From Molecular Defect to Macroscopic Performance: Manipulating Dichroism and Mechanics in Iodine-doped Poly(vinyl alcohol) <italic style="font-style: italic">via</italic> Ethylene Incorporation

Liang-Peng You; Jia-Yu Xie; Yao Li; Xin Guang; Wei Chen

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3693-7

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From Molecular Defect to Macroscopic Performance: Manipulating Dichroism and Mechanics in Iodine-doped Poly(vinyl alcohol) via Ethylene Incorporation

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-08-31

- From Molecular Defect to Macroscopic Performance: Manipulating Dichroism and Mechanics in Iodine-doped Poly(vinyl alcohol) via Ethylene Incorporation
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 9, Pages: 3092-3103(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  School of Nuclear Science and Technology, National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Glass Materials, Anhui Provincial Engineering Research Center for Advanced Functional Polymer Films, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, China
- Author bio：
  
  wc003@mail.ustc.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3693-7
  CLC：
- Received：28 February 2026，
  
  Accepted：31 March 2026，
  
  Online First：10 June 2026，
  
  Published：05 September 2026
- Accepted：
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You, L. P.; Xie, J. Y.; Li, Y.; Guang, X.; Chen, W. From molecular defect to macroscopic performance: manipulating dichroism and mechanics in iodine-doped poly(vinyl alcohol) via ethylene incorporation. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3092–3103

Liang-Peng You, Jia-Yu Xie, Yao Li, et al. From Molecular Defect to Macroscopic Performance: Manipulating Dichroism and Mechanics in Iodine-doped Poly(vinyl alcohol) via Ethylene Incorporation[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(9): 3092-3103. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3693-7.
You, L. P.; Xie, J. Y.; Li, Y.; Guang, X.; Chen, W. From molecular defect to macroscopic performance: manipulating dichroism and mechanics in iodine-doped poly(vinyl alcohol) via ethylene incorporation. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3092–3103 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3693-7.

Liang-Peng You, Jia-Yu Xie, Yao Li, et al. From Molecular Defect to Macroscopic Performance: Manipulating Dichroism and Mechanics in Iodine-doped Poly(vinyl alcohol) via Ethylene Incorporation[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(9): 3092-3103. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3693-7. DOI：

摘要

Based on ethylene defect engineering and Leveraging employing

in situ

synchrotron radiation X-ray scattering techniques to characterize the condensed structure

this work successfully achieved the regulation of the mechanical and optical properties of polarizing films through poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) structure control.

Abstract

Molecular chain defect engineering is a pivotal strategy for tailoring the macroscopic properties of polymeric materials. However

establishing a definitive relationship between molecular-level defects and bulk material performance remains challenging

due to the difficulty in precisely controlling not only the molecular architecture but also the subsequent chain packing

which critically governs material performance. In this work

we demonstrate that introducing ethylene units as chain defects into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) enables precise modulation of the dichroism in iodine-doped PVA polarizers. This approach allows for concurrent control over the iodine-PVA complexation

the crystalline network and the mechanical properties. The dichroic behavior originates from the formation of oriented I

−

and I

−

species

with I

−

absorbing between 400–520 nm and I

−

between 520–780 nm. Therefore

optimizing optical performance—namely transmitta

nce and polarization efficiency—requires careful tuning of the I

−

ratio and their overall concentration. The incorporation of ethylene defects addresses this need through three synergistic effects: (1) It increases the I

−

ratio by shortening the vinyl-alcohol sequence length in the amorphous regions

given that ethylene unit does not complex with iodine; (2) It reduces the overall crystallinity

as ethylene units are excluded from the crystalline domains; (3) It weakens intermolecular interactions (reflected by an increased Flory-Huggins parameter)

which lowers the modulus but enhances drawability. This study illustrates how molecular-level defect engineering can be effectively translated into precise control over both chemical complexation and physical networks

thereby enabling the simultaneous manipulation of optical and mechanical properties in polymer materials.

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references

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From Molecular Defect to Macroscopic Performance: Manipulating Dichroism and Mechanics in Iodine-doped Poly(vinyl alcohol) via Ethylene Incorporation

DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3693-7

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references