title: Developing porous honeycomb films using miktoarm star copolymers and exploring their application in particle separation.
abstract: This paper reports for the first time the synthesis and application of miktoarm star copolymers to produce highly ordered honeycomb films using the breath figure technique. Miktoarm star copolymer containing a cross-linked core and two arm species, e.g., polystyrene and poly(t-butyl acrylate), is successfully synthesized using ATRP in a one-pot arm-first method. Various experimental parameters, including polymer architectures, solvents, polymer concentrations, and substrates, are explored to investigate their effects on the structure of the honeycomb films. It is found that miktoarm star copolymers with high molecular weight and spherical shape could readily produce ordered honeycomb films in a broader range of concentrations and humidity than linear block copolymers with similar chemical compositions but lower molecular weight. Partial hydrolysis of poly(t-butyl acrylate) arm species in the honeycomb film transforms the surface property from hydrophobic to hydrophilic while maintaining the film's mechanical stability in water. This porous monolayer film with uniform pore size distribution and inter-connected pore channels is successfully applied for separation of microparticles with different sizes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 251 Nieuwland Science Hall, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556-5670, USA.
authors.forename: Chengyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 251 Nieuwland Science Hall, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556-5670, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 251 Nieuwland Science Hall, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556-5670, USA.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Min
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 251 Nieuwland Science Hall, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556-5670, USA.
authors.forename: Doyun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 251 Nieuwland Science Hall, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556-5670, USA.
authors.forename: Chuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 251 Nieuwland Science Hall, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556-5670, USA.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schulhauser
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 251 Nieuwland Science Hall, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556-5670, USA.
authors.forename: Haifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D006868:Hydrolysis; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D012997:Solvents
keywords: breath figure; honeycomb film; microparticle separation; miktoarm star