TY - JOUR A1 - Zhong, Qi A1 - Mi, Lei A1 - Metwalli, Ezzeldin A1 - Biessmann, Lorenz A1 - Philipp, Martine A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Laschewsky, Andre A1 - Papadakis, Christine M. A1 - Cubitt, Robert A1 - Schwartzkopf, Matthias A1 - Roth, Stephan V. A1 - Wang, Jiping A1 - Müller-Buschbaum, Peter T1 - Effect of chain architecture on the swelling and thermal response of star-shaped thermo-responsive (poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate)-block-polystyrene)(3) block copolymer films JF - Soft matter N2 - The effect of chain architecture on the swelling and thermal response of thin films obtained from an amphiphilic three-arm star-shaped thermo-responsive block copolymer poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate)-block-polystyrene ((PMDEGA-b-PS)(3)) is investigated by in situ neutron reflectivity (NR) measurements. The PMDEGA and PS blocks are micro-phase separated with randomly distributed PS nanodomains. The (PMDEGA-b-PS)(3) films show a transition temperature (TT) at 33 degrees C in white light interferometry. The swelling capability of the (PMDEGA-b-PS)(3) films in a D2O vapor atmosphere is better than that of films from linear PS-b-PMDEGA-b-PS triblock copolymers, which can be attributed to the hydrophilic end groups and limited size of the PS blocks in (PMDEGA-b-PS)(3). However, the swelling kinetics of the as-prepared (PMDEGA-b-PS)(3) films and the response of the swollen film to a temperature change above the TT are significantly slower than that in the PS-b-PMDEGA-b-PS films, which may be related to the conformation restriction by the star-shape. Unlike in the PS-b-PMDEGA-b-PS films, the amount of residual D2O in the collapsed (PMDEGA-b-PS)(3) films depends on the final temperature. It decreases from (9.7 +/- 0.3)% to (7.0 +/- 0.3)% or (6.0 +/- 0.3)% when the final temperatures are set to 35 degrees C, 45 degrees C and 50 degrees C, respectively. This temperature-dependent reduction of embedded D2O originates from the hindrance of chain conformation from the star-shaped chain architecture. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8sm00965a SN - 1744-683X SN - 1744-6848 VL - 14 IS - 31 SP - 6582 EP - 6594 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Skrabania, Katja A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Bivigou Koumba, Achille Mayelle A1 - Zehm, Daniel A1 - Laschewsky, André T1 - Examining the UV-vis absorption of RAFT chain transfer agents and their use for polymer analysis JF - Polymer Chemistry N2 - The absorption characteristics of a large set of thiocarbonyl based chain transfer agents (CTAs) were studied by UV-vis spectroscopy in order to identify appropriate conditions for exploiting their absorbance bands in end-group analysis of polymers prepared by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerisation. Substitution pattern and solvent polarity were found to affect notably the wavelengths and intensities of the pi-pi*- and n-pi*-transition of the thiocarbonyl bond of dithioester and trithiocarbonate RAFT agents. Therefore, it is advisable to refer in end group analysis to the spectral parameters of low molar mass analogues of the active polymer chain ends, rather than to rely on the specific RAFT agent engaged in the polymerisation. When using appropriate conditions, the quantification of the thiocarbonyl end-groups via the pi-pi* band of the thiocarbonyl moiety around 300-310 nm allows a facile, sensitive and surprisingly precise estimation of the number average molar mass of the polymers produced, without the need of particular end group labels. Moreover, when additional methods for absolute molar mass determination can be applied, the quantification of the thiocarbonyl end-groups by UV-spectroscopy provides a good estimate of the degree of active end group for a given polymer sample. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c1py00173f SN - 1759-9954 VL - 2 IS - 9 SP - 2074 EP - 2083 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nieuwenhuis, Sophie A1 - Zhong, Qi A1 - Metwalli, Ezzeldin A1 - Biessmann, Lorenz A1 - Philipp, Martine A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Laschewsky, Andre A1 - Papadakis, Christine M. A1 - Cubitt, Robert A1 - Wang, Jiping A1 - Müller-Buschbaum, Peter T1 - Hydration and Dehydration Kinetics: Comparison between Poly(N-isopropyl methacrylamide) and Poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate) Films JF - Langmuir N2 - Thermoresponsive films of poly(N-isopropyl methacrylamide) (PNIPMAM) and poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate) (PMDEGA) are compared with respect to their hydration and dehydration kinetics using in situ neutron reflectivity. Both as-prepared films present a homogeneous single-layer structure and have similar transition temperatures of the lower critical solution temperature type (TT, PNIPMAM 38 degrees C and PMDEGA 41 degrees C). After hydration in unsaturated D2O vapor at 23 degrees C, a D2O enrichment layer is observed in PNIPMAM films adjacent to the Si substrate. In contrast, two enrichment layers are present in PMDEGA films (close to the vapor interface and the Si substrate). PNIPMAM films exhibit a higher hydration capability, ascribed to having both donor (N-H) and acceptor (C=O) units for hydrogen bonds. "While the swelling of the PMDEGA films is mainly caused by the increase of the enrichment layers, the thickness of the entire PNIPMAM films increases with time. The observed longer relaxation time for swelling of PNIPMAM films is attributed to the much higher glass transition temperature of PNIPMAM. When dehydrating both films by increasing the temperature above the TT, they react with a complex response consisting of three stages (shrinkage, rearrangement, and reswelling). PNIPMAM films respond faster than PMDEGA films. After dehydration, both films still contain a large amount of D2O, and no completely dry film state is reached for a temperature above their TTs. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b00535 SN - 0743-7463 VL - 35 IS - 24 SP - 7691 EP - 7702 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Laschewsky, André A1 - De Paoli, Gabriele A1 - Papadakis, Christine M. A1 - Müller-Buschbaum, Peter A1 - Funari, Sergio S. T1 - Thermoresponsive Hydrogels from Symmetrical Triblock Copolymers Poly(styrene-block-(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate)-block-styrene) JF - Langmuir N2 - A series of symmetrical, thermo-responsive triblock copolymers was prepared by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, and studied in aqueous solution with respect to their ability to form hydrogels. Triblock copolymers were composed of two identical, permanently hydrophobic outer blocks, made of low molar mass polystyrene, and of a hydrophilic inner block of variable length, consisting of poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate) PMDEGA. The polymers exhibited a LCST-type phase transition in the range of 20-40 degrees C, which markedly depended on molar mass and concentration. Accordingly, the triblock copolymers behaved as amphiphiles at low temperatures, but became water-insoluble at high temperatures. The temperature dependent self-assembly of the amphiphilic block copolymers in aqueous solution was studied by turbidimetry and rheology at concentrations up to 30 wt %, to elucidate the impact of the inner thermoresponsive block on the gel properties. Additionally, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was performed to access the structural changes in the gel with temperature. For all polymers a gel phase was obtained at low temperatures, which underwent a gel-sol transition at intermediate temperatures, well below the cloud point where phase separation occurred. With increasing length of the PMDEGA inner block, the gel-sol transition shifts to markedly lower concentrations, as well as to higher transition temperatures. For the longest PMDEGA block studied (DPn about 450), gels had already formed at 3.5 wt % at low temperatures. The gel-sol transition of the hydrogels and the LCST-type phase transition of the hydrophilic inner block were found to be independent of each other. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/la204665q SN - 0743-7463 VL - 28 IS - 9 SP - 4479 EP - 4490 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Laschewsky, André T1 - Influencing the phase transition temperature of poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate) by molar mass, end groups, and polymer architecture JF - Journal of polymer science : A, Polymer chemistry N2 - The easily accessible, but virtually overlooked monomer methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate was polymerized by the RAFT method using monofunctional, difunctional, and trifunctional trithiocarbonates to afford thermoresponsive polymers exhibiting lower critical solution temperature-type phase transitions in aqueous solution. The use of the appropriate RAFT agent allowed for the preparation and systematic variation of polymers with defined molar mass, end-groups, and architecture, including amphiphilic diblock, symmetrical triblock, and triarm star-block copolymers, containing polystyrene as permanently hydrophobic constituent. The cloud points (CPs) of the various polymers proved to be sensitive to all varied parameters, namely molar mass, nature, and number of the end-groups, and the architecture, up to relatively high molar masses. Thus, CPs of the polymers can be adjusted within the physiological interesting range of 2040 degrees C. Remarkably, CPs increased with the molar mass, even when hydrophilic end groups were attached to the polymers. KW - water-soluble polymers KW - diblock copolymers KW - triblock copolymers KW - star-block copolymers KW - reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) KW - LCST KW - stimuli-sensitive polymers Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/pola.26116 SN - 0887-624X VL - 50 IS - 16 SP - 3313 EP - 3323 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Benitez-Montoya, Carlos Adrian A1 - Laschewsky, André T1 - Counterintuitive photomodulation of the thermal phase transition of poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate) in aqueous solution by trans-cis isomerization of Copolymerized Azobenzenes JF - Macromolecular chemistry and physics N2 - The non-ionic monomer (methoxy diethylene glycol) acrylate is copolymerized with its azodye-functionalized acrylate analogue using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Copolymerization is increasingly difficult with increasing amounts of the azo-dye-bearing monomer. The resulting water-soluble polymers are thermosensitive, exhibiting lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior, which can be modulated by the photoinduced trans-cis isomerization of the dye. While already small contents of the hydrophobic azobenzene group reduce the phase-transition temperatures of the copolymers strongly, photoisomerization of the apolar trans-state to the more-polar cis-state has only a small effect, and decreases rather than increases the cloud points. KW - azobenzene KW - photoisomerization KW - statistical copolymers KW - thermoresponsive materials KW - water-soluble polymers Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/macp.201300203 SN - 1022-1352 VL - 214 IS - 13 SP - 1504 EP - 1514 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - THES A1 - Miasnikova, Anna T1 - New hydrogel forming thermo-responsive block copolymers of increasing structural complexity T1 - Neue Hydrogel-bildende thermisch schaltbare Blockcopolymere von zunehmender struktureller Komplexität N2 - This work describes the synthesis and characterization of stimuli-responsive polymers made by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and the investigation of their self-assembly into “smart” hydrogels. In particular the hydrogels were designed to swell at low temperature and could be reversibly switched to a collapsed hydrophobic state by rising the temperature. Starting from two constituents, a short permanently hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) block and a thermo-responsive poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate) (PMDEGA) block, various gelation behaviors and switching temperatures were achieved. New RAFT agents bearing tert-butyl benzoate or benzoic acid groups, were developed for the synthesis of diblock, symmetrical triblock and 3-arm star block copolymers. Thus, specific end groups were attached to the polymers that facilitate efficient macromolecular characterization, e.g by routine 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Further, the carboxyl end-groups allowed functionalizing the various polymers by a fluorophore. Because reports on PMDEGA have been extremely rare, at first, the thermo-responsive behavior of the polymer was investigated and the influence of factors such as molar mass, nature of the end-groups, and architecture, was studied. The use of special RAFT agents enabled the design of polymer with specific hydrophobic and hydrophilic end-groups. Cloud points (CP) of the polymers proved to be sensitive to all molecular variables studied, namely molar mass, nature and number of the end-groups, up to relatively high molar masses. Thus, by changing molecular parameters, CPs of the PMDEGA could be easily adjusted within the physiological interesting range of 20 to 40°C. A second responsivity, namely to light, was added to the PMDEGA system via random copolymerization of MDEGA with a specifically designed photo-switchable azobenzene acrylate. The composition of the copolymers was varied in order to determine the optimal conditions for an isothermal cloud point variation triggered by light. Though reversible light-induced solubility changes were achieved, the differences between the cloud points before and after the irradiation were small. Remarkably, the response to light differed from common observations for azobenzene-based systems, as CPs decreased after UV-irradiation, i.e with increasing content of cis-azobenzene units. The viscosifying and gelling abilities of the various block copolymers made from PS and PMDEGA blocks were studied by rheology. Important differences were observed between diblock copolymers, containing one hydrophobic PS block only, the telechelic symmetrical triblock copolymers made of two associating PS termini, and the star block copolymers having three associating end blocks. Regardless of their hydrophilic block length, diblock copolymers PS11 PMDEGAn were freely flowing even at concentrations as high as 40 wt. %. In contrast, all studied symmetrical triblock copolymers PS8-PMDEGAn-PS8 formed gels at low temperatures and at concentrations as low as 3.5 wt. % at best. When heated, these gels underwent a gel-sol transition at intermediate temperatures, well below the cloud point where phase separation occurs. The gel-sol transition shifted to markedly higher transition temperatures with increasing length of the hydrophilic inner block. This effect increased also with the number of arms, and with the length of the hydrophobic end blocks. The mechanical properties of the gels were significantly altered at the cloud point and liquid-like dispersions were formed. These could be reversibly transformed into hydrogels by cooling. This thesis demonstrates that high molar mass PMDEGA is an easily accessible, presumably also biocompatible and at ambient temperature well water-soluble, non-ionic thermo-responsive polymer. PMDEGA can be easily molecularly engineered via the RAFT method, implementing defined end-groups, and producing different, also complex, architectures, such as amphiphilic triblock and star block copolymers, having an analogous structure to associative telechelics. With appropriate design, such amphiphilic copolymers give way to efficient, “smart” viscosifiers and gelators displaying tunable gelling and mechanical properties. N2 - Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit der RAFT-vermittelten Synthese und Charakterisierung von stimuli-empfindlichen Polymeren und ihrer Selbstorganisation zu „intelligenten” Hydrogelen. Die Hydrogele wurden so entwickelt, dass sie bei niedrigen Temperaturen stark quellen, bei Temperaturerhöhung jedoch reversibel in einem hydrophoben, kollabierten Zustand umgewandelt werden. Mit dem permanent hydrophoben Polystyrol (PS) und dem hydrophilen, thermisch schaltbaren Poly(methoxy-diethylen¬glycol-acrylat) (PMDEGA) als Bausteine, wurden unterschiedliche Gelierungsverhalten und thermische Übergangstemperaturen erreicht. Zur Synthese von Diblock-, symmetrischen Triblock- und dreiarmigen Sternblock-Copolymeren wurden neue funktionelle Kettenüberträger entwickelt. Diese gestatteten es, tert-butyl Benzoeester und Benzoesäure Endgruppen in die Polymere einzubauen, die einerseits eine effiziente Analyse mittels Routine 1H-NMR und darüber hinaus eine spätere Funktionalisierung der Endgruppen mit einer Fluoreszenzsonde ermöglichten. Da über PMDEGA kaum Daten vorlagen, wurde der Einfluss von Molekulargewicht, Endgruppen und Architektur auf das thermo-responsive Verhalten untersucht. Die speziellen Kettenüberträger ermöglichten es, gezielt hydrophobe wie hydrophile Endgruppen in die Polymere einzuführen. Die Trübungspunkte der wässerigen Lösungen von PMDEGA zeigten sich bis zu relativ hohen molaren Massen abhängig gegenüber allen untersuchten Variablen, nämlich dem Molekulargewicht, der Art und Zahl von Endgruppen. Durch Variation der diversen Parameter ließ sich die Schalttemperatur von PMDEGA in physiologisch relevanten Temperaturbereich von 20 bis 40 °C einstellen. Um die Polymere für einen zweiten Stimulus, nämlich Licht, empfindlich zu machen, wurden Azobenzol-funktionalisierte Acrylate synthetisiert und statistisch mit MDEGA copolymerisiert. Die Zusammensetzung der Polymeren wurde variiert und das isotherme Schalten der Löslichkeit durch Licht untersucht. Obwohl ein reversibles Schalten erreicht wurde, waren die Unterschiede zwischen den Trübungstemperaturen von UV-Licht bestrahlten und unbestrahlten Proben nur gering. Interessanterweise senkte die UV-Bestrahlung, d.h. ein erhöhter Gehalt von cis-Azobenzol-Gruppen, die Trübungstemperaturen herab. Dies ist genau umgekehrt als für azobenzolbasierten Systeme klassisch beschrieben. Die Gelbildung der verschiedenen Blockcopolymere von PS und PMDEGA wurde mittels Rheologie untersucht. Dabei traten deutliche Unterschiede auf, zwischen dem Gelierungsverhalten der Diblockcopolymere, die nur einen PS Block enthalten, dem der symmetrischen Triblockcopolymere, die zwei assoziative PS Endblöcken besitzen, und dem der Sternpolymere, die drei assoziative PS Blöcke aufweisen. Unabhängig von der Länge des hydrophilen Blockes, bilden Diblockcopolymere des Typs PS11-PMDEGAn keine Gele, sondern selbst bei hohen Konzentrationen von 40 Gew. % Lösungen. Im Gegensatz dazu bildeten die Triblockcopolymere des Typs PS8-PMDEGAn-PS8 Gele bei niedrigen Temperaturen, vereinzelt schon ab 3.5 wt. %. Mit steigender Temperatur, tritt bereits unterhalb des Trübungspunktes für diese Systeme ein Gel-Sol Übergang auf. Der Gel-Sol Übergang bewegt sich zu höheren Temperaturen mit steigende Länge des hydrophilen inneren Blocks. Dieser Trend verstärkt sich mit zunehmender Anzahl von Endblöcken und deren Länge. An der Trübungstemperatur veränderten sich die mechanischen Eigenschaften aller Gele signifikant und die gebildeten flüssigen Dispersionen ließen sich reversibel beim Abkühlen wieder zu Gel schalten. Diese Arbeit, zeigt dass PMDEGA ein bei niedrigen Temperaturen gut wasserlösliches, nicht-ionisches, thermisch-schaltbares und wahrscheinlich biokompatibles Polymer ist. PMDEGA liest sich einfach mittels den RAFT-Verfahren molekular maßschneiden, mit spezifischen Endgruppen und komplexen Polymerarchitekturen. Solche amphiphilen Triblock- und Sternblock-Copolymeren hoher Molmasse, wirken als assoziative Telechele. Daher eigenen sich bei entsprechendem Design diese amphiphilen Blockcopolymere als effiziente Verdicker und Gelbildner mit einstellbaren mechanischen und thermischen Eigenschaften. KW - Blockcopolymere KW - Selbstorganisation KW - thermisch schaltbar KW - LCST KW - RAFT KW - block copolymers KW - self-assembly KW - thermoresponsive KW - LCST KW - RAFT Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-59953 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Laschewsky, André A1 - Herfurth, Christoph A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Wieland, Christoph A1 - Wischerhoff, Erik A1 - Gradzielski, Michael A1 - de Molina, Paula Malo A1 - Weiss, Jan T1 - Stars and blocks tailoring polymeric rheology modifiers for aqueous media by controlled free radical polymerization T2 - Abstracts of papers : joint conference / The Chemical Institute of Cananda, CIC, American Chemical Society, ACS Y1 - 2012 SN - 0065-7727 VL - 244 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kyriakos, Konstantinos A1 - Philipp, Martine A1 - Lin, Che-Hung A1 - Dyakonova, Margarita A1 - Vishnevetskaya, Natalya A1 - Grillo, Isabelle A1 - Zaccone, Alessio A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Laschewsky, Andre A1 - Müller-Buschbaum, Peter A1 - Papadakis, Christine M. T1 - Quantifying the Interactions in the Aggregation of Thermoresponsive Polymers: The Effect of Cononsolvency JF - Macromolecular rapid communications N2 - The aggregation kinetics of thermoresponsive core-shell micelles with a poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) shell in pure water or in mixtures of water with the cosolvents methanol or ethanol at mole fractions of 5% is investigated during a temperature jump across the respective cloud point. Characteristically, these mixtures give rise to cononsolvency behavior. At the cloud point, aggregates are formed, and their growth is followed with time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering. Using the reversible association model, the interaction potential between the aggregates is determined from their growth rate in dependence on the cosolvents. The effect of the cosolvent is attributed to the interaction potential on the structured layer of hydration water around the aggregates. It is surmised that the latter is perturbed by the cosolvent and thus the residual repulsive hydration force between the aggregates is reduced. The larger the molar volume of the cosolvent, the more pronounced is the effect. This framework provides a molecular-level understanding of solvent-mediated effective interactions in polymer solutions and new opportunities for the rational control of self-assembly in complex soft matter systems. KW - colloidal aggregation KW - cononsolvency KW - interaction potential KW - polymer solutions KW - self-assembled micelles KW - thermoresponsive polymers Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.201500583 SN - 1022-1336 SN - 1521-3927 VL - 37 SP - 420 EP - 425 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kyriakos, Konstantinos A1 - Philipp, Martine A1 - Adelsberger, Joseph A1 - Jaksch, Sebastian A1 - Berezkin, Anatoly V. A1 - Lugo, Dersy M. A1 - Richtering, Walter A1 - Grillo, Isabelle A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Laschewsky, André A1 - Müller-Buschbaum, Peter A1 - Papadakis, Christine M. T1 - Cononsolvency of water/methanol mixtures for PNIPAM and PS-b-PNIPAM: pathway of aggregate formation investigated using time-resolved SANS JF - Macromolecules : a publication of the American Chemical Society N2 - We investigate the cononsolvency effect of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) in mixtures of water and methanol. Two systems are studied: micellar solutions of polystyrene-b-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PS-b-PNIPAM) diblock copolymers and, as a reference, solutions of PNIPAM homopolymers, both at a concentration of 20 mg/mL in DO. Using a stopped-flow instrument, fully deuterated methanol was rapidly added to these solutions at volume fractions between 10 and 20%. Time-resolved turbidimetry revealed aggregate formation within 10-100 s. The structural changes on mesoscopic length scales were followed by time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering (TR-SANS) with a time resolution of 0.1 s. In both systems, the pathway of the aggregation depends on the content of deuterated methanol; however, it is fundamentally different for homopolymer and diblock copolymer solutions: In the former, very large aggregates (>150 nm) are formed within the dead time of the setup, gradient appears at their surface in the late stages. In contrast, the growth of the aggregates in the latter system features different regimes, and the final aggregate size is 50 nm, thus much smaller than for the homopolymer. For the diblock copolymer, the time dependence of the aggregate radius can be described by two models: In the initial stage, the diffusion-limited coalescence model describes the data well; however, the resulting coalescence time is unreasonably high. In the late stage, a logarithmic coalescence model based on an energy barrier which is proportional to the aggregate radius is successfully applied. and a concentration Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/ma501434e SN - 0024-9297 SN - 1520-5835 VL - 47 IS - 19 SP - 6867 EP - 6879 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kyriakos, Konstantinos A1 - Aravopoulou, Dionysia A1 - Augsbach, Lukas A1 - Sapper, Josef A1 - Ottinger, Sarah A1 - Psylla, Christina A1 - Rafat, Ali Aghebat A1 - Benitez-Montoya, Carlos Adrian A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Di, Zhenyu A1 - Laschewsky, André A1 - Müller-Buschbaum, Peter A1 - Kyritsis, Apostolos A1 - Papadakis, Christine M. T1 - Novel thermoresponsive block copolymers having different architectures-structural, rheological, thermal, and dielectric investigations JF - Colloid and polymer science : official journal of the Kolloid-Gesellschaft N2 - Thermoresponsive block copolymers comprising long, hydrophilic, nonionic poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate) (PMDEGA) blocks and short hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) blocks are investigated in aqueous solution. Various architectures, namely diblock, triblock, and starblock copolymers are studied as well as a PMDEGA homopolymer as reference, over a wide concentration range. For specific characterization methods, polymers were labeled, either by partial deuteration (for neutron scattering studies) or by fluorophores. Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, critical micellization concentrations are identified and the hydrodynamic radii of the micelles, r (h) (mic) , are determined. Using dynamic light scattering, the behavior of r (h) (mic) in dependence on temperature and the cloud points are measured. Small-angle neutron scattering enabled the detailed structural investigation of the micelles and their aggregates below and above the cloud point. Viscosity measurements are carried out to determine the activation energies in dependence on the molecular architecture. Differential scanning calorimetry at high polymer concentration reveals the glass transition of the polymers, the fraction of uncrystallized water and effects of the phase transition at the cloud point. Dielectric relaxation spectroscopy shows that the polarization changes reversibly at the cloud point, which reflects the formation of large aggregates upon heating through the cloud point and their redissolution upon cooling. KW - Block copolymers KW - Thermoresponsive KW - Structural investigations KW - Mechanical properties KW - Thermal behavior KW - Dielectric properties Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-014-3282-0 SN - 0303-402X SN - 1435-1536 VL - 292 IS - 8 SP - 1757 EP - 1774 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aravopoulou, Dionysia A1 - Kyriakos, Konstantinos A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Laschewsky, Andre A1 - Papadakis, Christine M. A1 - Kyritsis, Apostolos T1 - Comparative Investigation of the Thermoresponsive Behavior of Two Diblock Copolymers Comprising PNIPAM and PMDEGA Blocks JF - The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces & biophysical chemistry N2 - The thermoresponsive behavior of two diblock copolymers PS-b-PNIPAM and PS-b-PMDEGA, which both comprise a hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) block but different thermoresponsive blocks, also differing in length, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate) (PMDEGA), respectively, was comparatively investigated in a wide temperature range. Concentrated aqueous solutions containing 25 wt % polymer were studied by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS). DSC measurements show that, during the demixing phase transition, the hydration number per oligo(ethylene glycol) side chain in the PS-b-PMDEGA solution decreases rather gradually, even up to 20 °C above the onset of the transition, i.e., the cloud point (CP). In contrast, the PS-b-PNIPAM solution exhibits an abrupt, stepwise dehydration behavior at its CP, indicated by the sharp, narrow endothermic peak. BDS measurements suggest that the organization of the expelled water during the phase transition and the subsequent evolution of the micellar aggregates are different for the two copolymers. In the PS-b-PMDEGA solution, the long-range charge transport process changes significantly at its CP and strong interfacial polarization processes appear, probably due to charge accumulation at the interfaces between the micellar aggregates and the aqueous medium. On the contrary, in the PS-b-PNIPAM solution, the phase transition has only a marginal effect on the long-range conduction process and is accompanied by a reduction in the high-frequency (1 MHz) dielectric permittivity, ε′. The latter effect is attributed to the reduced polarization strength of local chain modes due to an enhancement of intra- and interchain hydrogen bonds (HBs) in the polymer-rich phase during the water detaching process. Surprisingly, our BDS measurements indicate that prior to both the demixing and remixing processes the local chain mobility increases temporally. Our dielectric studies suggest that for PS-b-PNIPAM the water detaching process initiates a few degrees below CP and that the local chain mobility and intra- and/or interchain HBs of the PNIPAM blocks may control its thermoresponsive behavior. Dielectric “jump” experiments show that the kinetics of micellar aggregation in the PS-b-PMDEGA solution is slower than that in the PS-b-PNIPAM solution and is independent of the target temperature within the two-phase region. From the experimental point of view, it is shown that the dielectric susceptibility, especially, the dielectric permittivity, ε′, is a well-suited probe for monitoring both the reversible changes in the molecular dipolar bond polarizability and the long-range interfacial polarization at the phase transition. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b09647 SN - 1520-6106 VL - 122 IS - 9 SP - 2655 EP - 2668 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Adelsberger, Joseph A1 - Bivigou Koumba, Achille Mayelle A1 - Miasnikova, Anna A1 - Busch, Peter A1 - Laschewsky, André A1 - Müller-Buschbaum, Peter A1 - Papadakis, Christine M. T1 - Polystyrene-block-poly (methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate)-block-polystyrene triblock copolymers in aqueous solution-a SANS study of the temperature-induced switching behavior JF - Colloid and polymer science : official journal of the Kolloid-Gesellschaft N2 - A concentrated solution of a symmetric triblock copolymer with a thermoresponsive poly(methoxy diethylene glycol acrylate) (PMDEGA) middle block and short hydrophobic, fully deuterated polystyrene end blocks is investigated in D2O where it undergoes a lower critical solution temperature-type phase transition at ca. 36 A degrees C. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) in a wide temperature range (15-50 A degrees C) is used to characterize the size and inner structure of the micelles as well as the correlation between the micelles and the formation of aggregates by the micelles above the cloud point (CP). A model featuring spherical core-shell micelles, which are correlated by a hard-sphere potential or a sticky hard-sphere potential together with a Guinier form factor describing aggregates formed by the micelles above the CP, fits the SANS curves well in the entire temperature range. The thickness of the thermoresponsive micellar PMDEGA shell as well as the hard-sphere radius increase slightly already below the cloud point. Whereas the thickness of the thermoresponsive micellar shell hardly shrinks when heating through the CP and up to 50 A degrees C, the hard-sphere radius decreases within 3.5 K at the CP. The volume fraction decreases already significantly below the CP, which may be at the origin of the previously observed gel-sol transition far below the CP (Miasnikova et al., Langmuir 28: 4479-4490, 2012). Above the CP, small, and at higher temperatures, large aggregates are formed by the micelles. KW - Hydrogel KW - Thermoresponsive KW - LCST behavior KW - SANS Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-015-3535-6 SN - 0303-402X SN - 1435-1536 VL - 293 IS - 5 SP - 1515 EP - 1523 PB - Springer CY - New York ER -