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Jeong H, Gu J, Mwasame P, Patankar K, Yu D, Sing CE. Modeling the competition between phase separation and polymerization under explicit polydispersity. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:681-692. [PMID: 38164983 DOI: 10.1039/d3sm01411h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
The dynamics of phase separation for polymer blends is important in determining the final morphology and properties of polymer materials; in practical applications, this phase separation can be controlled by coupling to polymerization reaction kinetics via a process called 'polymerization-induced phase separation'. We develop a phase-field model for a polymer melt blend using a polymerizing Cahn-Hilliard (pCH) formalism to understand the fundamental processes underlying phase separation behavior of a mixture of two species independently undergoing linear step-growth polymerization. In our method, we explicitly model polydispersity in these systems to consider different molecular-weight components that will diffuse at different rates. We first show that this pCH model predicts results consistent with the Carothers predictions for step-growth polymerization kinetics, the Flory-Huggins theory of polymer mixing, and the classical predictions of spinodal decomposition in symmetric polymer blends. The model is then used to characterize (i) the competition between phase separation dynamics and polymerization kinetics, and (ii) the effect of unequal reaction rates between species. For large incompatibility between the species (i.e. high χ), our pCH model demonstrates that the strength for phase separation directly corresponds to the kinetics of phase separation. We find that increasing the reaction rate k̃, first induces faster phase separation but this trend reverses as we further increase k̃ due to the competition between molecular diffusion and polymerization. In this case, phase separation is delayed for faster polymerization rates due to the rapid accumulation of slow-moving, high molecular weight components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyeonmin Jeong
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
| | - Junsi Gu
- Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI, 48667, USA
| | | | | | - Decai Yu
- Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI, 48667, USA
| | - Charles E Sing
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
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Dhara P, Mukherjee R. Phase separation and dewetting of polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) thin films on flat and patterned substrates. J Mol Liq 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2021.117360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Zhang M, Zheng J, Gui K, Wang K, Guo C, Wei X, Zhuang S. Electro-optical characteristics of holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal gratings doped with nanosilver. APPLIED OPTICS 2013; 52:7411-7418. [PMID: 24216639 DOI: 10.1364/ao.52.007411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2013] [Accepted: 09/14/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
We report on the synthesis and characteristics of a holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC) switchable grating based on nano-Ag particles. The influence of doping different concentrations of nano-Ag on the diffraction efficiency, driving voltage, and response time of the H-PDLC grating is investigated. The best grating characteristics were achieved with 0.05% nano-Ag doping. Calculated and experimental results reveal that the improvement of the characteristics is likely due to the surface plasmon effect of nano-Ag.
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Siddiqi HM, Dumon M, Pascault JP. Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals Based on Epoxy Networks: Transformations and Phase Separation Phenomena During Polycondensation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1080/10587259808042437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- H. Masood Siddiqi
- a Laboratoire des Matériaux Macromoléculaires-CNRS UMR n°5627 , Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon , 20, Avenue A. Einstein, F-69621 , Villeurbanne , cedex , France
| | - M. Dumon
- a Laboratoire des Matériaux Macromoléculaires-CNRS UMR n°5627 , Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon , 20, Avenue A. Einstein, F-69621 , Villeurbanne , cedex , France
| | - J. P. Pascault
- a Laboratoire des Matériaux Macromoléculaires-CNRS UMR n°5627 , Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon , 20, Avenue A. Einstein, F-69621 , Villeurbanne , cedex , France
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Affiliation(s)
- Byung Kyu Kim
- a Dept. of Polymer Science and Engineering , Pusan National University , Pusan , 609-735 , Korea
| | - Young Chan Jeon
- a Dept. of Polymer Science and Engineering , Pusan National University , Pusan , 609-735 , Korea
| | - Jae Chang Kim
- b Dept. of Electronic Engineering , Pusan National University , Pusan , 609-735 , Korea
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Shin EY, Jung JA, Hee Kim E, Kim BK. Holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystal fabrication under electric field. POLYM INT 2005. [DOI: 10.1002/pi.1790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Kyu T, Chiu HW. Morphology development during polymerization-induced phase separation in a polymer dispersed liquid crystal. POLYMER 2001. [DOI: 10.1016/s0032-3861(01)00389-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Nwabunma D, Chiu HW, Kyu T. Theoretical investigation on dynamics of photopolymerization-induced phase separation and morphology development in nematic liquid crystal/polymer mixtures. J Chem Phys 2000. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1309537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Lee JC. Polymerization-induced phase separation. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL PHYSICS, PLASMAS, FLUIDS, AND RELATED INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS 1999; 60:1930-5. [PMID: 11969983 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.60.1930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/1999] [Indexed: 04/18/2023]
Abstract
A molecular dynamics simulation is performed to study the kinetics of microphase separation in a polymer-dispersed-liquid-crystal forming process. An equimolar mixture of monomers and liquid crystal molecules are thermalized in a well mixed state. The monomers are then polymerized at the same temperature. The end product is a spanning gel with liquid crystal molecules aggregating in droplets here and there. The peak position of the equal-time structure function suggests that the growth of the droplets may be described with t(-0.23). The small growth exponent is just one of several features which may be attributed to the growing elastic gel. We argue that the aggregation is driven by entropy.
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Affiliation(s)
- J C Lee
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406-5046, USA
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Borrajo J, Riccardi CC, Williams RJ, Siddiqi HM, Dumon M, Pascault JP. Thermodynamic analysis of reaction-induced phase separation in epoxy-based polymer dispersed liquid crystals (PDLC). POLYMER 1998. [DOI: 10.1016/s0032-3861(97)00276-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Chan PK, Rey AD. Polymerization-Induced Phase Separation. 2. Morphological Analysis. Macromolecules 1997. [DOI: 10.1021/ma961078w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Philip K. Chan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3480 University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7, Canada
| | - Alejandro D. Rey
- Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3480 University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7, Canada
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Chan PK, Rey AD. Polymerization-Induced Phase Separation. 1. Droplet Size Selection Mechanism. Macromolecules 1996. [DOI: 10.1021/ma960690k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Philip K. Chan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3480 University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2A7, Canada
| | - Alejandro D. Rey
- Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3480 University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2A7, Canada
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Teixeira PIC, Mulder BM. Numerical simulation of thermally induced phase separation in polymer‐dispersed liquid crystals. J Chem Phys 1996. [DOI: 10.1063/1.472842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
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Zhu YM. Monte Carlo simulation of polymerization-induced phase separation. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL PHYSICS, PLASMAS, FLUIDS, AND RELATED INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS 1996; 54:1645-1651. [PMID: 9965240 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.54.1645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
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Lin JC, Taylor PL. Exact results for phase separation in an asymmetric model of an interacting binary mixture. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL PHYSICS, PLASMAS, FLUIDS, AND RELATED INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS 1994; 49:2058-2061. [PMID: 9961446 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.49.2058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
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Lin JC, Taylor PL. Kinetic phase transition in polymerization. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL PHYSICS, PLASMAS, FLUIDS, AND RELATED INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS 1994; 49:2476-2479. [PMID: 9961495 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.49.2476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
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