Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 21, 2025

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
Order-to-Disorder Transitions in Lamellar Melt Self-Assembled Core-Shell Bottlebrush Polymers
Michael G Karavolias1, Jack B Elder2, Emily M Ness3
1Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
Abstract:
We report the synthesis and melt self-assembly behaviors of densely grafted, core-shell bottlebrush (csBB) polymers derived from covalently linking narrow dispersity, symmetric composition ABA-type triblock polymers through their chain midpoints. Derived from sequential ring-opening polymerizations of ε-decalactone and rac-lactide initiated from 5-norbornene-2-exo,3-exo-dimethanol, poly(lactide-block-ε-decalactone-block-lactide) macromonomers (Mn = 9.2-17.8 kg/mol; Đ = 1.19-1.25) were enchained by living ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) into csBBs with backbone degrees of polymerization Nbb = 8-43. Temperature-dependent small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) studies indicate that the critical triblock arm degree of polymerization (Narm) required for melt segregation decreases with increasing Nbb, leading to reductions in the accessible ordered lamellar microdomain (d) spacings. We derive a phenomenological relationship between the critical triblock arm segregation strength at the order-disorder transition (χNarm)ODT and Nbb to enable the future design of microphase separated core-shell bottlebrushes, which self-assemble at sub-10 nm length scales for nanolithography and nanotemplating applications.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview
Many natural and synthetic polymers are produced by...
Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism
Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism
Ziegler–Natta Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview
Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview

