Chaperone solvent-assisted assembly of polymers at the interface of two immiscible liquids
Sai Zhao, Yongkang Jiang, Yuchen Fu, Wei Chen, Qinrong Zhang, Liulin He, Changxiong Huang, Yao Liu, Xiao Cheng Zeng, Yu Chai
Abstract
The assembly of polymers at liquid-liquid interfaces offers a promising strategy for fabricating two-dimensional polymer films. However, a significant challenge arises when the polymers lack inherent interfacial traction. In response, we introduce an approach termed chaperone solvent-assisted assembly. This approach utilizes a target polymer, X, along with three solvents: α, β, and γ. α and β are poor solvents for X and immiscible with each other, while γ is a good solvent for X and miscible with both α and β, thus serving as the chaperone solvent. The cross-interface diffusion of γ induces the assembly of interfacially nonactive X at the α-β interface, and this mechanism is verified through systematic in situ and ex situ studies. We show that chaperone solvent-assisted assembly is versatile and reliable for the interfacial assembly of polymers, including those that are interfacially nonactive. Several practical applications based on chaperone solvent-assisted assembly are also demonstrated. Assembly of polymers at liquid-liquid interfaces can aid in the preparation of polymer films, but can be challenging without inherent interfacial traction. Here, the authors report a method for film formation by exploitation of relative solubility of polymers in different immiscible solvents.