Selected Papers from the Symposium “Polymer Gels as Advanced Soft Materials” at PacifiChem2015

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 October 2016) | Viewed by 20082

Special Issue Editors

Department of Materials Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
Interests: polymer gels; functional polymers; self-organization; biomimetic or bio-inspired materials; biomaterials
Department of Chemistry, Helsinki University, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
Interests: amphiphilic polymers; nanogels; self-assembly; interfaces; polysaccharides
* (2 March 1952 - 13 February 2021)
The Aizenberg Biomineralization and Biomimetics Lab, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Interests: slippery surfaces; crystal growth; bio-engineering; bionano-interfaces; self-assembly; hybrid architectures; wettability; nanostructures, bio-inspired optics
Department of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Kansai University, Suita, Osaka 564-8680, Japan
Interests: gels; biomaterials; membranes; polymer surfaces and interfaces

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is cooperating with the Symposium “Polymer Gels as Advanced Soft Materials” at The International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (PacifiChem2015) (http://www.pacifichem.org/symposiadesc2015/c_symp_83.htm). Polymer gels are important components of industrial and consumer products. They are also the subjects of fundamental studies by researchers involved in the science of soft materials. Over the last few years, there has been remarkable progress in the synthesis of gels, their characterization, kinetics, thermodynamics, and rheology. These developments have led to new biomaterials, sensors, actuators, batteries, and microdevices. This Special Issue will address current and future challenges in this active field by focusing on the following target areas: the fundamental science of gels and related materials, the role and function of gels in material science and engineering, and the applications of gels as advanced soft materials. Conventional applications of gels in foods, cosmetics, pharmaceutics, sensors, and separation systems will be addressed as well as newer biochemical and biomedical applications in drug delivery, diagnosis, tissue engineering, and biomimetic materials, and various applications in the industry such as MEMS, optical devices, and fuel cells.

Prof. Dr. Ryo Yoshida
Prof. Dr. Francoise M. Winnik
Prof. Dr. Joanna Aizenberg
Prof. Dr. Takashi Miyata
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Polymer gels
  • Synthesis of gels
  • Structure of gels
  • Property of gels
  • Function of gels
  • Application of gels

Published Papers (3 papers)

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4224 KiB  
Article
Crystal Crosslinked Gels with Aggregation-Induced Emissive Crosslinker Exhibiting Swelling Degree-Dependent Photoluminescence
by Tsuyoshi Oura, Ryosuke Taniguchi, Kenta Kokado and Kazuki Sada
Polymers 2017, 9(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym9010019 - 06 Jan 2017
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 7074
Abstract
The synthesis and photoluminescence properties of crystal crosslinked gels (CCGs) with an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active crosslinker derived from tetraphenylethene (TPE) is discussed in this article. The CCG was prepared from a metal organic framework (MOF) with large pore aperture to allow the [...] Read more.
The synthesis and photoluminescence properties of crystal crosslinked gels (CCGs) with an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active crosslinker derived from tetraphenylethene (TPE) is discussed in this article. The CCG was prepared from a metal organic framework (MOF) with large pore aperture to allow the penetration of TPE crosslinker. The obtained CCG possessed a rectangular shape originated from the parent MOF, KUMOF. The CCG showed stimuli-responsive photoluminescence behavior depending on the swelling degree, thus the photoluminescence intensity was higher at higher swelling degree. By changing the solvent, water content, or ionic strength, the photoluminescence intensity was controllable, accompanying the change of swelling degree. Moreover, emission color tuning was also achieved by the introduction of luminescent rare earth ions to form a coordination bonding with residual carboxylate inside the CCG. Full article
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4281 KiB  
Article
Volume Phase Transitions of Slide-Ring Gels
by Akinori Bando, Rumiko Kasahara, Kentaro Kayashima, Yasushi Okumura, Kazuaki Kato, Yasuhiro Sakai, Hideaki Yokoyama, Yuya Shinohara, Yoshiyuki Amemiya and Kohzo Ito
Polymers 2016, 8(6), 217; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym8060217 - 03 Jun 2016
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6357
Abstract
The volume phase transition of slide-ring gels with freely-movable cross-linking junctions was investigated. Ionic chemical gels with fixed cross-linking junctions undergo volume phase transitions when they have higher than the critical degree of ionization. However, the experimentally-observed critical ionization value for slide-ring gels [...] Read more.
The volume phase transition of slide-ring gels with freely-movable cross-linking junctions was investigated. Ionic chemical gels with fixed cross-linking junctions undergo volume phase transitions when they have higher than the critical degree of ionization. However, the experimentally-observed critical ionization value for slide-ring gels is much higher than theoretical values for chemical gels. This difference indicates that the volume phase transition is significantly suppressed in slide-ring gels. The mesoscale structure at various swollen or shrunken states was also investigated by small angle X-ray scattering. Changes in the scattering patterns with shrinking slide-ring gels suggest microphase separation due to the sliding of cyclic molecules threaded along the axis of the polymer chains, which may suppress the volume phase transition. In addition, slide-ring gels absorbed/desorbed greater than equilibrium volumes in the shrinking/swelling processes and showed slow dynamics; these observations are also related to their sliding properties. Full article
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2048 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Molecular Structure and Environment on the Miscibility and Diffusivity in Polythiophene-Methanofullerene Bulk Heterojunctions: Theory and Modeling with the RISM Approach
by Alexander E. Kobryn, Sergey Gusarov and Karthik Shankar
Polymers 2016, 8(4), 136; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym8040136 - 09 Apr 2016
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6102
Abstract
Although better means to model the properties of bulk heterojunction molecular blends are much needed in the field of organic optoelectronics, only a small subset of methods based on molecular dynamics- and Monte Carlo-based approaches have been hitherto employed to guide or replace [...] Read more.
Although better means to model the properties of bulk heterojunction molecular blends are much needed in the field of organic optoelectronics, only a small subset of methods based on molecular dynamics- and Monte Carlo-based approaches have been hitherto employed to guide or replace empirical characterization and testing. Here, we present the first use of the integral equation theory of molecular liquids in modelling the structural properties of blends of phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) with poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and a carboxylated poly(3-butylthiophene) (P3BT), respectively. For this, we use the Reference Interaction Site Model (RISM) with the Universal Force Field (UFF) to compute the microscopic structure of blends and obtain insight into the miscibility of its components. Input parameters for RISM, such as optimized molecular geometries and charge distribution of interaction sites, are derived by the Density Functional Theory (DFT) methods. We also run Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation to compare the diffusivity of the PCBM in binary blends with P3HT and P3BT, respectively. A remarkably good agreement with available experimental data and results of alternative modelling/simulation is observed for PCBM in the P3HT system. We interpret this as a step in the validation of the use of our approach for organic photovoltaics and support of its results for new systems that do not have reference data for comparison or calibration. In particular, for the less-studied P3BT, our results show that expectations about its performance in binary blends with PCBM may be overestimated, as it does not demonstrate the required level of miscibility and short-range structural organization. In addition, the simulated mobility of PCBM in P3BT is somewhat higher than what is expected for polymer blends and falls into a range typical for fluids. The significance of our predictive multi-scale modelling lies in the insights it offers into nanoscale morphology and charge transport behaviour in multi-component organic semiconductor blends. Full article
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