Chemical warfare simulant-responsive polymer nanocomposites: Synthesis and evaluation
Name
final_CWA_NP_manuscript.pdf
Size
3.56 MB
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Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
5e3c87cfe2dcaa141947832f73b6278e
Author(s)
Sha, Sheng Chun
Zhu, Rong
Herbert, Myles Benton
Kalow, Julia Ann
Swager, Timothy M
Date Issued
March 2017
Journal
Journal of Polymer Science Part A Polymer Chemistry
Publisher
Wiley Blackwell
Citation
Sha, Sheng-Chun et al. “Chemical Warfare Simulant-Responsive Polymer Nanocomposites: Synthesis and Evaluation.” Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry 55, 18 (March 2017): 3034–3040 © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Nanomaterials that undergo a physical change upon chemical warfare agent (CWA) exposure can potentially be used in detectors to warn soldiers of their presence or in fabrics to provide on‐demand protection. In this study, hybrid nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by grafting a CWA‐responsive polymer from a silicon dioxide (SiO₂) surface using ring opening metathesis polymerization; the covalent functionalization of the polymers on the NP surface was confirmed by gel permeation chromatography, dynamic light scattering, and transmission electron microscopy analysis. The polymer‐grafted SiO₂ NPs were found to undergo a pronounced decrease (approximately 200 nm) in their hydrodynamic radius upon exposure to CWA simulants trifluoroacetic acid and diethyl chlorophosphate in toluene. This decrease in hydrodynamic radius is attributed to the electrophile‐mediated ionization of the triarylmethanol responsive unit and represents a rare example of polycation formation leading to polymer chain collapse. We have ascribed this ionization‐induced collapse to the formation of a favorable stacking interaction between the planar triarylcations. These studies have important implications for the development of breathable fabrics that can provide on‐demand protection for soldiers in combat situations. Keywords: nanocomposites; stimuli-responsive; ROMP; organophosphates; triarylmethanols
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry
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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1002/pola.28580
