SKM 2021 – scientific programme
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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 4: Focus: The Physics of Adaptive Polymer Networks
CPP 4.7: Talk
Tuesday, September 28, 2021, 12:30–12:45, H3
From four-arm block copolymers to electrostatically cross-linked gels — •Peter Johannes Mons1, Nora Fribiczer2, David Beyer3, Felix Helmut Schacher1, Sebastian Seiffert2, and Christian Holm3 — 1Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, D-07743 Jena — 2Department of Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, D-55128 Mainz — 3Institute for Computational Physics, University of Stuttgart, D-70569 Stuttgart
Reversibly electrostatically cross-linked polymer networks composed of oppositely charged four-armed star block copolymers feature favorable properties such as environmentally sensitive viscoelasticity and selective permeability. In this work, we present different double hydrophilic star-shaped block copolymers with oppositely charged polyelectrolytes that can form electrostatically cross-linked gels. A new class of reversible double hydrophilic or amphiphilic networks can be synthesized based on these gels.
The four-armed copolymers consist of a PEG-core block extended with sulfonated polystyrene or N,N-dimethylaminopropyl acrylamide (DMAPAa). The sulfonated polystyrene block carries a permanent anionic charge whereas the DMAPAa block carries a permanent cationic or pH-tunable charge. The gel formation upon mixing these block copolymers was verified by shear rheology, which showed a high dependence of the gel strength on the presence of counterions. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations support the picture of well-gelated networks and give insight into the molecular conformations.