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Aggregation Behaviors of PEO-PPO-ph-PPO-PEO and PPO-PEO-ph-PEO-PPO at an Air/Water Interface: Experimental Study and Molecular Dynamics Simulation
journal contribution
posted on 2012-09-25, 00:00 authored by Houjian Gong, Guiying Xu, Teng Liu, Long Xu, Xueru Zhai, Jian Zhang, Xin LvThe block polyethers PEO-PPO-ph-PPO-PEO (BPE) and PPO-PEO-ph-PEO-PPO
(BEP) are synthesized by anionic polymerization using bisphenol A
as initiator. Compared with Pluronic P123, the aggregation behaviors
of BPE and BEP at an air/water interface are investigated by the surface
tension and dilational viscoelasticity. The molecular construction
can influence the efficiency and effectiveness of block polyethers
in decreasing surface tension. BPE has the most efficient ability
to decrease surface tension of water among the three block polyethers.
The maximum surface excess concentration (Γmax) of
BPE is larger than that of BEP or P123. Moreover, the dilational modulus
of BPE is almost the same as that of P123, but much larger than that
of BEP. The molecular dynamics simulation provides the conformational
variations of block polyethers at the air/water interface.