Phase Separation and Self-Assembly in Vitrimers: Hierarchical Morphology of Molten and Semicrystalline Polyethylene/Dioxaborolane Maleimide Systems

By Ralm G. Ricarte, F. Tournilhac, L. Leibler. Macromolecules, 2018

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Vitrimers are a class of polymers that flow when heated but are insoluble. Vitrimers are made of covalent networks with dynamic links and/or cross-links that undergo an associative exchange reaction. These dynamic cross-links enable vitrimers to have interesting mechanical/rheological behavior, self-healing, adhesive, and shape memory properties. We demonstrate that vitrimers can self-assemble into complex meso- and nanostructures when cross-links and backbone monomers strongly interact. Vitrimers featuring polyethylene (PE) as the backbone and dioxaborolane maleimide as the cross-linkable moiety were studied in both the molten and semicrystalline states. We observed that PE vitrimers macroscopically phase separated into dioxaborolane maleimide-rich and -poor regions and characterized the extent of phase separation by optical transmission measurements. This phase separation can explain the relatively low insoluble fractions and overall crystallinities of PE vitrimers. Using synchrotron-sourced small-angle...

Subfields: Organic Chemistry, Polymers and Plastics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/002ebc65c075db8b9d148b050a00ab3ea4b9532c