Micelles Formed by an AB Copolymer with Bottlebrush Blocks: Scaling Theory

We present a scaling theory describing the equilibrium properties of spherical micelles formed by a diblock copolymer with bottlebrush blocks in a selective solvent. The theory predicts a number of new thermodynamic regimes inherent for copolymers with relatively short main chains (long side chains) in the bottlebrush blocks. These regimes with a novel set of scaling exponents for the micelle properties are characterized by limiting extension of the main chains of the core or/and corona-forming blocks and do not exist for micelles of conventional linear block copolymers. The theoretical predictions are confronted to experiments.