Wang Yunwei, Li Li, Wang Yiming, Yang Qingsong, Ye Zhishuang, Sun Liang, Yang Fan, Guo Xuhong
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Large Scale Reactor Engineering and Technology (Ministry of Education), and International Joint Research Center of Green Energy Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
Engineering Research Center of Xinjiang Bingtuan of Materials Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China.
Polymers (Basel). 2021 Jun 8;13(12):1911. doi: 10.3390/polym13121911.
The effect of counterions on interactions among spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPBs) was systematically investigated by rheology, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). The SPB particles consist of a solid polystyrene (PS) core with a diameter of ca.100 nm and a chemically grafted poly-(acrylic acid) (PAA) brush layer. Metal ions of different valences (Na, Mg and Al) were used as counterions to study the interactions among concentrated SPBs. The so-called "structure factor peak" in SAXS, the "local ordered structure peak" in WAXS and rheological properties indicated the interactions among concentrated SPBs. Combining SAXS, WAXS and rheology, the formation mechanism of the local ordered structure among PAA chains in the overlapped area of adjacent SPB, which was generated due to the bridge function of counterions, was confirmed. In contrast, excessive counterions shielded the electrostatic interaction among PAA chains and destroyed the local ordered structure. This work enriches our understanding of the polyelectrolyte assembly in concentrated SPBs under the effect of counterions and lays the foundations for SPB applications.
通过流变学、小角X射线散射(SAXS)和广角X射线散射(WAXS)系统研究了抗衡离子对球形聚电解质刷(SPB)之间相互作用的影响。SPB颗粒由直径约100nm的固体聚苯乙烯(PS)核和化学接枝的聚(丙烯酸)(PAA)刷层组成。使用不同价态的金属离子(Na、Mg和Al)作为抗衡离子来研究浓SPB之间的相互作用。SAXS中的所谓“结构因子峰”、WAXS中的“局部有序结构峰”和流变学性质表明了浓SPB之间的相互作用。结合SAXS、WAXS和流变学,证实了由于抗衡离子的桥连作用,在相邻SPB重叠区域中PAA链之间局部有序结构的形成机制。相反,过量的抗衡离子屏蔽了PAA链之间的静电相互作用并破坏了局部有序结构。这项工作丰富了我们对在抗衡离子作用下浓SPB中聚电解质组装的理解,并为SPB的应用奠定了基础。