This effort provides a multifaceted analysis of the structural changes and material dynamics of thermally driven softening and curing of three distinct phthalonitrile (PN) resins that cross‐link into thermally stable and oxidation‐resistant thermosets. Although this material system has yielded a large subset of fire‐retardant composites that require facile processing and low‐temperature curing, to date, insufficient information had been available on the fundamental processes that drive their softening and curing stages. Our approach conducted a complementary analysis the chemistry, monomer mobility, and rheology of three PN polymers in order to correlate the curing processes with corresponding structural and behavioral transformations of thermosets. We focused on PNs with a bisphenol S backbone, a bisphenol A (PEEKTM‐like) backbone, and a resveratrol backbone. We relied on quasi‐elastic neutron scattering (QENS) in order to analyze the in situ dynamics and self‐diffusion properties of PN monomers, and to track changes in their mobilities during cross‐linking and staging. Our analysis facilitates proper control over the staging and final curing of these resins and enables more efficient processing of these thermosets.
Polymer segmental dynamics in polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) can be significantly perturbed from bulk and underlie macroscopic mechanical and transport properties, but fundamental studies are necessary to build correlations between dynamics and properties. To elucidate a mechanistic description of this perturbation and isolate different molecular motions, we present quasi‐elastic neutron scattering (QENS) measurements on PNCs with attractive interactions comprised of colloidal silica nanoparticles (NPs) uniformly dispersed in poly(2‐vinyl pyridine) (P2VP) with and without backbone deuteration. Measurements of fully‐protonated P2VP probe the dynamics of both the polymer backbone and pyridine pendant group; whereas measurements of backbone‐deuterated P2VP isolate the dynamics of only the pyridine ring. On the small length scales (~1 nm) and fast time scales (~1 ns) captured by QENS, we show that the backbone and pyridine ring dynamics are highly coupled at high temperatures and both are slowed by about 35% relative to neat polymer in 25 vol% PNCs. This observation implies that the backbone and pendant interfacial dynamics are perturbed similarly in PNCs, which further develops our fundamental understanding of microscopic properties in PNCs.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 1706014
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10455600
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Polymer Science
- Volume:
- 58
- Issue:
- 20
- ISSN:
- 2642-4150
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 2906-2913
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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ABSTRACT Charge transport in conjugated polymers may be governed not only by the static microstructure but also fluctuations of backbone segments. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we predict the role of side chains in the backbone dynamics for regiorandom poly(3‐alkylthiophene‐2,5‐diyl)s (P3ATs). We show that the backbone of poly(3‐dodecylthiophene‐2‐5‐diyl) (P3DDT) moves faster than that of poly(3‐hexylthiophene‐2,5‐diyl) (P3HT) as a result of the faster motion of the longer side chains. To verify our predictions, we investigated the structures and dynamics of regiorandom P3ATs with neutron scattering and solid state NMR. Measurements of spin‐lattice relaxations (T1) using NMR support our prediction of faster motion for side chain atoms that are farther away from the backbone. Using small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS), we confirmed that regiorandom P3ATs are amorphous at about 300 K, although microphase separation between the side chains and backbones is apparent. Furthermore, quasi‐elastic neutron scattering (QENS) reveals that thiophene backbone motion is enhanced as the side chain length increases from hexyl to dodecyl. The faster motion of longer side chains leads to faster backbone dynamics, which in turn may affect charge transport for conjugated polymers. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys.
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Molecular dynamics is a fundamental property of metal complexes. These dynamic processes, especially for paramagnetic complexes under external magnetic fields, are in general not well understood. Quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) in 0–4 T magnetic fields has been used to study the dynamics of Co(acac) 2 (D 2 O) 2 ( 1-d4 , acac = acetylacetonate). At 80–100 K, rotation of the methyl groups on the acac ligands is the dominant dynamical process. This rotation is slowed down by the magnetic field increase. Rotation times at 80 K are 5.6(3) × 10 −10 s at 0 T and 2.04(10) × 10 −9 s at 4 T. The QENS studies suggest that methyl groups in these paramagnetic Co( ii ) molecules do not behave as isolated units, which is consistent with results from earlier magnetic susceptibility studies indicating the presence of intermolecular interactions. DFT calculations show that unpaired electron spin density in 1 is dispersed to the atoms of both acac and H 2 O ligands. Methyl torsions in 1-d4 have also been observed at 5–100 K in inelastic neutron spectroscopy (INS). The QENS and INS results here help understand the dynamics of the compound in the solid state.more » « less
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Abstract Non‐conjugated pendant electroactive polymers (NCPEPs) are an emerging class of polymers that offer the potential of combining the desirable optoelectronic properties of conjugated polymers with the superior synthetic methodologies and stability of traditional non‐conjugated polymers. Despite an increasing number of studies focused on NCPEPs, particularly on understanding fundamental structure‐property relationships, no attempts have been made to provide an overview on established relationships to date. This review showcases selected reports on NCPEP homopolymers and copolymers that demonstrate how optical, electronic, and physical properties of the polymers are affected by tuning of key structural variables such as the chemical structure of the polymer backbone, molecular weight, tacticity, spacer length, the nature of the pendant group, and in the case of copolymers the ratios between different comonomers and between individual polymer blocks. Correlation of structural features with improved
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Abstract As a class of semiconductor nanocrystals that exhibit high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) at tunable wavelengths, perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) are attractive candidates for optoelectronic and light‐emitting devices. However, attempts to optimize PNC integration into such applications suffer from PNC instability and loss of PL over time. Here, we describe the impact of organic and polymeric N‐oxides when used in conjunction with PNCs, whereby a significant increase in PNC quantum yield is observed in solution, and stable PL emission is obtained in polymeric nanocomposites. Specifically, when using aliphatic N‐oxides in ligand exchange with CsPbBr3PNCs in solution, a substantial boost in PNC brightness is observed (~40% or more PLQY increase), followed by an alteration of the perovskite chemistry. When N‐oxide substituents are positioned pendent to a poly(n‐butyl methacrylate) backbone, the optically clear flexible nanocomposite films obtained have bright PL emission and maintain optical clarity for months. X‐ray diffraction is useful for characterizing the PNC crystalline structure following exposure to aliphatic N‐oxides, while electron microscopy (EM) and small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) measurements of the PNC‐polymer nanocomposites show this polymeric N‐oxide platform to cleanly disperse PNCs in flexible polymer films.
