Self-assembly of co-continuous nanostructured copolymer templates with compositional and architectural dispersity

Technical Report · Mon Sep 11 04:00:00 EDT 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1993593· OSTI ID:1993593

Howard, Ryan C. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); University of Colorado Boulder

In our previous DOE-supported project (DE-SC0016208), we demonstrated that a particular architecture dubbed ‘randomly end-linked copolymer networks’ (RECNs) led to especially robust self-assembly of disordered cocontinuous nanostructures. Such structures, wherein both microphases are fully percolating in three dimensions, are attractive for a wide-variety of energy-relevant applications including purification membranes, separators in batteries and fuel cells, catalyst supports, and high surface area electrodes. In the current project we sought to substantially extend our fundamental understanding of how different types of randomness in blocky copolymer architecture contribute to the robust formation of disordered cocontinuous nanostructures. To do so, we filled in the sizable gap between the previously studied cases of randomly linked linear multiblock copolymers and RECNs by studying two intermediate cases: (i) random miktoarm star polymers, which contain dispersity in the number of the two chemically-incompatible strands located at each junction and therefore the preferred interfacial curvature of each polymer, and (ii) randomly branched copolymers, which also possess bridging strands that stretch across domains and apply local ‘elastic’ forces to the interfaces. In addition, we studied a different network architecture, statistically crosslinked copolymer networks, that is more straightforward to prepare using chain growth polymerization methods, enabling more facile formation of cocontinuous nanostructures. Finally, we extended our approaches from model systems based on polystyrene and poly(lactic acid) to copolymer architectures containing either (i) polysulfone, an engineering polymer that provides excellent mechanical properties for membrane applications, or (ii) polyacrylonitrile, providing a convenient route to nanoporous carbon materials.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0020982
• OSTI ID: 1993593
• Report Number(s): CU--SC0020982
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
RECNs
copolymer