Polymer Chemistry Blog

In this study, van Hest and co-workers demonstrated that nanometer-sized polymersomes assembled from two dissimilar diblock copolymers can undergo shape changes, driven by strong lateral polymer/polymer segregation within the membrane. The two particular block copolymers consisted of identical hydrophobic fragments to stimulate co-assembly, while their hydrophilic segments were either neutrally or negatively charged. It was hypothesized that demixing of the two types of polymer amphiphiles within the bilayer was caused by the different hydrophilic polymer fractions exhibiting intrinsically different interfacial curvatures upon self-assembly. Given the potentially unlimited number of possible hybrid polymersome systems, the local polymer/polymer separation phenomenon could be easily exploited further in the construction of new polymersome morphologies, with potential applications in both nanoscience and biomedical fields.

Spontaneous shape changes in polymersomes via polymer/polymer segregation by Silvie A. Meeuwissen, Stéphanie M. C. Bruekers, Yingchao Chen, Darrin J. Pochan and Jan C. M. van Hest Polym. Chem. 2014, 5, 489-501.

Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.

In this study, Crespy and co-workers developed an easy, low-cost and mild strategy to fabricate PPs in large quantities without using block copolymers. Polymerization-induced phase separation was found to be the reason for the formation of the PPs. The size of the patches could be easily tuned by controlling the monomer conversion or by changing the composition of the nanoparticles. The atomic force microscopy analysis revealed that the patches were sticky and embedded in a harder polymer matrix. Moreover, the patchy structure could be locked by cross-linking the sticky patches. Their approach could be extended to prepare large libraries of different PPs by choosing other polymer/monomer pairs and/or by post-functionalizing the patchy area.

Polymer patchy colloids with sticky patches by Yi Zhao, Rüdiger Berger, Katharina Landfester and Daniel Crespy Polym. Chem. 2014, 5, 365-371.

Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.

In this study, Leibler and co-workers reported on the subtle influence of solvent on the organization of supramolecular polymers. They synthesized homotelechelic and heterotelechelic oligomers of poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) equipped with complementary hydrogen bonding functional ends, thymine (Thy) and diaminotriazine (DAT). In a solvent that dissociates Thy–DAT hydrogen bonds, such as DMSO, the viscosity was low for all functional telechelic oligomers. In non-dissociative solvents, the addition of functional oligomers increased the viscosity. For both the homotelechelic blends and the heterotelechelics, the viscosity in toluene was about two times higher than that in chloroform. Additionally, the Thy–DAT association constant was 22 times higher. Carbon relaxation times measured by NMR and viscosity variation for solutions of different concentrations suggest a distinct supramolecular organization in chloroform and toluene: linear and cyclic supramolecular chains in chloroform and small π-stacked objects with a PPO shell and a Thy, DAT core in toluene. One might expect that when the materials are obtained by solvent evaporation, the organization in the bulk is solvent dependent as this is often the case for ABC block copolymers.

Binding and supramolecular organization of homo- and heterotelechelic oligomers in solutions by Jessalyn Cortese, Corinne Soulié-Ziakovic and Ludwik Leibler Polym. Chem. 2014, 5, 116-125.

Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.

In this study, Liu and co-workers reported a new strategy for the synthesis of polyaniline (PANI) nanostructures on a flexible G–carbon nanotube (G-CNT) composite paper substrate, which can be directly used as flexible electrodes possessing both electric double layer (EDL) capacitance and pseudocapacitance. The ternary hybrid paper exhibited a reversible capacity of up to 432 F g^-1 at a discharge rate of 0.5 A g^-1, which was much larger than that of bare G–CNT composite paper (172.4 F g^-1); and its cyclic performance was dramatically enhanced, sustaining greater than 96% of its original capacitance after 600 charge–discharge cycles. Besides, the good electrical conductivity of the G–CNT composite paper provided improved conductive pathways for charge transfer at the electrodes thus resulting in superior capacitance during charge–discharge processes. Therefore, the method reported here provides a simple and efficient approach to fabricating G–CNT–PANI ternary hybrid papers with designed hierarchical nanostructures, and may be easily extended to the design of next generation high performance flexible supercapacitors.

All-carbon composite paper as a flexible conducting substrate for the direct growth of polyaniline particles and its applications in supercapacitors by Chao Zhang, Weng Weei Tjiu and Tianxi Liu Polym. Chem. 2013, 4, 5785-5792.

Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.

In their paper, Lacroix-Desmazes and co-workers reported the synthesis of a CeO₂/poly(vinylidene chloride) (PVDC) hybrid latex carried out via the functionalization of CeO₂ nanoparticles by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization from a phosphonated macro-RAFT agent, with very efficient formation of hybrid structures (neither free ceria nanoparticles nor free latex particles). This hybrid latex, obtained by emulsion polymerization with a reasonably high solid content (25%), represents a good candidate for the elaboration of high performance coatings. Furthermore, the authors also considered the use of such hybrid latexes as templates for the preparation of functional organic or inorganic porous materials with CeO₂ nanoparticles (or other nanoparticles) evenly distributed in the porous matrix.

A CeO₂/PVDC hybrid latex mediated by a phosphonated macro-RAFT agent by Jérôme Warnant, Jérôme Garnier, Alex van Herk, Pierre-Emmanuel Dufils, Jérôme Vinas and Patrick Lacroix-Desmazes Polym. Chem. 2013, 4, 5656-5663.

Julien Nicolas is a web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.

In this article, Zhang, Li and co-workers synthesized by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) a highly water-soluble, multivalent and highly specific BODIPY-conjugated glycopolymer for direct tumor cell imaging, which showed good photostability. The cell viability of BODIPY-conjugated glycopolymers against HepG2 and NIH3T3 cells was more than 80%, indicating that the glycopolymers have low cytotoxicity to living cells. Moreover, simple incubation of living cells with a BODIPY-conjugated glycopolymer led to efficient internalization into HepG2 and clear visualization in cytoplasm, due to the high brightness of BODIPY and good specificity between HepG2 and galactose as compared to NIH3T3 cells. These results suggest that BODIPY-conjugated glycopolymers have potential use as fluorescent probes in live cell imaging.

Water-soluble BODIPY-conjugated glycopolymers as fluorescent probes for live cell imaging by Zhentan Lu, Lin Mei, Xinge Zhang, Yanan Wang, Yu Zhao and Chaoxing Li Polym. Chem. 2013, 4, 5743-5750.

Julien Nicolas is a guest web-writer and advisory board member for Polymer Chemistry. He currently works at Univ. Paris-Sud (FR) as a CNRS researcher.