Sequence structure controllable polymerization-induced self-assembly

Polymerization-induced self-assembly(PISA)combines synthesis and self-assembly of artificial polymers in one-pot,which brings us one step closer to emulating biosynthesis.However,the reported PISA formulations primarily focus on developing nano-objects with new chemical compositions and rarely on structural regulation of polymers with specific components.Herein,sequence structure controllable polymerization-induced self-assembly(SCPISA)is reported by using 7-(2-methacryloyloxyethoxy)-4-methylcoumarin(CMA)as a monomer.During the copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate(HEMA)and CMA,controlled incorporation of CMA units into the polymer chains can be realized by programmable light/heat changes.SCPISA-based P(HEMA-co-CMA)copolymers with the same composition but different sequence structures generate a range of assemblies.Moreover,the morphologies of the resultant nano-objects can also be controlled by regulating the feed molar ratio of CMA and HEMA,which is similar to the conventional PISA,but the synthesis procedure is obviously simplified in SCPISA.The versatility of the methodology is further demonstrated by the fabrication of different functional nano-objects with sequence structure-dependent morphologies in SCPISA systems with different functional monomers.

Adsorption behavior of uranyl ions onto amino-type adsorbents prepared by radiation-induced graft copolymerization

Amino-type adsorbents(ATAs) were prepared by radiation-induced graft copolymerization of 4-hydroxybutyl acry late glycidyl ether(HB) onto a polyethylene-coated polypropylene(PE/PP) duplex fiber of a non-woven fabric,and modified with different amines of ethylenediamine(EDA),diethylenetriamine(DETA),triethylenetetramine(TETA) and diethylamine(DEA).The adsorption behavior of uranyl ions onto the ATAs was studied in batch experiments.The effects of the contact time,initial concentration of the ions,temperature,and pH value.The salinity were investigated along with the adsorption kinetics and the adsorption isotherms.The kinetic experimental data followed the pseudo second-order kinetic model,and the adsorption isotherms correlated well with the Langmuir model.The ATAs showed good efficiency in adsorbing uranyl ions,with the best saturation adsorption capacity being 64.26 mg g^(-1) for ATA-DETA within 120 min.The temperature dependence of ATADETA was quite abnormal and the quickest behavior was obtained at 25 ℃.ATAs showed good adsorption capacity over a wide pH range of 4.0-8.5,and HCl could be used in the elution process.Salinity of the solution had great effect on the adsorption capacity,3.5%salinity resulted in a 55%loss of capacity from ATA-DETA.The selectivity of ATA-DETA showed an order of:UO_2^(2+)≈Fe^(3+)> Zn^(2+) > VO_3^- > Co^(2+) > Ni^(2+).

THE EFFECT OF POLAR ADDITIVES ON THE γ RADIATION INDUCED POLYMERIZATION OF STYRENE

The γ induced polymerization of styrene in the presence of polar additives such as tributylphosphate, triethyl amine and ethanol was studied at dose rate of 5.0×10^(17) eV/ml. min. The re-sult shows that radiation induced polymerization of styrene was sensitized by the three kinds ofadditives at the approximate same rate and the experimental results were in agreement with thetheoretical calculation of WAS equation. The cause of sensitization is due to the proton transfer.

Ultravilolet-radiation-induced graft polymerization of acrylamide onto the melt-blown polypropylene filter element by dynamic method

By dynamic method under UV irradiation, commercial melt-blown polypropylene （PPMB） filter element was modified with acrylamide （AAm） using benzophenone （BP） as initiator. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope verified that polyacrylamide chain was grafted on the fiber surface of PPMB filter element. Elemental content analysis with energy dispersive X-ray of fibers revealed that the polymerization content in the inner part of filter element was relatively higher than that in the outer. Degree of grafting changed with initiator concentration, monomer concentration, reaction temperature and reached 2.6% at the reaction condition： CBp=0.06 mol/L, CAAm=2.0 mol/L, irradiation time： 80 min, temperature： 60℃. Relative water flux altered with the hydrophilicity and pore size of filter element. In the antifouling test, the modified filter gave greater flux recovery （approximately 70%） after filtration of the water extract of Liuweidihuang, suggesting that the fouling layer was more easily reversible due to the hydrophilic nature of the modified filter.

Adsorbent for Arsenic(V) Removal Synthesized by Radiation-Induced Graft Polymerization onto Nonwoven Cotton Fabric

A fibrous adsorbent for arsenic (As) removal was synthesized with nonwoven cotton fabric as a trunk polymer. 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate phosphoric acid monomer which composed of phosphoric acid mono (50%) and di (50%) ethyl methacrylate ester was introduced with radiation-induced graft polymerization onto nonwoven cotton fabric. The degree of grafting of 130% was obtained at irradiation dose of 20 kGy with 5% of monomer solution for 2 hours reaction time at 40?C reaction temperature. After the grafted material was contacted with 10 mmol/L of zirconium (Zr) solution at pH 1, 0.38 mmol/g of Zr was loaded on phosphoric units as a functional group for As(V) removal. The resulting adsorbent was evaluated by column mode adsorption with 1 mg/L of As(V) solution at various pH with space velocity 200 h–1. The maximum capacity of As(V) adsorption was 0.1 mmol/g at pH 2.

ELECTRON BEAM IRRADIATION INDUCED GRAFT POLYMERIZATION OF POLYETHYLENE POWDER

The graft polymerization of maleic anhydride (MA) onto preirradiated HDPE powder was studied. FTIR showed the existence of HDPE-graft-MA. The irradiation atmosphere and preirradiation dose have effects on the Percent graft. A high degree of graft (10% ) was achieved using this process.

Self-assembly of Gradient Copolymer Synthesized by Spontaneous Batch RAFT Emulsion Polymerization and Its Application on Encapsulating Ag Nanoparticles

The gradient copolymers of acrylic acid and trifluoroethyl methacrylate（coded as P（TFEMAgrad-AA）） were synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation transfer（RAFT） emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization. The spontaneous batch feeding approach was used to control the gradient chain sequence. Transmission electron microscopy（TEM） analysis revealed that the P（TFEMA-grad-AA） can self-assemble to form spherical micelles, rodlike micelles or vesicles in selective solvents. Morphological transition of the P（TFEMA-grad-AA） micelles was sensitive to the water content of the dioxane/water mixed solvent. More interestingly, Ag nanoparticles（NPs） were encapsulated by the P（TFEMA-grad-AA） micelles during the selfassembly process. The gradient chain sequence made the Ag NPs easily enter the core of the micelles, even when P（TFEMA-grad-AA） had less hydrophobic fluoro-units and more hydrophilic units. TEM images with energy dispersive spectrometer indicated that the nanocomposite micelles consisted of a Ag NPs core and a gradient copolymer shell.

Rapid Biodiesel Fuel Production Using Novel Fibrous Catalyst Synthesized by Radiation-Induced Graft Polymerization

An efficient fibrous catalyst for the biodiesel fuel production has been synthesized by radiation-induced graft polymerization of 4-chloromethylstyrene onto a nonwoven polyethylene (NWPE) fabric followed by amination with trimethylamine (TMA) and further treatment with NaOH. The degree of grafting of NWPE fabric and TMA group density of fibrous catalyst could easily and reproducibly be controlled within a range of up to 340% and 3.6 mmol-TMA/g-catalyst, respectively. In the transesterification of triglycerides and ethanol using the synthesized fibrous catalyst, the conversion ratio of triglycerides reached 95% after 4 h reaction at 50°C.

Self-assembly synthesis of solid polymer electrolyte with carbonate terminated poly (ethylene glycol) matrix and its application for solid state lithium battery

A facile one-pot synthesis of solid polymer electrolytes(SPEs), composed of carbonate terminated poly(ethylene glycol)(CH3O-PEG-IC), poly(ethylene glycol)-block-polystyrene(PEG-b-PS) block copolymer nanoparticles containing a conductive PEG corona, fumed SiO2 and Li TFSI salt via polymerization-induced self-assembly is proposed. This method to prepare SPEs has the advantages of one-pot convenient synthesis, avoiding use of organic solvent and conveniently adding inorganic additives. CH3O-PEG-IC combines advantages of PEG and polycarbonate, the in situ synthesized PEG-b-PS nanoparticles containing a rigid polystyrene(PS) core and a PEG corona guarantee continuous lithium ion transport in the synthesized SPEs, and the fumed SiO2 optimizes the interfacial properties and improves the electrochemical stability, all of which afford SPEs a well considerable room temperature ionic conductivity of 1.73 × 10^-4S/cm, high lithium transference number of 0.53, and wide electrochemical stability window of 5.5 V(vs. Li^+/Li). By employing these SPEs, the assembled solid state cells of Li FePO4 |SPEs|Li exhibit considerable cell performance.

Aqueous Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers to Form Manganese Oxide-Based Polymeric Vesicles for Tumor Microenvironment-Activated Drug Delivery

Molecular self-assembly is crucially fundamental to nature.However,the aqueous self-assembly of polymers is still a challenge.To achieve self-assembly of block copolymers [(polyacrylic acid-block-polyethylene glycol-block-polyacrylic acid(PAA68-b-PEG86-b-PAA68)] in an aqueous phase,manganese oxide(MnO2) is first generated to drive phase separation of the PAA block to form the PAA68-b-PEG68-b-PAA68/MnO2 polymeric assembly that exhibits a stable structure in a physiological medium.The polymeric assembly exhibits vesicular morphology with a diameter of approximately 30 nm and high doxorubicin(DOX) loading capacity of approximately 94%.The transformation from MnO2 to Mn2+caused by endogenous glutathione(GSH)facilitates the disassembly of PAA68-b-PEG68-b-PAA68/MnO2 to enable its drug delivery at the tumor sites.The toxicity of DOXloaded PAA68-b-PEG68-b-PAA69/MnO2 to tumor cells has been verified in vitro and in vivo.Notably,drug-loaded polymeric vesicles have been demonstrated,especially in in vivo studies,to overcome the cardiotoxicity of DOX.We expect this work to encourage the potential application of polymer self-assembly.

Electron density measurement of laser-induced epoxy fiber reinforced polymer plasma

Interferograms of laser-induced epoxy fiber reinforced polymer plasmas are obtained through aMach-Zehnder interferometry system. An improved digital double-exposure Fourier method is applied to extractinitial wrapped phases from interferograms, and then an improved phase unwrapping algorithm based on a maskand a branch-cut method is proposed to solve the problem of phase unwrapping. After the inverse Abel transfor-mation of the unwrapped phase, spatial distributions of the electron density of laser-induced epoxy fiber rein-forced polymer plasma at various delays are acquired. Results show that the measured electron density of theplasma is mainly distributed on the order of 10^18 cm^3. The experiment also indicates that the total amount oflaser plasma electrons changes slightly within the recorded time and the change of the electron density is approx-imately inversely proportional to the change of the plasma volume.

Thermoreversible Thickening and Self-assembly Behaviors of pH/Temperature Dually Responsive Microgels with Interpenetrating Polymer Network Structure

The pH /temperature dually responsive microgels of interpenetrating polymer network( IPN) structure composed of poly( N-isopropylacrylamide)( PNIPAM) network and poly( acrylic acid)( PAA) network( PNIPAM /PAA IPN microgels) were synthesized by seed emulsion polymerization. The results obtained by dynamic laser light scattering( DLLS) show that the microgels have good pH /temperature dual sensitivities. The temperature sensitive component and the pH sensitive component inside the microgels have little interference with each other. The rheological properties of the concentrated PNIPAM /PAA IPN microgel dispersions as a function of temperature at pH 4. 0 or 7. 0 were investigated by viscometer,and the results displayed that only at pH 7. 0 the dispersions presented thermoreversible thickening behavior. Then the PNIPAM /PAA fibers were prepared by self-assembly of the PNIPAM /PAA IPN microgels in the ice-crystal templates formed by unidirectional liquid nitrogen freezing method. Field emission scanning electron microscopy( FESEM) images indicate that the PNIPAM /PAA fibers are rounded,randomly orientated and interweaved.

Electropolymerization of 4-Aminothiophenol Self-AssembledMonolayer on Au Electrode

In this letter. we report that oxidation of 4-aminothiophenol self-assembled monolayeron An electrode produces a couple of redox current peaks with close peak potentials in 0.5 mol/LHCIO4 aqueous solution, and the peaks are ascribed to an electroactive monolayer.Electrochemical properties of the monolayer polymer were investigated with use ofelectrochemical quartz crystal microbalance and cyclic voltammetry.

SELF-ASSEMBLY OF ROD-COIL DIBLOCK COPOLYMERS——INFLUENCE OF THE ROD LENGTH

The self-assembly of five narrowly distributed novel rod-coil diblock copolymers, poly(styrene-block-(2, 5-bis[4-methoxy-phenyl]oxycarbonyl) styrene) (PS-b-PMPCS), in p-xylene, a selective solvent at room temperature, was studied. Therod-coil copolymers, which have the same PS length but different PMPCS length, were synthesized by 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-I-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) mediated living free radical polymerization. The influence of the rod length on the self-assemblymorphology was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). At a concentration of 2.0 mg/mL, those copolymerswith relatively shorter PMPCS length (copolymers 1 and 2) form individual spherical micelles; those with relatively longerPMPCS length (copolymer 3 and 4) form 'pearl chains' coexisting with individual spherical micelles; the ones with longestPMPCS length form 'pearl chains' coexisting with occasionally formed nanofibers. The diameter of all the morphologieswas controlled by the rod length. This gives us a way to govern the self-assembly morphology by altering the length of oneblock in the block copolymer.

Mesoporous polymers:soft-template self-assembly synthesis and applications

Mesoporous polymers combine the advantages of polymer materials(abundant polar functional groups,lightweight,flexibility,and processability)and mesoporous structures(high specific surface area,adjustable pore structure,and large pore volume);hence,they have great application potential in sensing,adsorption,catalysis,energy storage,biomedicine,etc.Currently,developing advanced synthetic strategies for mesoporous polymers and investigating their intrinsic applications have become hot research topics.Soft-template-based self-assembly is regarded as a promising approach for synthesizing mesoporous polymers.This work reviews recent progress in the synthetic strategy for producing various mesoporous polymers using soft-template selfassembly,focusing on the synthesis of conductive polymers,phenol-based polymers,and resin-based polymers and their potential applications.Finally,perspectives on future applications of mesoporous polymers,along with a few challenges that need to be resolved,are also discussed in this review.

Differentiated self-assembly through orthogonal noncovalent interactions towards the synthesis of two-dimensional woven supramolecular polymers

Molecular weaving is a powerful approach to make molecularly woven materials that have showed unprecedented characteristics and properties intrinsically distinct to those of non-woven materials.We here report a facile and efficient approach for the synthesis of 2D woven supramolecular polymers by differentiated self-assembly through orthogonal noncovalent interactions.Importantly,the difference in binding strength of two orthogonal noncovalent interactions can be used to control the process of molecular weaving.Consequently,single-layered 2D woven supramolecular polymers were synthesized and fully characterized by various techniques.This study demonstrates a controllable method for molecular weaving,and will significantly hasten the development of molecularly woven materials.

In Situ Synthesis of Block Copolymer Nano-assemblies by Polymerization- induced Self-assembly under Heterogeneous Condition

Controlled synthesis of amphiphilic block copolymer nanoparticles in a convenient way is an important and interest topic in polymer science. In this review, three formulations of polymerization-induced self-assembly to in situ synthesize block copolymer nanoparticles are briefly introduced, which perform by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer （RAFT） polymerization under heterogeneous conditions, e.g., aqueous emulsion RAFT polymerization, dispersion RAFT polymerization and especially the recently proposed seeded RAFT polymerization. The latest developments in several selected areas on the synthesis of block copolymer nano-assemblies are highlighted.

Effect of Butyl α-Hydroxymethyl Acrylate Monomer Structure on the Morphology Produced via Aqueous Emulsion Polymerization-induced Self-assembly

Polymerization-induced self-assembly(PISA) is an efficient and versatile method to afford polymeric nano-objects with polymorphic morphologies. Compared to dispersion PISA syntheses based on soluble monomers, the vast majority of emulsion PISA formulations using insoluble monomers leads to kinetically-trapped spheres. Herein, we present aqueous emulsion PISA formulations generating worms and vesicles besides spheres. Two monomers with different butyl groups, n-butyl(n BHMA) and tert-butyl(t BHMA) α-hydroxymethyl acrylate, and thus possessing different water solubilities were synthesized via Baylis-Hillman reaction. Photoinitiated aqueous emulsion polymerizations of n BHMA and t BHMA employing poly(ethylene glycol) macromolecular chain transfer agents(macro-CTAs, PEG45-CTA, and PEG113-CTA) at 40 °C were systematically investigated to evaluate the effect of monomer structure and solubility on the morphology of the generated block copolymer nano-objects. Higher order morphologies including worms and vesicles were readily accessed for t BHMA, which has a higher water solubility than that of n BHMA. This study proves that plasticization of the core-forming block by water plays a key role in enhancing chain mobility required for morphological transition in emulsion PISA.