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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 29: Gels, Polymer Networks and Elastomers II
CPP 29.5: Talk
Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 16:00–16:15, H 0106
Structural characterization of amphiphilic star polymer co-networks — •Reinhard Scholz1, Michael Lang1, Lucas Löser2, and Kay Saalwächter2 — 1Leibniz Institut für Polymerforschung, Hohe Str. 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany — 2Institut für Physik - NMR, Betty-Heimann-Str. 7, Martin-Luther Univeristät Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, Germany
We analyze the structure of amphiphilic polymer co-networks consisting of hetero-complementary bound four functional star polymers A4 and B4 by computer simulations and by SAXS measurements. The computer-generated networks were characterized in an a-thermal cosolvent and in an increasingly poor solvent for the B component. In the poor solvent regime, the calculated pair distribution reveals a long-range radial oscillation, corresponding to the formation of dense B clusters and a pronounced peak in the scattering intensity. All simulated scattering data are decomposed into scattering from the time average density and from thermal fluctuations around this background, revealing an increased correlation length around the phase transition. Polymer networks consisting of complementary four functional stars of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) and poly caprolactone (PCL) were synthesized via covalent coupling of complementary end groups. Their SAXS data in different solvents were analyzed with a combination of model functions deduced from the computer simulations, revealing excellent agreement between observed and simulated length scales of the nanophase separation.
Keywords: polymer gel; amphiphilic; computer simulation; SAXS