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Understanding the Topology Freezing Temperature of Vitrimer-Like Materials through Complementary Structural and
Mikihiro Hayashi1,2, Maho Suzuki1, Takumi Kito1
1Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Graduated School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho Showa-ku, Nagoya-city, Aichi 466-8555, Japan.
This study introduces a new method to determine the topology-freezing temperature (Tv) in vitrimers using X-ray scattering and rheology. Both techniques accurately identified Tv, offering insights into vitrimer properties.
Area of Science:
- Polymer Science
- Materials Science
- Physical Chemistry
Background:
- Vitrimers are sustainable cross-linked polymers with associative bond exchange.
- Key features include Arrhenius dependence of relaxation time and a topology-freezing temperature (Tv).
- Existing methods for Tv determination include viscosity-temperature plots and temperature-ramp creep.
Purpose of the Study:
- To complementarily employ X-ray scattering and rheological analysis to determine Tv.
- To investigate Tv in phase-separated vitrimer-like materials undergoing trans-N-alkylation bond exchange.
- To validate the accuracy of proposed Tv assignment methods.
Main Methods:
- Utilized X-ray scattering for structural analysis to identify anomalous domain distance increase.
- Employed rheological analysis to observe the transition from Williams-Landel-Ferry to Arrhenius dependence.
- Investigated vitrimer-like materials with trans-N-alkylation bond exchange.
Main Results:
- Identified Tv as the temperature of anomalous domain distance increase in structural analysis.
- Correlated Tv with the transition in rheological shift factors from WLF to Arrhenius dependence.
- Achieved near-identical Tv values from both structural and rheological analyses.
Conclusions:
- Both X-ray scattering and rheological analyses accurately determine Tv in vitrimers.
- The complementary methods provide validated insights into vitrimer properties.
- This study enhances the understanding and characterization of vitrimer behavior.
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