Controlling the Nucleation of a Semicrystalline Polymer by Inducing Compartmentalization of Competitive Nucleating Agents

Abstract Many functional polymeric systems have been inspired by the principle of compartmentalization, a ubiquitous form of hierarchical assembly found in Nature. For instance, polymers have been elaborated with microcapsules that release a chemical payload upon activation by an external stimulus. A fascinating challenge it to design a polymeric system to perform the opposite function, i.e., to load a cargo into a dispersed minor phase. Herein, this concept is exemplified in the context of a semicrystalline polymer matrix that contains two nucleating agents, one based on a supramolecular assembly and another based on a covalent triblock copolymer. These two additives compete to nucleate the semicrystalline matrix according to their competitive nucleation efficiency. A functional copolymer is rationally designed to induce these two additives to spatially assemble together. By adding a small amount of the functional copolymer, the supramolecular assembly remarkably segregates to the block copolymer phase, which profoundly impacts the interface between the block copolymer phase and the matrix. The compartmentalized additives no longer exhibit nucleating properties for the matrix, and the resulting material shows essentially the same thermomechanical properties as the virgin matrix.