skip to main content


Title: Activation Energy for Dissociation of Hydrogen‐Bonding Crosslinkers in Phase‐Change Salogels: Dynamic Light Scattering versus Rheological Studies
Abstract

Dissociation energy of dynamic bonds in thermoresponsive phase‐change salogels is explored using rheology and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The salogels are formed by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) reversibly crosslinked by hydrogen‐bonding amine‐terminated molecules in an inorganic phase‐change material—lithium nitrate trihydrate (LNH) salt—as a solvent. The crosslinker geometry (linear vs branched) has a strong effect on both the gelation temperature (Tgel) and the crosslinker to polymer ratio at which the gelation occurs. Due to their higher functionality, dendritic crosslinkers are more efficient gelators as compared to their linear counterparts, inducing PVA gelation at a lower concentration of a crosslinker and resulting in salogels with higherTgel. Both stress relaxation and DLS data can be fitted by the exponential functions with temperature‐independent exponents of ≈0.5 and 2, respectively. For the first time, it is reported that the crosslinker dissociation activation energy determined from the rheological stress relaxation time and DLS slow mode decay time are in very good agreement, comprising ≈130–140 kJ mol−1for salogels with both linear and dendritic crosslinkers.

 
more » « less
NSF-PAR ID:
10459583
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics
Volume:
220
Issue:
22
ISSN:
1022-1352
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract

    Rheological modifiers are added to formulations to tune rheology, enable function and drive phase changes requiring an understanding of material structure and properties. We characterize two colloidal rod systems during phase transitions using multiple particle tracking microrheology, which measures the Brownian motion of probes embedded in a sample. These systems include a colloid (monodisperse polyamide or polydisperse hydrogenated castor oil), surfactant (linear alkylbenzene sulfonate [LAS]), and nonabsorbing polymer (polyethylene oxide [PEO]) which drives gelation by depletion interactions. Phase transitions are characterized at all concentrations using time‐cure superposition. We determine that rheological evolution depends onLAS:colloid. The critical PEO concentration required to form a gel,cc/c*, is independent ofLAS:colloid, critical relaxation exponent,n, is dependent onLAS:colloid, and both are independent of colloid polydispersity.nindicates the material structure at the phase transition. AtLAS:colloid > 16, the scaffold is a tightly associated network and atLAS:colloid = 16 a loosely associated network.

     
    more » « less
  2. Purpose

    Both sodiumT1triple quantum (TQ) signal andT1relaxation pathways have a unique sensitivity to the sodium molecular environment. In this study an inversion recovery time proportional phase increment (IRTQTPPI) pulse sequence was investigated for simultaneous and reliable quantification of sodium TQ signal and bi‐exponentialT1relaxation times.

    Methods

    The IRTQTPPI sequence combines inversion recovery TQ filtering and time proportional phase increment. The reliable and reproducible results were achieved by the pulse sequence optimized in three ways: (1) optimization of the nonlinear fit for the determination of bothT1‐TQ signal andT1relaxation times; (2) suppression of unwanted signals by assessment of four different phase cycles; (3) nonlinear sampling during evolution time for optimal scan time without any compromises in fit accuracy. The relaxation timesT1andT2and the TQ signals from IRTQTPPI and TQTPPI were compared between 9.4 and 21.1 T. The motional environment of the sodium nuclei was evaluated by calculation of correlation times and nuclear quadrupole interaction strengths.

    Results

    Reliable measurements of theT1‐TQ signals andT1bi‐exponential relaxation times were demonstrated. The fit parameters for all four phase cycles were in good agreement with one another, with a negligible influence of unwanted signals. The agar samples yielded normalizedT1‐TQ signals from 3% to 16% relative to single quantum (SQ) signals at magnetic fields of both 9.4 and 21.1 T. In comparison, the normalizedT2‐TQ signal was in the range 15%–35%. The TQ/SQ signal ratio was decreased at 21.1 T as compared with 9.4 T for bothT1andT2relaxation pathways. The bi‐exponentialT1relaxation time separation ranged from 15 to 18 ms at 9.4 T and 15 to 21 ms at 21.1 T. TheT2relaxation time separation was larger, ranging from 28 to 35 ms at 9.4 T and 37 to 40 ms at 21.1 T.

    Conclusion

    The IRTQTPPI sequence, while providing a less intensive TQ signal than TQTPPI, allows a simultaneous and reliable quantification of both theT1‐TQ signal andT1relaxation times. The unique sensitivities of theT1andT2relaxation pathways to different types of molecular motion provide a deeper understanding of the sodium MR environment.

     
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    The frequency distribution of solar wind protons, measured in the vicinity of Earth’s orbit, is customarily plotted in (β,T/T) phase space. Here,T/Tis the ratio of perpendicular and parallel temperatures, andβ= 8πnT/B2is the ratio of parallel thermal energy to background magnetic field energy, the so-called “parallel beta,” with ⊥ and ∥ denoting directions with respect to the ambient magnetic field. Such a frequency distribution, plotted as a two-dimensional histogram, forms a peculiar rhombic shape defined with an outer boundary in the said phase space. Past studies reveal that the threshold conditions for temperature anisotropy–driven plasma instability partially account for the boundary on the high-βside. The low-βside remains largely unexplained despite some efforts. Work by Vafin et al. recently showed that certain contours of collisional relaxation frequency,νpp, when parameterized byT/Tandβ, could match the overall shape of the left-hand boundary, thus suggesting that the collisional relaxation process might be closely related to the formation of the left-hand boundary. The present paper extends the analysis by Vafin et al. and carries out the dynamical computation of the collisional relaxation process for an ensemble of initial proton states with varying degrees of anisotropic temperatures. The final states of the relaxed protons are shown to closely match the observed boundary to the left of the (β,T/T) phase space. When coupled with a similar set of calculations for the ensemble in the collective instability regime, it is found that the combined collisional/collective effects provide the baseline explanation for the observation.

     
    more » « less
  4. Supramolecular polymer gels are an evolving class of soft materials with a vast number of properties that can be tuned to desired applications. Despite continuous advances concerning polymer synthesis, sustainability or adaptability, a consistent understanding of the interplay between structure, dynamics, and diffusion processes within transient networks is lacking. In this study, the hierarchy of several relaxation processes is investigated, starting from a microscopic perspective of a single sticker dissociation event up to the center-of-mass diffusion of a star-shaped polymer building block on different length scales, as well as the resulting macroscopic mechanical response to applied external stress. In addition to that, a second focus is placed on the gel micro-structure that is analyzed by light scattering. Conversion of the dynamic light scattering (DLS) inverse length scale into real space allows for a combination of relaxation times with those obtained by forced Rayleigh scattering (FRS). For these investigations, a model-type metallo-supramolecular network consisting of narrowly dispersed tetra-arm poly(ethylene glycol)-terpyridine macromolecules that are interconnected via complexation with zinc ions is chosen. Assembling the obtained activation energies reveals that all complex dissociation-governed relaxation processes exhibit similar activation energies. 
    more » « less
  5. Cationic glycylalanylglycine (GAG) self-assembles into a gel in a 55 mol% ethanol/45 mol% water mixture. The gel exhibits a network of crystalline fibrils grown to lengths on a 10 −4 –10 −5 m scale (Farrel et al. , Soft Matter , 2016, 12 , 6096–6110). Rheological data are indicative of a rather strong gel with storage moduli in the 10 kPa regime. Spectroscopic data revealed the existence of two gel phases; one forms below T = 15 °C (phase I) while the other one forms in a temperature range between 15 °C and the melting temperature of ca. 35 °C (phase II). We explored the reformation of the cationic GAG gel in 55 mol% ethanol/45 mol% water after thermal annealing by spectroscopic and rheological means. Our data reveal that even a short residence time of 5 minutes in the sol phase at 50 °C produced a delay of the gelation process and a gel of lesser strength. These observations suggest that the residence time at the annealing temperature can be used to adjust the strength of both gel phases. Our spectroscopic data show that the annealing process does not change the chirality of peptide fibrils in the two gel phases and that the initial aggregation state of the reformation process is by far more ordered for phase I than it is for phase II. In the gel phases of GAG/ethanol/water mixtures, ethanol seems to function as a sort of catalyst that enables the self-assembly of the peptide in spite of its low intrinsic propensity for aggregation. 
    more » « less