results prove that the addition of a third component is a rational molecular design, in conjunction with some relevant parameters, enables the manufacturing of the desired self-assembly structure while avoiding excessive changes in the involved factors.

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Effect of Film Thickness on the Self-Assembly of CBABC Symmetric Pentablock Terpolymer Melts under 1D Confinement: A Dissipative Particle Dynamic Study

Guo

2023

Materials

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The study investigates the impact of film thickness on the phase behavior of pentablock terpolymers, denoted as C3B3A6B3C3, when subjected to wall confinement by utilizing the dissipative particle dynamics method. Phase diagrams were constructed to elucidate how factors such as block–block interaction strength, film thickness, and wall properties affect the self-assembly structures. In cases where the wall exhibits no preference for any of the blocks, lamellae phases with orientations perpendicular to the wall are observed. The order–disorder transition (ODT) temperature is found to be influenced by the interaction between the polymer and the wall in thin confinement scenarios. When the wall displays a preference for specific blocks, the orientation of lamellae structures undergoes variations. Lamellae tend to align parallel to the wall when the wall favors A or C blocks, and they orient perpendicularly when B blocks are favored. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the lamellae structures are related to the conformations of the polymer chains. Structures where chains predominantly adopt a loop conformation exhibit enhanced elastic properties. The ratio of looping to bridging conformations can be adjusted by altering the film thickness and wall selectivity.

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One-dimensional Confinement Effect on the Self-assembly of Symmetric H-shaped Copolymers in a Thin Film

Cited by 4 publications

References 61 publications

Solvent Effect on the Self-Assembly of a Thin Film Consisting of Y-Shaped Copolymer

Solvent Effect on the Self-Assembly of a Thin Film Consisting of Y-Shaped Copolymer

Mesoscopic Detection of the Influence of a Third Component on the Self-Assembly Structure of A2B Star Copolymer in Thin Films

Effect of Film Thickness on the Self-Assembly of CBABC Symmetric Pentablock Terpolymer Melts under 1D Confinement: A Dissipative Particle Dynamic Study

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