Abstract: Biomolecules of lipids and proteins optimize the hydrophobicity to precisely form their three-dimensional structures. The branching of hydrocarbon chains is appropriate for fine-tuning the hydrophobicity of the molecules because it provides a slight reduction in hydrophobicity. This paper describes the morphological changes of vesicles formed by an amphiphilic diblock copolymer supporting branched side chains in the hydrophobic block to elucidate the steric effect of the side chains on the morphology. The vesicles consisting of poly(methacrylic acid)-block-poly(isopropyl methacrylate-random-methacrylic acid), PMAA-b-P(iPMA-r-MAA), were obtained by the polymerization-induced self-assembly using the photo-nitroxide mediated controlled/living radical polymerization (photo-NMP) in an aqueous methanol solution (methanol/water=3/1 v/v). PMAA-b-P(iPMA-r-MAA) with a very high ratio of the iPMA units produced spherical vesicles. As the iPMA ratio decreased, the vesicles shrank, expanded again, and changed into sheets. The chain length of the hydrophobic block also dominated the morphology. For the high iPMA ratio constant, the copolymers with a short block produced two domains of micron-sized spherical vesicles and unspecific nano-sized particles fused. An increase in the block length changed the nanoparticles into nanospheres, accompanied by an increase in the number of micron-sized spherical vesicles. By further extending the block length, most of the nanospheres grew into micron-sized spherical vesicles. On the other hand, for the low iPMA ratio constant, an increase in the length of the hydrophobic chain changed the unspecific nanoparticles sheets into aggregates with an inverted hexagonal phase reticularly perforated. The PMAA-b-P(n-propyl methacrylate-r-MAA) copolymer produced flexible sheets with a smooth surface without any pores, while PMAA-b-P(methyl methacrylate-r-MAA) provided rods of laminated sheets. It was found that the formation of the inverted hexagonal phase was due to the steric repulsion of the bulky isopropyl groups in the hydrophobic blocks. These findings indicate that the morphology of the vesicles is manipulated not only by the hydrophobicity of the copolymer, but also by the bulkiness of the branched side chain in the hydrophobic block.Abstract: Biomolecules of lipids and proteins optimize the hydrophobicity to precisely form their three-dimensional structures. The branching of hydrocarbon chains is appropriate for fine-tuning the hydrophobicity of the molecules because it provides a slight reduction in hydrophobicity. This paper describes the morphological changes of vesicles formed by an...Show More
Abstract: For multilayer film structures, mechanical failure is usually taken place at the interface. To deeply understand the typical issue, it is first essential to know the stress status at the interlayer surface. For this aim, in this work, the author presented displacement-energy models (DEM) for accurately calculating the interfacial stress in multilayer film structures and the impact of the morphology and size of the interacting grains at the interface. The stress-inducing mechanisms are related to the displacement-energy phenomenon of the interacting grains in the structure caused by the deposition technique. In contrast, the interfacial residual stress-evolution in the deposited films is determined from the change in the lattice constant between interacting grains as a function of temperature and time during the deposition and cool-down process. The interacting grains understudied have different morphology with flat and curved surfaces and sizes. Concerning the yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) films deposited on the lanthanum aluminum oxide (LaAlO3) substrate, the computed results showed that the morphology and size of the interacting grains affect the net interfacial residual stresses in the YBCO films significantly. Also, the results of the DEM models agree well with the measured value by the X-ray diffraction method (XRD). Specifically, the computed stress in the YBCO films for the interacting grains with spherical surfaces is 0.18 GPa. Similarly, that measured by the XRD method is 0.178± 0.053 GPa. In the future, the findings of this study could be essential in the defect inspection of several Multilayer Engineering Materials, including composites for various applications, which often consist of grains with different morphology and size.Abstract: For multilayer film structures, mechanical failure is usually taken place at the interface. To deeply understand the typical issue, it is first essential to know the stress status at the interlayer surface. For this aim, in this work, the author presented displacement-energy models (DEM) for accurately calculating the interfacial stress in multilay...Show More
