2023 Mini Virtual Issues from Macromolecules

Ring-opening polymerization is a powerful technique for preparing (and “un-preparing”) polymers. In this issue of Macromolecules, several articles emphasize the important role that ring-opening polymerization plays in sustainable polymer science.

Ring-Opening Polymerization for the Goal of Chemically Recyclable Polymers
Christopher M. Plummer, Le Li, and Yongming Chen
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01694

Ultra-Productive Upcycling CO2 into Polycarbonate Polyols via Borinane-Based Bifunctional Organocatalysts
Chao Chen, Yves Gnanou, and Xiaoshuang Feng
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02243

Competition between Hydrolysis and Radical Ring-Opening Polymerization of MDO in Water. Who Makes the Race?
Benjamin R. Kordes, Laura Ascherl, Christoph Rüdinger, Timo Melchin, and Seema Agarwal
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01653

Lactone Ring-Opening Equilibria in Methanol by 1H NMR Analysis: An Assessment of the Ring-Opening Polymerizability of Lactone Monomers
Mengyuan Jin and Thomas R. Hoye
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01141

Macromolecules is a home for the global network of polymer network scientists developing new materials with enhanced properties and contributing to our fundamental understanding of these materials. This issue features several exciting works on networks:

Miscibility, Hierarchical Structures, and Enhanced Mechanical Properties of Acrylic Rubber by the Formation of a Chemically and Physically Crosslinked Partially Miscible Interpenetrating Polymer Network with Poly(vinylidene fluoride)
Noboru Osaka, Natsuko Takeda, Maki Adachi, Misaki Okufuji, and Rikuto Osaka
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02147

Shape-Persistent Liquid Crystal Elastomers with Cis-Stable Crosslinkers Containing Ortho-Methyl-Substituted Azobenzene
Khuong Luu and Soo-Young Park
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02194

Nanogel Degradation at Soft Interfaces and in Bulk: Tracking Shape Changes and Interfacial Spreading
Vaibhav Palkar, Devanshu Thakar, and Olga Kuksenok
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02470

Dynamic Covalent Bonds in Vitrimers Enable 1.0 W/(m K) Intrinsic Thermal Conductivity
Guangxin Lv, Xiaoru Li, Elynn Jensen, Bhaskar Soman, Yu-Hsuan Tsao, Christopher M. Evans, and David G. Cahill
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02264

Polymer brushes and adsorbed polymers can tailor surface properties such as lubrication, fouling resistance, and protein adherence. Check out four papers in this issue of Macromolecules highlighting these systems:

Regulating the Flow-Driven Translocation of Macromolecules through Nanochannels by Interfacial Physical Adsorption
Jianing Zhou, Yiren Wang, and Lianwei Li
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02450

Effects of Polarity of Polymers on Conformation and Lubricating Film Formation of Adsorbed Films
Yuxi Song, Kenji Fukuzawa, Tomoko Hirayama, Naoki Yamashita, Norifumi L. Yamada, Shintaro Itoh, Naoki Azuma, and Hedong Zhang
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02238

Hydrophilic Aldehyde-Functional Polymer Brushes: Synthesis, Characterization, and Potential Bioapplications
Emma E. Brotherton, Edwin C. Johnson, Mark J. Smallridge, Deborah B. Hammond, Graham J. Leggett, and Steven P. Armes
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02471

Ion Specificity Influences on the Structure of Zwitterionic Brushes
Qiming He, Yijun Qiao, Carlos Medina Jimenez, Ryan Hackler, Alex B. F. Martinson, Wei Chen, and Matthew V. Tirrell
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02029

Polymers offer unique accurate control and large variability of their molecular structure to precisely tune transport properties of electrons and ions. In this issue of Macromolecules, we see inspiring examples of this.

Regioisomeric Cyanated Polythiophenes Bearing Polar Side Chains for n-Type Organic Thermoelectrics
Jianfeng Li, Kun Yang, Dong Wang, Bin Liu, Yimei Wang, Sang Young Jeong, Zhicai Chen, Han Young Woo, and Xugang Guo
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02564

Impact of the Heteroatoms on Mobility–Stretchability Properties of n-Type Semiconducting Polymers with Conjugation Break Spacers
Megumi Matsuda, Chia-Yu Lin, Kazushi Enomoto, Yan-Cheng Lin, Wen-Chang Chen, and Tomoya Higashihara
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00109

Boronic Ester Transesterification Accelerates Ion Conduction for Comb-like Solid Polymer Electrolytes
Hongli Wang, Zhen Shi, Kairui Guo, Jirong Wang, Chunli Gong, Xiaolin Xie, and Zhigang Xue
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02306

Bisphenol-Derived Single-Ion Conducting Multiblock Copolymers as Lithium Battery Electrolytes: Impact of the Bisphenol Building Block
Alexander Mayer, Alessandro Mariani, Xu Dong, Grégoire Vansse, Patrick Theato, Cristina Iojoiu, Stefano Passerini, and Dominic Bresser
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02404

Li+ Conduction in Glass-Forming Single-Ion Conducting Polymer Electrolytes with and without Ion Clusters
Jiacheng Liu and Jennifer L. Schaefer
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02516

Topological constraints are quintessential features of polymers. This issue of Macromolecules includes several articles involving topological properties of polymers ranging from entanglements effects of linear chains to catenated and knotted ring polymers.

Influence of Chain Entanglement on Rheological and Mechanical Behaviors of Polymerized Ionic Liquids
Gang Liu, Ronald G. Larson, Lei Li, Huan Luo, Xi He, Yanhua Niu, and Guangxian Li
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02586

Linear Catenanes in Channel Confinement
Pietro Chiarantoni and Cristian Micheletti
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00249

Memory Effects in the Quiescent Crystallization of Polyamide 12: Self-Seeding, Post-Condensation, Disentangling, and Self-Nucleation beyond the Equilibrium Melting Temperature
Charlotte Poisson, Maarten Colaers, Peter Van Puyvelde, and Bart Goderis
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02102

Topology-Directed Self-Locking of Colloidal Suprastructures
Yanqiu Du, Yunhan Zhang, Jing Jin, Shiyan Xiao, Haojun Liang, and Wei Jiang
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01706

Machine Learning Understands Knotted Polymers
Anna Braghetto, Sumanta Kundu, Marco Baiesi, and Enzo Orlandini
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02555

Amphiphilic polymers can self-organize in aqueous media to give interesting nanostructured assemblies that have broad ranging utility. Three recent Macromolecules publications highlight the self-assembly of different intriguing classes of amphiphilic polymers.

Designing Amphiphilic Conjugated Polyelectrolytes for Self-Assembly into Straight-Chain Rod-like Micelles
K. J. Winchell, Patrick Y. Yee, Yolanda L. Li, Alexander F. Simafranca, Julia Chang, Christian Beren, Xinyu Liu, Diego Garcia Vidales, Robert J. Thompson, Charlene Z. Salamat, Quynh M. Duong, Robert S. Jordan, Benjamin J. Schwartz, William M. Gelbart, Yves Rubin, and Sarah H. Tolbert
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02057

Assembly of Multicompartment Glycopolymer Worms in Aqueous Solution
Jordan T. Lovegrove, Ben A. Humphreys, Chin Ken Wong, Liliana de Campo, Anna Wang, Christopher J. Garvey, and Martina H. Stenzel
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02466

Direct Visualization of Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Copolymers
Vahid Jabbari, Abhijit H. Phakatkar, Azadeh Amiri, Alireza Ghorbani, and Reza Shahbazian-Yassar
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02318

Recently in Macromolecules, several articles have investigated controlling the shape and size of polymeric nano-objects, including aspect ratio, corona volume, and preventing kinetic trapping.

Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly with Assistance of Aromatic Interactions Facilitates the Formation of Polymeric Nanotubes
Ren-Man Zhu, Zi-Xuan Chang, Wen-Jian Zhang, and Chun-Yan Hong
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00302

Controlling Morphological Transitions of Polymeric Nanoparticles via Doubly Responsive Block Copolymers
Jared I. Bowman, Cabell B. Eades, Joanna Korpanty, John B. Garrison, Georg M. Scheutz, Sofia L. Goodrich, Nathan C. Gianneschi, and Brent S. Sumerlin
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00445

Avoiding Kinetic Trapping in the Self-Assembly of DNA-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles by Using an Enthalpy-Mediated Strategy
Yunhan Zhang, Shiyan Xiao, and Haojun Liang
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02204

The chain composition and sequence of a copolymer obviously change its basic characteristics and mechanical properties. In this issue of Macromolecules, three interesting articles highlight the incorporation of a second or third component, which endows the resultant copolymer unprecedented properties.

The chain composition and sequence of a copolymer obviously change its basic characteristics and mechanical properties. In this issue of Macromolecules, three interesting articles highlight the incorporation of a second or third component, which endows the resultant copolymer unprecedented properties.

Triblock Copolymers from CO₂, Propylene Oxide, and p-Tosyl Isocyanate of Higher Toughness than Polyethylenes
Mingchen Jia, Jingjing Liu, Yves Gnanou, and Xiaoshuang Feng
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00190

Design for Recycling: Polyester- and Polycarbonate-Based A–B–A Block Copolymers and Their Recyclability Back to Monomers
Linnea Cederholm, Peter Olsén, Minna Hakkarainen, and Karin Odelius
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00274

Simultaneously Enhanced Chain Flexibility, Three Dimensional Printability, and Reduction of Shrinkage Stress in Biodegradable and Photocurable Multiblock Copolymers
Xiaopeng Cheng, Wenjie Li, Jinying Yuan, and Shanfeng Wang
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00298

Heterogeneity or inhomogeneity affects the mechanical properties of crosslinked polymer materials, such as epoxy resins, double-network (DN) gels, and interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs), and is discussed in several articles in this issue of Macromolecules.

Effect of a Heterogeneous Network on the Fracture Behavior of Epoxy Resins
Atsuomi Shundo, Mika Aoki, Pangpang Wang, Taiki Hoshino, Satoru Yamamoto, Sunao Yamada, and Keiji Tanaka
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00341

Formation Mechanism of a Heterogeneous Network in Epoxy Resins
Satoru Yamamoto, Ryoya Ida, Mika Aoki, Riichi Kuwahara, Atsuomi Shundo, and Keiji Tanaka
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00411

Swelling Effect on the Yielding, Elasticity, and Fracture of Double-Network Hydrogels with an Inhomogeneous First Network
Yong Zheng, Tasuku Nakajima, Wei Cui, Chung-Yuen Hui, and Jian Ping Gong
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00354

Role of Nanoscale Heterogeneity in the Mechanical Performance of Hybrid Elastomers
Anthony J. Silvaroli, Tyler R. Heyl, Marius Chyasnavichyus, Jeremy M. Beebe, Dongchan Ahn, Shane Mangold, Qihua Chen, Muzhou Wang, and Kenneth R. Shull
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00466

Heterogeneous Local Dynamics in Mussel-Inspired Elastomers
Marianna Spyridakou, Elpida Iliopoulou, Katerina Peponaki, Stelios Alexandris, Emmanouela Filippidi, and George Floudas
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00356

The dynamics of transient polymer networks is highly influenced by the architecture of their building blocks. Three recent Macromolecules articles discuss the limitations of telechelic networks and propose new paths to enhance their properties.

Influence of Molecular Architecture on the Viscoelastic Properties of Polymers with Phase-Separated Dynamic Bonds
Peyton Carden, Sirui Ge, Sheng Zhao, Bingrui Li, Subarna Samanta, and Alexei P. Sokolov
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00034

Landscape of Network Connectivity in Transient Polymer Networks with Competing Homo- and Hetero-complementary Bonds
Mostafa Ahmadi
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00544

Structural Design of CANs with Fine-Tunable Relaxation Properties: A Theoretical Framework Based on Network Structure and Kinetics Modeling
Osman Konuray, Xavier Fernández-Francos, and Xavier Ramis
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00482

Light leads polymers to structural changes on one hand, and some polymers can be “lightened” and emit photons on the other. A series of papers in this issue of Macromolecules highlighting the subtle light-polymer interactions.

Optimal Conditions for Efficient Photomechanical Response in Nematic Elastomers
Takuya Ohzono and Emiko Koyama
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00919

AIE-Enabled In Situ and Real-Time Visualization of Polymer Growth during Interfacial Polymerization
Jia-Hui Xin, Bian-Bian Guo, Chang Liu, Cheng-Ye Zhu, Haoke Zhang, Ben Zhong Tang, and Zhi-Kang Xu
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00422

Computational Insight into Phase Separation of a Thiol-Ene Photopolymer with Liquid Crystals for Holography by Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulation
Wei Wei, Guannan Chen, Song Li, Xingping Zhou, Haiyan Peng, Xiaolin Xie, and Yiu-Wing Mai
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00251

Three-in-One: AIEgen End-Labeling of CO₂ Polymer for Visible Fiber Thermometer
Chunwei Zhuo, Xiaoxiao Yu, Yanhua Cheng, Shunjie Liu, Meifang Zhu, and Xianhong Wang
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00911

Cooling liquid polymers to low temperatures turns them into glassy materials, which have many useful applications. This issue of Macromolecules has a new method to measure their microstructure and a theory for how they harden under strain.

Theory of Plasticity and Strain Hardening of Glassy Polymers
Thomas C. Merlette, Jérôme Hem, Caroline Crauste-Thibierge, Sergio Ciliberto, Florence Clément, Paul Sotta, and Didier R. Long
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00526

Determination of Glass Transition Temperatures in Bulk and Micellar Nanoconfined Polymers Using Fluorescent Molecular Rotors as Probes for Changes in Free Volume
Seyoung Kim, Minhwan Lee, Hyun Chang Kim, YongJoo Kim, Won Bo Lee, and You-Yeon Won
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00968

Understanding polymerization mechanism is critically important for the preparation of polymers with controlled molecular structure. Here are three examples from Volume 56, Issue 17 of Macromolecules.

Synthesis of Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Ethylene-Based (Co)polymers with Titanium Complexes Bearing Nonsymmetric Amine-bis(phenolate) Ligands
Feng Li, Yuhongxu Bai, Jianghao He, Tingting Song, Wei Gao, Xiaoyue Mu, and Ying Mu
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00579

Understanding Alkali Cation-Assisted Ring-Opening Polymerization of Macrocyclic Carbonate: Kinetics and Thermodynamics
Yuanyuan Qu, Junyuan Hu, Fengzhen Guo, Dong Ji, Yuguang Li, Zhenjiang Li, Yunsheng Xu, Jin Huang, Lili Zhao, and Kai Guo
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01311

Photoinduced Superacceleration of Metal-Free Living Cationic Polymerization Using Diaryliodonium Salts as Organic Lewis Acid Catalysts
Yuji Mishima, Arihiro Kanazawa, and Sadahito Aoshima
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01177

Controlling and understanding polymer topology is an important tool in manipulating properties and function. In Volume 56, Issue 18 of Macromolecules, the role of topology is explored in ring polymers, networks, and bottlebrush polymers.

Topology Matters: Conformation and Microscopic Dynamics of Ring Polymers
Margarita Kruteva, Jürgen Allgaier, and Dieter Richter
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00560

Viscosity of Flexible and Semiflexible Ring Melts: Molecular Origins and Flow-Induced Segregation
Ranajay Datta, Fabian Berressem, Friederike Schmid, Arash Nikoubashman, and Peter Virnau
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01046

Composition Fluctuation of Reversible Interlocked Polymer Networks on Microscale: Inhomogeneity in Homogeneity
Wan Ting Dai, Jiawen Hou, Fenfen Wang, Yang You, Pingchuan Sun, Min Zhi Rong, and Ming Qiu Zhang
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01499

Quantifying Pairwise Similarity for Complex Polymers
Jiale Shi, Nathan J. Rebello, Dylan Walsh, Weizhong Zou, Michael E. Deagen, Bruno Salomao Leao, Debra J. Audus, and Bradley D. Olsen
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00761

Decoding Elasticity Build-Up and Network Topology in Free-Radical Cross-Linking Polymerization: A Combined Experimental and Atomistic Approach
Shamil Saiev, David Beljonne, Roberto Lazzaroni, and Patrice Roose
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00644

Relationship between Graft Density and the Dilute Solution Structure of Bottlebrush Polymers: An Inter-chemistry Comparison and Scaling Analysis
Daniel F. Sunday, Adam B. Burns, Tyler B. Martin, Alice B. Chang, and Robert H. Grubbs
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01436

Block copolymer phase separation is an exciting topic both from a fundamental point of view but also for various applications. In this issue of Macromolecules, we see novel findings ranging from synthetic design via modelling to the use as solid polymer electrolytes.

Stereocomplex-Driven Morphological Transition of Coil–Rod–Coil Poly(lactic acid)-Based Cylindrical Nanoparticles
Yujie Xie, Wei Yu, Tianlai Xia, Rachel K. O’Reilly, and Andrew P. Dove
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00653

Design of Linear Block Copolymers and ABC Star Terpolymers That Produce Two Length Scales at Phase Separation
Merin Joseph, Daniel J. Read, and Alastair M. Rucklidge
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00800

Entropic Penalty Switches Li+ Solvation Site Formation and Transport Mechanisms in Mixed Polarity Copolymer Electrolytes
Chuting Deng, Peter Bennington, Regina J. Sánchez-Leija, Shrayesh N. Patel, Paul F. Nealey, and Juan J. de Pablo
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00804

New insights into polymer crystallization are showcased in this issue of Macromolecules, where established concepts are challenged, a simple method to obtain high crystallinity PVDF films is presented, and unique chain folding behavior is revealed.

Challenging Isodimorphism Concepts: Formation of Three Crystalline Phases in Poly(hexamethylene-ran-octamethylene carbonate) Copolymers
Yilong Liao, Ricardo A. Pérez-Camargo, Haritz Sardon, Antxon Martínez de Ilarduya, Wenxian Hu, Guoming Liu, Dujin Wang, and Alejandro J. Müller
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01265

Different Crystallization Behaviors of Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Blended with or Coated with Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide
Yongjia Nie, Wenpeng Zhao, Xu Chen, Hao Zhang, Jian Hu, Shaojuan Wang, and Shouke Yan
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01466

Primary Thickening in Nascent Single Crystals of High-Molecular-Weight trans-1,4-Polybutadiene
Jiayi Zhao, Nasser Sharahili, Dario Romano, Edy Abou-Hamad, Fuhai Zhou, and Sanjay Rastogi
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01520

Electron delocalization due to overlapping p-orbitals along conjugated polymer backbones yields interesting and useful electronic and optical properties. Four papers in this issue of Macromolecules examine synthesis, and intriguing structure-property relationships.

Direct Arylation Polymerization of Degradable Imine-Based Conjugated Polymers
Nathan Sung Yuan Hsu, Angela Lin, Azalea Uva, Shine Han Huang, and Helen Tran
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01986

Incorporating a Nonfused Electron Acceptor into Double-Cable Conjugated Polymers for Single-Component Organic Solar Cells with a Photo Response up to 900 nm
Xiaoqing Liu, Shijie Liang, Wen Liang Tan, Christopher R. McNeill, Chengyi Xiao, Chao Wang, and Weiwei Li
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01701

Three-Arm Star-Shaped Acceptor Enables Organic Solar Cell over 18% Efficiency
Wei Liu, Xiang Xu, Siqing He, Rui Sun, Qi Chen, Jie Min, Zhiguo Zhang, Jun Yuan, Yongfang Li, and Yingping Zou
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01636

Tailored Side-Chain Engineering and Extended π-Delocalization for Expediting Polarity Switching of Indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene-Based Conjugated Polymers
Jing Yang, Jiatao Wu, Xiaojun Yin, Fei Zhong, Fuhao Tang, Weixuan Zhang, Chunmei Gao, and Lei Wang
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01680

Macromolecules’ recent issue presents multiple impactful studies showing the power of simulations in improving fundamental understanding of macromolecular systems.

Effect of Stiffness on the Dynamics of Entangled Nanofiber Networks at Low Concentrations
Ahmad Reza Motezakker, Andrés Córdoba, Tomas Rosén, Fredrik Lundell, and L. Daniel Söderberg
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01526

Conductivity and Transference Numbers in Lithium Salt-Doped Block Copolymeric Ionic Liquid Electrolytes
Zidan Zhang, Jakub Krajniak, Jacob Sass, Harnoor S. Sachar, Nico Marioni, Tyler J. Duncan, and Venkat Ganesan
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01791

Ionomer Interfacial Behavior from Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Impact of Ion Content on Interfacial Structure and Mixing
Felipe F. Pacci Evaristo, Patrick J. Murtha, Lisa M. Hall, and Janani Sampath
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01186

Structure and Dynamics of Composites of Star Polymers in a Linear Polymer Matrix
Cesar A. Castro Rubio, Jinpeng Fan, Max K. Hanrahan, Jack F. Douglas, and Francis W. Starr
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01558

Phantom-Chain Simulations for the Effect of Node Functionality on the Fracture of Star-Polymer Networks
Yuichi Masubuchi, Yuya Doi, Takato Ishida, Naoyuki Sakumichi, Takamasa Sakai, Koichi Mayumi, Kotaro Satoh, and Takashi Uneyama
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01291

Model Amphiphilic Polymer Conetworks in the Bulk: Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulations of Their Self-Assembly and Mechanical Properties
Dimitrios G. Tsalikis, Mihai Ciobanu, Costas S. Patrickios, and Yuji Higuchi
DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01392