MacromoleculesPub Date : 2025-05-10DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c0167310.1021/acs.macromol.4c01673
Haoyu Xin, Xuejie Yu, Yiwen Lu and Jie Cai*,
{"title":"Rheological Properties and Gelation Behavior of Chitosan in a Weakly Alkaline NaHCO3/Urea Aqueous Solution","authors":"Haoyu Xin, Xuejie Yu, Yiwen Lu and Jie Cai*, ","doi":"10.1021/acs.macromol.4c0167310.1021/acs.macromol.4c01673","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c01673https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c01673","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Sustainable polymer materials derived from renewable resources have become increasingly important in addressing environmental challenges. Chitosan, a derivative of chitin, offers exceptional potential due to its unique biological and physicochemical properties. However, its practical application has been limited by the harsh conditions typically required for dissolution and processing. Here we demonstrate a novel approach using NaHCO<sub>3</sub>/urea aqueous solution as a weakly alkaline solvent system that enables efficient chitosan processing under mild conditions. Through comprehensive rheological analysis, we reveal that the sol–gel transition of chitosan in NaHCO<sub>3</sub>/urea aqueous solution is governed by the synergistic interplay of hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and chain entanglements. The gelation behavior exhibits strong dependence on chitosan concentration and molecular weight, with higher values promoting robust network formation at lower temperatures. Notably, we discover a reversible sol–gel transition mechanism that enables precise control over material properties through temperature modulation, while maintaining long-term stability despite modest changes in molecular characteristics during storage. These findings advance our understanding of polysaccharide self-assembly in weakly alkaline media and establish a new paradigm for developing controllable chitosan-based materials under environmentally friendly conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":51,"journal":{"name":"Macromolecules","volume":"58 10","pages":"5283–5295 5283–5295"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144137547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MacromoleculesPub Date : 2025-05-09DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00024
Lele Wang, Sanser Celenk, Qian Wang, Qingfeng Li, Jingshuai Yang
{"title":"Long-Durability Poly(dibenzofuran-co-terphenyl N-methylimidazole) Copolymer Membranes for High-Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells","authors":"Lele Wang, Sanser Celenk, Qian Wang, Qingfeng Li, Jingshuai Yang","doi":"10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00024","url":null,"abstract":"Phosphoric acid (PA)-doped polybenzimidazoles (PBIs) are a state-of-the-art membrane for high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs). Herein, we develop a new series of imidazole-containing copolymers with π-conjugated structures and multiple hydrogen bonding sites via straightforward polymerization of dibenzofuran, <i>p</i>-terphenyl, and 1-methyl-2-imidazolecarboxaldehyde. The high reactivity of the dibenzofuran monomer provides P(BF<sub><i>x</i>%</sub>-TP<sub><i>y</i>%</sub>-Im) copolymers with high viscosity, while the π-conjugated and hydrophilic furan units also serve as additional PA-binding sites that facilitate the acid doping and proton conduction. The resulting P(BF<sub>20%</sub>-TP<sub>80%</sub>-Im)/202%PA membrane demonstrates exceptional performance in H<sub>2</sub>–O<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>–air fuel cells, achieving peak power densities of 1085 and 539 mW cm<sup>–2</sup> at 180 °C, respectively, under ambient pressure and humidification. Notably, the H<sub>2</sub>–air cell equipped with this membrane shows remarkable stability, maintaining the high performance at 400 mA cm<sup>–2</sup> and 180 °C, with a voltage decay rate as low as 4.3 μV h<sup>–1</sup> over 720 h, likely the best durability result under these highly stressed conditions.","PeriodicalId":51,"journal":{"name":"Macromolecules","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143930880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Long-Durability Poly(dibenzofuran-co-terphenyl N-methylimidazole) Copolymer Membranes for High-Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells","authors":"Lele Wang, Sanser Celenk, Qian Wang, Qingfeng Li* and Jingshuai Yang*, ","doi":"10.1021/acs.macromol.5c0002410.1021/acs.macromol.5c00024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00024https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00024","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Phosphoric acid (PA)-doped polybenzimidazoles (PBIs) are a state-of-the-art membrane for high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs). Herein, we develop a new series of imidazole-containing copolymers with π-conjugated structures and multiple hydrogen bonding sites via straightforward polymerization of dibenzofuran, <i>p</i>-terphenyl, and 1-methyl-2-imidazolecarboxaldehyde. The high reactivity of the dibenzofuran monomer provides P(BF<sub><i>x</i>%</sub>-TP<sub><i>y</i>%</sub>-Im) copolymers with high viscosity, while the π-conjugated and hydrophilic furan units also serve as additional PA-binding sites that facilitate the acid doping and proton conduction. The resulting P(BF<sub>20%</sub>-TP<sub>80%</sub>-Im)/202%PA membrane demonstrates exceptional performance in H<sub>2</sub>–O<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>–air fuel cells, achieving peak power densities of 1085 and 539 mW cm<sup>–2</sup> at 180 °C, respectively, under ambient pressure and humidification. Notably, the H<sub>2</sub>–air cell equipped with this membrane shows remarkable stability, maintaining the high performance at 400 mA cm<sup>–2</sup> and 180 °C, with a voltage decay rate as low as 4.3 μV h<sup>–1</sup> over 720 h, likely the best durability result under these highly stressed conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":51,"journal":{"name":"Macromolecules","volume":"58 10","pages":"5344–5355 5344–5355"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144137543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MacromoleculesPub Date : 2025-05-09DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02836
Hamid Ahmadi, Stan F.S.P. Looijmans, Marc P. F. H. L. van Maris, Pauline Schmit, Siavash Maraghechi, Patrick D. Anderson, Ruth Cardinaels
{"title":"Formation of PLA Stereocomplex Crystals through Homorecrystallization and Mesophase Growth Mechanisms","authors":"Hamid Ahmadi, Stan F.S.P. Looijmans, Marc P. F. H. L. van Maris, Pauline Schmit, Siavash Maraghechi, Patrick D. Anderson, Ruth Cardinaels","doi":"10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02836","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02836","url":null,"abstract":"The present study systematically investigates the crystallization kinetics and crystal morphology of polylactic acid (PLA) stereocomplex (SC) crystallization from the cold state in 1/1 poly l-lactic acid (PLLA) and poly d-lactic acid (PDLA) mixtures, i.e., via homorecrystallization and mesophase growth mechanisms at two different temperatures (190 and 215 °C). Thereto, homocrystals and mesophase precursors are generated at temperatures of 80, 100, and 120 °C. For the characterization of the crystalline structures, a combination of wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and microscopy techniques is employed. The study reveals that homorecrystallization is much faster than crystallization via mesophase growth and can lead to the formation of either nodular-shaped stereocomplex crystals or coarser lamellar structures, depending on the crystallization temperature. The isothermal crystallization kinetics in a temperature jump stage is characterized via in situ WAXD and modeled with a modified Hillier-type model. The combination of thermal and structural characterization techniques allows to shed light on the factors that influence the crystalline structure of SC crystals, as well as the kinetics of their formation, which can be used for the development of high-performance PLA-based materials.","PeriodicalId":51,"journal":{"name":"Macromolecules","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143931095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MacromoleculesPub Date : 2025-05-08DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c0228310.1021/acs.macromol.4c02283
Siyu Wang, Yuanyuan Liu, Haiyue Zhao, Caicai Lu, Yuxiang Fu, Shengke Zhao, Yahang Dong, Jialong Li and Chengcai Pang*,
{"title":"Catalyst-Free Covalent Adaptable Polyester Networks Based on Dissociative Transesterification Chemistry","authors":"Siyu Wang, Yuanyuan Liu, Haiyue Zhao, Caicai Lu, Yuxiang Fu, Shengke Zhao, Yahang Dong, Jialong Li and Chengcai Pang*, ","doi":"10.1021/acs.macromol.4c0228310.1021/acs.macromol.4c02283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02283https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02283","url":null,"abstract":"<p >In this study, diethyl 1,3-acetonedicarboxylate (DAC), derived from naturally occurring citric acid, is investigated as a building block for the synthesis of covalently adaptable networks (CANs). The kinetic model studies reveal that DAC undergoes a catalyst-free transesterification reaction (TER) following the dissociative pathway with an activation energy of 104.96 ± 2.73 kJ mol<sup>−1</sup>. This knowledge is transferred to synthesize CANs by simply one-pot melt polycondensation of a mixture of DAC and polyols with varied stoichiometries. Importantly, these networks could be readily reprocessed by hot-pressing at 150 °C within 5 min. This fast reprocessability is in sharp contrast with the prolonged reprocessing time required for most vitrimers based on traditional TER, which can be correlated to the low viscosity provided by the temporary dissociation of the networks. Benefiting from the catalyst-free, dissociative TER, closed-loop recycling was achieved by two depolymerization-repolymerization methods: degradation in excess polyols, followed by reintroducing complementary DAC and repolymerized, or degradation in excess DAC, followed by reintroducing complementary polyols and repolymerized. In addition, the catalyst-free TER allows for highly selective depolymerization of these materials and recovery of the highly pure starting monomers from mixed waste plastic streams, achieving closed-loop recycling. Similarly, the carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) based on them could be selectively depolymerized, giving the recovered carbon fiber without obvious damage and the initial monomers in high yields.</p>","PeriodicalId":51,"journal":{"name":"Macromolecules","volume":"58 10","pages":"5296–5304 5296–5304"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144137407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MacromoleculesPub Date : 2025-05-08DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5c0028010.1021/acs.macromol.5c00280
Yen-Wen Huang, and , John M. Torkelson*,
{"title":"Catalyst-Free Polyhydroxyurethane Covalent Adaptable Networks Exhibiting Full Cross-Link Density Recovery after Reprocessing: Facilitation by Synthesis with Well-Designed Secondary Amines","authors":"Yen-Wen Huang, and , John M. Torkelson*, ","doi":"10.1021/acs.macromol.5c0028010.1021/acs.macromol.5c00280","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00280https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00280","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Polyhydroxyurethane (PHU) networks are generally synthesized using primary amines and cyclic carbonates (CCs), with or without catalysis. Relative to primary amines, analogous secondary amines are less reactive toward CCs due to increased steric hindrance. Consequently, there is only one literature report of a successful PHU network synthesis using secondary amines and CCs, with no assessment of dynamic character. PHU covalent adaptable networks (CANs) made from primary multifunctional amines require catalysts for reprocessing at moderate temperatures and time frames that minimize undesired side reactions. All prior reports of successful PHU CAN synthesis and reprocessing have involved catalysts. By analogy to hindered-urea-bond-based CANs made from secondary amines, we hypothesized that secondary amines with relatively low steric hindrance enable both catalyst-free synthesis and efficient catalyst-free reprocessing of PHU CANs. Small-molecule studies showed that two monofunctional secondary amines with limited steric hindrance, <i>N</i>-hexylmethylamine (HMA) and piperidine (PiP), reacted with CCs to very high fractional conversion, but reactions involving secondary amines with greater steric hindrance led to much lower fractional conversion. Small-molecule studies also revealed higher catalyst-free bond exchange rates at 140 °C in HMA-based and PiP-based hydroxyurethanes (HUs) compared to a primary-amine-based HU, suggesting that PHU networks made from well-designed secondary amines may yield catalyst-free reprocessability. We synthesized PHU networks from difunctional secondary amines with limited steric hindrance, <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>′-dimethyl-1,6-hexanediamine (DMHDA) and 4,4′-trimethylene dipiperidine (TmPiP). These PHU networks exhibited greater dissociative character and factors of 3- and 4-times faster stress relaxation at 160 °C, respectively, than a primary-amine-based PHU network. Using compression molding at 160 °C for 1.0 h, we could reprocess catalyst-free DMHDA-based and TmPiP-based PHU networks into well-consolidated films but not the catalyst-free primary-amine-based PHU network. The catalyst-free, secondary-amine-based PHU CANs were reprocessable with full recovery of the cross-link density and tensile properties. Thus, this study demonstrates that catalyst-free PHU CANs made from well-designed multifunctional secondary amines can be easily synthesized and exhibit robust reprocessability.</p>","PeriodicalId":51,"journal":{"name":"Macromolecules","volume":"58 10","pages":"5356–5367 5356–5367"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144137423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MacromoleculesPub Date : 2025-05-08DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00627
Houkuan Tian, Wenbo Wang, Zhen Zhao, Biao Zuo
{"title":"Wetting Reveals the Surface Dynamics of Polymer Glasses","authors":"Houkuan Tian, Wenbo Wang, Zhen Zhao, Biao Zuo","doi":"10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00627","url":null,"abstract":"The temperature dependence of the dynamic wetting of an immiscible ionic liquid on surfaces of polystyrene (PS), poly(4-methylstyrene) (P4MS), and poly(<i>tert</i>-butylstyrene) (P<i>t</i>BS) films was investigated in this work. Profound stick–slip motions of the droplets were observed near the glass transition temperature (<i>T</i><sub>g</sub>) of the polymers, where energy dissipation is significant. Additionally, an unexpected stick–slip motion with a small amplitude was observed at ∼60 K below <i>T</i><sub>g</sub> for P<i>t</i>BS and P4MS. This small-but-discernible stick–slip motion below <i>T</i><sub>g</sub> was attributed to the α-relaxation of the mobile surfaces of the polymer glasses. The surface activation energy, derived from the frequency dependence of the low-temperature stick–slip motion, was ∼150 kJ/mol, which is substantially lower than the activation energy for bulk polymers. However, no stick–slip motion was observed on PS films below <i>T</i><sub>g</sub>, likely due to the lowered surface mobility and/or reduced surface layer thickness of PS compared to P<i>t</i>BS and P4MS, implying a greater enhancement on the surface mobility for polymer glasses bearing bulkier side groups. Our results reinforce the idea of the presence of a mobile surface layer on polymer glasses and demonstrate that dynamic wetting is a sensitive indicator for surface relaxation of polymer glasses.","PeriodicalId":51,"journal":{"name":"Macromolecules","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143921143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MacromoleculesPub Date : 2025-05-08DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5c0062710.1021/acs.macromol.5c00627
Houkuan Tian, Wenbo Wang, Zhen Zhao and Biao Zuo*,
{"title":"Wetting Reveals the Surface Dynamics of Polymer Glasses","authors":"Houkuan Tian, Wenbo Wang, Zhen Zhao and Biao Zuo*, ","doi":"10.1021/acs.macromol.5c0062710.1021/acs.macromol.5c00627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00627https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c00627","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The temperature dependence of the dynamic wetting of an immiscible ionic liquid on surfaces of polystyrene (PS), poly(4-methylstyrene) (P4MS), and poly(<i>tert</i>-butylstyrene) (P<i>t</i>BS) films was investigated in this work. Profound stick–slip motions of the droplets were observed near the glass transition temperature (<i>T</i><sub>g</sub>) of the polymers, where energy dissipation is significant. Additionally, an unexpected stick–slip motion with a small amplitude was observed at ∼60 K below <i>T</i><sub>g</sub> for P<i>t</i>BS and P4MS. This small-but-discernible stick–slip motion below <i>T</i><sub>g</sub> was attributed to the α-relaxation of the mobile surfaces of the polymer glasses. The surface activation energy, derived from the frequency dependence of the low-temperature stick–slip motion, was ∼150 kJ/mol, which is substantially lower than the activation energy for bulk polymers. However, no stick–slip motion was observed on PS films below <i>T</i><sub>g</sub>, likely due to the lowered surface mobility and/or reduced surface layer thickness of PS compared to P<i>t</i>BS and P4MS, implying a greater enhancement on the surface mobility for polymer glasses bearing bulkier side groups. Our results reinforce the idea of the presence of a mobile surface layer on polymer glasses and demonstrate that dynamic wetting is a sensitive indicator for surface relaxation of polymer glasses.</p>","PeriodicalId":51,"journal":{"name":"Macromolecules","volume":"58 10","pages":"5220–5228 5220–5228"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144137481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Catalyst-Free Covalent Adaptable Polyester Networks Based on Dissociative Transesterification Chemistry","authors":"Siyu Wang, Yuanyuan Liu, Haiyue Zhao, Caicai Lu, Yuxiang Fu, Shengke Zhao, Yahang Dong, Jialong Li, Chengcai Pang","doi":"10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02283","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, diethyl 1,3-acetonedicarboxylate (DAC), derived from naturally occurring citric acid, is investigated as a building block for the synthesis of covalently adaptable networks (CANs). The kinetic model studies reveal that DAC undergoes a catalyst-free transesterification reaction (TER) following the dissociative pathway with an activation energy of 104.96 ± 2.73 kJ mol<sup>−1</sup>. This knowledge is transferred to synthesize CANs by simply one-pot melt polycondensation of a mixture of DAC and polyols with varied stoichiometries. Importantly, these networks could be readily reprocessed by hot-pressing at 150 °C within 5 min. This fast reprocessability is in sharp contrast with the prolonged reprocessing time required for most vitrimers based on traditional TER, which can be correlated to the low viscosity provided by the temporary dissociation of the networks. Benefiting from the catalyst-free, dissociative TER, closed-loop recycling was achieved by two depolymerization-repolymerization methods: degradation in excess polyols, followed by reintroducing complementary DAC and repolymerized, or degradation in excess DAC, followed by reintroducing complementary polyols and repolymerized. In addition, the catalyst-free TER allows for highly selective depolymerization of these materials and recovery of the highly pure starting monomers from mixed waste plastic streams, achieving closed-loop recycling. Similarly, the carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) based on them could be selectively depolymerized, giving the recovered carbon fiber without obvious damage and the initial monomers in high yields.","PeriodicalId":51,"journal":{"name":"Macromolecules","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143921155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MacromoleculesPub Date : 2025-05-08DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c0238010.1021/acs.macromol.4c02380
Xin Wang, An-Chang Shi*, Pingwen Zhang* and Kai Jiang*,
{"title":"Stability of Diverse Dodecagonal Quasicrystals in T-Shaped Liquid Crystalline Molecules","authors":"Xin Wang, An-Chang Shi*, Pingwen Zhang* and Kai Jiang*, ","doi":"10.1021/acs.macromol.4c0238010.1021/acs.macromol.4c02380","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02380https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02380","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Quasicrystals are intriguing ordered structures characterized by quasiperiodic translational and noncrystallographic rotational symmetry. The tiling of different geometric units such as triangles and squares in two-dimensional space can result in a great variety of quasicrystals that could be realized by the self-assembly of liquid crystalline molecules. In this study, we introduce three self-similar dodecagonal tilings, including a novel diamond–square–triangle pattern, composed of triangular and quadrangular tiles, and examine their thermodynamic stability by using the self-consistent field theory applied to T-shaped liquid crystalline molecules. Specifically, we detail the inflation rules for the construction of these dodecagonal tilings, analyze their self-similarity, and show that these tilings can be viewed as projections of higher-dimensional periodic lattice points with projection windows. Using these dodecagonal tilings as initial configurations of the SCFT results in solutions corresponding to quasicrystals that could form from T-shaped liquid crystalline molecules. The relative stability of these aperiodic phases is analyzed to obtain design rules that could stabilize quasicrystals. Meanwhile, we provide a criterion for distinguishing three dodecagonal quasicrystals and their approximants by analyzing their diffraction peaks. These findings shed new light on the discovery of new quasicrystals in soft materials.</p>","PeriodicalId":51,"journal":{"name":"Macromolecules","volume":"58 10","pages":"5229–5239 5229–5239"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144137424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}