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Stable Thermotropic 3D and 2D Double Gyroid Nanostructures with Sub‐2‐nm Feature Size from Scalable Sugar–Polyolefin Conjugates
Author(s) -
Nowak Samantha R.,
Lachmayr Kätchen K.,
Yager Kevin G.,
Sita Lawrence R.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.202016384
Subject(s) - gyroid , thermotropic crystal , polyolefin , materials science , lamellar structure , crystallography , crystallinity , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , chemistry , polymer , copolymer , composite material , liquid crystalline , layer (electronics) , engineering
Ultra‐low molecular weight disaccharide–polyolefin conjugates with cellobiose, lactose and maltose head groups and atactic polypropene tails, such as 1 , undergo a series of irreversible thermotropic order–order transitions with increasing temperature to provide nanostructured phases in the sequence: lamellar ( L ), hexagonal perforated lamellar ( HPL ), double gyroid ( DG ) and hexagonal cylindrical ( C ). The DG phase displays exceptional stability at ambient temperature and features two interpenetrating sugar domain networks having a sub‐2‐nm strut width and a lattice parameter, a DG , of 13.1 nm. The unique stability of this DG phase extends further within ultrathin films all the way down to the two‐dimensional limit of 15 nm in which film thickness, l , is now less than the surface‐oriented unit cell height, h DG . In addition to raising the fundamental question of what minimally constitutes a Schoen triply periodic minimal surface and DG lattice, these results serve to establish the class of sugar–polyolefin conjugates as a new material platform for nanoscience and nanotechnology.