Quantification of ATRP initiator density on polymer latex particles by fluorescence labeling technique using copper‐catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition

We developed a novel fluorescence labeling technique for quantification of surface densities of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiators on polymer particles. The cationic P(St‐CPEM‐C₄DMAEMA) and anionic P(St‐CPEM) polymer latex particles carrying ATRP‐initiating chlorine groups were prepared by emulsifier‐free emulsion polymerization of styrene (St), 2‐(2‐chloropropionyloxy)ethyl methacrylate (CPEM), and N‐n‐butyl‐N,N‐dimethyl‐N‐(2‐methacryloyloxy)ethylammonium bromide (C₄DMAEMA). ATRP initiators on the surface of polymer particles were converted into azide groups by sodium azide, followed by fluorescent labeling with 5‐(N,N‐dimethylamino)‐N′‐(prop‐2‐yn‐1‐yl)naphthalene‐1‐sulfonamide (Dansyl‐alkyne) by copper‐catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). The reaction time required for both azidation of ATRP‐initiating groups and successive fluorescence labeling of azide groups with Dansyl‐alkyne by CuAAC were investigated in detail by FTIR and fluorescence spectral measurement, respectively. The ATRP initiator densities on the cationic P(St‐CPEM‐C₄DMAEMA) and anionic P(St‐CPEM) particle surfaces were estimated to be 0.21 and 0.15 molecules nm^?2, respectively, which gave close agreement with values previously determined by a conductometric titration method. The fluorescence labeling through click chemistry proposed herein is a versatile technique to quantify the surface ATRP initiator density both on anionic and cationic polymer particles. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4042–4051     

Highly efficient quenching of nanoparticles for the detection of electron‐deficient nitroaromatics

Reported herein is the highly efficient quenching of fluorescent organic nanoparticles by 2,4‐dinitrotoluene and 2,4,6‐trinitrotoluene. These fluorescent nanoparticles are formed from the hydrophobic collapse of fluorescent polymer chains and display quenching efficiencies that are in line with the highest reported literature values. Moreover, the fluorescent quenching occurs only for the fluorescent nanoparticles, and not for the precursor polymer solutions, which display marked insensitivity to the presence of nitroaromatics. This aggregation‐dependent fluorescent quenching has numerous applications for the detection of small‐molecule electron‐deficient analytes. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4150–4155     

The effect of photocrosslinkable groups on thermal stability of bulk heterojunction solar cells based on donor–acceptor‐conjugated polymers

Three different types of photocrosslinkable groups into a low band‐gap donor–acceptor‐conjugated polymer, namely poly{benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b′]dithiophene‐alt‐ thieno[3,4‐b]thiophene} (PBT), were developed to comparatively investigate the effect of the photocrosslinkable groups on the thermal stability of bulk heterojunction solar cells. Compared with vinyl groups, bromine‐ and azide‐ photocrosslinkable groups are more prompt for photocrosslinking to yield a denser crosslinking network, probably due to the different crosslinking mechanisms and reaction rates. In contrast to the reference device decreasing to less than 10% of its initial efficiency value after 80 h of annealing at 150 °C, a great improvement in the thermal stability of performance of all these crosslinked functional copolymers devices demonstrates that photocrosslinking can effectively improve the thermal stability of the active layer by suppressing [6,6]‐phenyl‐C₆₁‐butyric acid methyl diffusion and phase separation. Furthermore, the solar cells with crosslinked bromine‐ and azide‐functionalized PBT polymers showed very thermally stable photovoltaic device performance by retaining 78 and 66% of their initial device efficiency, respectively, whereas vinyl‐functionalized PBT devices retained only 51% of its initial value after long‐time thermal annealing. This suggests that an appropriate crosslinking network with homogenous active morphology could dramatically enhance the device stability without sacrificing the performance. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4156–4166     

A novel generation of photoactive comb‐shaped polyamides for the photoalignment of liquid crystals

A new approach to the synthesis of photoactive comb‐shaped homo‐ and copolyamides containing azobenzene, cinnamate, and coumarin side groups for photoalignment of liquid crystals was elaborated. Photooptical properties and photoorientational ability of these polymers with respect to liquid crystals were studied. It was shown that polarized UV irradiation of all spin‐coated polyamides leads to orientation of liquid crystalline molecules deposited on the polyamide thin films. The synthesized polymers containing cinnamate and coumarin side groups as well as azobenzene‐containing cyano‐ and nitro‐substituted polymers demonstrated good orientation ability in relation to liquid crystals displaying photoinduced planar orientation with high dichroism values within the range of 0.68–0.72. Contrary to the above‐mentioned polyamides, azobenzene‐containing fluorosubstituted polymers induced a homeotropic orientation of liquid crystals. It was shown that the synthesized photoactive polyamides can be considered as promising photoalignment materials for application in display technology, photonics, and other “smart” optical devices. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4031–4041     

A new thermo‐responsive block copolymer with tunable upper critical solution temperature and lower critical solution temperature in the alcohol/water mixture

The multi‐thermo‐responsive block copolymer of poly[2‐(2‐methoxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate]‐block‐poly[N‐(4‐vinylbenzyl)‐N,N‐diethylamine] (PMEO₂MA‐b‐PVEA) displaying phase transition at both the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and the upper critical solution temperature (UCST) in the alcohol/water mixture is synthesized by reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The poly[2‐(2‐methoxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate] (PMEO₂MA) block exhibits the UCST phase transition in alcohol and the LCST phase transition in water, while the poly[N‐(4‐vinylbenzyl)‐N,N‐diethylamine] (PVEA) block shows the UCST phase transition in isopropanol and the LCST phase transition in the alcohol/water mixture. Both the polymer molecular weight and the co‐solvent/nonsolvent exert great influence on the LCST or UCST of the block copolymer. By adjusting the solvent character including the water content and the temperature, the block copolymer undergoes multiphase transition at LCST or UCST, and various block copolymer morphologies including inverted micelles, core‐corona micelles, and corona‐collapsed micelles are prepared. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 4399–4412     

Toward tunable and adaptable polymer nanocomposites

New bio-derived strategies have been recently explored in the design of polymer nanocomposites, particularly in the area of responsive materials, which offer pathways toward tailored interfacial adhesion, responsive interactions and controlled dispersion. In this Feature article, we discuss: (1) precise control of dispersion via self-assembly driven approaches in responsive mechanics, (2) inherent and strong interfacial adhesion in single polymer composites, and (3) percolating, electrospun nanofiber networks as filler elements in adaptable composites. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2013     

Responsive core–shell microgels: Synthesis,characterization, and possible applications

Core–shell microgels are of increasing interest as smart carriers of catalysts, as sensors, or as building blocks for colloidal superstructures. In the context of colloidal assemblies, photonic applications are probably the most promising ones. This progress report presents and discusses the most recent results in this area focusing on the last 2–3 years, and also gives some background information. In addition, potential perspectives of this area will be outlined. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2013, 51, 1073–1083     

Perylene diimide copolymers with dithienothiophene and dithienopyrrole: Use in n‐channel and ambipolar field‐effect transistors

Solution‐processable polymers consisting of perylene diimide (PDI) acceptor moieties alternating with dithienothiophene (DTT), N‐dodecyl‐dithienopyrrole (DTP), or oligomers of these donor groups have been synthesized. We have, in addition to varying the donor, varied the N,N′ substituents of the PDIs. The thermal, optical, electrochemical, and charge‐transport properties of the polymers have been investigated. The polymers show broad absorption extending from 300 to 1000 nm with optical band gaps as low as 1.2 eV; the band gap decreases with increasing the conjugation length of donor block, or by replacement of DTT by DTP. The electron affinities of the polymers, estimated from electrochemical data, range from ?3.87 to ?4.01 eV and are slightly affected by the specific choice of donor moiety, while the estimated ionization potentials (?5.31 to ?5.92 eV) are more sensitive to the choice of donor. Bottom‐gate top‐contact organic field‐effect transistors based on the polymers generally exhibit n‐channel behavior with electron mobilities as high as 1.7 × 10^–2 cm²/V/s and on/off ratios as high as 10⁶; one PDI‐DTP polymer is an ambipolar transport material with electron mobility of 4 × 10^–4 cm²/V/s and hole mobility of 4 × 10^–5 cm²/V/s in air. There is considerable variation in the charge transport properties of the polymers with the chemical structures. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Diblock copolymer–azobenzene complexes through hydrogen bonding: Self‐assembly and stable photoinduced optical anisotropy

We have demonstrated the preparation of a series of photoaddressable supramolecular block copolymers by mixing a carboxy‐terminated azobenzene derivative, 6‐[4‐(4′‐cyanophenylazo)phenyloxy]hexanoic acid (AZO), and two polystyrene‐b‐poly(4‐vinylpiridine) (PS‐b‐P4VP) block copolymers. AZO can be selectively attached to the P4VP block of PS‐b‐P4VP through hydrogen bonding interactions. The assembly of AZO with vinylpyridine group‐containing polymers was initially investigated on a model system composed of P4VP homopolymer and AZO. Homogeneous liquid crystalline materials were obtained for ratios of AZO to vinylpyridine repeating unit, x, lower or equal to 0.50. Mixtures with higher x resulted in heterogeneous materials showing clear macrophase separation. Accordingly, a series of hydrogen‐bonded complexes of PS‐b‐P4VP and AZO, PS‐b‐P4VP(AZO)_x, with x = 0.25 and x = 0.50 were prepared. Lamellar and spherical morphologies were observed for the complexes based on PS24‐b‐P4VP9.5 (M_n,PS = 24,000, M_n,P4VP = 9500) and PS24‐b‐P4VP1.9 (M_n,PS = 24,000, M_n,P4VP = 1900), respectively. Photoinduced orientation of the azobenzene units was obtained in films of P4VP(AZO)_x and PS‐b‐P4VP(AZO)_x with x = 0.25 and 0.50 by using 488 nm linearly polarized light and characterized through birefringence and dichroism measurements. This investigation shows a versatile and less laborious approach to azobenzene‐containing polymer materials with low chromophore content, of interest in optical application. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Synthesis and electro‐optical properties of polyfluorene modified with randomly distributed electron‐donor and rotaxane electron‐acceptor structural units in the main chain

Polyfluorene PF?γCD rotaxane copolymer, composed of randomly distributed 9,9‐dioctylfluorene, methyltriphenylamine (electron‐donating) and 9‐dicyanomethylenefluorene complexed with γ‐cyclodextrin (γCD) (electron‐accepting) structural units, has been synthesized by Suzuki cross‐coupling reaction. The chemical structures were proved by FTIR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The surface morphology, thermal, optical, electrochemical behavior, and adhesion characteristics of the obtained rotaxane copolymer have been investigated and compared with those of the nonrotaxane counterpart ( PF ). Relatively high fluorescence efficiency, almost identical normalized absorbance maximum in solution and solid‐state of PF?γCD rotaxane copolymer, and a more uniform and smoother surface with lower adhesion forces provides the role of γCD encapsulation on the lower aggregation propensity. PF?γCD and PF copolymers exhibit n‐ and p‐doping processes and blue‐light emission in the film state. The optical and electrochemical band gaps (ΔE_g), as well as the highest occupied molecular orbital/lowest unoccupied molecular orbital positions in an energetic diagram indicate that both copolymers are promising blue‐emitting electroluminescent materials. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013