Charged polymers continue to play a critical role in emerging technology from drug delivery and energy storage to elastomers and adhesives. This lecture will describe the determination of the bulk microstructure of a doubly-charged homopolymer utilizing powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) coupled with single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD). The homopolymer features a styrenic backbone with amphiphilic pendant groups consisting of a doubly-charged 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) salt that is attached to a terminal octadecyl (C18) chain. Our group has prepared the doubly-charged ABA block copolymer series poly (VBDC18BrCl-b-nBA-b-VBDC18BrCl)s consisting of amphiphilic DABCO-salt monomer units. Self-assembly of the block polymer and strong ionic interaction contributed to a reinforced physical network and led to significantly improvement of the thermomechanical property compared to the doubly charged random copolymer and singly charged ABA block copolymer analogues. Surprisingly, the block copolymers demonstrated highly ordered, hierarchical morphologies that is composed of a phase separated lamellae on a large scale and very interesting secondary ordering within the poly (VBDC18BrCl) phase. This lecture will recognize the impact of Jason Bara’s research on the field of ion-containing polymers, correlating molecular structure with physical properties and morphology with a vision for broader impact. The following figure illustrates the unique structure of a doubly charged DABCO based monomer and the subsequent influence of this structure on the nanoscale phase separation in ABA triblock copolymers.

Getting recharged about charged polymers: Are doubly-charged repeating units more than twice as good as singly-charged?

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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