1
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Clarke BR, Witt CL, Ilton M, Crosby AJ, Watkins JJ, Tew GN. Bottlebrush Networks: A Primer for Advanced Architectures. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202318220. [PMID: 38588310 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202318220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
Bottlebrush networks (BBNs) are an exciting new class of materials with interesting physical properties derived from their unique architecture. While great strides have been made in our fundamental understanding of bottlebrush polymers and networks, an interdisciplinary approach is necessary for the field to accelerate advancements. This review aims to act as a primer to BBN chemistry and physics for both new and current members of the community. In addition to providing an overview of contemporary BBN synthetic methods, we developed a workflow and desktop application (LengthScale), enabling bottlebrush physics to be more approachable. We conclude by addressing several topical issues and asking a series of pointed questions to stimulate conversation within the community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon R Clarke
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003, United States
| | - Connor L Witt
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003, United States
| | - Mark Ilton
- Department of Physics, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711, United States
| | - Alfred J Crosby
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003, United States
| | - James J Watkins
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003, United States
| | - Gregory N Tew
- University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003, United States
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2
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Raji IO, Dodo OJ, Saha NK, Eisenhart M, Miller KM, Whitfield R, Anastasaki A, Konkolewicz D. Network Polymer Properties Engineered Through Polymer Backbone Dispersity and Structure. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202315200. [PMID: 38546541 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202315200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/24/2024]
Abstract
Dispersity (Ð or Mw/Mn) is an important parameter in material design and as such can significantly impact the properties of polymers. Here, polymer networks with independent control over the molecular weight and dispersity of the linear chains that form the material are developed. Using a RAFT polymerization approach, a library of polymers with dispersity ranging from 1.2-1.9 for backbone chain-length (DP) 100, and 1.4-3.1 for backbone chain-length 200 were developed and transformed to networks through post-polymerization crosslinking to form disulfide linkers. The tensile, swelling, and adhesive properties were explored, finding that both at DP 100 and DP 200 the swelling ratio, tensile strength, and extensibility were superior at intermediate dispersity (1.3-1.5 for DP 100 and 1.6-2.1 for DP 200) compared to materials with either substantially higher or lower dispersity. Furthermore, adhesive properties for materials with chains of intermediate dispersity at DP 200 revealed enhanced performance compared to the very low or high dispersity chains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ibrahim O Raji
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 45056, USA
| | - Obed J Dodo
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 45056, USA
| | - Nirob K Saha
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 45056, USA
| | - Mary Eisenhart
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 45056, USA
| | - Kevin M Miller
- Department of Chemistry, Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071, USA
| | - Richard Whitfield
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, Department of Materials, ETH, Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Athina Anastasaki
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, Department of Materials, ETH, Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Dominik Konkolewicz
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 45056, USA
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3
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Sánchez-Leija R, Mysona JA, de Pablo JJ, Nealey PF. Phase Behavior and Conformational Asymmetry near the Comb-to-Bottlebrush Transition in Linear-Brush Block Copolymers. Macromolecules 2024; 57:2019-2029. [PMID: 38495384 PMCID: PMC10938885 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c02180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 01/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
This study explores how conformational asymmetry influences the bulk phase behavior of linear-brush block copolymers. We synthesized 60 diblock copolymers composed of poly(trifluoroethyl methacrylate) as the linear block and poly[oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate] as the brush block, varying the molecular weight, composition, and side-chain length to introduce different degrees of conformational asymmetry. Using small-angle X-ray scattering, we determined the morphology and phase diagrams for three different side-chain length systems, mainly observing lamellar and cylindrical phases. Increasing the side-chain length of the brush block from three to nine ethylene oxide units introduces sufficient asymmetry between the blocks to alter the phase behavior, shifting the lamellar-to-cylindrical transitions toward lower brush block compositions and transitioning the brush block from the dense comb-like regime to the bottlebrush regime. Coarse-grained simulations support our experimental observations and provide a mapping between the composition and conformational asymmetry. A comparison of our findings to strong stretching theory across multiple phase boundary predictions confirms the transition between the dense comb-like regime and the bottlebrush regime.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regina
J. Sánchez-Leija
- Materials
Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, the University
of Chicago, 5640 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Joshua A. Mysona
- Materials
Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, the University
of Chicago, 5640 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Materials
Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, the University
of Chicago, 5640 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Paul F. Nealey
- Materials
Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
- Pritzker
School of Molecular Engineering, the University
of Chicago, 5640 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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4
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Jeon S, Kamble YL, Kang H, Shi J, Wade MA, Patel BB, Pan T, Rogers SA, Sing CE, Guironnet D, Diao Y. Direct-ink-write cross-linkable bottlebrush block copolymers for on-the-fly control of structural color. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313617121. [PMID: 38377215 PMCID: PMC10907314 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313617121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Additive manufacturing capable of controlling and dynamically modulating structures down to the nanoscopic scale remains challenging. By marrying additive manufacturing with self-assembly, we develop a UV (ultra-violet)-assisted direct ink write approach for on-the-fly modulation of structural color by programming the assembly kinetics through photo-cross-linking. We design a photo-cross-linkable bottlebrush block copolymer solution as a printing ink that exhibits vibrant structural color (i.e., photonic properties) due to the nanoscopic lamellar structures formed post extrusion. By dynamically modulating UV-light irradiance during printing, we can program the color of the printed material to access a broad spectrum of visible light with a single ink while also creating color gradients not previously possible. We unveil the mechanism of this approach using a combination of coarse-grained simulations, rheological measurements, and structural characterizations. Central to the assembly mechanism is the matching of the cross-linking timescale with the assembly timescale, which leads to kinetic trapping of the assembly process that evolves structural color from blue to red driven by solvent evaporation. This strategy of integrating cross-linking chemistry and out-of-equilibrium processing opens an avenue for spatiotemporal control of self-assembled nanostructures during additive manufacturing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanghyun Jeon
- Department Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
| | - Yash Laxman Kamble
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
| | - Haisu Kang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
| | - Jiachun Shi
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
| | - Matthew A. Wade
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
| | - Bijal B. Patel
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
| | - Tianyuan Pan
- Department Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
- Department of Molecular Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
| | - Simon A. Rogers
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
- Department of Molecular Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
| | - Charles E. Sing
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
- Department of Molecular Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
| | - Damien Guironnet
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
- Department of Molecular Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
| | - Ying Diao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
- Department of Molecular Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL61801
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5
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Dutta S, Sing CE. Brownian dynamics simulations of bottlebrush polymers in dilute solution under simple shear and uniaxial extensional flows. J Chem Phys 2024; 160:044901. [PMID: 38258921 DOI: 10.1063/5.0177113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/01/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
We study the dynamics of bottlebrush polymer molecules in dilute solutions subjected to shear and uniaxial extensional flows using Brownian dynamics simulations with hydrodynamic interaction (HI). Bottlebrush polymers are modeled using a coarse-grained representation, consisting of a set of beads interacting pairwise via a purely repulsive potential and connected by finitely extensible nonlinear springs. We present the results for molecular stretching, stress, and solution viscosity during the startup of flow as well as under steady state as a function of side chain length while keeping the backbone length fixed. In extensional flow, the backbone fractional extension and the first normal stress difference decrease with an increase in side chain length at a fixed Weissenberg number (Wi). Using simulation results both in the presence of and in the absence of HI, we show that this is primarily a consequence of steric interaction resulting from the dense grafting of side chains. In shear flow, we observe a shear-thinning behavior in all cases, although it becomes less pronounced with increasing side chain length. Furthermore, nonmonotonicity in the backbone fractional extension is observed under shear, particularly at high Wi. We contextualize our simulation results for bottlebrush polymers with respect to existing studies in the literature for linear polymers and show that the unique dynamical features characterizing bottlebrush polymers arise on account of their additional molecular thickness due to the presence of densely grafted side chains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarit Dutta
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 S Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Charles E Sing
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 S Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
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6
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Park J, Thapar V, Choe Y, Padilla Salas LA, Ramírez-Hernández A, de Pablo JJ, Hur SM. Coarse-Grained Simulation of Bottlebrush: From Single-Chain Properties to Self-Assembly. ACS Macro Lett 2022; 11:1167-1173. [DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.2c00310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Juhae Park
- Department of Polymer Engineering, Graduate School, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Vikram Thapar
- School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
| | - Yeojin Choe
- Department of Polymer Engineering, Graduate School, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
- School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
| | | | - Abelardo Ramírez-Hernández
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78249, United States
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Su-Mi Hur
- Department of Polymer Engineering, Graduate School, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
- School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
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7
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Patel BB, Pan T, Chang Y, Walsh DJ, Kwok JJ, Park KS, Patel K, Guironnet D, Sing CE, Diao Y. Concentration-Driven Self-Assembly of PS- b-PLA Bottlebrush Diblock Copolymers in Solution. ACS POLYMERS AU 2022; 2:232-244. [PMID: 35971423 PMCID: PMC9372993 DOI: 10.1021/acspolymersau.1c00057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Bottlebrush polymers
are a class of semiflexible, hierarchical
macromolecules with unique potential for shape-, architecture-, and
composition-based structure–property design. It is now well-established
that in dilute to semidilute solution, bottlebrush homopolymers adopt
a wormlike conformation, which decreases in extension (persistence
length) as the concentration and molecular overlap increase. By comparison,
the solution phase self-assembly of bottlebrush diblock copolymers
(BBCP) in a good solvent remains poorly understood, despite critical
relevance for solution processing of ordered phases and photonic crystals.
In this work, we combine small-angle X-ray scattering, coarse-grained
simulation, and polymer synthesis to map the equilibrium phase behavior
and conformation of a set of large, nearly symmetric PS-b-PLA bottlebrush diblock copolymers in toluene. Three BBCP are synthesized,
with side chains of number-averaged molecular weights of 4500 (PS)
and 4200 g/mol (PLA) and total backbone degrees of polymerization
of 100, 255, and 400 repeat units. The grafting density is one side
chain per backbone repeat unit. With increasing concentration in solution,
all three polymers progress through a similar structural transition:
from dispersed, wormlike chains with concentration-dependent (decreasing)
extension, through the onset of disordered PS/PLA compositional fluctuations,
to the formation of a long-range ordered lamellar phase. With increasing
concentration in the microphase-separated regimes, the domain spacing
increases as individual chains partially re-extend due to block immiscibility.
Increases in the backbone degree of polymerization lead to changes
in the scattering profiles which are consistent with the increased
segregation strength. Coarse-grained simulations using an implicit
side-chain model are performed, and concentration-dependent self-assembly
behavior is qualitatively matched to experiments. Finally, using the
polymer with the largest backbone length, we demonstrate that lamellar
phases develop a well-defined photonic band gap in solution, which
can be tuned across the visible spectrum by varying polymer concentration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bijal B. Patel
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Tianyuan Pan
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, 1304 W. Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Yilong Chang
- Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 W. Green St., MC 244, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Dylan J. Walsh
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Justin J. Kwok
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, 1304 W. Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Kyung Sun Park
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Kush Patel
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Damien Guironnet
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Charles E. Sing
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Ying Diao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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8
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Pan T, Dutta S, Sing CE. Interaction potential for coarse-grained models of bottlebrush polymers. J Chem Phys 2022; 156:014903. [PMID: 34998351 DOI: 10.1063/5.0076507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Bottlebrush polymers are a class of highly branched macromolecules that show promise for applications such as self-assembled photonic materials and tunable elastomers. However, computational studies of bottlebrush polymer solutions and melts remain challenging due to the high computational cost involved in explicitly accounting for the presence of side chains. Here, we consider a coarse-grained molecular model of bottlebrush polymers where the side chains are modeled implicitly, with the aim of expediting simulations by accessing longer length and time scales. The key ingredients of this model are the size of a coarse-grained segment and a suitably coarse-grained interaction potential between the non-bonded segments. Prior studies have not focused on developing explicit forms of such potentials, instead, relying on scaling arguments to model non-bonded interactions. Here, we show how to systematically calculate an interaction potential between the coarse-grained segments of bottlebrush from finer grained explicit side chain models using Monte Carlo and Brownian dynamics and then incorporate it into an implicit side chain model. We compare the predictions from our coarse-grained implicit side chain model with those obtained from models with explicit side chains in terms of the potential of mean force, the osmotic second virial coefficient, and the interpenetration function, highlighting the range of applicability and limitations of the coarse-grained representation. Although presented in the context of homopolymer bottlebrushes in athermal solvents, our proposed method can be extended to other solvent conditions as well as to different monomer chemistries. We expect that our implicit side chain model will prove useful for accelerating large-scale simulations of bottlebrush solutions and assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianyuan Pan
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1304 W. Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Sarit Dutta
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 S. Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Charles E Sing
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 S. Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
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9
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Kim KH, Nam J, Choi J, Seo M, Bang J. From macromonomers to bottlebrush copolymers with sequence control: synthesis, properties, and applications. Polym Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1039/d2py00126h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Bottlebrush polymers (BBPs) are a type of comb-like macromolecules with densely grafted polymeric sidechains attached to the polymer backbones, and many intriguing properties and applications have been demonstrated due to...
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