Systematic Approaches To Tailor the Morphologies and Transport Properties of Solution-Cast Sulfonated Pentablock Copolymers

Truong, Phuc V.; Black, Rephayah L.; Coote, Jonathan P.; Lee, Byeongdu; Ardebili, Haleh; Stein, Gila E.

doi:10.1021/acsapm.8b00002

Title: Systematic Approaches To Tailor the Morphologies and Transport Properties of Solution-Cast Sulfonated Pentablock Copolymers

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Abstract

Sulfonated block polymers are widely studied for applications in water management and electrochemical devices because they combine the properties of ionomers and thermoplastic elastomers in a single materials platform. Sulfonated block polymers are often processed into thin film membranes by casting from solution, and the resulting film morphology is strongly influenced by polymer–solvent interactions. In this work, we used mixtures of polar and nonpolar solvents to control solution-state interactions. We examined the self-assembled structures of solutions and corresponding films with small angle scattering and high-resolution microscopies. When the solvent mixture is selective to one block, the polymer self-assembles into lamellar phases in solution, and films cast from these solutions are also lamellar. On the other hand, a more neutral solvent mixture will produce a disordered structure in solution, leading to films with a disordered, network-like arrangement of lamellar domains. These distinct film morphologies are confirmed with measurements of transport properties; the transition from ordered lamellae to a disordered network produces a 2-fold increase in water uptake and 5-fold increase in proton conductivity at 52% relative humidity. Furthermore these studies demonstrate that measurements of solution-state structure can inform process development, providing a simple route to achieve targeted film morphologies and transportmore » properties.« less

Authors:

Truong, Phuc V. ^[1]; Black, Rephayah L. ^[2]; Coote, Jonathan P. ^[2];

^[3]; Ardebili, Haleh ^[1];

^[2]

Univ. of Houston, Houston, TX (United States)
The Univ. of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)

Publication Date:: Tue Dec 18 00:00:00 EST 2018

Research Org.:: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division; National Science Foundation (NSF)

OSTI Identifier:: 1504270

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: ACS Applied Polymer Materials

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 1; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2637-6105

Publisher:: ACS Publications

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; SAXS; block copolymer; lamellar; nexar; solution processing; sulfonated; transport

Citation Formats


                    Truong, Phuc V., Black, Rephayah L., Coote, Jonathan P., Lee, Byeongdu, Ardebili, Haleh, and Stein, Gila E. Systematic Approaches To Tailor the Morphologies and Transport Properties of Solution-Cast Sulfonated Pentablock Copolymers.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
Web.  doi:10.1021/acsapm.8b00002.

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                    Truong, Phuc V., Black, Rephayah L., Coote, Jonathan P., Lee, Byeongdu, Ardebili, Haleh, & Stein, Gila E. Systematic Approaches To Tailor the Morphologies and Transport Properties of Solution-Cast Sulfonated Pentablock Copolymers.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.8b00002

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                    Truong, Phuc V., Black, Rephayah L., Coote, Jonathan P., Lee, Byeongdu, Ardebili, Haleh, and Stein, Gila E. Tue .  
"Systematic Approaches To Tailor the Morphologies and Transport Properties of Solution-Cast Sulfonated Pentablock Copolymers".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.8b00002.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1504270.

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@article{osti_1504270,

  title        = {Systematic Approaches To Tailor the Morphologies and Transport Properties of Solution-Cast Sulfonated Pentablock Copolymers},

  author       = {Truong, Phuc V. and Black, Rephayah L. and Coote, Jonathan P. and Lee, Byeongdu and Ardebili, Haleh and Stein, Gila E.},

  abstractNote = {Sulfonated block polymers are widely studied for applications in water management and electrochemical devices because they combine the properties of ionomers and thermoplastic elastomers in a single materials platform. Sulfonated block polymers are often processed into thin film membranes by casting from solution, and the resulting film morphology is strongly influenced by polymer–solvent interactions. In this work, we used mixtures of polar and nonpolar solvents to control solution-state interactions. We examined the self-assembled structures of solutions and corresponding films with small angle scattering and high-resolution microscopies. When the solvent mixture is selective to one block, the polymer self-assembles into lamellar phases in solution, and films cast from these solutions are also lamellar. On the other hand, a more neutral solvent mixture will produce a disordered structure in solution, leading to films with a disordered, network-like arrangement of lamellar domains. These distinct film morphologies are confirmed with measurements of transport properties; the transition from ordered lamellae to a disordered network produces a 2-fold increase in water uptake and 5-fold increase in proton conductivity at 52% relative humidity. Furthermore these studies demonstrate that measurements of solution-state structure can inform process development, providing a simple route to achieve targeted film morphologies and transport properties.},

  doi          = {10.1021/acsapm.8b00002},

  journal      = {ACS Applied Polymer Materials},

  number       = 1,

  volume       = 1,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Tue Dec 18 00:00:00 EST 2018},

  month        = {Tue Dec 18 00:00:00 EST 2018}

}

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