Structure of randomly crosslinked poly(dimethylsiloxane) networks produced by electron irradiation

Arabinoxylan in Water through SANS: Single-Chain Conformation, Chain Overlap, and Clustering

Using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), we examine the structure and conformational behavior of wheat arabinoxylan (AX) prepared at various concentrations in a sodium phosphate aqueous buffer. As for another major hemicellulose, xyloglucan, we observe a small number of large clusters surrounded by AX chains that behave exactly as a polymer in good solvent with a Flory exponent ν = 0.588. The fit of the data at high q-values to a standard worm-like chain model gives the persistence length lp = 45 Å and cross section of the chains 2Rc = 11-12 Å. In addition, using a dedicated modeling approach, we extract from the SANS data at the intermediate q-range the correlation length ξ of the solutions in the semidilute regime. The decay of ξ with concentration follows a scaling law that further confirms the self-avoiding statistical behavior of the AX chains. This first comprehensive study about the properties of water-soluble AX at different length scales may help in the development of products and processes involving AX as a substitute for fossil carbon molecules.

Decisive test of the ideal behavior of tetra-PEG gels

The objective of this work is to investigate the thermodynamic and scattering behavior of tetra-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) gels. Complementary measurements, including osmotic swelling pressure, elastic modulus, and small angle neutron scattering (SANS), are reported for a series of tetra-PEG gels made from different molecular weight precursor chains at different concentrations. Analysis of the osmotic swelling pressure vs polymer volume fraction curves makes it possible to separate the elastic and mixing contributions of the network free energy. It is shown that in tetra-PEG gels these free energy components are additive. The elastic term varies with the one-third power of the polymer volume fraction and its numerical value is equal to the shear modulus obtained from independent mechanical measurements. The mixing pressure of the cross-linked polymer is slightly smaller than that of the corresponding solution of the uncross-linked polymer of infinite molecular weight but it exhibits similar dependence on the polymer concentration. The observed deviation between the osmotic mixing pressures of the gel and the solution can be attributed to the presence of small amount of structural inhomogeneities frozen-in by the cross-links. SANS reveals that the scattering response of tetra-PEG gel is mainly governed by the thermodynamic concentration fluctuations of the network, i.e., the contribution from static inhomogeneities to the SANS signal is small.

Thermoreversible physical gels of poly(dimethylsiloxane) without cross-links or functionalization

The preparation of gels of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) reported in the literature so far involves catalysts and chemical cross-links (chemical gels) or functionalization with organogelators. We report that thermoreversible physical gels of PDMS, without cross-links or functionalization, can be made with propylamine or hexylamine as a solvent. The gels consist of spherical domains as small as 20 nm. We show that these spherical domains are part of a network. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), optical microscopy, and rheology show that the gel is thermoreversible. With the DSC experiments, we have devised a procedure to achieve thermoreversibility with very similar gel-sol transition endotherms in the first and second heating cycles.

Self-healing mussel-inspired multi-pH-responsive hydrogels

Self-healing hydrogels can be made using either reversible covalent cross-links or coordination chemistry bonds. Here we present a multi-pH-responsive system inspired by the chemistry of blue mussel adhesive proteins. By attaching DOPA to an amine-functionalized polymer, a multiresponsive system is formed upon reaction with iron. The degree of polymer cross-linking is pH controlled through the pH-dependent DOPA/iron coordination chemistry. This leads to the formation of rapidly self-healing high-strength hydrogels when pH is raised from acidic toward basic values. Close to the pK(a) value, or more precisely the pI value, of the polymer, the gel collapses due to reduced repulsion between polymer chains. Thereby a bistable gel-system is obtained. The present polymer system more closely resembles mussel adhesive proteins than those previously reported and thus also serves as a model system for mussel adhesive chemistry.

Investigating the microstructure of a yield-stress fluid by light scattering

We report the results of an experimental study of the microstructure of dispersions of Carbopol ETD 2050, a model yield-stress fluid. Using two different light scattering instruments, measurements were made over three decades in scattering wave vector, from 0.02 to 25 μm⁻¹. These measurements reveal microstructure characterized by two length scales: a longer length scale, 6 μm and larger, that depends on Carbopol concentration and the pH of the dispersion and a shorter length scale of approximately 400 nm that is independent of both sample concentration and pH. We relate these results to shear rheology measurement of the yield stress of these materials.

Oxygen diffusion in cross-linked, ethanol-swollen poly(vinyl alcohol) gels: counter-intuitive results reflect microscopic heterogeneities

Oxygen diffusion coefficients have been determined in ethanol-swollen poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA, gels using a technique wherein oxygen sorption is optically monitored using singlet oxygen phosphorescence. Data were recorded as a function of the extent to which the PVA chains are chemically cross-linked using glutaraldehyde. Contrary to conventional expectation, the diffusion coefficients obtained increase with an increase in the extent of cross-linking. This observation is interpreted in terms of a cross-link-dependent increase in the microscopic heterogeneity of the polymer wherein dense cross-linked domains coexist with more fluid domains. It is expected that, in the latter domains, segmental motions of the macromolecule that facilitate oxygen diffusion are more readily achieved. This model of cross-link-dependent heterogeneity is supported by the results of small-angle X-ray scattering experiments. Among other things, the data reported herein provide an informative foundation for studies of small molecule diffusion in biological cells, particularly during photoinduced cell death where the hydrogel-like nature of the cell can change due to cross-linking reactions.

Neutron scattering from equilibrium-swollen networks

Small-angle neutron scattering measurements were performed on end-linked poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) networks swollen to equilibrium with d-benzene. Comparison was made with equivalent concentration PDMS solutions. Equilibrium-swollen networks consistently displayed a linear scattering regime at low q followed by a good-solvent-like scaling regime at high q in agreement with the predictions of the Gel Tensile Blob (GTB) model. Data are fit using the unified function modified for the GTB model (3-parameter fit). Equilibrium-swollen networks display a base structural size, the gel tensile-blob size, xi, that was found to be independent of the molecular weight between crosslinks for the series of molecular weights studied, consistent with the predictions of the model. The length of the extended tensile structure, L, can be larger than the length of the fully extended network strand. The predicted scaling relationship for L, L approximately Q(1/2)N(avg), where N(avg) = (1/fN(c)(2) + 1/4N(e)(2), Q is the equilibrium swelling ratio, N(c) is the molecular weight between crosslinks, N(e) is the entanglement molecular weight and f is the crosslink functionality is in agreement with experimental results for the networks studied.