Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Balance Between Dipole-Dipole Interactions And Steric Exclusion On Ordering In Cationic Polymers, Chinomso Nwosu

Doctoral Dissertations

Structure-property correlations in charged polymers is an interesting facet of polymer science. Understanding the effects of intermolecular forces on the morphologies of polymers can lead to the design of membranes with desired structures to improve properties, for example ion conductivity. In random, comb-shaped polycations, competing intermolecular forces result in two different short-range orderings. Side-chain steric repulsion results in backbone-backbone morphology characterized by periodic spacing between polymer backbones. However, dipole - dipole attraction in these polycations can facilitate the formation of ionomer cluster morphology characterized by a spacing between clustered dipoles. Although both of these short-range orderings have disparate origins, their …