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Branched polymers stress relaxation is at the center to their function as viscosity modifiers, though the fundamentals that underlie the correlation between the polymer topology and their impact on viscosity remains an open question. Here, the stress relaxation of short, branched polyethylene comb polymer melts is studied by molecular dynamics simulations. A coarse-grained model where four methylene groups constitute one bead is used, and the results are transposed to the atomistic level. For arms of length comparable to entanglement length ne of the linear polymer, we show that while increasing the number of branches with the same arm length decreases the plateau modulus, the terminal diffusive time does not change significantly. Increasing the arm length decreases the plateau modulus and increases the terminal time. As arms shorter than ne relax by the entanglement time, both the chain mobility and stress relaxation can be described by reptation of the backbone with an increased tube diameter and an increas
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Solution size variation of linear and dendritic bis-MPA analogs using DOSY- 1 H NMR
Dendrimers are globular, multi-functional, monodisperse macromolecules with perfect structure fidelity. Their architecture is composed of a series of branched polymeric arms, composed within “wedges”, that emanate from a central core. Their structure contains a high density of functional groups located at their periphery, referred to as the “outer shell”. Due to their globular structure, it is assumed that the relative “size” of a dendrimer does not fluctuate greatly between solvents. This may be due to the inability of the branched arms, or wedges, to significantly expand or collapse (comparative to analogous linear polymers) owing to steric barriers from branching, especially at higher generations. In contrast, it is expected that a linear polymer, of similar molecular weight to a dendrimer analog, would have a greater degree of size variation dependent on solvent-polymer interactions. This stems from its innate flexibility and greater conformational flexibility. For this investigation, analogous dendritic and linear bis-MPA polyesters as well as poly(caprolactone) (PCL) were analyzed using size-measuring techniques including gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and diffusion ordered spectroscopy-nuclear magnetic resonance (DOSY- 1 H NMR).
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- Award ID(s):
- 1807358
- PAR ID:
- 10295653
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Polymer Chemistry
- Volume:
- 12
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 1759-9954
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1507 to 1517
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Tandem mass spectrometry (MS2) has been employed to elucidate the topology and branching architecture of star-branched polyethers. The polymers were ionized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) to positive ions and dissociated after leaving the ion source via laser-induced fragmentation. The bond scissions caused under MALDI-MS2 conditions occur preferentially near the core-branch joining points due to energetically favorable homolytic and heterolytic bond cleavages near the core and release of steric strain and/or reduction of crowding. This unique fragmentation mode detaches complete arms from the core generating fragment ion series at the expected molecular weight of each branch. The number of fragment ion distributions observed combined with their mass-to-charge ratios permit conclusive determination of the degree of branching and the corresponding branch lengths, as demonstrated for differently branched homo- and mikto-arm polyether stars synthesized via azide-alkyne click chemistry. The results of this study underscore the utility of MS2 for the characterization of branching architecture and branch lengths of (co)polymers with two or more linear chains attached to a functionalized central core.more » « less
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1039/D0PY01070G
