Coatings with thermally switchable surface energy produced from poly(ethylene oxide)‐poly(dimethylsiloxane) block copolymer films

Abstract

This work explores coatings with thermally switchable wetting behavior, based on block copolymers that possess both hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments. The amphiphilic block copolymers were synthesized by coupling allyl‐ended poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and hydride‐ended poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) oligomers via a Pt catalyst. One near‐symmetric diblock possessed an order‐disorder transition temperature (TODT) of 64 °C. When cooled through TODT in ambient air, the PDMS domains wet the film's surface, producing a hydrophobic coating with a water contact angle (CA) = 90°. However, when cooled in humidified air, hydrophilic PEO domains form at the surface, yielding CA = 30–40°. The coatings can be reversibly switched between the two states by reheating above TODT, in the appropriate environment, and then cooling, rapidly generating the desired room‐temperature surface wettability. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016, 54, 135–140

Spray coating application for the development of nanocoated antimicrobial low-density polyethylene films to increase the shelf life of chicken breast fillets

“…This appears to be related to the diffusion and rearrangement of the PS- b -PEO when heated (60 ℃). This in agreement with the findings of Davis and Register (2015), who reported that BCP had the ability to alter physical conformation in response to local environmental conditions, including temperature and pH and upon dramatic switchable properties which are dependent upon chain length (molecular weight), composition and architecture. The increased number of Ag precursor coatings increased the area of LDPE films covered with antimicrobial Ag + compared to those films receiving a lower number of Ag coating applications (see Table 1), thus, increased antimicrobial activity against all test microorganisms was observed.…”