Hierarchical Self‐Assembly in Liquid‐Crystalline Block Copolymers Enabled by Chirality Transfer

Helical topological structures are often found in chiral biological systems, but seldom in synthesized polymers. Now, controllable microphase separation of amphiphilic liquid‐crystalline block copolymers (LCBCs) consisting of hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) and hydrophobic azobenzene‐containing poly(methylacrylate) is combined with chirality transfer to fabricate helical nanostructures by doping with chiral additives (enantiopure tartaric acid). Through hydrogen‐bonding interactions, chirality is transferred from the dopant to the aggregation, which directs the hierarchical self‐assembly in the composite system. Upon optimized annealing condition, helical structures in film are fabricated by the induced aggregation chirality. The photoresponsive azobenzene mesogens in the LCBC assist photoregulation of the self‐assembled helical morphologies. This allows the construction and non‐contact manipulation of complicated nanostructures.     

Poly(3-alkylthiophene) diblock copolymers with ordered microstructures and continuous semiconducting pathways

Conjugated rod-coil diblock copolymers self-assemble due to a balance of liquid crystalline (rod-rod) and enthalpic (rod-coil) interactions. Previous work has shown that while classical block copolymers self-assemble into a wide variety of nanostructures, when rod-rod interactions dominate self-assembly in rod-coil block copolymers, lamellar structures are preferred. Here, it is demonstrated that other, potentially more useful, nanostructures can be formed when these two interactions are more closely balanced. In particular, hexagonally packed polylactide (PLA) cylinders embedded in a semiconducting poly(3-alkylthiophene) (P3AT) matrix can be formed. This microstructure has been long-sought as it provides an opportunity to incorporate additional functionalities into a majority phase nanostructured conjugated polymer, for example in organic photovoltaic applications. Previous efforts to generate this phase in polythiophene-based block copolymers have failed due to the high driving force for P3AT crystallization. Here, we demonstrate that careful design of the P3AT moiety allows for a balance between crystallization and microphase separation due to chemical dissimilarity between copolymer blocks. In addition to hexagonally packed cylinders, P3AT-PLA block copolymers form nanostructures with long-range order at all block copolymer compositions. Importantly, the conjugated moiety of the P3AT-PLA block copolymers retains the crystalline packing structure and characteristic high time-of-flight charge transport of the homopolymer polythiophene (μ(h) ~10(-4) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)) in the confined geometry of the block copolymer domains.     

Polymerization Induced Microphase Separation for the Fabrication of Nanostructured Materials

Polymerization induced microphase separation (PIMS) is a strategy used to develop unique nanostructures with highly useful morphologies through the microphase separation of emergent block copolymers during polymerization. In this process, nanostructures are formed with at least two chemically independent domains, where at least one domain is composed of a robust crosslinked polymer. Crucially, this synthetically simple method is readily used to develop nanostructured materials with the highly coveted co-continuous morphology, which can also be converted into mesoporous materials by selective etching of one domain. As PIMS exploits a block copolymer microphase separation mechanism, the size of each domain can be tightly controlled by modifying the size of block copolymer precursors, thus providing unparalleled control over nanostructure and resultant mesopore sizes. Since its inception 11 years ago, PIMS has been used to develop a vast inventory of advanced materials for an extensive range of applications including biomedical devices, ion exchange membranes, lithium-ion batteries, catalysis, 3D printing, and fluorescence-based sensors, among many others. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the PIMS process, summarize latest developments in PIMS chemistry, and discuss its utility in a wide variety of relevant applications.     

Main-chain supramolecular block copolymers

Block copolymers are key building blocks for a variety of applications ranging from electronic devices to drug delivery. The material properties of block copolymers can be tuned and potentially improved by introducing noncovalent interactions in place of covalent linkages between polymeric blocks resulting in the formation of supramolecular block copolymers. Such materials combine the microphase separation behavior inherent to block copolymers with the responsiveness of supramolecular materials thereby affording dynamic and reversible materials. This tutorial review covers recent advances in main-chain supramolecular block copolymers and describes the design principles, synthetic approaches, advantages, and potential applications.     

Robust control of microdomain orientation in thin films of block copolymers by zone casting

Block copolymers with chemically immiscible segments exhibit a variety of microphase-separated nanostructures on the scale of 10-100 nm. Controlling the orientation of these microphase separated nanostructures is vital in many applications such as lithography, membranes, data storage, and so forth. Typical strategies involve the use of external fields or patterned substrates. Here, we report a robust zone casting technique to achieve highly ordered thin films of block copolymers on centimeter-scale substrates. The robustness of this technique is its powerful control on diverse morphologies and exceptional tolerance on versatility of block copolymer chemistry as well as allowance of a wide spectrum of substrates. We demonstrate that perpendicular orientations with respect to the surface are achieved for block copolymers with both lamellar and cylindrical morphologies by controlling solution casting rate, temperatures, and block copolymer chemical structures. Thin films of both noncrystalline and crystalline block copolymers exhibit excellent orientational order and lateral order. However, the lateral order in the thin films of crystalline block copolymers shows dependence on casting temperature and melting temperature of the crystalline segment. Remarkably, all the ordering is independent of the substrates on which the block copolymer films are cast.     

Picket‐Fence Polythiophene and its Diblock Copolymers that Afford Microphase Separations Comprising a Stacked and an Isolated Polythiophene Ensemble

All‐polythiophene diblock copolymers, comprising one unsheathed block and one fenced block, were synthesized through catalyst‐transfer polycondensation. The unsheathed block self‐assembles through π‐π stacking, thereby inducing microphase separation. Consequently, we have succeeded in creating a microphase separation comprising an ensemble of stacked and isolated polythiophenes. This achievement could be extended to various unexplored applications as a result of the integration of the contrasting functions of the two blocks.     

Competition Between Interfacial Interaction and Microphase Separation in Crystallization of Filled Block Copolymers

Understanding the effect of repulsive interaction between blocks on crystallization in block copolymers is beneficial for the design and development of sophisticated nanostructures. Dynamic Monte Carlo simulations were performed to reveal the crystallization mechanism of block copolymers containing one‐dimensional nanofiller under different repulsive interaction strengths between crystallizable and noncrystallizable blocks. During crystallization, crystalline morphology is determined by the competition between segmental orientation perpendicular to microphase interfaces dominated by microphase separation and that along the direction of the long axis of the nanofiller controlled by interfacial interaction. As the repulsive interaction between different blocks is strengthened, the competition between microphase separation and interfacial interaction is intensified, eventually leading to an increase in crystallization rate and a degradation in crystalline morphology. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 1516–1526     

聚丁二烯－b－甲基丙烯酸甲酯共聚物的聚集态研究

聚丁二烯－ｂ－甲基丙烯酸甲酯共聚物的聚集态研究周庆业,张邦华,宋谋道,何炳林（南开大学高分子化学研究所,天津,３０００７１）关键词共聚物,相分离,聚集态结构嵌段共聚物按其组成、合成及成型条件的不同可形成丰富的相结构［１］,其动态力学性能,如在损耗模量...     

Synthesis and self‐assembly of thermotropic block copolymer with long alkyl tethered cage silsesquioxane in the side chain

Thermotropic POSS‐containing poly(methacrylate) with long alkyl chain tethered polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) in the side chain and the block copolymers (PMMA‐b‐PMAC11POSS) were developed by through living anionic polymerization. The resulting polymers indicated a phase transition temperature at 112 °C from spherocrystal to isotropic phase. The POSS‐containing polymer segments tended to form matrix of microphase‐separated nanostructures in the bulk even in the very low volume fraction, for instance, PMMA cylindrical nanostructure was obtained by PMMA₁₇₅‐b‐PMAC11POSS₁₁ (?_PMAC11POSS = 0.44). The control of thin film morphology was carried out by not only solvent annealing, but also thermal annealing, resulting in the formation of well‐ordered dot‐ and fingerprint‐type nanostructures. This is the first report in a series of POSS‐containing block polymers that are capable for thermal annealing to generate well‐ordered microphase‐separated nanostructures in thin films. The novel thermotropic POSS‐containing block copolymer offers a promising material for block copolymer lithography. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

梳型嵌段共聚物微观相分离的耗散粒子动力学模拟

利用耗散粒子动力学(Dissipative particle dynamics, DPD)模拟方法研究了二维梳型嵌段共聚物的微观相分离, 得到了相形貌与侧链长度及链段间相互作用的依赖关系, 进一步与线型和星型嵌段共聚物微观相分离进行了对比. 模拟结果揭示了本体中影响梳形嵌段共聚物微观相分离的主要因素, 包括嵌段共聚物的组成\, 拓扑结构以及不同粒子间的排斥力.     

Poly(3‐hexyl thiophene)‐b‐poly(N‐isopropyl acrylamide): Synthesis and its composition dependent structural,solubility, thermoresponsive,electrochemical, and electronic properties

Conjugated block copolymers consisting of poly(3‐hexyl thiophene) (P3HT) and a thermoresponsive polymer poly(N‐isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) with varying composition have been synthesized by facile click reaction between alkyne terminated P3HT and azide terminated PNIPAM. The composition‐dependent solubility, thermoresponsive property in water, phase behavior, electrochemical, optical, and electronic properties of the block copolymers were systematically investigated. The block copolymers with higher volume fraction of PNIPAM form thermoresponsive spherical micelles with P3HT‐rich crystalline cores and PNIPAM coronas. Both X‐ray and atomic force microscopic studies indicated that the blocks copolymers showed well‐defined microphase separated nanostructures and the structure depended on the composition of the blocks. The electrochemical study of the block copolymers clearly demonstrated that the extent of charge transport through the block copolymer thin film was similar to P3HT homopolymer without any significant change in the band gap. The block copolymers showed improved or similar charge carrier mobility compared with the pure P3HT depending on the composition of the block copolymer. These P3HT‐b‐PNIPAM copolymers were interesting for fabrication of optoelectronic devices capable of thermal and moisture sensing as well as for studying the thermoresponsive colloidal structures of semiconductor amphiphilic systems. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 1785–1794     

Controlling domain orientation of liquid crystalline block copolymer in thin films through tuning mesogenic chemical structures

Controlling the macroscopic orientation of nanoscale periodic structures of amphiphilic liquid crystalline block copolymers (LC BCPs) is important to a variety of technical applications (e.g., lithium conducting polymer electrolytes). To study LC BCP domain orientation, a series of LC BCPs containing a poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) block as a conventional hydrophilic coil block and LC blocks containing azobenzene mesogens is designed and synthesized. LC ordering in thin films of the BCP leads to the formation of highly ordered, microphase‐separated nanostructures, with hexagonally arranged PEO cylinders. Substitution on the tail of the azobenzene mesogen is shown to control the orientation of the PEO cylinders. When the substitution on the mesogenic tails is an alkyl chain, the PEO cylinders have a perpendicular orientation to the substrate surface, provided the thin film is above a critical thickness value. In contrast, when the substitution on the mesogenic tails has an ether group the PEO cylinders assemble parallel to the substrate surface regardless of the film thickness value. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 532–541     

Copolymers: efficient carriers for intelligent nanoparticulate drug targeting and gene therapy

Copolymers are among the most promising substances used in the preparation of drug/gene delivery systems. Different categories of copolymers, including block copolymers, graft copolymers, star copolymers and crosslinked copolymers, are of interest in drug delivery. A variety of nanostructures, including polymeric micelles, polymersomes and hydrogels, have been prepared from copolymers and tested successfully for their drug delivery potential. The most recent area of interest in this field is smart nanostructures, which benefit from the stimuli-responsive properties of copolymeric moieties to achieve novel targeted drug delivery systems. Different copolymer applications in drug/gene delivery using nanotechnology-based approaches with particular emphasis on smart nanoparticles are reviewed.     

聚(苯乙烯-ε-己内酯)嵌段共聚物的研究

本文采用活性阴离子聚合方法合成聚(苯乙烯-ε-己内酯)嵌段共聚物。研究了聚合反应条件,并用GPC、柱上溶解分级及红外光谱进行表征。对产物进行结构分析,产物为聚(苯乙烯-ε-己内酯)嵌段共聚物,具有多相结构,是由无定形聚苯乙烯链段、无定形聚-ε-己内酯链段和结晶型聚-ε-己内酯链段组成的嵌段共聚物。对该嵌段共聚物的性能进行了测试。     

Recent advances in the solution self‐assembly of amphiphilic “rod‐coil” copolymers

Solution self‐assembly of amphiphilic “rod‐coil” copolymers, especially linear block copolymers and graft copolymers (also referred to as polymer brushes), has attracted considerable interest, as replacing one of the blocks of a coil‐coil copolymer with a rigid segment results in distinct self‐assembly features compared with those of the coil‐coil copolymer. The unique interplay between microphase separation of the rod and coil blocks with great geometric disparities can lead to the formation of unusual morphologies that are distinctly different from those known for coil‐coil copolymers. This review presents the recent achievements in the controlled self‐assembly of rod‐coil linear block copolymers and graft copolymers in solution, focusing on copolymer systems containing conjugated polymers, liquid crystalline polymers, polypeptides, and polyisocyanates as the rod segments. The discussions concentrate on the principle of controlling over the morphology of rod‐coil copolymer assemblies, as well as their distinctive optical and optoelectronic properties or biocompatibility and stimuli‐responsiveness, which afford the assemblies great potential as functional materials particularly for optical, optoelectronic and biological applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 1459–1477     

显式溶剂模型模拟嵌段共聚物在纳米微滴中的图案化结构

采用耗散粒子动力学(DPD)方法研究了嵌段共聚物在纳米微滴中的相分离行为.模拟是将共聚物纳米微滴置于溶剂环境中进行自发相分离,从而形成一些图案化结构.由于是受限体系,所形成的结构和在溶液或熔融体中形成的相分离结构有所差异,这些结构的形成与亲/疏溶剂嵌段比例(RH/T)有关系.随着亲/疏溶剂嵌段比例的增加,依次形成了枣糕球体、排球状相、多层囊泡(洋葱相)、笼状相、纳米杆状相和分散胶束等结构.我们对洋葱相的形成过程进行了详细的描述.溶剂粒子的集群属性有助于更加深入地了解洋葱相的结构衍化.采用密度曲线分析了洋葱相的结构.在较高的亲/疏溶剂嵌段的比例条件下,嵌段共聚物主要表现为亲溶剂性,通过吸收大量的溶剂溶胀形成疏松结构或瓦解形成分散的胶束悬浮在溶剂中.本文模拟结果与理论或实验结果基本吻合.     

Polysaccharide‐Containing Block Copolymers: Synthesis,Properties and Applications of an Emerging Family of Glycoconjugates

While polysaccharide graft copolymers and glycopolymers have been widely studied and used in various applications, linear block copolymer structures combining a polysaccharide segment and a synthetic one have been less described. The limited availability of the polysaccharide reducing‐end, the difficulty of finding a common solvent of both blocks and the need sometimes to protect the lateral hydroxyl groups of the polysaccharide chain may explain the relatively low number of studies on this copolymer family despite its potential interest. Polysaccharide block copolymers feature physicochemical properties not only close to those of synthetic block copolymers but also bring an added value such as the biodegradability, the biocompatibility or the bioactivity in some cases. This review aims at presenting the synthetic pathways towards such structures, from the basic polymerization techniques to the most recent ones including controlled/living polymerization mechanisms and also by emphasizing the chemical reactions used to functionalize the reducing‐end of the polysaccharide block. The amphiphilic nature of most of the polysaccharide‐based block copolymers reported so far gives rise to various self‐assembly morphologies in the solid state or in selective solvents. In addition, the rigidity of the polysaccharide block is expected to influence the microphase separation of the block copolymer by increasing the thermodynamic incompatibility between dissimilar blocks. A special interest was drawn to the formation and the properties of polymer vesicles (polymersomes) in aqueous solutions. Polysaccharide block copolymers might represent a new class of biomaterials with potential applications in different fields such as the plastic industry, the detergency and also the pharmaceutics where the design of nanodevices carrying a native polysaccharide chain is of interest for therapy, vaccination and diagnosis purposes.

     

Self-assembly via a complex phase transition in mixtures of polystyrene-block -polybutadiene block copolymer and poly(methyl vinyl ether)

The self-assembly of a binary mixture of polystyreneblock-polybutadiene (SB) and poly(methyl vinyl ether) (PVME) was studied by transmission electron microscopy and time-resolved light scattering. The self-assembly studied involved first microphase separation, in which a microdomain structure composed of polybutadiene block chains (PB) was formed in a matrix composed of polystyrene block chains (PS) and PVME homopolymers, and subsequently macrophase separation of the PVME from the microdomain phase of SB. The microphase separation was induced in a film preparation process using a solution cast method at room temperature. The macrophase separation was induced by rapidly heating the film specimens to above a critical temperature where PVME and PS undergo spinodal decomposition (SD). This complex phase transition, involving microphase separation followed by macrophase separation, was found to generate a superlattice structure (or a modulated structure) with two characteristic spacings: A_macro associated with the SD and A_micro associated with the microphase separation, both being generally time-dependent. The growth of the “macrodomains” was found to be pinned at A_macro ˜ 840 nm due to the elastic effect of the microdomain structure. The microdomain structure with A_micro ˜ 57 nm was found to undergo a morphological transition (a transition between two ordered phases of block copolymers) as a consequence of the local composition change of the two polymers induced by the SD.     

Synthesis and bulk assembly behavior of linear–dendritic rod diblock copolymers

Dendritic rod structures can be formed via the branching of dendritic elements from a primary polymer backbone; such systems present an opportunity to create nanoscale material structures with highly functional exterior regions. In this work, we report for the first time the synthesis of a hybrid diblock copolymer possessing a linear–dendritic rod architecture. These block copolymers consist of a linear poly(ethylene oxide)–poly(ethylene imine) diblock copolymer around which poly(amido amine) branches have been divergently synthesized from the poly(ethylene imine) block. The dendritic branches are terminated with amine or ester groups for the full generations and half‐generations, respectively; however, the methyl ester terminal groups can also be readily converted into alkyl groups of various lengths, and this allows us to tune the hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature of the dendritic block and, therefore, the amphiphilic properties of the diblock copolymer and its tendencies toward microphase separation. The block copolymers exhibit semicrystallinity due to the presence of the poly(ethylene oxide) block; however, as the polymer fraction consisting of poly(ethylene oxide) decreases, the overall crystallinity also decreases, and it approaches zero at generation 2.0 and higher. The unfunctionalized block copolymers show weak phase segregation in transmission electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry at all generations. The addition of n‐alkyl chains increases phase segregation, particularly at high alkyl lengths. The generation 3.5 polymer with n‐dodecyl alkyl substitution has a rodlike or wormlike morphology consisting of domains of 4.1 nm, equivalent to the estimated cross section of the individual polymer chains. In this case, the nanometer scale of the polymer chains can be directly observed with transmission electron microscopy. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2784–2814, 2004     

Mesoscopic simulation of the self-organization of a binary mixture of copolymers in the vicinity of a selective adsorbing surface

A new strategy for the construction of ultrathin structured films with cylindrical microdomains oriented primarily perpendicularly to the surface of a solid substrate is proposed. This approach is based on the phase separation of a binary mixture of incompatible compositionally asymmetric block copolymers, microphase separation of their blocks, and selective adsorption of one of the copolymers on the surface. Preferentially adsorbed copolymer forms a regular pattern on the surface, which serves as an orienting support for another component that dominates in the system and forms the hexagonal mesophase in the bulk of the film. This approach has been verified by the mesoscopic simulation based on the dynamic version of the density functional theory. As a result of the self-organization of macromolecules, the morphology with perpendicularly oriented domains can be thermodynamically stable for the films with a thickness of ∼100 nm. The commensurability of the parameters of the surface pattern and volume mesophase is shown to be the key factor controlling the orientation of cylindrical microdomains.