skip to main content

Attention:

The NSF Public Access Repository (PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET on Friday, December 13 until 2:00 AM ET on Saturday, December 14 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.


Title: Self-healing behaviour of furan–maleimide poly(ionic liquid) covalent adaptable networks
Poly(ionic liquid) covalently adaptable networks containing thermoreversible furan–maleimide linkages were prepared and characterized for their thermal, mechanical and conductive properties. Self-healing behaviour was initially evaluated using oscillatory rheology where a G′/G′′ crossover temperature of ∼110 °C was observed. Anhydrous conductivities, as determined by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy, were found to be on the order of 10−8 S cm−1 at 30 °C. Recovery of >70% of the original stress and strain at break was found within 2 hours at 105 °C as determined from tensile testing experiments, with breakage occurring at a new point on the film. Recovery of conductivity was completed utilizing chronoamperometric cycling whereby >75% of the original current was recovered within two hours at 110 °C.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1828251
PAR ID:
10202759
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Polymer chemistry
Volume:
11
ISSN:
1759-9962
Page Range / eLocation ID:
5321-5326
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Poly(ionic liquid) covalently adaptable networks containing thermoreversible furan–maleimide linkages were prepared and characterized for their thermal, mechanical and conductive properties. Self-healing behaviour was initially evaluated using oscillatory rheology where a G ′/ G ′′ crossover temperature of ∼110 °C was observed. Anhydrous conductivities, as determined by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy, were found to be on the order of 10 −8 S cm −1 at 30 °C. Recovery of >70% of the original stress and strain at break was found within 2 hours at 105 °C as determined from tensile testing experiments, with breakage occurring at a new point on the film. Recovery of conductivity was completed utilizing chronoamperometric cycling whereby >75% of the original current was recovered within two hours at 110 °C. 
    more » « less
  2. In June 2015, a marine heatwave triggered a severe eelgrassZostera marinadie-off event at the Virginia Coast Reserve (USA), followed by a slow and spatially heterogeneous recovery. We investigated the effects of heat stress on seagrass loss and recovery. Using hourly summer water temperature measurements from 2016-2020, we developed a novel approach to quantifying the stress of ocean warming on seagrass meadows. We defined 2 metrics: cumulative heat stress (as heating degree-hours, HDHs) and heat stress relief (as cooling degree-hours, CDHs), relative to a 28.6°C eelgrass ecosystem thermal tolerance threshold previously determined at this site from aquatic eddy covariance measurements. These metrics were compared to spatiotemporal patterns of summertime eelgrass shoot density and length. We found that the healthiest parts of the meadow benefited from greater heat stress relief (2-3×) due to tidal cooling (inputs of cooler ocean water through ocean inlets) during warm periods, resulting in ~65% higher shoot densities compared to the center of the meadow, which experienced higher heat stress (2×) and less relief. We also calculated the amount of heat stress preceding the eelgrass die-off in summer 2015, and found that this event was triggered by a cumulative heat stress of ~100-200°C-hours during the peak growing season. Sulfur isotope analyses of eelgrass leaves and sediment also suggested that sulfide toxicity likely contributed to eelgrass decline. Overall, our metrics incorporate physiological heat tolerances with the duration and intensity of heat stress and relief, and thus lay the groundwork for forecasting seagrass meadow vulnerability and resilience to future warming oceans.

     
    more » « less
  3. null (Ed.)
    Corals from the northern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba exhibit extreme thermal tolerance. To examine the underlying gene expression dynamics, we exposed Stylophora pistillata from the Gulf of Aqaba to short-term (hours) and long-term (weeks) heat stress with peak seawater temperatures ranging from their maximum monthly mean of 27 °C (baseline) to 29.5 °C, 32 °C, and 34.5 °C. Corals were sampled at the end of the heat stress as well as after a recovery period at baseline temperature. Changes in coral host and symbiotic algal gene expression were determined via RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq). Shifts in coral microbiome composition were detected by complementary DNA (cDNA)-based 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. In all experiments up to 32 °C, RNA-Seq revealed fast and pervasive changes in gene expression, primarily in the coral host, followed by a return to baseline gene expression for the majority of coral (>94%) and algal (>71%) genes during recovery. At 34.5 °C, large differences in gene expression were observed with minimal recovery, high coral mortality, and a microbiome dominated by opportunistic bacteria (including Vibrio species), indicating that a lethal temperature threshold had been crossed. Our results show that the S. pistillata holobiont can mount a rapid and pervasive gene expression response contingent on the amplitude and duration of the thermal stress. We propose that the transcriptomic resilience and transcriptomic acclimation observed are key to the extraordinary thermal tolerance of this holobiont and, by inference, of other northern Red Sea coral holobionts, up to seawater temperatures of at least 32 °C, that is, 5 °C above their current maximum monthly mean. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract

    Using molten‐salt synthetic techniques, NaNbO3(Space groupPbcm; No. 57) was prepared in high purity at a reaction time of 12 hours and a temperature of 900°C. All NaNbO3products were prepared from stoichiometric ratios of Nb2O5and Na2CO3together with the addition of a salt flux introduced at a 10:1 molar ratio of salt to NaNbO3, that is, using the Na2SO4, NaF, NaCl, and NaBr salts. A solid‐state synthesis was performed in the absence of a molten salt to serve as a control. The reaction products were all found to be phase pure through powder X‐ray diffraction, for example, with refined lattice constants ofa = 5.512(5) Å,b = 5.567(3) Å, andc = 15.516(8) Å from the Na2SO4salt reaction. The products were characterized using UV‐Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to have a bandgap size of ~3.5 eV. The particles sizes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and found to be dependent upon the flux type used, from ~<1 μm to >10 μm in length, with overall surface areas that could be varied from 0.66 m2/g (for NaF) to 1.55 m2/g (for NaBr). Cubic‐shaped particle morphologies were observed for the metal halide salts with the set of exposed (100)/(010)/(001) crystal facets, while a truncated octahedral morphology formed in the sodium sulfate salt reaction with predominantly the set of (110)/(101)/(011) crystal facets. The products were found to be photocatalytically active for hydrogen production under UV‐Vis irradiation, with the aid of a 1 wt% Pt surface cocatalyst. The platinized NaNbO3particles were suspended in an aqueous 20% methanol solution and irradiated by UV‐Vis light (λ > 230 nm). After 6 hours of irradiation, the average total hydrogen production varied with the particle morphologies and sizes, with 753 µmol for Na2SO4, 334 µmol for NaF, 290 µmol for NaCl, 81 µmol for NaBr, and 249 µmol for the solid‐state synthesized NaNbO3. These trends show a clear relationship to particle sizes, with smaller particles showing higher photocatalytic activity in the order of NaF > NaCl > NaBr. Furthermore, the particle morphologies obtained from the Na2SO4flux showed even higher photocatalytic activity, though having a relatively similar overall surface area, owing to the higher activity of the (110) crystal facets. The apparent quantum yield (100 mW/cm2,λ = 230 to 350 nm, pH = 7) was measured to be 3.7% for NaNbO3prepared using the NaF flux, but this was doubled to 6.8% when prepared using the Na2SO4flux. Thus, these results demonstrate the powerful utility of flux synthetic techniques to control particle sizes and to expose higher‐activity crystal facets to boost their photocatalytic activities for molecular hydrogen production.

     
    more » « less
  5. Dynamic photopolymer networks that take advantage of the thermodynamically controlled reversibility of thiol–succinic anhydride adducts were synthesized from commercial substrates and investigated as a new class of covalent adaptable networks (CANs). Through systematic studies of the catalyst and stoichiometry effects on the exchange dynamics two distinctive exchange mechanisms were found, and then demonstrated to contribute to the overall dynamic characteristics. By varying the catalyst activity, i.e. basicity and/or nucleophilicity, control over the dynamic responsiveness through changes in the type of dynamic covalent chemistry mode (reversible addition vs. reversible exchange) was achieved in otherwise compositionally analogous materials. More specifically, the participation of the associative mechanism (thiol–thioester exchange) in the otherwise dissociative networks, and its relevance on materials properties was demonstrated by dielectric analysis (DEA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The activation energies ( E a ) for viscous flow obtained from DMA stress relaxation experiments and from dielectric modulus and loss crossover points were shown to match well between the two techniques. The E a in stoichiometric systems was found to be 110–120 kJ mol −1 , whereas 50% excess thiol systems were characterized by E a ranging 95–105 kJ mol −1 . The thermodynamic equilibrium conversion, estimated in the temperature controlled FTIR, for a stoichiometric 3-mercaptopropionate-succinic anhydride combination was determined at 92 ± 1% at ambient temperature, and decreased to 67 ± 1% at 120 °C within one hour of equilibration time (Δ H ° = −46 ± 5 kJ mol −1 ). Such high potential for reversibility of the thioester anhydride linkages resembles maleimide-furan Diels–Alder networks but has many other attributes that make these CANs of unprecedented value in fundamental research on dynamic materials. 
    more » « less