Deformation of disentangled polypropylene crystalline grains into nanofibers

It was shown that a solid‐state deformation of polypropylene (PP) being in the form of partially disentangled powder is possible by blending with another molten polymer. During mixing of disentangled polypropylene powder with polystyrene at the temperature below melting of polypropylene crystals the shear forces deform powder grains into nanofibers. All disentangled powder particles larger than 0.7 µm underwent deformation into nanofibers having the mean thickness between 100 and 200 nm. Polypropylene nanofibers got entangled during blending and form a network within polystyrene matrix, reinforcing it. Network of entangled nanofibers can be further deformed with pronounced strain hardening and strength reaching 70 MPa at 135 °C. Blending resulted in generation of PP nanofibers and formation of PP nanofibers entangled network, thus formation of “all‐polymer nanocomposites” in one step compounding. The crucial feature for ultra‐deformation of PP grains by shearing during mixing is disentanglement of macromolecules. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 1983–1994     

Melt grafting of N‐carbamyl maleamic acid onto linear low‐density polyethylene

The grafting of N‐carbamyl maleamic acid (NCMA) onto linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE) was carried out with different concentrations of 2,5‐dimethyl‐2,5‐di(tert‐butylperoxy) hexane (DBPH) as an initiator. The modification process was performed in the molten state with a Brabender mixer. All the materials were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and melt rheology. The analysis of the FTIR spectra indicated that the grafting efficiency increased with the concentration of both NCMA and DBPH. The calorimetric experiments showed that the modification process did not noticeably alter the enthalpy of fusion of LLDPE, whereas the melting temperature of the modified polymers was slightly lower than that corresponding to the original LLDPE. The rheological response of the molten polymers, determined under dynamic shear flow at small‐amplitude oscillations, indicated that the modification process induced crosslinking of the chains. Both the dynamic viscosity and elastic modulus of the modified LLDPE increased with the concentration of NCMA and DBPH, showing that larger molecules were generated during the modification process. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3950–3958, 2002     

Steady-shear viscosity of polydimethylsiloxanes over the range from the lower to the upper Newtonian region

The mechanism of non-Newtonian behavior for flow from the lower to the upper Newtonian region is explained by a modification of Graessley's theory. In the theory proposed here, a viscosity η_fric, which is based on friction between polymer segments and is almost shear-independent, is introduced in addition to Graessley's entanglement viscosity η_ent, which decreases with increasing shear rate. The theory is applied to previously obtained data on steady flow of polydimethylsiloxanes of different molecular weights. The agreement between calculated and experimental results is good. In polymers with the molecular weight above the critical molecular weight for entanglement M_c, the major contribution to viscosity near zero shear rate is η_ent. As the shear rate increases, the flow curve has an inflection where η_fric cannot be disregarded in comparison with η_ent. In the upper Newtonian region, η_fric has more influence on the viscosity than η_ent. The theory can also explain the experimental results on flow of polymers with molecular weight below M_c, which were shown to be slightly non-Newtonian in the previous paper.     

Nonlinear shear of entangled polymers from nonequilibrium molecular dynamics

This study aims to use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of Kremer–Grest (KG) chains to inform future developments of models of entangled polymer dynamics. We perform nonequilibrium MD simulations, under shear flow, for well‐entangled KG chains. We study chains of 512 and 1000 KG beads, corresponding to 8 and 15 entanglements, respectively. We compute the linear rheological properties from equilibrium simulations of the stress autocorrelation and obtain from these data the tube model parameters. Under nonlinear shear flow, we compute the shear viscosity, the first and second normal stress differences, and chain contour length. For chains of 512 monomers, we obtain agreement with the results of Cao and Likhtman (ACS Macro. Lett. 2015, 4, 1376). We also compare our nonlinear results with the Graham, Likhtman and Milner‐McLeish (GLaMM) model. We identify some systematic disagreement that becomes larger for the longer chains. We made a comparison of the transient shear stress maximum from our simulations, two nonlinear models and experiments on a wide range of melts and solutions, including polystyrene (PS), polybutadiene, and styrene–butadiene rubber. This comparison establishes that the PS melt data show markedly different behavior to all other melts and solutions and KG simulations reproduce the PS data more closely than either the GLaMM or Xie and Schweizer models. We discuss the performance of these models against the data and simulations. Finally, by imposing a rapid reversing flow, we produce a method to extract the recoverable strain from MD simulations, valid for sufficiently entangled monodisperse polymers. We explore how the resulting data can probe the melt state just before the reversing flow. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 1692–1704     

Two negative minima of the first normal stress difference in a cellulose‐based cholesteric liquid crystal: Helix uncoiling

The shear rate dependence of material functions such as shear viscosity (η) and the first normal stress difference (N₁) were given and interpreted earlier by Kiss and Porter. Their widely accepted work revealed the possibility of having a negative minimum of N₁ for polymeric liquid crystals. In this work, we disclose for the first time the evidence of two negative N₁ minima on a sheared cellulosic lyotropic system. The lower shear rate minimum is ascribed to the uncoiling of the cholesteric helix, as theoretically predicted earlier. Our findings contribute also to the understanding of the other minimum already reported in the literature and attributed to the nematic director tumbling mode. Moreover, the elastic change that the LC‐HPC sample undergoes during the helix unwinding of the cholesteric structure is also by means of oscillatory measurements. This study is a contribution for the understanding of the structure‐properties relationship linked with the complex rheological behavior of chiral nematic cellulose‐based systems and may help to improve their further processing. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 821–830     

Strain hardening in glassy polymers: Influence of network density on elastic and viscous contributions

In this study, the rate‐ and temperature‐dependent strain hardening and the Bauschinger effect is studied for three glassy polymers. It appeared that for all materials, an equal distribution of elastic and viscous hardening was necessary to accurately predict the Bauschinger effect, as well as the rate‐ and temperature‐dependent strain hardening response. As for the elastic contribution, the viscous contribution appears to increase with an increase in entanglement network density. Investigating the effect of temperature on the Bauschinger effect revealed that at elevated temperatures the model predictions are not accurately enough. It is shown that this is caused by the magnitude of the elastic hardening contribution; to improve the predictions, a temperature‐dependent elastic contribution is necessary. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019, 57, 1001–1013     

What is the flow activation volume of entangled polymer melts?

We evaluate the flow activation volume in polymer melts of isotactic polypropylene and atactic polystyrene with step-shear experiments at different melt temperatures. The melt is initially sheared with constant shear rate until the attainment of a melt state with nearly constant viscosity. Perturbations to this experiment, involving shear steps in short-time intervals with decreasing rates, are induced next. Measurements of the shear stress value at each shear rate step allow the evaluation of an experimental (apparent) flow activation volume. The true flow activation volume is evaluated by extrapolating the experimental data to infinite shear stress values. The value obtained is larger than the physical volume of the chain and agrees with the volume of a tube confining chains with a molecular weight between M _n and M _w. Besides supporting the validity of tube model, experiments based on this protocol may be used on model polymer samples, in composites with nanoparticles and in polymer blends to access the validity of mechanisms considered by flow models.     

Direct synthesis of tetrazine functionalities on polymer backbones

Tetrazine mediated inverse Electron Demand Diels–Alder Reaction (IEDDA) is an important modification technique due to its high selectivity and super‐fast kinetics. Incorporation of tetrazine moieties on polymer chains requires multistep synthetic pathways and a post‐polymerization step leading to functional polymeric materials. Such approaches involve separate syntheses of polymer and the molecule which will be employed in modification. Herein, we introduce a straightforward synthetic approach for direct synthesis of tetrazine groups on polymers as side chains. As model systems, tetrazine functional poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)‐and poly(ethylene glycol)‐based polymers from corresponding precursor polymers with nitrile moieties as pendant groups are prepared and IEDDA Click Reaction is achieved with trans‐cyclooctene derivatives. The click reaction is monitored by both NMR and UV–vis spectroscopies. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 673–680     

Composition effects of thermoplastic segmented polyurethanes on their nanostructuring kinetics with or without preshear

In this work, the structuring mechanism from the molten state of various thermoplastic polyurethanes was analyzed with respect to their composition [polyether or polyester soft segments (SSs), aromatic or aliphatic hard segments (HSs)]. As a preliminary study, the molar mass evolution of the materials with the temperature was quantified. Then, based on rheological experiments and in situ rheo‐small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) measurements, the structuring was examined at different temperatures and, particularly, the effect of a preshear treatment was analyzed. The temperature effect can be accounted by an Arrhenius‐like law with an activation energy depending mainly on the HS nature. Moreover, the shear induced structuring phenomenon is highlighted for all the studied thermoplastic segmented polyurethanes. Nevertheless, for the studied range of shear treatments, the SAXS analyses did not reveal any specific orientation. Finally, arguments based on the modification of the quench depth (ΔT = T_ODT ? T) by the shear are given to explain the shear induced structuring phenomenon. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Entanglement properties of cellulose and amylose in an ionic liquid

Concentrated solutions of cellulose and amylose were prepared with an ionic liquid 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium chloride (BmimCl), which was chosen as a good solvent for these polysaccharides. Dynamic viscoelasticity of the concentrated solutions was examined to obtain the molecular weight between entanglements, M_e. The value of M_e in the molten state (M_e,melt), a material constant that reflecting the entanglement properties, was determined for cellulose and amylose by extrapolating M_e to the “melt.” A marked difference in M_e,melt was found: 3.2 × 10³ for cellulose and 2.5 × 10⁴ for amylose. The value of M_e,melt for cellulose, which is composed of β‐(1,4) bonding of D ‐glucose units, is very close to those for polysaccharides with a random‐coil conformation such as agarose and gellan in BmimCl. The much larger M_e,melt for amylose can be attributed to the helical nature of the amylose chain, α‐(1,4)‐linked D ‐glucose units. The effect of concentration on the zero‐shear viscosity for the solutions of cellulose and amylose was also examined. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Synthesis and characterization of polylactides with different branched architectures

Star‐shaped and comb‐like poly(L‐Lactide)s (PLA) are produced by employing multifunctional initiators, and hyperbranched structure is prepared using a cyclic co‐monomer with hydroxyl group. FTIR, size exclusion chromatography, and H‐NMR techniques are employed to characterize the synthesized polymers, validating the formation of desired structures with chain lengths above the critical length for entanglement. After characterization of the synthesized polymers, the effect of branching on PLA properties is investigated by comparing the crystallization and rheological behavior of branched PLAs to those of a linear commercial grade. Differential scanning calorimetry and optical microscopy observations reveal a remarkable improvement in PLA crystallization due to the nucleation role of branching points. Moreover, synthesized polylactides exhibit strain hardening behavior during elongational viscosity measurements by a sentmanat extension rheometer platform. Significant improvements in crystallization and elongational rheology behavior of the synthesized polymers support the achievement of branched polymer structures. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 522–531     

Synthesis and comparative solution properties of single‐, twin‐, and triple‐tailed associating ionic polymers based on diallylammonium salts

The cycloterpolymerizations of single‐, twin‐, and triple‐tailed hydrophobes with hydrophilic monomer N,N‐diallyl‐N‐carboethoxymethylammonium chloride and sulfur dioxide afforded a series of cationic polyelectrolytes (CPEs) in excellent yields. These CPEs, upon the acidic hydrolysis of the pendent ester groups, gave the corresponding pH‐responsive cationic acid salts, which, upon a treatment with sodium hydroxide, were converted to polybetaines (PBs), anionic polyelectrolytes (APEs), and PB/APE polymers containing various proportions of zwitterionic (PB) and anionic fractions (APE) in the polymer chain. At a shear rate of 0.36 s⁻¹ at 30 °C, salt‐free water solutions of the CPEs (2 g/dL) containing 8, 4, and 2.67 mol % of the single‐, twin‐, and triple‐tailed hydrophobes (all having 8 mol % octyloxy tails) had apparent viscosity values of 70, 2800, and 396,000 cps, respectively. The PB/APE polymer with a ratio of 33:67 for the zwitterionic and anionic fractions in the polymer chain gave the highest viscosity value. The superior viscosity behavior of the polymers containing the triple‐tailed hydrophobe was attributed to the blocky nature of the comonomer. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5480–5494, 2006     

A versatile method for cyclic polymers from conjugated and unconjugated vinyl monomers

A versatile method was introduced to prepare cyclic polymers from both conjugated and unconjugated vinyl monomers. It was developed on the combination of the RAFT polymerization and the self‐accelerating double strain‐promoted azide‐alkyne click (DSPAAC) reaction. In this approach, a switchable chain transfer agent 1 was designed to have hydroxyl terminals and a functional pyridinyl group. The protonation and deprotonation of pyridinyl group endowed the chain transfer agent 1 with a switchable control capability to RAFT polymerization of both conjugated and unconjugated vinyl monomers. Based on this, RAFT polymerization and the following hydroxyl end group modification were used to prepare various azide‐terminated linear polymers including polystyrene, poly(N‐vinylcarbazole), and polystyrene‐block‐poly(N‐vinylcarbazole). Using sym‐dibenzo‐1,5‐cyclooctadiene‐3,7‐diyne (DBA) as small linkers, the corresponding cyclic polymers were then prepared via the DSPAAC reaction between DBA and azide terminals of the linear precursors. Due to the self‐accelerating property of DSPAAC reaction, this bimolecular ring‐closing reaction could efficiently produce the pure cyclic polymers using excess molar amounts of DBA to linear polymer precursors. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 1811–1820     

Mechanical Properties and Failure Behavior of Physically Assembled Triblock Copolymer Gels with Varying Midblock Length

Mechanical properties including the failure behavior of physically assembled gels or physical gels are governed by their network structure. To investigate such behavior, we consider a physical gel system consisting of poly(styrene)‐poly(isoprene)‐poly(styrene)[PS‐PI‐PS] in mineral oil. In these gels, the endblock (PS) molecular weights are not significantly different, whereas, the midblock (PI) molecular weight has been varied such that we can access gels with and without midblock entanglement. Small angle X‐ray scattering data reveals that the gels are composed of collapsed PS aggregates connected by PI chains. The gelation temperature has been found to be a function of the endblock concentration. Tensile tests display stretch‐rate dependent modulus at high strain for the gels with midblock entanglement. Creep failure behavior has also been found to be influenced by the entanglement. Fracture experiments with predefined cracks show that the energy release rate scales linearly with the crack‐tip velocity for all gels considered here. In addition, increase of midblock chain length resulted in higher viscous dissipation leading to a higher energy release rate. The results provide an insight into how midblock entanglement can possibly affect the mechanical properties of physically assembled triblock copolymer gels in a midblock selective solvent. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 1014–1026     

The linear rheological responses of wedge‐type polymers

The linear rheological responses of a series of specially designed wedge‐type polymers synthesized by the polymerization of large molecular weight monomers have been measured. These wedge polymers contained large side groups which contained three flexible branch chains per polymer chain unit. The master curves for these polymers were obtained by time temperature superposition of dynamic data at different temperatures from the terminal flow regime to well below the glass transition temperature, T_g. While these polymers maintained a behavior similar to that of linear polymers, the influence of the large side group structure lead to low entanglement densities and extremely low rubbery plateau modulus values, being near to 13 kPa. The viscosity molecular weight dependence was also somewhat higher than that normally observed for linear polymers, tending toward a power law near to 4.2 rather than the typical 3.4 found in entangled linear chains. The glassy modulus of these branched polymers is also found to be extremely low, being less than 100 MPa at T_g ?60 °C. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 899–906     

In‐line monitoring of immiscible polymer blends in a rheometer with a fiber‐optics‐assisted fluorescence detection system

In‐line studies of the initial stages of shear‐induced coalescence in two‐phase polymer blends were carried out with a home‐built device combining a cone and plate rheometer and a fiber‐optic‐assisted fluorescence detection system. A blend of 90 wt % poly(2‐ethylhexyl methacrylate) (PEHMA) and 10 wt % poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA) was prepared by the casting of films onto a solid substrate from mixed aqueous latex dispersions of the two polymers. The dispersions were prepared via emulsion polymerization under conditions in which both components were formed as spherical particles with a very narrow size distribution. By using a 14:1 particle ratio of PEHMA to PBMA, we obtained films in which 120‐nm PBMA particles were surrounded by a PEHMA matrix. The blend contained phenanthrene‐labeled PBMA particles and anthracene‐labeled PBMA particles in a ratio of 4:1, whereas the PEHMA matrix polymer was unlabeled. We monitored the anthracene‐to‐phenanthrene fluorescence intensity ratio (I₄₇₀/I₃₆₀) as a measure of direct nonradiative energy transfer from phenanthrene to anthracene, whereas the blend was sheared at different shear rates and temperatures. Under no‐shear conditions, the results of in‐line experiments were in good agreement with the results of off‐line measurements of energy transfer by conventional techniques. In blends under shear, the two sets of experiments, in‐line and off‐line, did not agree with each other. The cause of this disagreement was associated with normal forces in the blend under shear that affected the optical path length and the relative intensities of the fluorescence signals of the phenanthrene and anthracene groups in the blend. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 2302–2316, 2001     

Applications of shear‐induced polarized light imaging (SIPLI) technique for mechano‐optical rheology of polymers and soft matter materials

A new experimental method for studying the mechano‐optical rheology of polymeric liquids and soft matter materials is presented. The method is based on a combination of rotational rheology and a recently developed optical technique—shear‐induced polarized light imaging (SIPLI). The method provides a unique opportunity to monitor a complete sample view during rheological measurements in plate–plate and cone‐and‐plate geometry. Applications of the method are presented including simultaneous SIPLI and the rheology of the oriented lamellar phase of block copolymers and liquid crystals as well as a study of the thermally induced reversible transformation of worm‐like micelles to spherical micelles. In addition, a direct relation between the shish formation and the polymer melt viscosity upturn during flow‐induced crystallization of semi‐crystalline polymers is demonstrated. An application of SIPLI for quantitative birefringence measurements is also shown. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 2151–2170     

Bulk properties of dendronized polymers with tailored end‐groups emanating from the same backbone

Dendronized polymers with a methacrylate backbone bearing pendant aliphatic polyester dendrons based on 2,2‐bis(methylol)propionic acid have been investigated by rheological measurements, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and ¹H NMR self‐diffusion techniques. The change in material properties due to the attachment of larger dendrons and/or different end‐groups to a backbone of the same length is investigated. Dendronized polymers of the second to fourth generation with hydroxyl, acetonide, or hexadecyl end‐group functionalities have been studied. DSC revealed that the glass transition temperature of the amorphous polymers increases with increasing size of the dendrons, and that the ability for the hexadecyl functional polymers to crystallize decreases with increasing size of dendrons. ¹H NMR self‐diffusion and longitudinal relaxation data are consistent with an elongated rod‐like model of the polymers in solution. Larger dendrons lead to a larger rod diameter that approximately double when increasing the generation of dendronized polymer from two to four. Rheological measurements demonstrated that the complex viscosity at low frequency increased with dendron size. Independently of the functionality, the second and third generation samples initially showed a Newtonian plateau, followed by a shear thinning region at higher frequencies. The fourth generation samples only showed shear thinning over the whole frequency region. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 4496–4504, 2005     

Molecular dimensions and melt rheology of an all‐aromatic liquid crystalline polymer

The molecular dimensions and melt rheology of a thermotropic all‐aromatic liquid crystalline polyester (TLCP) composed of p‐hydroxy benzoic acid, hydroquinone, terephthalic acid, and 2,4‐naphthalenedicarboxylic acid is examined. The Mark–Houwink exponent (α) of 0.95 is estimated for the TLCP. The persistence length estimated from molecular weight (M) and intrinsic viscosity ([η]) data using the Bohdanecky–Bushin equation is about 95 Å, whereas that estimated from light scattering data is 117 Å. These persistence lengths and the observed α value, both higher than those for flexible polymers, suggest that the present TLCP is a semirigid polymer. The zero shear melt viscosity (η₀) varies with approximately M⁶ for molecular weight M > 3 × 10⁴ g/mol; below this molecular weight, η₀ varies almost linearly with M. Widely different entanglement molecular weights (M_e) are predicted, depending on the method used; the plateau modulus estimates M_e of about 8 × 10⁵ g/mol, whereas the ratio of mean square end‐to‐end distance and molecular weight (〈R²〉₀/M) predicts M_e's either too small (0.33 g/mol) or too large (2.5 × 10⁶ g/mol), depending on the theory used. Although the change in the molecular weight dependency of melt viscosity appears to be associated with the onset of entanglement coupling of the semirigid molecules, its origin needs further investigation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 2378–2389, 2001     

Poly(silylenemethylene)‐based polymer blends. III. Synthesis and properties of polymer blends containing siloxane‐crosslinked poly(silylenemethylene)s

Soft–hard binary polymer blends consisting of amorphous poly(silylene methylene)s (PSMs) and crystalline poly(diphenylsilylenemethylene) were prepared by both melt processing at 360 °C and in situ polymerization at 300 °C. Linear and siloxane‐crosslinked PSMs were used as amorphous components for the purpose of determining how the crosslinks affected the interactions between the component polymers. Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis indirectly suggested that discernable differences between the blends containing linear and crosslinked PSMs were attributable to the degree of interactions between the amorphous and crystalline components. The morphological differences between these blends were studied with transmission electron microscopy. The dispersion phase was smaller in the blends containing crosslinked PSM than that in the blends containing linear PSM. This directly indicated that a larger interaction between the amorphous and crystalline phases was obtained by the introduction of crosslinks because of the smaller viscosity difference between the phases and a larger degree of polymer chain entanglement. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 257–263, 2003