Morphology on Reaction Mechanism Dependency for Twin Polymerization

Abstract

An in-depth knowledge of the structure formation process and the resulting dependency of the morphology on the reaction mechanism is a key requirement in order to design application-oriented materials. For twin polymerization, the basic idea of the reaction process is established, and important structural properties of the final nanoporous hybrid materials are known. However, the effects of changing the reaction mechanism parameters on the final morphology is still an open issue. In this work, the dependence of the morphology on the reaction mechanism is investigated based on a previously introduced lattice-based Monte Carlo method, the reactive bond fluctuation model. We analyze the effects of the model parameters, such as movability, attraction, or reaction probabilities on structural properties, like the specific surface area, the radial distribution function, the local porosity distribution, or the total fraction of percolating elements. From these examinations, we can identify key factors to adapt structural properties to fulfill desired requirements for possible applications. Hereby, we point out which implications theses parameter changes have on the underlying chemical structure.