Real-Time Monitoring of Chemical and Topological Rearrangements in Solidifying Amphiphilic Polymer Co-Networks: Understanding Surface Demixing
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- 作者：Gustavo Guzman ; Turgut Nugay ; Joseph P. Kennedy ; Mukerrem Cakmak
- 刊名：Langmuir
- 出版年：2016
- 出版时间：April 12, 2016
- 年：2016
- 卷：32
- 期：14
- 页码：3445-3451
- 全文大小：412K
- 年卷期：0
- ISSN：1520-5827
文摘
Amphiphilic polymer co-networks provide a unique route to integrating contrasting attributes of otherwise immiscible components within a bicontinuous percolating morphology and are anticipated to be valuable for applications such as biocatalysis, sensing of metabolites, and dual dialysis membranes. These co-networks are in essence chemically forced blends and have been shown to selectively phase-separate at surfaces during film formation. Here, we demonstrate that surface demixing at the air–film interface in solidifying polymer co-networks is not a unidirectional process; instead, a combination of kinetic and thermodynamic interactions leads to dynamic molecular rearrangement during solidification. Time-resolved gravimetry, low contact angles, and negative out-of-plane birefringence provided strong experimental evidence of the transitory trapping of thermodynamically unfavorable hydrophilic moieties at the air–film interface due to fast asymmetric solvent depletion. We also find that slow-drying hydrophobic elements progressively substitute hydrophilic domains at the surface as the surface energy is minimized. These findings are broadly applicable to common-solvent bicontinuous systems and open the door for process-controlled performance improvements in diverse applications. Similar observations could potentially be coupled with controlled polymerization rates to maximize the intermingling of bicontinuous phases at surfaces, thus generating true three-dimensional, bicontinuous, and undisturbed percolation pathways throughout the material.