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Volume Phase Transitions of Slide-Ring Gels.

Authors :
Akinori Bando
Rumiko Kasahara
Kentaro Kayashima
Yasushi Okumura
Kazuaki Kato
Yasuhiro Sakai
Hideaki Yokoyama
Yuya Shinohara
Yoshiyuki Amemiya
Kohzo Ito
Source :
Polymers (20734360); Jun2016, Vol. 8 Issue 6, preceding p217, 20p, 4 Color Photographs, 1 Black and White Photograph, 1 Chart, 7 Graphs
Publication Year :
2016

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 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20734360
Volume :
8
Issue :
6
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Polymers (20734360)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
116380745
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/polym8060217