Molecular Architecture Directs Linear–Bottlebrush–Linear Triblock Copolymers to Self-Assemble to Soft Reprocessable Elastomers
Linear–bottlebrush–linear (LBBL) triblock copolymers represent an emerging system for creating multifunctional nanostructures. Their self-assembly depends on molecular architecture but remains poorly explored. We synthesize polystyrene-block-bottlebrush polydimethylsiloxane-block-polystyrene triblock copolymers with controlled molecular architecture and use them as a model system to study the self-assembly of LBBL polymers. Unlike classical stiff rod-flexible linear block copolymers that are prone to form highly ordered nanostructures such as lamellae, at small weight fractions of the linear blocks, LBBL polymers self-assemble to a disordered sphere phase, regardless of the bottlebrush stiffness. Microscopically, characteristic lengths increase with the bottlebrush stiffness by a power of 2/3, which is captured by a scaling analysis. Macroscopically, the formed nanostructures are ultrasoft, reprocessable elastomers with shear moduli of about 1 kPa, two orders of magnitude lower than that of conventional polydimethylsiloxane elastomers. Our results provide insights on exploiting the self-assembly of LBBL polymers to create soft functional nanostructures.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0012704
- OSTI ID:
- 1580235
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-212460-2019-JAAM
- Journal Information:
- ACS Macro Letters, Vol. 8, Issue 11; ISSN 2161-1653
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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